Rapture

Once called the city for every one, a place where the common man could rise above and create his own destiny, it was a place where science was supposed to flourish and jump ahead combining with other advances and creating a utopia. A place where any man worth his salt could put in the hard work and make some thing of him self. Andrew Ryan was what we would call a talker and oh did he talk about his precious city. It was the perfect city right?

I am Andrew Ryan, and I am here to ask you a question. Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow? 'No,' says the man in Washington 'it belongs to the poor.' 'No,' says the man in the Vatican, 'it belongs to God.' 'No,' says the man in Moscow, 'it belongs to everyone.' I rejected those answers. Instead, I chose something different. I chose the impossible. I chose… Rapture. A city where the artist would not fear the censor. Where the scientist would not be bound by petty morality. Where the great would not be constrained by the small. And with the sweat of your brow, Rapture can become your city as well."

Andrew Ryan had said those words himself once

He was an idiot

Even in a utopia some one had to clean up the dirty messes, well that someone was me Ronald Stoppable. I was nothing more than a so-called "private investigator" hired by the various upper class of Rapture to clean up their various indiscretions and petty squabbles as well as get dirt on one another. In another life I had been a cop a pretty decent one too but that was back on the surface in another ultimately happier life that didn't and couldn't exist again. Now I investigated filth and unfortunately it was a job I was better at then I could care to admit, after all I was direct didn't ask questions and simply did what needed to be done, in an underwater "utopia" I was the one who was the most honest.

The one who did what needed to be done

I awoke as I always did groaning and feeling hung over as hell, work was slower than usual the last couple of days which gave me plenty of time to focus on my hobbies which only consisted of drinking and wallowing in self-pity as I contemplated the past one bottle at a time. The first thing I did was reach for the dusty bottle of scotch that I kept right next to the calendar and poured myself a shot before hurriedly downing it and sighing as some of my headache disappeared. The next thing I did was tear of the page of the small calendar I kept on my desk, saying good-bye to December 30th 1958 and saying hello to the 31st with my usual cheer and good will. I suppose I should have cared that we were about to enter a brand spanking new year but honestly….

Did anyone care at this point?

The only thing Rapture seemed to care about was tearing itself apart. The war between Atlas and Ryan was like a cancer poisoning every last cell and nook in the city. Families were turning against other families and more and shoot outs between the two gang were as common as the sea life floating around all of us. Even the richer sections of the city were falling to the chaos and the anarchy of two warring factions. Rapture had went from a cesspool to a cesspool with the added charm of being a violent bomb about to go off.

It was only a matter of time

It was funny how even with the end rapidly approaching how some people focused on the petty shit. The Franklins could be the very definition of "ignorance is bliss". I had tried to warn her about what was coming even hint I knew a way out of this place but the only thing that concerned her was what her husband was doing. So I put in the work tracked the leads and came back with the truth about her husband's night time trips. I still remember the look of shock on her face as I pulled out the pictures laying them on my cherry wood desk one at a time. I watched her face go through the usual stages heartbroken at her husband's betrayal, anger at being used and made a fool of, the disbelieving look at me as if to say "your fucking with me aren't you?", and then finally the blank mask of acceptance.

In all my time doing this there was one truth I had the hardest time with. That in the end people didn't truly WANT the truth. They wanted to know sure but actually do something about it? Nah took too much time, too much effort, and ultimately in rapture? There was too much power in a marriage to leave it. Sure enough two days later I saw the Franklin's back out in Apollo Square like nothing was the matter. I thought about giving the man a good solid punch (Mrs. Franklin seemed a nice enough lady to warrant it) but instead I simply shook my head and went about my business content in the knowledge I would get his money for my services. Karma was good like that some times. Everyone should have to pay for cheating in some form. Hell in my opinion Mrs. Franklin as sweet as she is should get her own charge for pretending…..

Then again I wasn't one to talk

After all I do everything possible to pretend Kim Possible doesn't exist most days

My "morning" routine done for now I decided to get started with my day and my "work", I pulled out the pictures the Mrs. Franklin's wife wanted showing her husband lip locking with his secretary, the damn fool was doing it right in the middle of Apollo Square and it was as simple as pie for me to snap a few pictures of the illicit union and show them to the missus. She was going to stop around tonight and pick them up, presumably to burn the evidence of her husband's discretion or save it for a rainy day. I didn't make a business of knowing what happened to my pictures after I handed them off. The only thing that mattered was the money and with any luck I would be able to get my plasmid fix before I got the hell out of dodge.

