Disclaimer: Alesca Munroe and I own about half of the Motley Crew. Delena/Aneled Hupp and Fade to Black own the other half. We do not own the Get Backers. If we somehow gained ownership of them, Ban and Shido would be a pairing, Kazuki would have a sex change and be paired off with Ren, Ginji would be with Ban, Madoka would be dead, and Paul would get paid. Along with a lot of other weirdness. You know, the usual.

Notes: Gaijin is an impolite word for a foreigner. Originally, geisha were simply women who knew how to properly perform a tea ceremony and make polite conversation with complete strangers. Oden and okonomiyaki are Japanese foods. More than likely, the Motley Crew, who will NOT be paired off with ANY canon characters, will be eating American food, as Alesca is allergic to most shellfish, and it takes some time to get used to food from other countries. I would know. Green tea takes a lot of time to get used to, it tastes green and leafy. Now tell me, what are the odds of that?

OOOO

Life was as usual in the Honky Tonk Café. This meant that Paul and Natsumi had no paying customers aside from HEVN, and that the Get Backers were mooching off once again. Ginji was fighting with Ban over the last piece of sushi while the dark haired teen grumbled over the fact that their car, and home by default, had just been towed out of the park again, and how their latest job had almost killed them, also again. HEVN ignored him, choosing to enjoy her sake.

The door opened, and a teenaged girl with short dark hair walked in. Paul blinked. Were her eyes different colors? Oh well, customers were customers. May be this one would actually pay for her food, unlike two certain Retrievers. Ban and Ginji both sneezed. She set her laptop on the bar and addressed him. "Has a woman with red and black hair come in? She has dark eyes, is a little older than me, kinda creepy…?"

'You're one to talk,' Ginji thought as Paul answered with a negative. "One purple eye, one green, who's she to call anyone creepy?'

She ordered okonomiyaki without shrimp and began typing on her laptop. "I'm Ethuil Locke, Coordinator for the Motley Crew. Do you mind if we conduct our business here temporarily? It's only until we locate an old friend of mine."

At this, the Get Backers looked up. "Coordinator?" HEVN repeated, raising an eyebrow. This kid better not be doing what the twenty-one year old thought she was doing, or there would be some problems. "As in for a retrieval service?"

"That would be correct. We're moving into the area, maybe permanently."

Suddenly Ban was in Locke's face. She raising an eyebrow, he was in the way of her work. "This is our territory," he informed her, completely annoyed that some upstart kid was trying to take over the vicinity. "You can't just take over, kid."

"Ah, you must be Ban Mido of the Get Backers duo." Her eyes glinted maliciously and Ban almost stepped back when she smiled. "Meet your competition, then."

HEVN decided to intervene. "Listen, kid, you don't stand a chance in this business. I'm the Get Backers' Coordinator, HEVN. I would know."

"I don't stand a chance?" Locke looked amused by this. "HEVN-san, my name is Ethuil Locke, not 'kid'. My crew consists of four Transporters, four Retrievers, and myself, the Coordinator. We work together perfectly, and always succeed."

"Well, we have an almost one hundred percent recovery rate," Ginji defended, choosing now to come over. "And why here of all places? Why not Kyoto?"

"Kyoto isn't worth the gas it takes to get there," a new voice responded. A woman just older than Locke entered. It was the one Locke was waiting for, judging by appearance. The kid was right, this woman was creepy. She cast a glance over all the occupants of the café and saw HEVN. "What's with the boob chic?"

"Raven," Locke greeted her, standing. "I take it the job went well?"

"I'm here, right? I figured it wouldn't be too hard for the others to return the item by themselves, so I left." Raven pushed strands of black-streaked hair over her shoulder as she went over to the bar. "New friends, Lockpick? Is her rack real or implants?"

"No, just the competition. No clue if they're implants or not, but it would be rude to ask. You should try the okonomiyaki, it's delicious."

"Competition? Looks like two kids and a geisha. Are you a pedophile?"

HEVN didn't understand how being called a geisha was derogatory, but she did catch the last part. "Hey, I'm not much older, it's only three years!"

"Hn. Whatever. Hey," she called to Paul. He looked up. "Okonomiyaki with the shrimp, and your best sake, not the cheap shit."

With that, the two ignored the Get Backers. Ban sat across from Ginji, still watching Raven and Lockpick warily. He'd figured out a few things about them in the short moments since they entered the Honky Tonk Café. One, they were undoubtedly gaijin. Locke's slight New Zealand accent gave her away, as did Raven's more obvious European accent. Second, foreigner though she was, Locke had stood when Raven made her presence known. That alone signaled that Raven was higher up in power than Locke. It was strange, usually the Coordinator was the leader of a retrieval crew. And last, they had connections in Tokyo. Raven had been wrong when she said Kyoto was hardly worth the effort. Kyoto jobs were some of the best, and the Get Backers would be there if not for the fact that they liked this part of Honshu. And besides, they were broke. Locke and Raven must be expecting a big job if they were choosing here over Kyoto.

