More time passed since Rock started his probation, he now was halfway the period and the future prospect was bright, he had proved himself over and over again, for Both Dutch and his Aunt, not only those two but also for Revy, the duo although pissed the shit out of each other sometimes, had become almost inseparable and unbeatable in battle, especially after Rock learned from his partner her dual yielding technique and he became as good as her in no time, just like when Balalaika taught him how to shoot, speaking of her, she was bursting with proud, his fame as a shooter and as a negotiator were reaching even the high levels of the underworld, more than once the syndicate leaders had resorted to his services and all of them were royally ripped-off without even noticing, Balalaika knew, her nephew didn't hide business related things from her, she had to make one hell of an effort to no laugh her butt off during the reunions of the council were frequently the other leaders complimented Rock's abilities of making them save money.
Besides her, only Chang knew that Rock was blood related to Balalaika, but this didn't give him much of an advantage, sure Rock never would dare to pull something on Chang, he was the big boss of the city, although Chang had a strange tough on the back of his head that he wasn't keeping himself on the line for respect or fear, no, deep in his mind he was only keeping himself from pulling one on Chang because he was worried sick about his aunt, Rock knew that Balalaika is one hell of a warmonger and could lead and win an war against hell itself if she wanted, but if depended on him, there's no way in hell he could let his beloved aunt put herself in even more danger that she already is and this is something that could be exploited to keep the status quo of the city, Chang didn't give a shit about the Colombians and the Italians, they were fools for trusting Rock's services knowing that his boss answered directly to Balalaika.
"I believe that we are here for a reason other than exchanging pleasantries", Balalaika was less than happy on being called to an emergence reunion of the council, especially at lunch time, today's menu is chicken Kiev, "what did you guys did this time?"
She had just passed through the door of the private room of a club, and was facing Abrego the current head of the cartel, Verrocchio the patriarch of the local branch of the Cosa Nostra and Chang the leader of the triad.
"oi, calm own babe, we are here today to discuss potential business, not the fuck ups of our friends", Chang as always laid down and casual.
"what is so important that an emergency meeting had to be called?", Abrego was nervous, he hated those meetings, sure a seat at the council who's ruled the city under the shadows was a big deal, but this didn't make it less scary.
"as you may had noticed a new business had been storming the city lately", Chang says lighting a cigarette, "o better saying, a new kind of entertainment".
"you mean the vale-tudo fighting clubs?", says the Italian pouring himself a glass of bourbon.
"exactly, they had been growing in popularity and are popping everywhere and whenever they appear money starts to rain, I believe it's time for us to step in and make ourselves a little wealthier".
Meanwhile on the other side of the city the lagoon company were on unnatural calm day of, usually they would be neck deep with work, mostly deliveries around the town and the nearby ports, but for some reason there were nothing to do, Revy was bored out of her mind, Dutch was sitting in the living room chugging a beer and watching tv, Benny was in his room doing god knows what in his computer and Rock was finishing the paperwork of the trimestral financial report, liking or not they still had to pay the taxes of the legal side of their business.
"Rock, put those papers down and relax", said Dutch without taking the eyes out of the tv, he had to admit the kid is a hard worker.
"don't worry boss, I am almost finishing, but I need you to latter take a look at the report, there are feel things that I don't have authority to check"
Sure enough Rock finished the paperwork and after looking to the clock he asked if he could leave the office, Ditch gladly obliged since they didn't have anything lined that day, but Dutch also said to keep his cellphone on just in case any job pops out, obviously, Revy was going with him, those tow had developed a good bond over the months, Dutch was happy as he could be, because since Rock came into the scene Revy had calmed down a little and was catching some of his partner good habits, especially the one of not starting a shootout out of nowhere, Dutch didn't know how he did that, but he was glad he managed that because since she stopped blowing up bars on regular basis he was saving a shit ton of money since he no long had to pay for repair fees at the same frequency he had before and thanks to that efficiency Dutch was royally afraid of the day Rock would leave and work full time for his aunt.
"so, anything new with the ivans?", Says Revy on the passenger's seat of the company Pontiac looking on the backseat trough the mirror and noticing a thermal bag.
"not much, things had been peaceful there too, but is worthy to mention that apparently we are going to set a foot on the fighting clubs fields"
"really?! I was wondering why it took so fucking long to fry-face to milk that cow"
Rock didn't liked how people called her aunt behind her back, but he usually let it slide since Balalaika didn't cared…as long as she wasn't called that to her face.
"we were checking the potential profit first, weighing the pros and cons, liking or not is an investment and investments have risks"
"I get it, but I really tough that at this point you guys would already had these club on your pockets", Revy takes from her pocket a pack of cigarettes, takes one and lights it she than takes a deep drag.
"we kind of have, since the organizers have to pay a fee to use the buildings in our territory and we also get a share of the other services that flock around those clubs, but still we don't have an efficient way on taking a share of the thick of the money and also the competition with the others organizations is tight".
"other services?".
