Smuggler's Blues

Author's note: This will be centered on Dean and Lucia. This will cover Round 4A, which has them go to the docks and shipyard.

The sky was dusk, as evening was falling upon Metro City. The MCPD cruiser had arrived over in a section of the bay area of Metro City. Dean sat in the back-seat, where suspects would be seated. Lucia rode shotgun with her partner, Sean Carter.

They crossed the East Hook Bridge. Lucia looked below and noticed the boatyard had several people down there. On any other day, it would be anybody doing their job. But Lucia had a hunch that something was going down. After all, she and Dean were told about something going down at the docks. But what was it?

Another factor was that a few boats were seen from a distance coming in. Several people from below appeared to be waiting for some others to come. Maybe the boats that were sailing towards the docks were arriving for a meeting. The boats were in front of a bigger boat that was pulling up.

"Sean, stop the car right now," Lucia said.

"I'm taking you to the docks," Carter said. "I can't leave you right here."

For some strange reason, traffic wasn't all that bad at that very moment. With the riot having occurred earlier that same day, it would be wise for people in Metro City to stay indoors. After all, it wasn't just rioting that occurred. A lot of the rioting started because of some bombings that occurred in the city. So it's unlikely that people would want to be out and about on that very day.

If anything, the police car was the only vehicle on that bridge at that very moment.

"There's something fishy going on down there," Lucia said. "If they see a police car, then we're dead."

"How do you figure?" Carter said.

"It seems like everywhere we go, the Skull Cross Gang has a hand in something or they're not too far behind," Lucia said.

Detective Carter had stopped the car as Lucia opened the door to step out. She got closer to the deck of the bridge. She noticed the walkway underneath where people can walk under the bridge. She leaned her head out from the railing to see what may have been going on at the docks. From what she saw, some of the people who stood by the edges of the dock watched as the boat was being docked.

What is going on down there? She thought. This didn't feel like a normal day at the docks to her. She then went back to the car and went inside.

"Listen, we might have to go in quietly," Lucia said. "I think something's going on down there."

"What's that?" Sean said.

"I think there might be some kind of deal or a smuggling operation," Lucia said. "Could be drugs, could be arms. I have a bad feeling of what's going on here."

Sean's bottom lip slowly went down and exposed his teeth a tad and let out a minor hiss. "Are you sure about this? You two don't have any arms on you."

"We'll have to rely on our wits to get in there," Lucia said. "Besides, I have an idea for all of us, even you."

"What is that?" Sean said.

"I think that if we can find what's going on there, we can try calling in the others to show what may have been going on today," Lucia said. "I think the Skull Cross Gang is trying to prove a point that they are not to be messed with."

"Lucia," Sean said. "With all due respect, but as your partner, I don't agree with your method here."

"What are you talking about?" she said.

"I know you have your method of laying down the law," Sean said. "I know that when shit gets heavy whenever we have dealt with some thugs, you can get a little violent at times. But this whole thing, you're pretty much putting the law into your own hands."

Without hesitation, Lucia said, "I know I have my ways in enforcing the law, but just because I don't have a warrant or anything doesn't mean I am doing something wrong here. Besides, I have my badge on me to show that I am enforcing the law."

"You are dispensing vigilante justice here," Sean said. "How do we know that this guy you're working isn't a criminal?"

From behind, a voice said, "Hey, I'm right here." Sean turned around and saw Dean sitting there.

"Oops, sorry," Sean said.

"Excuse me for a bit," Lucia said and then got out of the car to open the door to the back seat where Dean was sitting. She said to Dean, "Listen, we'll be done in a bit. Just wait here."

Dean sighed. "Okay, I'll wait a bit. But just remember I have my own score to settle."

"I know," Lucia said and then went back in the car.

"Okay, Sean, I'm going to tell you right now and you need to listen to me," Lucia said. "Remember a couple of weeks ago when we investigated the murder of that one family."

After a couple of minutes, Sean's eyes were slightly wide and his mouth was open a tad. It was not hard to see why he had that facial expression on his face.

"See what I mean now?" Lucia said. "Listen, I'm going to need your help on this. I am not only helping that man out there in bringing down the Skull Cross Gang, but Mayor Haggar is also involved. Also, I found out that Dave is working with the Skull Cross Gang. I even had a feeling that he had been accepting bribes from them, but it seemed that there was more to it. Even when there had been arrests of other gang members, he often had something to do with it. I wouldn't doubt if some of the Skull Cross guys planted evidence or something."