Plasmids Andrew Ryans "Gift" turned curse turned plague. God was really laughing his ass off up there when we found out we could have super powers. The "genetic arms race" was nothing more than a joke with a bad punch line. All that fighting over the rights, all the time and money spent on research. All for something that will slowly kill you and drive you insane. Sure you could light a match, activate a light on the far side of the room, and even move things with your mind but who was actually using it for those things?

It was a means to arm our self-pure and simple. To play god. Well the truth was out there now, the dirty truth poor schlubs like me had to come to terms with. Plasmids were the gateway to insanity and violence and not ultimate power. Even know I could feel my mind teetering on the knife's edge of rational and madness. I hadn't injected in almost a week now in my attempt to kick the stuff. I wasn't sure if it was even doing any good since the stuff was all genetics and DNA.

But I had to try

There was a loud knocking on my door heavy but hurried, my eyes narrowed and I rose pushing my dirty blonde hair out of my eyes and reaching for the gun I kept hidden under the desk. My fingers wrapped around the wooden handle of the revolver as I slowly got up.

"Hello?"

I received no answer or hint as to who was on the other side. I moved cautiously to the door holding the gun loosely against my left side as my thumb pulled the hammer back and chambered a round. I reached the door that led into my office, recently the protest were getting more and more violent and I already had to give two punks a warning shot when they tried to raid my office for supplies. The little war going on between the two factions was some thing I cared little about Rapture was dead no matter who controlled it and I had no plans to stick around and watch them fight over the scraps.

"Who is it?" I asked putting my free hand over the doorknob ready to slam it open and daze the figure at the first sign of trouble. Instead of hearing an answer a small piece of paper slid through the bottom of the door and the shadow of the man behind the door disappeared as if he had never been there to begin with.

"What in the hell" I murmured reaching down and picking up the letter, I waited for a few minutes checking to make sure the man was gone before going to my desk and sitting down. I reached for my letter opener quickly opening it and unfolding it as I kept one wary eye on the door. If this was a trick of some kind I was prepared to make the person who did it as sorry as possible. No one came so finally I relaxed and dipped my head down to the note. I spread it out over the table my eyes sweeping up and down as I read then reread the message.

Mr. Stoppable

You asked about leaving the city if you still wish to leave go to the address enclosed at three o clock and do not be late.

There you will find a contact who will help smuggle you out of Rapture.

Do not forget what I have told you Ronald you have a destiny outside of this great city

Good Luck

Mr. Sensei

"Sensei" I murmured touching his name with the tip of my finger. My mind wandered back pulling out memories of the old man and his restaurant Yamanouchi the one bright spot in this paradise gone wrong. I had stumbled on it completely by accident one night during one of my drunken rage walks. I didn't remember to much before I reached the restaurant but I do remember when I reached it everything becoming suddenly crystal clear. The sweet smell of cooked food called to me and I found myself walking in as if it was the place I had been going to the whole time.

Hell when it came to Sensei maybe he somehow brought me there.

He greeted me at the door stroking his long white beard and watching me with the most intense eyes I had ever seen. He looked at people the way someone looked at a sunrise or in raptures case the ocean life. That sort of wide eyed wonder see the good in a person type stare. I never found out much about him not that I didn't ask. His customers, his waitresses, and even his fellow business owners all had no idea where he came from. He just simply sprung up one day creating the restaurant and living above it. He was old to but if any one tried to guess his age they would find themselves unable to. He somehow managed to look both wise and old beyond his years and also young and full of energy.

I hate the way he looks at me.

Well hate is a strong word… I didn't feel worthy of it. I was drunk in our first meeting and set the standard for that by being sauced every time we met. The fact that he somehow saw past that and still considered me to be a good person only furthered my own feelings of not being good enough for his praise.

Yet I kept going back and probably would still be going if I wasn't leaving.