"yes, food and drinks vendors, hookers and sugar dealers, they swarm around those clubs like bees on a honey pot, but by far are the bet money that really matters"
"so the greenies of the bet's isn't going to Fry-face's pocket yet, she must be mad"
"she is, one single night of activities on one of that clubs have a potential profit of thousands on bets and other services and we aren't getting a single dime out of that".
"that's rough, but knowing your aunt she probably had already started pulling the strings to change that".
"yes, the organizers of the clubs are on board since they will have the protection of Hotel Moscow, as long as they keep the cash pouring in, but the other groups are in the way, since they don't want to lose so much potential money"
"sheesh! … I really don't want to be in those guy's shoes, do you think this can start another war?"
"the chance is minimal, but still a chance, although I believe that Chang will do something to prevent that from happening, since I believe he doesn't want to have his ass kicked by my aunt".
Both chuckled at the last sentence, although Rock wasn't in the city during the original war between the Russians and the Chinese he knew that was gruesome to say the least and the last thing anyone wanted was a new war, especially now that Hotel Moscow's power was well consolidate in the city.
The trip was peaceful, but during the commute Revy couldn't stop looking at Rock's arms and hands, he had noticed that he has a couple a scars on them, battle scars nonetheless, in her mind, they didn't match him, he lived in japan for fucks sake, till feel months ago he had a normal and peaceful life, boring and stagnated but still peaceful, those scars didn't made sense to her, she wanted to ask him about them, about how did he got them, but she also knew that if she asked him something about his past, she would be breaking the unwritten rule of no asking about each other's past, but her curiosity was bigger than she could predict.
"Rock, how did you get those scars?", she said after blowing a cloud of smoke and using the cigarette to point at the scars on Rock's arms.
"oh! These? I got from fighting", he glimpsed at Revy, in her eyes he could see that she wanted to know more, "you see, in japan bullying is relentless, so much that is one of the reasons why our suicide rates are so high, more than once I saw myself fighting, most of the times against someone bigger and stronger and till aunt Sofiya taught me how to fight I was always at the receiving end of one hell of an ass beating, torture and public humiliation and to make things worse the people who did that to me did it for fun, for some reason they decided that I only existed to suffer for their pleasure and since they were the sons and daughters of high ranking people and my parents didn't give a shit about me they got out scot free".
Revy was silent, she knew how it felt to be at the receiving end of human cruelty and without help, she wanted to say something, especially because she started to notice that rock was shaking a little, those were painful memories, but again, she didn't know what to say, comforting people was a quality she didn't have.
"so, after Fry-…", she would call again that nickname, but stopped herself, "Sis, taught you how to kick some asses, things got better?"
"a little, still it was hard, the parents of those bullies started pulling strings and things only got worse for some time, middle school was hell and high school was even worse, but truth be told I had aunt Sofiya and my brother on my corner, so it was at least bearable".
"fuck!", Revy says between her teeth, she really regretted asking Rock about that, especially since upon hearing his story, memories that she had long buried are now coming back to haunt her, "now I get it why you are like your aunt's fucking lap dog, you own her".
"more than I will ever be able to repay".
"I can't judge you on that, you still a fucking annoying piece if shit tough".
"I can live with this", he says giving a gentle smile while chuckling, "and Revy, thanks".
"for what dipshit?", she says while lighting another cigarette.
"for listening", he says, with a sincere tone.
"shit!", Revy scream while blushing after the cigarette felt from her lips directly on her shorts.
Rock couldn't resist and laughed at the scene and to no surprise of his Revy gave him one hell of a slap on the back of his head, although by the string of curses that followed it looked like she was the one who got hurt in the process.
To no surprise on Revy's part, they were at Hotel Moscow, Rock visited this place so much times that is miracle that he didn't lived here, but she couldn't blame him for not wanting to bother his aunt. They pass through the usual security shenanigans and head straight to Balalaika's office after arriving there they noticed that Balalaika was way more stressed than normal, how? The ashtray had a pile of ashes and cigar butts and she was also halfway into a bottle of vodka.
"I must presume that the meeting didn't go well", Says Rock seeing his Aunt going probably trough the umpteenth cigar while reading some papers.
"you have no idea", the Russian woman answers with a tired tone without taking her eyes out of the papers, "from all the ways the fighting clubs matter could be settled it has to be a tournament".
"captain, the tapes arrived", said Bris coming from the door with an enormous cardboard box filled it VHS tapes, completely ignoring Rock and Revy.
"let-me guess sis, now you have to find a fighter".
"yes and this isn't easy, I don't know what Chang have in mind, but I know that he probably already has a fighter, and judging by his confidence, must be a really good one"
"well, this is serious, but what about a pause? I brought your lunch", Says Rock putting the thermal bag down and taking a lunch box from inside.
"thank you", says Balalaika, "considering the day I had, a good meal will help greatly".
While Balalaika was eating Rock helped looking through the papers, it was a list of fighters a very detailed list, with name, height, weight and the number of victories and defeats.