She paused for a bit. "I want you to find any other officers to try to help us on this."

"I'll find others in our precinct and others in other precincts," Sean said. "Some of our fellow officers were killed during the riots. But I will see what I can do."

"Okay, sounds good," Lucia said as she patted her partner on his shoulder and then stepped out of the car.

He looked on as she approached Dean as he was scoping the dock area. Was Lucia making the right choice here? Sean knew about what the mayor had done about four years prior with the Mad Gear Gang. He even knew about the mayor going overseas to help out a couple of friends to deal with another chapter of the Mad Gear Gang. He even remembered a corruption charge that Lucia faced, when a fellow officer from their precinct was actually corrupt.

Sean then drove away, while Lucia and Dean walked alongside the bridge to find the stairs to get to the walkway on the bridge.

As they got lower, Lucia had said, "Did you see anything down there?"

"I am sure that there something going on down there," Dean said. "I have a feeling that the Skull Cross Gang had brought in some stuff, what is it?"

"We'll have to find out," Lucia said. She then saw a ladder to get down to ground level that would be adjacent to the docks. "I also have a plan for both of us."

"What's that?" Dean said.

"I'll tell you when we get down there," Lucia said.

The duo climbed downward on the ladder that was at the end of the walkway. It was quite a drop, but they kept their grip and balance until they reached the base of the bridge. They saw how shallow the water was right there, so they crossed right onto the ground so that they could get right to the docks.

Lucia and Dean looked right towards that particular area of the docks. Lucia then noticed the smaller boats in close to other docks.

"Okay, I'll tell you my idea," Lucia said. "How about I go search the boat? I think there's something in there."

"Wait, I don't know about that," Dean said. "I think I saw someone familiar on that boat."

Even from a distance, Dean could recognize a high-ranking member of the Skull Cross Gang. Something told him that he knew where he could find Stray.

"I'm the cop here," Lucia said. "I might have some evidence here that could bring them down."

"My motivation is to get information on where to find my family's killer," Dean said. "We can both go in there. You can search the boat for the cargo hold while I go deal with the boat's captain. He might know where I can find Stray."

Both Lucia and Dean had their own motives for doing this. Lucia wanted to repay Haggar's debt for being cleared of the corruption charge, as well as to try to figure out what the Skull Cross Gang plans to do. While Dean just wanted to avenge his family's murder. He knew that doing that won't bring them back, but he had been dealing with a lot of pain, especially being that he knows who was behind it.

Throughout the time spent together, Lucia saw that Dean just wanted justice for what was taken from him. It was no secret that that was his main goal. She felt his pain, especially after investigating the murder scene a few weeks prior. It seemed that Lucia was the only person Dean had shared any detail in regards to the massacre. He only mentioned to Haggar and Guy about the murder, but that was it.

They walked forth towards the dock areas. They looked around. With the sun setting, there was still enough light to get a grasp as to what was going on.

From a distance, on that same boat that was docked, a tall muscular boat captain with a tattoo of an anchor on right shoulder stood before a few men. He was wearing blue jeans and a blue and white striped tank-top and a captain hat and also had a beard. The captain was Drake, another one of the Skull Cross lieutenants.

"Alright, men, listen up," Drake said. "Black and Stray should be here soon so that he can tell us what we should do with our shipment. I had to bring this ship to shore. Black should be here soon."

"Can't we just unload one of the boxes and use one of the weapons to guard the place?" One thug said. "I mean we're out in the open. Some guy will snoop in on our shit."

Another thug said, "We already got our protection. Some of May's girls and Andore, as well as Arby and Fat Jack had come out here to make sure no one sticks their noses where they don't belong, know what I'm saying? Besides, Rick and Dirk had recruited a few others who know to handle claws. If anyone comes on, they'll be dealt with."

If only that were true, as Drake looked over from the lower deck of the ship and got out a spyglass and looked through it. He saw a familiar face and a blonde woman with him walking on the wooden dock.

"Shit, he's here," Drake said.

"Who, Captain?" one of the thugs said.