Ginji waited patiently for Ban to finish his mental assessment of the two foreigners. Personally, he thought they were a bit odd. Raven and Locke knew they were the Get Backers, which would mean they had at least some understanding of the duo's powers. Contrary to this, Locke had met Ban's eyes with no fear of his Jagan. Either she thought she was above being hurt, or had some power to negate the illusionary effect of the Jagan. "What do you think of them, HEVN-san?" he asked the woman.

"I don't know what to make of Raven, but Locke's an annoying brat who thinks she can do whatever she wants. What's her damage, anyway, taking our territory?"

She glared at Raven, who just smirked. Locke nudged her partner. "Hey, no glaring," she chided, not looking away from her laptop.

"Ch. Not worth my time anyway."

As HEVN sputtered with rage, Ginji turned to watch the pouring rain. He should have expected that from their Coordinator. He ignored the ruckus HEVN was making about Raven saying she just might kill the Coordinator so her breasts could be donated to those who were less endowed because, in her opinion, no one should be that gifted in that area. By this point Ban was staring out the window as well. His light eyes quickly found what Ginji was watching.

A small bus had pulled up to the curb and six people were piling out. They hurried in out of the rain and into the café. It was a strange group indeed. Twin teenage boys with brown hair were in the lead, one cursing a blue streak about the weather and the other just nodding absently as he wrung out his clothes. A preteen girl with blonde pigtails that nearly touched the floor was laughing and talking with a less amused young man whose silvery white hair was almost as long. The last to come in was a redheaded boy, who was griping about the meter. His green eyes lit up at the sight of Locke. "Ethuil!" he exclaimed, barely restraining himself from jumping on her.

"Where'd you put the other two?" Raven questioned as she turned, downing the last of her sake. "You finally got tired of Puck or what?"

In response, the twin who had been swearing pulled out a mirror the size of a plate turned it upside down and shook it. Out came a boy with purple hair that had green roots. "You're so mean, Negate," he complained good naturedly.

The other teen opened his jacket and a lemur jumped out, turning into a brunette preteen. "Ah, we're all here." Locke looked pleased as she closed her laptop. She turned to the Get Backers and HEVN. "Meet my team, the Motley Crew."

OOOO

Lockpick looked with barely masked pride over her crew. She greeted them each by code name. "Pydro." The redhead came to stand next to her and grinned cheekily at the Get Backers. Lockpick knew her significant other would enjoy staying in Japan.

"Negate. Jinx." The twins took their places by Raven. The former was stealing a piece of Raven's okonomiyaki, while his brother took the sake.

"Lemur." The girl resumed her animal form and leapt onto Jinx's head.

"Puck." Winking at Ban and Ginji with an expression that made the two move away uncomfortably, the boy with purple dyed hair sat between Raven and Lockpick. Simultaneously they shoved him away and he pulled up a chair.

"Alesca." Blue eyes blinked and the blonde stopped wringing out her pigtails in an empty cup and grinned sheepishly. Lockpick simply shook her head.

"Loophole." The silver haired man raised an eyebrow in response and he and Alesca went on Pydro's other side. "And we all know Raven and I are here. Raven?"

"That was weird," Ban remarked idly, lighting a cigarette. He glanced at the Motley Crew. "What was all that about, roll call or something?"

"Mido-san, it would be impossible for you to understand the minds of the brilliant. Can someone please explain to him why I did that? Anyone?"

Alesca raised her hand and Lockpick nodded. The smaller girl turned to Ban. "Silly Mido-chan, she was introducing us to you! Isn't it obvious?"

"No, not really," Ban replied as he relit his cigarette. It went out again.

"Yeah, it was," Ginji agreed. Ban gave him a look that said 'You're joking'. The blonde grinned sheepishly. "No, I just wanted to make you look stupid for a second."

"We returned the item, like we said we would, Raven," Negate reported, ignoring the Get Backers. "The client paid us like he said he would, and Lockpick met us here like she said she would, so we're all men of our word here, except for those of our number who are, in fact, female. Any news from the bar, Raven?"

"Hell if I know. Ask Lockpick, she's the Coordinator of this little trip."

"Now, Raven," the New Zealander admonished, a small smile on her face. "As leader of the Motley Crew, it's your obligation to handle these things."

The Get Backers watched with slightly more than mild interest as Raven gave Lockpick a look that clearly stated how little she cared about who was leading, and that Lockpick had better start talking before Raven made her. Swiftly the younger teen explained that there had been no response from their contact as of yet, but that the group would receive word sometime this week. "Until then," she finished, "the owner of this establishment assured me that it would be fine if we conducted our business here. Being that this is a café, I move that we eat dinner and discuss potential places of residence for the time that we are here. Any objections?"

"Doesn't that usually mean that you've already picked out a place?" Loophole asked wryly as he took a seat in one of the booths in the café.

"Figures," Puck muttered, sitting in a chair he pulled up to the both Loophole and Alesca were sharing with Jinx and Lemur. "Why am I not surprised?"

Lockpick smiled almost sheepishly. "I still have to clear it with Raven."

"Why are you asking me? I don't care."