"so, what are the rules?", Rock asked.
"what is the deal with the tapes?" Revy asked.
"each one of the leaders will choose a fighter, no weight restrictions, but they must be all man, the fighters will battle i fights, who going to face who will be decided by lottery the last fighter standing wins and will receive a hefty compensation, while his employer will receive total monopoly of the fighting clubs syndicate and the money from the bets", answered the Sargent, who also was eating, "and the tapes are some recorded underground fights, we will use them to see the ability of some fighters and them try to hire them".
"you have an army sis, I bet any of them would be more than happy to fight".
"I wish I could do that, unfortunately another rule is that the fighters can't have affiliations with the syndicates, so I have to hire someone from outside Hotel Moscow".
"that's rough", says Rock, he knew his aunt was worried, this is one big bet with high risks and even higher rewards, "we at least know who the other fighters are and when it will be the tournament?".
"no idea, the tournament is next week, but I can presume that The Italians and the Colombians will hire someone from the clubs in their area, is Chang who makes me worry, he has the money and the resources to hire some high level fighter".
"well, in this case is better if we start looking at this tapes".
The next four and a half hours were spent in the surveillance room looking through one by one of the tapes, there were a lot of good fighters, but none of them was up to Balalaika's expectations and that was making her became even more annoyed, although Revy was having a lot of fun watching those fights.
"none of these will do", says Balalaika lighting another cigar, taking a deep drag, letting the smoke fill her lungs before puffing a cloud of smoke, "some of these are as good as a drunk bar fighter and the good ones are either retired or dead, at this rate we will need to resort to the street fighters".
"relax sis, we will find a good one", says Revy taking another tape, "here check this one, 'the undead vs the fang'".
Rock tensed up, he knew that name very well and as fast as lightning he tried to take the tape out of Revy's hand but the woman was faster and noticing that his partner was sweating bullets she opened an evil smile and in a malicious tone, "Rock baby, there's something you want to say?".
"no, no", Rock answered with his cracking and squeaking.
That was the voice of someone with something to hide, Balalaika knew that, not only for knowing that Rock was decent liar, but he still had a lot to learn in that department, but also she was a tempered interrogator and knew when someone was about to break and spill the beans.
"Rokuro, explain yourself", she said not asking, nor demanding, she only said.
"fine, remember when I said in an e-mail that I had learned Okinawan Karate from Mr. Tokogaki, one of my elderly neighbors when I still live with my parents?"
"yes I remember, I if am right he was your teacher for almost ten years", Balalaika was happy as could be when she heard that his nephew was learning anther martial arts, sure she taught him systema and a bit of sambo, the martial arts the red army had taught her, "so what it has to do with this tape".
"well, after I obtained my red belt, I started fighting in underground tournaments to polish not only my Karate, but also my sambo and systema, since they had more flexible rules than the normal tournaments, one of the rules was 'no real names' so I choose one in the heat of the moment in this case, I am 'the fang'".
"are you serious?", said Balalaika remembering that in one of those E-mails he said that he was participating I less than legal fighting tournaments, but still it didn't stop her from massaging the between her eyes while she spoke with a serious tone, "I tough you were joking when you sent that E-mail… tell-me, how much victories you had? And there something else you want to tell-me?"
"I had around 49 fights, 48 victories and one draw, no defeats, also, well, aunt, do you still aware of the fact that I weight exactly the same as my height and when I was little o broke things without noticing, right?"," he says receiving a nod of affirmation from Balalaika, "well I got tested a fell years ago and turns out that I have a rare syndrome called 'superman syndrome' that makes my muscles, bones and tendons 58 times more dense than an average human so basically I have super strength per se".
"aw, fuck-me! That's explains a lot!", Revy exclaims remembering all the times Rock moved with his bare hands cargos and objects that usually would require heavy machinery, "looks like our fucking problems are solved, sis, since Rock-baby here doesn't work for you… yet, you can hire him as your fighter, let him run amok on the ring, all hell breaks loose and we walk out of there with our pockets full to the brim, easy breezy!".
"not so fast two-hands, as miraculous as it looks, there's no way I would put such responsibility on Rock's shoulders without checking if what he says is truth, per now let's check if what he said is truth, after that I will think on the case".
And so they do, one after another, all the tapes were the name "the fang" was written were watched and just like rock said there he was, wearing his kimono beating the shit out of opponents twice his size with extreme, almost comical ease using well-polished techniques and inhuman strength and speed, in more than one his opponents were sent flying across the ring.
To say that Balalaika was impressed was an understatement and so was Revy and Boris, but still, it wasn't enough to convince his aunt, so the Sargent comes with an idea.
"let's see if the boy still sharp, thre rounds against or best mans, myself included, if he wins he participates, if he loses we arrange another fighter".
"not a bad idea", the captain says in amusement indeed, it was a good way to test Rock, even if loses he still would receive a good boost on his reputation, "the man seemed to be a little bored recently, comrade Sargent, prepare the fighters.