"That loser Dean and some broad came here to crash our deal," Drake said. "Get everyone together. I know that guy Dean wants answers."

At that very moment, as Dean and Lucia walked on the wooden dock, they came across a sign that said "KEEP OUT" on it that was next to a light post. Lucia looked right in front of her and saw a couple of women in silver suits with blades on their gloves. One had pink hair, the other had more of a reddish shade. They looked like they were dressed like that girl May from before. Then a couple of obese followed them, who were Arby and Fat Jack.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" said April, the girl with the pink hair.

"You two don't belong here," said July, the girl with the red hair. "If you two don't want trouble, I'd suggest you two leave." She then rubbed her blades together.

"Out of our way, girls," said Fat Jack, as he and Arby approached the duo.

Lucia turned towards Dean and whispered, "I'll handle the girls. You handle those two."

Dean nodded. Just then, Arby and Fat Jack charged right towards Dean and delivered a double tackle right at him, which sent him right from his feet and then he fell right onto the wooden panel of the dock.

April and July swung their blades right towards Lucia, who backed up at every swing, jumping backwards and moving her head in opposite directions to avoid being slashed. Right after she dodged the last attack, April had spun around and delivered a hard crescent kick right to Lucia's face.

Right from above, on the bridge, Carter looked down right at the dock area and had a look of confusion on his face. He tried to take a closer look, but it wasn't good enough. So he got out a pair of binoculars and looked right down there and saw that Lucia and Dean were being jumped, but they were also fighting back.

The young African-American detective grabbed the police radio in the cruiser and turned it on. He had to find a frequency to garner attention.

"Attention, all units in the area, this is Detective Sean Carter of the Metro City Police Department. I have a disturbance going on at the East Hook docks. I need some assistance right now!"

On the dock, Dean laid a few punches into Fat Jack, and right when he was about to lay the last punch, his right started to charge and then laid his right hand hard into Fat Jack's gut, causing quite a shock that caused him to drop and shake.

Lucia had dealt with April and July after she jumped up and delivered a hard spin kick. Another one of May's girls tried to come at her. She slashed her blades and missed almost every time. "Almost" being the keyword, as Lucia felt something in her abdomen. She noticed a minor cut as a little bit of blood came out of a wound that was close to her belly button, just right above the waistband of her shorts. The cut did not look severe as it only looked like a flesh wound.

But that didn't stop the female Skull Cross soldier to continue.

"You won't be lucky the next time!" she said as she swung her blade right towards Lucia's neck and chest. Lucia immediately dodged the attack and spun around and in that reaction, she jumped up and delivered a spin kick, then another, as she sent the female gang member flying in the air and right at the final kick, she sent her flying towards the water where the female soldier landed.

Another one of May's girl's tried to prepare to do a sneak attack on Dean. Right when he was about to turn around, the girl was about to stab him.

"Dean!" Lucia yelled. The other assassin turned right towards her, as Lucia had jumped in the air and delivered a flying kick with her right foot emitting flames causing the female assassin light on fire. At that moment's notice, the female assassin had fallen into the water to get the flame right off of her.

With a lot of the threats having been knocked out, it was time to get on the boat to see what was going on. Both Dean and Lucia had leaped right onto the deck of the boat and noticed that the door to the cargo hold was open. They also noticed a flight of stairs. Which was the best way to go was anybody's guess.

Right from above them on the roof of the cargo hold, which was close to the boat's bridge, stood a few Skull Cross members who likely rode with Drake on this.

"Hey, Dean," said one of the thugs from the top. "Come up here. We'll have a little fun."

Without any words, Dean punched the palm of his left hand as his fists emitted an electrical charge. He went right towards the stairs.

Lucia, on the other hand, went into the cargo hold, as the answers to her questions will now be fulfilled.

Right when Dean reached the top, a few of sailors/pirates with sunglasses on and beige vests all approached him and were ready to fight at that moment. One sailor grabbed Dean from behind and held his arms back in a double-arm chicken wing lock. The two other sailors went to town on socking him right in the chest, the gut, and also the face. But it didn't take long for him to break away and immediately grabbed the thug who held him back and then jumped in the air and then launched him right towards the water.

A couple of other thugs went right onto the upper deck and tried to jump Dean some more. Some of them even managed to get him on the ground. In the process, a few of them tried to stomp and kick him while he was down.

