Authors Note: I wanted to thank you all, since we are nearing 30k views. I still cannot believe how well this fic does daily, I hope you enjoy this longer than normal chapter. And CommandBlock 2 I hope you get to feeling better soon, take care!
The doorway the relaxed jazz music was coming from led to a staircase that would take him downstairs to the cellar. Lincoln was slowly taking each step down, the wooden floorboards creaking underneath him, outdated and in desperate need of replacement.
"Why's the music sound so weird… it's nice, but it sounds like it's coming through a busted speaker," Lincoln spoke, wishing he could only think without Lincada bothering him. His clone was riding on his back once again, the white haired boy trying to ignore the terrifying fact that it actually felt like there was a real weight on his back now, even if it wasn't much.
"Probably one of those cruddy USB phone speakers," Lincada suggested, that did make sense to Lincoln those tiny portable speakers that were meant to be able to be easy to carry so you could play music aloud if you ever wanted to, they were very bad in quality. Lori had been through three of them because she wanted to enjoy romantic music with Bobby during some dates, but their bad quality made the music sound like it had no passion in it. The jazz music playing through the cellar sounded fine though, only issue was like it was playing through an old speaker.
"Ronnie Anne?" Lincoln spoke as he reached the end of the cellar where the music had been coming from. There he saw his girlfriend carrying a small tray full of the bright red gemstones. Lincoln wondered what she was doing with all those rubies and where she got them.
"Hey, Lincoln… are you okay?" Ronnie Anne asked. Her boyfriend saw no sign of his female clone again. She vanished again when he had not been paying attention like always. Lincoln noticed the jazz music coming from an old record player nearby on a table.
"I'm fine, Ronnie Anne. I was scared that something had happened to you," Lincoln confessed with a smile of relief. They heard the sound of shoes clacking against the concrete floor. At the direction he heard them, Lincoln saw an elderly man with white hair on the back of his head and on his upper lip, he had a handlebar mustache. The older man wore a plaid yellow shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and a brown vest on top of that.
"Well hello there little guy… Santiago, is this the boyfriend you told me about?" the old man asked while shaking Lincolns hand. The young boy was happy with the calm atmosphere of the late night hour. The jazz music was becoming better now that he was in a close proximity to the record player. When the two shook hands, Lincoln saw not one ruby ring anywhere on the old man's hands. He was devoid of any rings to wear, but he had all of his fingers, too.
"Yeah! This is Lincoln Loud, the dummy," Ronnie Anne referred to him by his mafia tagline. He didn't pay that comment any attention, having grown to accept the tagline.
"Nice to meet you, sir," Lincoln greeted him, the old man chuckling a little before coughing slightly.
"So this little guy is the one gaining so much attention lately? I'm Nirmata," Nirmata introduced himself before taking the tray of rubies from the dark haired girl and heading over to a nearby workbench. Lincoln found rubies on a lot of these shelves, and glass display cases filled with rows upon rows of animal style rings underneath those shelves, that either had their ruby put into them or were still awaiting to receive their jewel.
"Sorry if I upset you by breaking the no touching rule…" Lincoln apologized. Ronnie Anne rubbed her arm a little with a sheepish smile.
"Actually, I was really happy when I woke up like that…" she claimed. Both of them had small blushes now. His girlfriend tried to change the topic to what lead her to be in the cellar with this elder.
"I ran into Nirmata when I was leaving the bathroom. He needed help making rings so I agreed to help him out… I guess I lost track of time," Ronnie Anne explained. Cutting out rubies to the exact right size that each ring needed was a very hard process, and she felt horrible to see an old man with brittle hands breaking his fingers over it. This was the man who had made their rings, the ones that everyone in Nora's mafia wore that were bonded with their flesh, with the weird material of the resizing bands.
