Chapter Three: A Fresh Start
After having final goodbyes with everyone at the airfield, Junsu was led to a container on the bay of the aircraft. Just like it was explained to him, it had all he needed for the travel to Thailand. They even managed to pack a large suitcase with a bunch of his clothes from home, somehow. At least he would be arriving with some stuff instead of nothing at all. He was worried about Poison, Roxy, and the others. They explained that they were going to be closely eyeing the situation in Metro. For the next few days and then make their next move from there. They also assured him they would move to help his dad how they could. No doubt he was in some sort of trouble for fighting an Interpol officer.
He wasn't sure how long the trip honestly was, he lost track of time during the flying. Though all the quiet gave him plenty of time to finally reflect properly on the situation. In one fell swoop, his entire life as he knew had been effectively shattered forever. His emotions fluctuated quite a bit during this time. Worrying about his father and his friends, angry at the sheer ridiculousness of the situation. Sadness, about everything he's probably lost for good as a result. Concern about what his future from here on out is going to entail and so on. He was actually glad for the privacy the container provided. He could freely vent with his frustrated yelling, crying, and so on without anyone else around. Junsu knew that he was going to be harboring these feelings for a while still. Though getting most of it out of his system now. Would do him good while he had the time.
It also gave him time to put deeper thought into things he didn't have time before in the fast-paced chaos of everything. Like the fact, his mother was Juri Han of all people. His feelings were mixed on that subject. On one hand, he felt like he should be repulsed by it. She was the most wanted person in the world for the worst sorts of crimes possible. Junsu was no saint by any means, but he was still sickened by the things her name was attached to. On another hand, he felt a mix of happiness and relief.
That came with finally knowing just who his mother was after so much time of wondering. Plus, the added fact that he understood she did care about him, even though she never showed her face to him. He didn't blame her for not being around, she kept away for his own safety. In hindsight certainly a smart move on her part. If she had been around, the situation he was in probably would've happened much sooner. And at an age where he would've been far less prepared. The fact she always sent those gifts was evidence that she did care about and love him.
Then there was the root of the situation, that damn power, the Feng Shui. As much as he felt like he should be angry with his mom. He couldn't bring himself to be, it was frankly pointless when you got down to it. From how his father had worded it all the fact he had inherited it was just plain crazy. Juri never suspected in the slightest that such a thing would occur. If she had, no doubt she would've left some sort of guidance with his dad on the matter. She was also the only one who could help him with properly controlling it. He was not looking forward to whatever bullshit that was going to entail. Whenever he managed to find her, or she found him first. Juri would likely begin her own search for him the moment she heard about what went down in Metro City.
Thinking about the Feng Shui power he noticed it was having effects on him in a passive sense. The bruising he had suffered fighting Cammy was almost gone already. Junsu had always been a bit of a fast healer, but this pace was unprecedented. It made him wonder how else it was passively affecting him. He would have to see if it would affect his training in some manner. Training, was something at the top of his to-do list, once he got settled in Roanapur. He was going to be more prepared the next time he fought someone on the kind of level Cammy was. While Junsu had always been a good fighter, especially for his age. He had never considered himself the best around. He understood there were better fighters than him out in the world. However, his fight with Cammy made him realize just how far ahead certain fighters were. From the parts, he remembered before he blacked from the Feng Shui Taking control of him. He still had no idea what the hell had happened during that blackout. No matter how hard he thought about it, nothing would come to mind.
His thoughts then drifted to his dad and how he was doing. He hoped he had managed to get away once he kept Chun-Li busy. If he did, he was probably with Poison and the others. Then the whole lot of them would probably skip town and go into hiding for the time being. If that wasn't the case, then he was probably in a holding cell currently. Even though his dad had willingly made the choice he did. Junsu still felt horrible about his dad possibly going back to jail for him. Especially, after everything, he's done to turn around and do good for Metro.
He felt everything start to slow down and jolt a bit, it must have meant the jet was landing, hopefully for the last time. They had a previous landing he had been awake for, most likely for fuel. He could hear the sounds of the bay doors opening, guess they had made their final destination. Soon enough he heard the locks on the container being undone and the door opened. A dark-skinned man wearing a greenish tan jumpsuit and leather boots. He had a flattop haircut and wears visor sunglasses along with black fingerless gloves.