Suddenly, Dean felt a minor charge in his system and in that moment, he got up and delivered a spinning chop/elbow hybrid move which had an electric surge in his arm to each of the thugs which sent them flying back.

But he wasn't done yet, as he grabbed one of the thugs on the floor and said, "Where is Drake?"

The thug said, "He is down on the front on the lower deck. He wants to take you out."

"I'll be happy to oblige," Dean said and then shoved him right back to the floor.

Meanwhile, in the cargo hold, Lucia saw Billy, Johnny, and Joe, a short Skull Cross thug with long red hair, shades, a black outfit, and for some reason, a muzzle right on his mouth. Drake was seen right through the door.

"Hey, get that bitch, right now!" Drake said.

Without any warning, Dean stormed right through the doorway of the cargo hold and then grabbed Billy and threw him right towards one of the crates that was close to the wall. The crate then broke. However, Johnny grabbed the hook on the chain that was hanging in the hold and was ready to stab Dean right in the back.

Luckily, Lucia intervened and then grabbed him by the waist and delivered a German Suplex right to him. Both Johnny and Billy got up and rubbed their heads from the pain that they suffered and decided to leave, as the looks on their faces said "Screw this, I'm out of here!"

But only one or two men were left, as Joe looked right at Lucia and put up a fighting stance. Dean then looked right outside towards the front of the boat, as Drake picked up a large anchor.

"This guy's mine," Lucia said. "You go handle the captain." Dean nodded.

Joe stood there with his arms spread out and his moved around. Lucia tried to lay a kick right onto him but he quickly moved right out of her way. She tried to lay a few more kicks right to him but he was so quick that he rolled right under her and then went behind her and jumped right onto her back and grabbed her by the shoulders and delivered a couple of head-butts right to the back of her head.

With Joe still on her back and now noticing that he was getting ready to grip her neck, she quickly ran backwards towards a wall. It didn't matter which one or what she hit. She quickly ran and jumped backwards and hit Joe against something, causing him to head the back of his head and to let go of her.

She sat up and took a deep breath and then looked over at Joe, who was laid out but still breathing. But what caught her attention was something that she had suspected initially. She got up and looked closely at the crates, which were marked "Sims Inc." and then saw what was inside one of them: a stash of firearms, ranging from pistols, shotguns, to submachine guns and assault rifles. The rest of the crates had the same marking of Sims Inc. There were enough arms to support a small army. Was the Skull Cross Gang going to use those arms for themselves? Or were they going to make an arms deal?

In that moment, she had to do something. She quickly ran out of the cargo hold and ran up the stairs to the upper deck and went into the bridge. She opened the door and ran right towards the radio. She needed to make sure the MCPD, the Coast Guard, anybody was nearby.

"Hello, can anybody read me?" She said. "This is Detective Lucia Morgan of the MCPD. I am at the East Hook Docks. I just came across a stash of illegal firearms that were smuggled into the city."

Right when she was done saying, a voice was heard saying, "I read you loud and clear, Detective Morgan. What's your status? Where are you?"

"I am on the bridge of the boat," Lucia said. "I…" She then looked out the window and saw someone running down one of the docks to her left.

What the hell? She thought. A pair of binoculars was set right close to the radio and the wheel of the bridge. She picked them up and looked right through them. She saw what looked like an African-American cop running down the docks and then turned onto one on them and then tried to find a boat to escape on or at least alert some authorities. Then she noticed a tractor going towards his direction with other people pointing towards the direction of the cop. The cop turned out to be Carter. With the sky getting darker, the lights had come in and she was able to pinpoint who the person was that was running.

She picked up the radio and said, "I'll have to get back to you. Just send in the Coast Guard or MCPD." She dropped the radio and then ran out of the bridge.

Meanwhile, Dean stood there face to face with Drake, who held the anchor by the chain right over his shoulder. They stood in a distance in front of each other with Uptown Metro City in the distance on the end of the bay.

"Well, well, Dean," Drake said. "I guess we have our ways of getting to you. You decided to join us, huh?"

"I never will," Dean said. "I just want to know where Stray is."

"You know that I'm not going to tell you," Drake said. "Even if you do find him, it will be too late because he will already be done with you. Besides, you don't find Stray, he finds you, and when he does, it's all over."