"Don't worry. We don't have a job assignment yet for tomorrow. I think we'll be able to go for some extra nap time together," Lincoln joked before being hit in the arm playfully. The buck toothed boy did want to go back to bed, relieved that his girlfriend was alright and unharmed, but he had a few things on his mind which he hoped the old ring craftsman could answer.
"Uh, Nirmata… Well for starters, how long have you been working here?" Lincoln decided to break the ice with a simple talk about their jobs. The old man looked to him calmly.
"Well last time I checked… I think it's been fifty-three years," Nirmata responded. The old man carefully put a small ruby into a ring that resembled a fox, the rubies being placed into the eyes, making the ring look like it had a spark of life now to it.
"Fifty-three years? Jeez… We're really new, um, how old are you?" Lincoln asked. Ronnie Anne was curious now as well. The old man coughed, having that same smile on his face.
"Seventy as of January," Nirmata claimed. They both were shocked from hearing his age. The elder should be in retirement, enjoying his golden years. Not in a cellar crafting rings and fitting rubies into them for the mafia.
"You've been here since you were seventeen? Wow… you were here even before Nora-eer… Jonas. Suppose that means you joined before they came into control," Lincoln was flabbergasted. He himself did not have any plans to spend his whole life in the mafia.
"Yes, I was, and this place was a lot nicer before these times. You see, ever since I was a little one, I've had a bit of a natural talent, you could say, for detail… these rings are my creation. One day, I tried to get a job at a several jewelry stores, but they all turned me out due to my education. It was when I was about to give up, that I met Poima… Nora's mother," Nirtama explained who the previous leader was while informing them of his detailed past, and that Poima was the leader before Nora.
"What happened to her?" Ronnie Anne asked.
"When Poima was around, we weren't really a mafia… we were more of a charity. Not a very legal one, but we were more in the bracket of helping those find work getting off the streets and into a home" Nirtama claimed, remembering the fond memories of his long life, "I think the biggest thing Poima had done before she died was turn an entire large apartment complex into a homeless shelter. Meanwhile, I gave every homeless person we helped a ruby animal ring… as for what happened to her… she had appendicitis that sadly ended her life."
"You can die of appendicitis?" Lincoln was surprised. Appendicitis was rarely lethal. It was cured by minor surgery to remove the appendix. The white haired boy only knew about it because his dad had to get his taken out about four years ago.
"Yep… if you don't detect it fast enough. Poima was too dedicated to helping others, so she never found the time or even arranged a time to visit a doctor. She just popped more pills and continued to work. One day, I was bringing her the new set of rings I had made… and I found her slumped over her desk, no longer moving or breathing," Nirtama finished. It was just an unfortunate case of those who wanted to do good, not knowing when to take it easy. Poima in that matter always put others before herself, from beginning to end.
"And then Nora became owner, and things went to the mafia lifestyle?" Ronnie Anne guessed the ending of this story. The elder nodded while placing the new animal rings that had gotten their rubies implanted into them into one of the display cases.
"Jonas tried to step into his mother's shoes, but he couldn't compare. His dad died due to a construction accident well before Poima passed… eventually we started doing things even more illegal to help others out… before we knew it, Lazzerson appeared and wanted most of our turf for himself so he could produce more marijuana. Thus the rivalry began. I wish I could tell you more… I really do… but that's really all this old timer knows, other than Jayzo…" Nirtama looked depressed, recalling very last detail of how things slowly changed for the worst. The elder took the needle off the record player, stopping the jazz music.
"I'm sorry things got so bad," Lincoln apologized, feeling horrible for it all. He understood more now why Nora was an alcoholic. Having to remember that every day must be quite a burden. Ronnie Anne felt just like her boyfriend, unconsciously holding his hand for comfort, her boyfriend having informed her and his sisters of Nora's life as Jonas before her surgery. Nirtama looked over the young couple.