"Yo kid, the name's Simons." He announced as he walked inside. "How are you holding up? You've been stuck up in this place for three days."
"Three days, eh?" Junsu mouthed to himself. "It felt longer than that, no matter. Thanks for the help, old friend of my aunts and the rest of the old crew I take it?"
"No problem, the others and I do go way back. When they called looking for help. I couldn't say no."
"Cool, by the way, is there someplace I can shower before I gotta head to the city? Cause I feel, smell, and probably look like a hobo right now." Junsu asked with hope.
"Sure is, the terminal has a whole locker room you can get cleaned up in." Simons replied "Also, a few members of the crew from Roanapur are coming to pick you up. They should be here in the next hour and a half, give or take."
"Sounds fantastic, let's get going," Junsu said without missing a beat as he grabbed his suitcase and followed Simons. After sweating through his clothes twice while escaping Metro City. Then being stuck in that container for all that time. A good shower sounded positively heavenly at the moment.
Junsu had finished his shower; it had felt far better than he thought it would. After dressing in clean clothes and his gloves, he went to close the suitcase but then noticed something he didn't recognize. Shifting a few clothes he grabbed the object and pulled it out and discovered it was a hat. It was a black peak cap with a chain link design that wrapped around it. At the center-front of it, both sides of the chain link were connected to a metal emblem. It was shaped as a skull with a knife in its jaws and two metal pipes behind it in an x. Surrounding it was gear and etched on the gear itself going around. The words Mad Gear Gang were clearly visible. Flipping it around he noticed a note folded and stuck on the inside of it, he grabbed it, opened it, and read.
One of my and Roxy's hats from back in the day. We had it refurbished and planned to hold on to it as a keepsake of sorts. Then once word reached us about what was happening with you. We decided to give it to you as a parting gift of sorts. Who knows, it might just bring you some luck too. We're all wishing you the best back here, just don't give up.
-Sincerely, Your aunts, Poison and Roxy.
P.S. Check the bottom of the suitcase.
Junsu couldn't help but smile and feel a little better. Frankly, he needed all the good feelings he could get right now. He stared at the hat once more, before placing it on his head. Looking at himself in the mirror, he had to admit. He felt he made it look pretty damn good. Then he went and dug at the bottom of his luggage like the letter suggested. He felt a plastic bag, a large plastic bag of sorts. He grabbed it and pulled it out to take a good look at it.
"Holy fucking shit!" He couldn't help but exclaim from what he was looking at. Inside a freezer bag, there were twenty, one-hundred count stacks of hundred-dollar bills. Which meant each stack separately was ten thousand dollars. Altogether he had two hundred thousand dollars in the freezer bag. "I owe you all so much once this's all over, whenever that is." Opening it up he took a thousand and put it in his wallet and put the rest back. He made sure to hide it underneath everything else once more.
He met back up with Simons who had a bag of takeout ready for him. The former Mad Gear had figured he would be wanting some real food. It was a simple burger and fries but after living off nothing but snack foods for three days. Dammit, it was delicious. Simons had to go back out to the aircraft and work on it so it would be where they separate. Though he took him to a secluded outdoor section of the terminal where his ride would come to pick him up before leaving with words of good luck. He wasn't sure how long he had waited since he had no means of checking time. Since his phone had been destroyed in his fight with Cammy he had discovered.
Just as he began wondering when his ride was going to show up. He heard the sound of an approaching vehicle. Soon enough a Jeep wrangler rubicon painted silver with black rims and tinted windows pulled up. The driver and front passenger door opened, and his escorts revealed themselves.
Apparently, they were twin sisters of sorts.
The two were damn near identical from what he could tell. They were clearly of Asian descent. Both stood just as tall as him, they were probably around his age. Maybe a year or two older at most than he was. They both sported slim, yet noticeably fit figures. They were also dressed almost identically. Both wore black knees high shoes and plaid skirts that stopped just above the knees. With studded belts that hung loosely around their waists. They wore black leather fingerless gloves, and each wore black sleeveless off-shoulder crop tops. A few chains went from the front of the tops that connected to a choker around their respective necks. They both had brown eyes and dyed hair that he could tell was naturally black from the streaks of it that hadn't been touched. Done up in a deathhawk style. The edges of their ears were also adorned with multiple spiked piercings. He also couldn't help but note they were both very pretty in the face.