Dean put up his stance and an electrical flash went around his fists. Drake pulled the anchor from over his shoulder and then spun it around knocking Dean down in the process. Dean then got back up and then Drake threw the anchor right towards him, but this time, Dean jumped out of the way, except when he got up, Drake immediately dashed right towards him and delivered a hard tackle and went against the metal wall of the boat.

Dean was down, but Drake wasn't done. He picked him up, as Dean was only some inches shorter than him, and grabbed him by the neck and delivered a few hard punches to Dean's face. Dean dropped when Drake let go and then Drake jumped up and was about to deliver a hard senton attack, but Dean rolled and Drake missed.

Dean then got up, as did Drake, who then picked up the anchor again. There was no time to hesitate, as Dean ran and then delivered a slide attack which then tripped Drake. But the sailor then got up and looked right at Dean with a glare. Dean had a few bruises on his face from the anchor attack, as well as the punches he had received.

Drake walked towards Dean, as he towered over him by a little bit. He delivered a hard right hook towards Dean's face and delivered a hard left-handed body blow to Dean's gut. Drake tried to punch Dean again, but was blocked as Dean had grabbed Drake's right hand and then threw him over his shoulder.

But Drake didn't want to give up. Dean's arms started to charge again. Drake looked at him and wondered if he was even human, but in reality, Dean got those powers after he had been tortured. Somehow those shocks enhanced his abilities.

Drake tried to tackle Dean again, but Dean grabbed him as he started to flash and then took him down to the floor of the ship. But he wasn't done, as he continued to hold the captain and then jumped up as Dean was flashing and then threw him to the floor. Drake tried to sit up and but couldn't as he lied on the floor.

It wasn't over yet, as Dean knelt right before him. "I'm going to ask you one last time, where is Stray?"

"Like I said before," Drake said, as he tried to catch his breath. "It won't do you any good. Stray will find you and you better be ready. Besides, I didn't have shit to do with your family being killed. I'm mostly doing stuff for Black."

"Oh, I know, and Black is next, too," Dean said and then walked away.

Meanwhile, Carter continued to run from the Skull Cross Gang members. He tried to reach for support, but for some odd reason, he wanted to investigate the area by himself. The moment one gang member made him out, Carter was screwed. He tried to radio in from his scanner that he had, but there was no reception close to the water. He hoped that someone may have heard his report on the police car radio from before.

He tried to use his gun, but he knew that because he was outnumbered that if he fired at someone, it would draw attention and for all he knew, they were probably heavily-armed.

But that wasn't the worst part. As he tried to find a boat that may have had a radio in it or at least find a hiding spot to find some reception for his own radio so that he can reach any reinforcements. A Skull Cross Gang soldier had gone after him on a tractor. He ran and ran, but some other soldiers came out of the woodwork and pointed to the man manning the bulldozer in the direction he was running.

For some odd reason, he ran down another dock to search for a boat, except this time, he wanted to make his getaway. But it wasn't about to happen, he turned around and saw the tractor treading right onto the dock.

"Oh shit," he said to himself. The only option he had was to try jumping in the water. He was an average swimmer at best, but anything could have been better than being run down or run off a dock.

However, Lucia raced off the boat the moment she was going on. The moment she saw the bulldozer get onto the dock to either run over her partner or run him off the dock, she had to think fast.

It was in that moment that she jumped right on the back of the machine. The machine was not fast, so she got off the boat at the right time. She climbed right on the back of the tractor and as it was slowly coming up on Carter, she crawled right towards to the driver.

She leaned right towards the driver. "Stop the tractor right now!"

"Yeah right," the driver said. "I ain't doin' shit!"

Right when the thug said that, Lucia grabbed him by the head and then slammed his head right against the windshield, which broke it a bit and then shoved him right off the seat. He screamed as he dropped into the water. As the tractor moved closer to the detective, he kept backing up but then noticed how close to the edge was. Lucia got on the seat and tried to look for the brake. She tried to hit the brake, but it wouldn't stop. She saw that it was getting closer and closer, as Carter was so close to the edge that he was about to fall at any moment.

But then it hit her. Lucia saw an emergency brake and quickly hit that and boom! The tractor went to a complete stop. Carter looked behind him and saw that he was so close to falling into the water. Lucia sighed in relief.