"I feel more sad seeing people like you all beaten and torn up… it's the look of an honest man trying his hardest, and close ones supporting that man getting hurt as well… I hope our next boss can make things normal again, but that would take so much work that I doubt it would happen… and even if it did, I most likely would be dead by then," he confessed while looking down at all the various rings in the display shelf. By then, Lincoln had a sudden idea, one that his girlfriend could not decipher just by his face.
"Ohh… are we actually thinking what I think we're thinking?" Lincada chimed, appearing out of nowhere once again, now lying on the workbench playing with her own hair.
"Nirtama, I'll make sure things go back to normal one day. I don't know how long I'll be working here, but I know it's going to be a long time. I'm gonna do my best to take down Lazzerson and Jayzo, and once they're out of the picture, we can spread back into charity work. No more mob work, even if I have to become the leader of this mafia to make it happen," Lincoln extended an offer of help to hopefully change the future with his tons of work to try and pay off his debt.
"Lincoln, are you crazy?!" Ronnie Anne was terrified at what she was hearing.
"Ro-Ronnie, please hear me out…" the white haired boy requested, his girlfriend crossing her arms as she nodded with an impatient look on her face. Lincoln motioned her to step beside him to the display case, both of them viewing inside while the elder seated aside. Not even he could see Lincoln's imaginary clone though.
"Ronnie, a lot of people who work for Nora are in debt to her… But there are plenty of random people out there who are homeless or have been saved from a life on the streets thanks to this business… And now that things have gone bad, it's been harmful for Royal Woods. Everyone fighting behind the scenes for power, has done nothing but hurt the city and anyone given a ring others don't like, is now on kill lists. If we can find a way to deal with Lazzerson and Jayzo, whether it be with arresting them or making peace with the other mafia leaders, then maybe we'll make a lot of lives better," Lincoln explained his reasoning for this train of thought. He hated to imagine how many had died in these turf wars, and how many more would be next. The ones who were suffering the worst were the ones not even involved in any of the mafias, in a sense the entire city suffered to a degree.
"Now that's what I like to hear! We can just murder our way to the top and knick some rings til we have more than Nora!" Lincada declared. Lincoln cast an angry glare to her to silence her. Ronnie Anne was confused by Lincoln's change of gaze. The boy realized this, fixing his attention back on her.
"Lincoln, you got into this mess because you wanted to make your sisters happy. Everyone is working really hard here to help you, and now you wanna go deeper in? What is wrong with you?! I understand you want to help people, and you said that his place makes you feel like you found a purpose in life and has made you set for the future… but you could die here! There's only so far we're willing to go to help, we aren't going to go killing ourselves by directly going after the other mafia leaders! That isn't our business. That's left to the people with more rings than us," Ronnie Anne angrily told him off, right in his face. Lincoln saw not only anger in her eyes, but the sadness and fear that she tried ever so hard to hide under that mask. He hated that look so much that it always struck his heart.
"Think you're gonna have to be a bit more aggressive. So tell her what we're thinking or start making out with her. Do something to shut her up," Lincada ordered while poking her head out from the glass display case. The teenager blushed at the thought of the second option, but knew that would only get him a knuckle sandwich for being so sudden about matters.
"I'm… I'm sorry Ronnie Anne… I know how stupid and dangerous it is, and I love you all, and I'll do anything for you now that you're helping me out… but if I can make a lot of lives better, even if it costs me my own… then, well… that'd be a sacrifice that would be more than a fair trade," Lincoln disliked to speak his mind so freely, but it was how he felt if he was stuck in debt to Nora for an unknown period of time. He was going to at least try and make a change to make sure less people suffered in the future.
"How would it be fair?! You have more than just me and those three sisters of yours! There's even the rest of your sisters, your pets, your parents… you even have Clyde who's just as worried sick about you… and what about, maybe, just maybe, Christina? How is it fair to any of us if we lose you? It wouldn't be, and those people who you help? They wouldn't care because they wouldn't know a single thing that you did for them!" Ronnie Anne's anger grew. Nirtama was staying out of this, but to try and more subtly calm things down, he let the jazz music resume. If it did nothing for them, it would at least make things quieter for him so he could focus more on work.
