Okay, here's chapter five. Some background on our main villain will be provided. I greatly apologize for the delay. I have been very busy lately and I'm sure you can all relate. Anyway, I still own nothing; please R&R!

Ch. 5: Roanapur's Clusterfuck Day

After a few minutes of trekking up the stairwell of Chang's tower, the Lagoon Company finally reached their floor. Since each member was holding three cases of the drugs, it was left up to Mr. Su to open the door that would lead them into the main hallway. Mr. Su jumped back in fright when the door opened straight into a raised gun with a Chinese dragon on the handle.

"Ah, it's just the Lagoon Company." Chang teased, lowering his weapon and pushing his trademark aviators up his nose with a smirk, "And here I thought there might be a threat lingering in the building."

There was a growl as Revy pushed her way past Benny and Rock from the back of the landing in a rather awkward and comical display considering she was still holding her three cases. "Ya wanna see a fuckin' threat! I'll show you a threat!"

Chang merely chuckled in amusement since he and almost everyone else knew that she was just jerking his chain. He decided to placate her.

"Now, now, Two-hands, don't forget who taught you how to wield two guns." He looked down at her with a wry smirk and a triumphant gleam in his eye that showed when he lowered his sunglasses just a bit to watch her put her foot in her mouth. "Although, I don't doubt that you are indeed a threat. Now, follow me."

Chang led them through the ornately decorated hallway that was furnished with red and gold colored rugs and lined with a few stone lion statues. On one of the book cases at the far end of the hall, there was a fat Buddha incense burner. In this particular instance, Rock found that particular statue ironic given the recent attempt on the triad boss' life.

'He must not be rubbing Buddha's belly,' Rock thought, in reference to the belief that that particular Buddha brought good luck.

The inside of Chang's office/lair was much the same as the hallway: the overall theme of the room was red and gold with richly colored red walls, crimson and gold carpets, three black leather couches that were most likely sitting in some sort of Feng Shui pattern, and a glass coffee table in the middle of the couches. This room also had several golden dragon statues that were similar to the dragons on Chang's guns. There were two on either side of Chang's black wooden desk to the far right of the room, one on each side of the door that they'd entered, and one in the left hand corner opposite the door near the small bar.

"Just make yourselves comfortable." Chang said in a casual manner, "Would any of you like a drink?"

At the prospect of alcohol, Revy perked up from where she'd plopped down with her legs hanging over the seat of the couch. She paid no mind to the fact that her sudden movement was making Rock rather uncomfortable since he was getting squished between her and Dutch.

"Ya got any Bacardi in that fancy bar o' yours?"

"151?" Chang smirked in response.

"Fuckin' A!" The gunslinger exclaimed gleefully, shoving Rock into the floor when she jumped up in excitement. It had only been five days since the last time she had felt the burn of hard liquor in her throat, but that was far too long in her opinion.

Chang nodded his acknowledgement as he reached on the highest shelf behind his bar for the rum and poured four glasses. He also remembered two cans of the Lagoon Company's favored beer for Dutch and Benny.

The triad boss smirked, directing his next comment at Dutch in reference to his many good-natured complaints about the man's hospitality.

"You see, Dutch; that's what hospitality looks like. That wasn't so hard now, was it?" He chuckled as he set the tray down and each person took their respective drinks. Dutch merely frowned and gave a dismissive wave as he popped the top on his beer and took a swig.

"Alright then; let's get down to business, shall we?" Chang took a leisurely sip of rum and set it down on the table. With that simple action, the atmosphere in the room seemed to shift as his casual persona dropped in favor of a rarely seen darker side.

"Right then, as you probably have already deduced, the job I sent you on was partially a wild goose chase—I appreciate that you've made it back with my drugs and my man, by the way. For some time now, a Japanese yakuza syndicate has been attempting to muscle in on the triad's turf here in Roanapur, but recent events have led me to suspect that the triad is merely a smaller fish on the quest for the great white whale. "

Rock's eyes widened in surprise as he connected the dots of Chang's explanation.

"You don't mean…?"

"That's right, Rock." Chang said, taking a drag of his cigarette, "Balalaika."