We would sit he would bring me food and then we would just… talk. Sometimes it would be random things such as the food being cooked at the restaurant or life in general. Most of the time however Sensei would talk about me and about the destiny he felt I had. Don't ask me why but Sensei really thinks I have some big destiny ahead of me. I suppose I should have told him I wasn't that guy…. But I never did. I suppose in the end everyone wants some kind of praise. Even me the guy wading through the seedy underbelly of Rapture and staring at two substance abuse problems.

I shook myself off from my pity party and carefully folded the note up. I rose checking my watch as I grabbed some spare ammo for my revolver. The contact was in Apollo Square, which meant I needed to hurry if I wanted to make it in time especially with the parties going on. I also needed to come back at some point so I could meet Mrs. Franklin and get my money. I quickly shaved the rough stubble that was cropping up across my chin, got my hair in a half way respectable look and changed out of my dirty suit and into a nice pair of brown and white pinstripe pants, I pulled on a black undershirt pausing to curl up the sleeves before pulling my gun holsters and blue vest on, I hurriedly tied my red ascot on before quickly turning and going back to my desk my revolver went inside the gun holster and I grabbed my last hypo before going to the door and pulling on my brown over coat and fendora. I spared my office one last glance my eyes falling to the bottle of scotch one last time I contemplated taking it for several long seconds before I finally turned and slammed the door shut.

If I knew what I was headed for I would have went right back to that damn bottle

…

Christmas time in rapture was once my favorite time of year down in the depths. It was a time when the entire city tried to forget they were living deep beneath the ocean and tried to make the place look as much like a winter wonderland as possible. Fake "snow" fell through the streets and people danced around merrily as if they didn't have a care in the world. Andrew Ryan was against capitalistic things like Santa Clause but there was still that magic in the air that reminded me of Christmas time with my parents back home. Mom and Dad were long dead now but still the memories of the surface were nice.

I idly wondered what my adopted little sister Hana was doing nowadays. Once upon a time we were close thick as thieves but that was before the accident, Kim's death, and my descent into addiction. Before Rapture cut all ties with the surface I got the occasional letter from her but that was years ago. It was probably for the best when you got down to it. I held out hope that she had somehow found herself a nice life somewhere, that she was working, married, and maybe even having babies. Ultimately, I hoped she was as far away from the mangled life I left behind, that two dead parents and a fucked-up brother had not destroyed her life.

I blinked raising my hand up and feeling the wet line of a tear on my face. I swore to myself and reached into the pocket of my coat pulling out a simple handkerchief. I dabbed it under my eyes getting rid of the evidence before anyone noticed. Once it was gone I looked around chewing on the bottom of my lip as I took in the parties spilling out into the square. I needed to find my contact and find them fast. The closer the clock ticked down to midnight the more danger I would be in as well as my contact. Something had been gnawing at me all week some undercurrent of trouble. The rioting over the last week was minute at best. However the traffic in the underground side of Rapture had doubled. Smugglers were being quite but the amount of supplies and guns they were moving all pointed to one thing.

The equipping of an army

I had no want in my body to get caught in another war, being a private detective wasn't with out its violence but at least for the most part it was just snapping a few risqué photos or beating up some punks who failed to pay. True war was brutal and bloody and I had seen enough of it to last a lifetime. I'd rather go back to being a cop then play soldier boy for Ryan of Atlas.

I walked as quickly as I could do my head down and my hands in my coat, the streets were mostly empty and the few people who were out wore fancy masks and elegant gowns and suits, I had been hitting the bottle so hard lately I forgot tonight was the famous Rapture masquerade balls. Once a long time ago I might have gone and rubbed shoulders with the upper class while I drained their liquor bars dry but now the only thing those parties were good for were to give people a chance to try and forgot how crappy their lives had actually become, I wasn't one to try and pretend some thing bad was good and I much preferred drinking my problems away then talking them to death.

To each there own I guess

I reached Apollo's Square just as the bell stroke 3 o clock, thankfully the square was mostly empty and so I quickly spotted a girl looking outside at Rapture's sea life trying her best to blend in with the sparse population. She was half hidden in the shadows but I could still tell the Dame was beautiful with long raven black hair that fell in a sea of curls and a curvy body that her simple blouse and skirt did little to hide. I couldn't help my self from eyeing her up and down checking her out a little bit. Of course, as usual the act made me feel a pang of guilt and as always I asked myself just what did I have to be guilty about? The fact I was eyeing another girl while Kim was dead?