"Wow, she even used Christina on ya. She really means it," Lincada commented. Lincoln sighed in his growing depression. Christina was another girl he had once liked. He had tried dating her when he and Ronnie Anne had a minor falling out. However, it went nowhere, and Christina was disgusted with him obsessing over her, so he remained very awkward friends with her. Lincoln knew his girlfriend hated Christina at that, and would never mention her otherwise.
"Ronnie Anne, what will it take to convince you to have some faith in me? I really need your help on this. I can't do it without you, any of you. I'm losing my mind enough just by being here," Lincoln claimed while they headed to another part of the cellar, not wanting to get in the way of the elder's work by causing drama. Lincoln assumed that Ronnie Anne's deep worry was because he refused to kill anyone. None of them were going to if they could help it. But convincing the enemy mafia leaders was not going to give many other options to choose from, it was unfortunately a kill or be killed scenario.
"Aw, come on. Tell'er abut me, please? I'll let you touch me all you want if ya do," Lincada begged from atop of a nearby storage shelf, not getting a response from the boy she was basically haunting.
"Say what I have to do to get you to trust me, and I'll do it," Lincoln requested. Ronnie Annie pondered this. She had no idea if she could really trust him herself. The young girl felt his arms wrap around her, trying to give her a reassuring hug. Lincoln could be a bit more relaxed knowing that violence was not anything new in their relationship, so a volatile argument was nothing major.
"Promise me a few things then…" Ronnie Anne glared to him as their embrace ended. "First off… promise me that you'll do all this smartly and not leave any of us out of the loop."
"There's no other way but the smart way, Ronnie," Lincoln agreed to that easily. However, the list of promises continued, and the two probably spent the next forty minutes down in the cellar talking.
"…and that's it. Promise me you can do all that?" Ronnie Anne asked if he was up to swearing on that. Lincoln stared wide eyed at her. Even Lincada was in a position of shock and awe while standing beside him.
"D-Did she say twenty?! I-I think I heard twenty. No yeah no yeah no I'm pretty sure I heard twenty! Think you might need to look into a vasectomy, or cutting both of them off," Lincada told her male half. Just imagining having to do all that was a nightmare. Lincoln did not even hear his doppelganger from how shocked he was. The list was so long, yet it sounded like things that could be fulfilled.
"Ye… yeah, Ronnie Anne. I promise to do all that, especially the last one if you really want it… if you want to talk about our future together, next time, just say so," Lincoln held his head, agreeing and promising to it all during his momentary daze from his mind being very overwhelmed. He felt Ronnie Anne wrap her arms around him and pull him into a deep passionate kiss. Lincoln felt horrible for stressing her out like this, but he wanted to lie as little as possible to those involved with the mafia.
"What the-?!" Ronnie Anne said, they were interrupted hearing the sound of an alarm blaring. All of a sudden they saw Nirtama making his way for the stairs, he didn't seem to be in a big hurry though.
"What's going on?!" Lincoln asked, he and his girlfriend trying to hurry out of the cellar, the two helping the old man up the stairs so he could go faster. The young couple were somewhat irritated that their romantic moment had been interrupted.
"I wouldn't know. That's the emergency alarm. Only Nora can turn that on, and when it is on, we're required to gather at the main entrance," the ring crafting man explained. That was enough to let Lincoln and Ronnie Anne know that unfortunately they were not going to get back to sleep, because it sounded like a very big emergency if it called for the alarm to be pulled.
"I sure hope it's a madman with a gun. Think I'd rather die than raise twenty little devils," Lincada muttered. Lincoln was getting aggravated with his imaginary clone now, she was not speaking his mind at all, she was independent clearly. He wanted to forget that one promise of them all, but doubted he would. The white haired boy and his girlfriend just wanted to meet up with his sisters at the moment.
"Are we being invaded…?"