Lockpick and Negate began trying to calm Raven down, while Paul wondered when he had ever said the Motley Crew could use his restaurant for a meeting place. Ginji turned to HEVN, bored with listening to the new crew's talking. "Do you have any jobs for us? Another payment's due on the apartment in two days."

"One. Some kid wants you to get their dog back from the vet's because it's going to be put down next week for biting his owner. The pay's not so bad for the service."

"We've been reduced to getting kids' pets again," Ban griped. He gave up on lighting his cigarette and glared at Pydro, who was laughing at him silently.

The door opened, its bells jingling merrily. Dr. Jackal smiled that creepy smile he had when something was playing out just right. "Ah, today is going to be quite amusing," he murmured, catching sight of the Get Backers. "Quite amusing indeed."

"Akabane!" Ban was on his feet instantly. "What do you want?"

"Good afternoon, Mido-kun, Ginji-kun. I trust you both are doing well? It would be a shame to fight you when you aren't at your best, you know."

"I take it then that you are Akabane Kuroudo, the infamous Dr. Jackal," Lockpick greeted the tall man, bowing politely. "How do you do? I am Lockpick."

"I'm very well, thank you." He looked over the group assembled in two booths. Loophole and Alesca were watching with mild interest. The twins, Lemur, and Pydro were too busy dividing up the oden and okonomiyaki to notice. Puck was flirting with Natsumi, and Raven was apparently not paying attention to any of this. But to those who noticed everything, including Akabane and Lockpick, Raven was keeping track of everything around her with the practiced ease of one who had lived too long. Dr. Jackal nodded at her. "If she is the leader, then why are you the one arranging everything?"

"I'm the Coordinator and our public relations representative. Now, if you would please join us at the table, we can discuss our business in relative peace."

Ban and Ginji had been watching all this silently, but now Ginji spoke up, albeit tentatively. "Akabane? How do you know the Motley Crew?" he asked.

"Yeah," Ban added. "They're a bunch of gaijin. Where'd you meet them?"

Lemur was suddenly on Ban's head, biting him. "I'm not a gaijin!" she screeched, Japanese accent heavy as ever. "Take it back, Porcupine Head!"

"Lemur!" Jinx leapt to his feet and tried to pry the small mammal off Ban's head while apologizing profusely to the dark haired teen. "Larissa, he didn't mean it!"

The girl flat refused to let go, going so far as to assume her human form to make it harder on Jinx, Ban, and Ginji. "If this was Infinity Fortress I'd sell your flippin scslp!"

Ginji immediately let go, staring at the lemur. "Infinity Fortress?" he repeated faintly, looking for all the world like a deer in the headlights.

"Yeah, it was Rissa's playground when she still lived here," Jinx explained as he pulled Lemur away from Ban. "Shinjuku Underground wasn't far from her home."

"Anyway," Ban cut in, rubbing his head gingerly. He glared at Lemur as she sat next to Jinx in their booth. "What's the deal, Akabane? How do you know them?"

Lockpick smiled innocently, ignoring the fighting between Raven and HEVN. Ban decided he didn't like it when she smiled at all. It seemed to mean bad things for the Get Backers. "Didn't he tell you? He's joining the Motley Crew."

OOOOO

Authoress's Notes: So now we've just met the antagonists of the story, the Motley Crew. Rest assured, they will not be paired off with any of the canon characters, though the feelings, if they're there, will be one-sided on the Crew member's part and will not be a big part of the story. This is not about loving sappy crap. If I write loving sappy crap, it tends to get the story off on a tangent. I will, however, go into the partnership between Ban and Ginji. That's a lot of fun.

Raven: And you're a load of bull.

Lockpick: Seriously. You honestly think you can pull this off without the blatant hints of shounen-ai? I bet you haven't decided on the pairing yet, have you.

…

Pydro: We rest our point. (The reason for Ban's cigarette never lighting will be made clear later, but I'll give you this: it has to do with me.) Anyway, when are you going to write a story for us? You've started a fic for Kage, another for Yami no Matsuei, two actually-

And you guys are the antagonists in the first one.

Negate: Yeah, and you DROPPED the fic.

; Well… I got busy, kids.

Ginji: Not to busy to start this fic, and who are you calling 'kids'!

You, obviously.

Jinx: ANYWAY. Raven's right, what's the deal with HEVN's…things?

Don't ask me, I didn't create her.

Loophole: Fine then, better question: WHY'D YOU PUT ME WITH PYDRO IN THE LAST FIC!

;; eh heh.. Review, kids!

Puck: I want a mad yaoi lemon at the end!

Bio for the Day: Lockpick

Real name: Ethuil Locke

Age: About 20-ish

Blood Type: O

Ability: can lock and unlock anything

Job: Coordinator and co-leader of the Motley Crew

Other Facts: Has a bad heart, due to locking someone in the past that she really shouldn't have. As a result, she can't participate in many of the skirmishes the Motley Crew gets involved in. She brought the Crew to Japan for a single purpose that has to do with the Get Backers. Secrets: Can't stand the sight of blood.