As for what he could tell was different about them. While their clothes were mainly black. One's plaid skirt had green and the other had yellow. Same with the hair, nails, make-up, lipstick, and shoelaces. One twin leaned towards the color green/black with those, the other yellow/black. He also noticed the twin with green was noticeably larger in the chest. In fact, the one with yellow was, to put it bluntly, flat. Granted, they did have one more thing in common and it was rather worrisome.
Namely the fact each of them carried a Large Vietnamese trường đao sword. He had a very strong gut feeling they knew how to wield them too.
"How's it going? Name's Junsu." He politely spoke. "You must be my guides to Roanapur?"
"That's correct," The one with green answered with only the slightest touch of an accent as she spoke. "I'm Nine and this's my twin Nails." Clearly, nicknames of sorts Junsu thought mentally. While the girl now known as Nine kept talking. "Members of the Mad gear Gang back in the city. You're the new guy boss J said was coming to us from the states to bolster our numbers here?" She paused and eyed him up a bit before a small smile graced her face. "You look like a pretty strong fighter; you'll be useful around here. Cute too, could use some color in the hair though."
"Yeah, I suppose so…wait what was that last part?"
Nine said nothing and turned around back towards the jeep while Nails just smirked and followed her sister. Junsu just stood there a bit dumbfounded. Before he sighed, shook his head, and went to the vehicle himself.
XxX
"So, what exactly is the environment of the city, along with the gangs and mafias in it? I was only given basic info on the place before I left." Junsu asked in curiosity as they traveled to Roanapur.
He sat in the back while Nails drove with Nine in the front passenger seat. They had been on the road for a while now. Mainly quiet outside of the small talk the sisters had with one another. Though the purple-eyed teen was a little annoyed by it. Since the two used what must've been their native tongue. Vietnamese as far as he could tell, though he had zero clue what exactly they were saying. At least some of it was about him. Since Nine would occasionally glance at him before talking again with her twin.
"A fair enough question." Nine replied turning her head to face him. "Roanapur is pretty much the unmatched criminal city of the world. If you have the money you get whatever you want, no matter who you are or even how old you are. Drugs, booze, sex, and whatever else. It's all in abundance in the city for anyone who can afford it."
"Good to know, what else?" Junsu retorted.
"Then you have the situation with all the crime groups in the city." Nails cut in also speaking with only a slight accent like her sister. "At the top is the Hong Kong Triad run by Mr. Chang. Then you have Hotel Moscow headed by Balalaika. She and her crew are all former Russian special forces. Next, you have the Colombian Cartel being run by Abrego. Finally, you have the Italian Mafia which is currently run by a prick named Verrocchio. The Mad Gears are effectively big enough to be the next major group. Though we don't quite have enough territory to be considered on the same level as those previously mentioned. In comparison, we're almost big enough to match the mafia give or take here and there."
"Okay, interesting points made," Junsu spoke as he processed that bit of info. "Okay, so don't do anything to piss them off, especially the Russians, they sound fucking terrifying."
"They're cool actually, do right by them they'll do right by you. The same goes for the Triads." Nails replied, "However, I will admit that Balalaika scares the absolute shit of me sometimes."
"Dually noted, what does the gang get up to exactly?"
"We do things like dealing drugs, thievery, bodyguard work, the occasional hit job. We also have girls and twink boys who do prostitution work. Though another member accompanies them to ensure none of the customers overstep themselves. We also do odd jobs for whoever is willing to pay." Nails answered "I and my twin mainly do bodyguard work and hit jobs. Though we have occasionally done prostitution work for those who are willing to pay the pricey tag for that bit."
"I see," Junsu retorted a bit slowly. "Good to know what I could be getting up to, minus the prostitution, not my thing."
"Pity, plenty of girls and guys would pay top dollar for a night with you." Nine snarked in return. "You should keep your options open."