Or that I was alive while Kim was dead?

"Nice night" I said finally coming up to her and stopping directly behind her back. My nostrils flared getting the whiff of a light floral shampoo. I liked it more than I cared to admit and so I stepped back just enough to keep myself in check.

"I take it you're the person I'm meeting?" I asked softly.

"You are correct Mr. Stoppable" The women said in a breathy sultry voice I always associated with jazz singers, she turned holding a cigarette in her hand and angrily flicking at her lighter "You can call me Shego" She said frowning as her lighter failed to spark her cigarette.

I put my hand up snapping my fingers and causing a flame to appear on my fingers, I leaned in and lit her cigarette for her (I was taught to be a gentleman after all) before quickly putting it out as fast as I could. Once I would have used my plasmids freely but my withdraws were getting more and more painful as I used my fire powers more and more, I knew I was becoming more and more addicted to it as time went by but my every last search for a cure had turned up empty leaving the surface world my only hope of curing myself. It probably had not been my best idea but….

Well did I mention she was beautiful?

"Thank you," the Dame said (what kind of name was Shego?) Taking a few appreciated puffs before turning to study me "so you want to get out of the city?" She finally asked holding her cigarette in her hand and looking at me with a weird expression almost as if she was sizing me up. I couldn't tell if she was checking me out or not but whatever she saw must have been acceptable to her because she looked around to make sure we were alone before leaning in.

"I have a plan a way out of this city if you can protect me I'll get you out" Shego whispered to me softly her soft breathy voice filling my ears and mesmerizing me for a minute. I didn't know what had gotten into me but I felt draw to her hypnotized in a way by her beauty voice and body, I could already tell she was a dame like no other the kind that could get you into trouble.

Lucky for her I liked trouble just fine

"Are you expecting to run into trouble Ma'am?" I asked raising an eyebrow noticing more and more people starting to fill the square. I dipped my head a subtle motion for her to start moving. We did so together moving slow enough not to bring any suspicion our way.

"One that requires you needing protection? I said trying to sound bored and not genuinely curious, I didn't want the client to think I was nosy even though I had a right to know what kind of danger I may be getting myself into.

"It requires us to go into the restricted section" Shego explained taking one last puff on the cigarette before flicking it into an Ashtray with a practiced flick of her long fingers.

"I'm not expecting trouble per say but having a man that's good with a gun would make me feel a lot better" she explained her eyes moving from side to side.

"Do you have a problem with that?" she asked looking worried.

"Makes sense" I thought to myself as I studied some of the partygoers, Rapture was a dangerous place to be in now period and with the war reaching its breaking point it was stupid to not be carrying some kind of protection.

Or hiring a guy like me to do the protecting.

"No problem at all Ma'am" I said nodding "My only question is when we leave?" I said watching her as she looked relieved and pulled out an old looking golden pocket watch to check the time. I noticed a picture in the watch but before I could lean in and look the watch snapped shut and her step quickened.

"Now if your ready" Shego said snapping it shut and glancing over at me "I don't know about you but the faster we get out of this town the better"

I looked around running my eyes over the square. I felt a shiver and my gut tightened. Something was about to happen and I knew it. My years in the military and then as a cop had given me a certain sensitivity to these things. Sensei would say it was my instincts but I liked to think I was just wise to trouble, that I found it enough in my life I knew her touch. Either way it was in the air trouble and a whole lot of danger. I turned to her running one more eye up and down her frame before finally nodding and jerking my thumb at the exit.

"I can agree with you there Shego"

"Let's get the hell out of dodge"

(Authors note: Just a short hello and hope your enjoying my work! For all my Ron Effect Fans this story is a add on to that one. For those who have not read it this also works slightly as a standalone story with only some minor huh? Moments. I mean for the two to go together but also to leave it open as just a kind of fun snap shot into the events happening during the fall of rapture. I have always wanted to do a proper Burial At Sea not what we got for the DLC.

If you like this please check out my page as well as my fanfiction works. I have A page for those interested in supporting me that is going to have lots of cool goodies and other things! I'm just starting with this so it will be a bit of a journey but for those interested in supporting me you can find me as TBFanfics on the .

Please Enjoy And I Hope You All Like This New Idea!)