"Thank you, Lucia!" Carter said.

"No problem, Sean!" She said and then took another deep breath.

Just minutes later, Lucia and Carter had walked right towards the base of the docks and saw that several boats and cop cars were pulling up. It turned out that the police and coast guard had responded to Lucia's report after all.

Dean then approached Lucia and said, "Let's go. We need to meet up with Guy and Haggar."

"Right," Lucia said and then turned towards Carter. "Hey, is it okay if we use the squad car? We need to find more stuff."

Earlier, Carter would have told have told her no because of what she was involved in. But the fact that she is working with the mayor on this, as well as saved his life, he realized that he owed her.

"Here, take these," Carter said and handed her the keys to the squad car. "Oh, and what did you find?"

At quick notice, she said turned her head and said, "We found some illegal arms. I'll explain the rest later. If you want to know more, we'll be in Chinatown."

Carter then nodded his head as several cops were searching the ship and some had taken some Skull Cross members out in handcuffs, including Drake.

The detective realized that he should not have doubted his partner. He felt that he owed her a lot more than he thought and it wasn't just about the fact that she saved his life.

Right on the bridge up above, a limousine was seen parked, as a man dressed in a military uniform with a red beret and an eye-patch stood there with a pair of binoculars. Right next to him was a man in a long green overcoat and long purple hair and shades on his eyes. The military man was Black, the leader of the Skull Cross Gang, whereas the man in purple and green was Stray, Black's right-hand man.

"Well, Stray, looks like our whole plan went to shit," Black said. "I see that one guy you failed to kill that one night. He probably had something to do with this."

"Wait, what? Let me see," Stray forcefully grabbed the binoculars and saw Dean walking with Lucia towards one of the police cars. Lucia had flashed her badge to be cleared to use the car.

"Well, I guess I need to take care of that little problem," Stray said. "I mean it didn't seem like Dave could have handled them. Callman didn't say shit, even though I could have gotten it out of him my way. You can't rely on Caine for anything. He never wants much to do with us, unless we give him some stolen cars or some shit."

"It turns out our plan to run Metro City went to hell," Black said. "Those weapons were going to be our plan to show the city what we're made of. Hell, Belger only wished he could be like me. All he had was money. I have my own way of power. Besides, even though Drake failed us, we still have our resources for power."

Stray nodded his head.

"But until we get our own situation sorted," Black said with so much venom and then turned towards his second-in-command with an ice cold stare out of his one eye. "You need to handle our problem. Whether it's taking out that one guy who wants revenge, the mayor, that lady cop, or even that one ninja, just take them all out."

Stray nodded again and then an evil smile grew on his face. "Yeah, the mayor and that ninja think they could take us all on just because they defeated Mad Gear before? Mad Gear ain't got shit on us."

An evil smile grew on Black's face at that moment. "Just take care of them, okay? Or else I'll take care of you."

Stray nodded once again.

Another note: Okay, I am going to level with you on some stuff here. So there was no fight sequence on the bridge (I mean a bridge to cross) like in the game, because I had to conduct some research about bridges and docks. So I used the bridge as an obstacle for Dean and Lucia to get off of to head to the docks. Plus, I kept on looking at videos for the long-plays and kept on wondering how they go from a bridge to the dock. I know I shouldn't question logic in video games, especially beat-'em-up games, but still. At least in my Final Fight 1 story, I had it be that Cody, Haggar, and Guy went through a hallway to get to the fight arena that was close to the subway. You get what I mean.

I also had debated the bit with the tractor. Initially, I had thought of having it be that Dean will fight Drake, while Lucia would scope the area and then get caught in that situation. However, being that I wanted to include my OC as somewhat of a backup, supporting character if you will, I had it be him instead and had Lucia make the save. Plus, it made sense for the different paths with Dean going to the top of the boat while Lucia went into the cargo hold and found the arms in the crates. He'll appear again in another chapter.

It also should be noted that the tractor bit was a bonus round in the game. I wanted to implement that bit into the story.

I also felt like I needed to add a bit with the main villains at the end.

Also, Smuggler's Blues was a reference to the Miami Vice episode of the same name. It was also a song from the late Glenn Frey.

The next chapter will be Guy and Haggar in Chinatown, which was an alternate route in the game. It will be up soon.