Junsu snorted "I'm not so desperate yet I'm going to go around whoring myself out. If I'm gonna sleep with a girl or suck a cock. It's going to be with someone I'm in a proper relationship with."
The twins both simply stared at him, each with a raised eyebrow of curiosity.
"What?"
"Nothing," Replied Nine "just caught us a bit off guard with that last bit."
Junsu just shrugged his shoulders and the travel fell into a comfortable silence. The purple-eyed teen thought harder about the info he just got. He knew that he was going to have to get his hands dirty in Roanapur. Now the sheer realization of it all was beginning to really sink in. Just another thing to note with how crazy his life continues to get. He couldn't help but wonder by the time everything was said and done. Just how far will he have gone?
By the time they had made it to the city night had fallen. As they drove through the streets, he got a good look at the area. Gangsters, night walkers, druggies, and so on were visible everywhere he looked. Yep, it was defiantly living up to what he had been told so far.
They parked the jeep and Junsu made his way to his new home for the foreseeable future. It looked like a large nineteenth-century-style hotel or rather it probably was. Before the gang took it as their headquarters for business and a place to house its members. It looked to be roughly five stories tall and probably had all the room in the world. The place looked to be in really good shape still surprisingly.
"Damn, I was not expecting something of this scale," Junsu murmured out loud.
"This place was built back when Roanapur was still a somewhat respectable city." Nine chimed in. "Back before the gang became the most undeniably powerful crime group around. The Mad Gears of that time eventually got a hold of it and even after the fall from grace. We've managed to keep hold of it. It's mainly used as the hangout and living place for the gang. Though there is a small section that's used for some of the prostitution work. As well as business with other groups happens occasionally. We keep it well maintained inside and out."
Following the twins inside the place, it really was well maintained. Frankly, it seemed way too nice for a place like Roanapur. He saw a few other members hanging around, and some of them eyed him curiously. He was expecting that, he was the new guy after all. Nails went behind what looked like a reception counter and grabbed a pair of keys. She went down a hallway with her twin and himself in tow and took an elevator to the third floor. They made it to what was going to be his new room. Walking inside and looking around after Nails opened it up, it was rather nice. King-sized bed, nice wood flooring, walls painted a nice beige color, decent sized flat screen on the wall. Even had a full-sized bathroom with a walk-in shower.
"I figured it was going to be nice, but not this nice," Junsu said with surprise.
"Normally not since you're new here but boss J is making an exception." Nails retorted as she handed him the keys to his room. "Old friends of his asked him to do so."
"Aunt Poison, Aunt Roxy, and everyone else back home. I just keep owing you more and more."
The twins perked up a bit at those names. "You know those two?"
Junsu looked at the twins curiously. "Yeah, I've known them since I was a little kid. I consider them and the others who hang with them, my family. Why?"
"They're some of the most well-known people to be in or to have been in the gang." Nails answered. "Some of us younger members like looking up to the members of the past for…various reasons. I always found Poison pretty cool and something of an inspiration in a certain way."
Junsu thought about that for a moment, and something came to mind. When he considered the differences between the twins and why perhaps Nails would have such a liking for Poison. Though he decided not to voice it. It would probably be hitting some personal boundaries too soon. "Fair enough, what's next?"
"Get settled in and rest for the night." Nine replied, "Tomorrow you'll be meeting with boss J. We'll see you in the morning." With that, the twins left closing the door behind them.
Junsu sat on the edge of the bed and just thought to himself for a moment before mumbling to himself.
"Welcome to the Mad Gear Gang."
XxX
Cody was laid in a bed within his cell at the Metro police station. He'd been here for a few days now. He had yet to see Chun-Li again in that time nor Lucia. The former was probably still searching the city thinking Junsu was hiding it somewhere. The latter was still probably pissed at him for keeping such secrets. Things weren't completely bad though; at this point, he knew Junsu had managed to get away. The former Mad Gears were probably hiding out knowing they would be next on Chun-Li's search list. Haggar had already stepped up to fill in as mayor for the time being. To ensure Metro kept smoothly in his absence.