"Well, well, Mr. Chang," A familiar voice called from the doorway, drawing all eyes in the room. "I see you've started this little meeting without me."

"Speak of the Devil!" Chang chuckled, moving over on the couch to make room for the Russian mafia boss.

Balalaika, however, wasn't in the mood for any pleasantries and skipped straight to saying her piece after taking her seat. Boris remained silent and stoic as ever as he stood behind her.

"It seems that someone is trying to muddy the waters here in Roanapur. We have reason to believe that that someone has ties to the eliminated Washimine Group of Japan." With a snap of her fingers, Boris reached into his coat pocket and retrieved a picture, tossing it onto the coffee table.

"Fuck!" Revy and Rock both muttered in unison. There on the picture looking up at them, was Ginji Matsuzaki. "No wonder that fuckin' prick on the boat looked so familiar!" Rock nodded in agreement at her sentiment, aside from the fact that Ginji was several inches taller than "Shinji", the resemblance was quite striking.

Balalaika smiled grimly at their reactions while she cut a fresh cigar and lit it.

"The photo you're looking at was found among the debris outside Hotel Moscow this morning. This is a personal matter for the shithead that we're dealing with."

"Which brings us to the last two items of business," Chang snuffed out the glowing remnants of his cigarette and pushed his sunglasses further up the bridge of his nose. "There's a lot I don't know about what happened in Japan, but I am aware that you two were as responsible for the fall of Washimine as Balalaika. That makes Lagoon company a potential target if this is indeed a personal matter for our dear friend. You killed Matsuzaki yourself, didn't you, two-hands?"

"Well, he did certainly seem to have it out for us during that little clusterfuck on the boat." Dutch added his two cents, remembering what Chang had said earlier. "Now what was that second item of business?"

"Two of Roanapur's major mafia figures have been attacked." Balalaika said, casually taking a puff of her cigar. "It goes without saying that things will get very ugly, very quickly." The members of the Lagoon company couldn't help but swallow thickly at the chilling gleam in Balalaika's eyes. Her bloodlust was surfacing for all to see, but they knew this was only the tip of the iceberg. "We know that you'd rather be as far away as possible from the carnage, and we acknowledge that you've been good to us thus far. However, in this case, I'm afraid it simply isn't possible for you to avoid the blood bath. We'll be needing your services in order to carry out this war."

"I see." Dutch spoke, downing what was left of his rum in one swift gulp. Chang was one thing, but anytime one of her comrades was killed, Balalaika would go looking for Satan himself until she had shed so much blood that no one would even dare look at her too long after that. "Well, normally I'd prefer not to get involved, but since we're already knee deep in this cesspool, I'll do what I can for the cause."

"Glad we got that settled, then." Chang said, snapping his fingers as he returned to his carefree demeanor. It was his second Lieutenant that answered him and passed a briefcase over to Dutch.

"I've raised your payment to $200,000 for your troubles. Have a drink on me at the Yellow Flag, why don't ya?"

"Fuck yes!" Revy yelled her approval as the group stood to leave the room. "Rock, you better get ready, I'm gonna drink your fuckin' ass under the table!

"Alright," Dutch spoke up soon after the group entered the GTO, "you two wanna fill me in? I never had a reason to ask, but just what the fuck happened in Japan?"

Seeing as Revy was occupied with lighting her cigarette, Rock was the first to answer. He shook his head as the image of the katana entering Yukio's throat came unbidden into his mind.

"Well, long story short, it was one big mess. For the most part, we weren't involved, but I…I asked for the destruction of Washimine." The prospect of a drinking match with his partner seemed more appealing with each passing second. The whole ordeal was something that he'd rather keep in the back of his mind.

"Feh!" Revy huffed, sensing Rock's uneasiness and deciding to offer a simple explanation. "No big deal, really, boss man. That little girl heir to the clan's leadership just fucked with Rock's head. As for Ginji, I challenged him to a duel and he lost. Simple as that."

Both Dutch and Benny knew that it wasn't as simple as that, but neither of them saw fit to call the pair out on it as long as they all knew the important facts.

"I guess I can take that for now; now let's go get wasted."

Well, that's Chapter Five. I do apologize for the late update. I'm sure you all know how it is. Anyway, let me know what you think!