Frankly, Cody had already decided he would need to break out somehow. Lay low for a bit and see what he can do to help Junsu. Though it would have to be done from a distance. As much as he would like to go running right to his son, that could very well be too risky. He'd figure out something somehow, not his first time in this sort of thing after all. His attention was suddenly drawn to the entrance of his cell. When someone stopped in front of it. It was Chun-Li and she looked rather upset and frustrated.
"Where is he?" Chun-Li said in a strained tone of voice.
"As I said before, even if I knew where he went, I wouldn't tell you."
"The former Mad Gears helped him, didn't they? They've gone missing too in the last few days."
"Maybe, maybe not? The world may never know." Cody replied sarcastically.
Chun-Li slammed her hand against the cell door angrily. "I'm not in the mood for your games Travers!" She roared.
Cody narrowed his eyes and immediately knew something wasn't right. "Just what the hell is going on exactly?"
The Interpol officer clenched her fist and spoke through gritted teeth. "While I was dealing with you, Cammy radioed in and offered her help. So she went after that son of yours. After I was done with you, I went to the area where she caught up to him, and you know what I found? Cammy's corpse! He killed her, he brutalized her before breaking her neck! It seems he's not really any different from Juri after all."
Cody immediately shot to his feet; eyes wide with shock. His mind was trying to process what he just heard. His son murder someone, that wasn't like him at all. Not to mention he beat someone like Cammy? He didn't know of her that well, but he did know. That she was some sort of super soldier commando. Junsu beat and killed someone like that? He was skilled for his age but he wasn't that good yet. Unless…
"The Feng Shui power, it must have taken control in the fight." He mouthed out loud more to himself.
"More than likely but that doesn't change the facts of things." Chun-Li retorted
Cody practically growled. "He's not himself at all when that power takes over! He would never do such a thing on his own accord!"
"Irrelevant!" Chun-Li yelled in return her emotions raging. "Regardless of how and why, Cammy is dead, and the blood is on your sons' hands. Make no mistake I will find him sooner or later and I will bring him in. If you don't believe what I'm saying. Her body is in the station morgue as we speak."
Cody just stood there in stunned silence, not knowing how to reply. With nothing more to say Chun-Li spun on her heel and left. She had to head back to HQ and personally report the situation and then go from there. Cammy's body was scheduled to be shipped back to England the next day. So proper preparations and burial could be had. Chun-Li had already made sure to make time to go to it when a date was set.
"You've better hope I find him first Cody." The Interpol officer thought to herself. "At least if I find him first, he'll get to live. If Decapre, Juni, Juli, and the rest of Cammy's sisters find him first. They will kill him."
XxX
The next day a special transporter van was heading its way from the station morgue to its needed destination. Cammy's body was held within a special cryogenic container to ensure proper preservation as it was scheduled to make its transport all the way to England. Where it would receive proper preparations for burial.
However, instead of heading to the officially scheduled way point, the transport van drove until it reached a makeshift airfield. In some random middle-of-nowhere field an hour out from Metro City. There was a small transport plane with a pair of armed men standing in front of it. The driver pulled up and got out of the vehicle.
Bang!, Bang!
He was quickly gunned down by the armed men before he could so much as say a word. He had served his part, so he was no longer needed, and his silence had to be ensured. The two armed men grabbed as quickly and carefully as they could, Cammy's container. They loaded and secured it in the plane before then starting up the aircraft and taking off.
"Body has been secured sir, making our way to the rendezvous as soon as possible." One of them spoke over a radio.
"Excellent work," A male voice answered back clearly in sinister excitement. "We were most fortunate such a golden opportunity presented itself by sheer chance. It will take a little time, but this will be the key to bringing fortune back to us all."
XxX
A/N: Welp that's chapter three in the books. Junsu is about to start his new life as a member of the Mad Gear Gang. Chun-Li is making it her mission to successfully hunt him down before anyone else does. And now someone has stolen Cammy's body for mysterious reasoning. Fun times indeed. Also, I decided to come up with some original Mad Gear members for Junsu to hang around with. If you're wondering about their nicknames, I was inspired to name them after a rock band. Much like how some other official MG members are. If you know your rock music well enough. You probably know exactly which band I'm referring to. Till next time!
