Hey folks! It's been a very long time since I last updated. That said, I won't keep you. I do have just one quick note before you read, however. This chapter will be non-linear in its story telling. What's going on in NYC will be the main story line and will be shown alongside the aftermath of the attack on Hotel Moscow in Roanapur, but events in Roanapur that will be shown actually will be taking place several hours after what is going on in New York. Without any further ado, please read, enjoy, and review!

CH. 17: An Eye for an Eye

"Damn it!" Rock released one final blow of his fist against the brick wall just outside the alley. The image of the unmarked police vehicle rolling away with his companion continued to play over and over in his mind as excruciatingly slow seconds ticked by. "Call someone", that's what she had told him, and in some part of his mind, Rock knew that there was someone that could easily get them out of this mess. But how the hell was he so confident about that? Balalaika sure as hell wasn't going to waltz her falsely credentialed ass into a police station with military great coat draped over her shoulders to save a known criminal who could be tied directly to her real identity.

"Shit!" Wake the hell up, Rock. He continued to work through the storm of worries and thoughts in his mind as he began to search frantically for the nearest payphone. After about a block of aimless walking, he found the familiar glass box he was looking for and quickly ducked inside.

In that moment of jumbled thoughts, frantic worries, and stray curses as he shut himself in the booth and grabbed for the phone; Rock was only dimly aware of the actions of his fingers as they began their dance across the number pad. He wasn't even consciously sure who exactly would be on the receiving end of this phone call—only that he hoped they could help Revy out of this particular situation.

One ring. Nothing.

Two rings and he still stood tapping his foot with his agitated impatience.

It was on the third ring that there was the familiar click of a phone being picked up off the hook, and an equally familiar voice followed.

"Good evening, this is Sister Yolanda of the rip-off church speaking." The kindly old voice met Rock's ears and some of the tension he'd been holding in his shoulders eased just slightly. Yolanda could connect him to Eda, and for some reason there was a nagging feeling in the pit of the businessman's stomach that the younger nun could actually be of help to him. He snapped from his brief stray in thoughts as the mother superior continued speaking.

"If this is a business call, then I'm afraid we are finished for the day and you'll have to call back in the morning."

"No, wait!"

"…Rock?" The old nun sounded genuinely intrigued to be hearing from him at an hour this late in Roanapur. "To what do I owe the pleasure, dear boy?"

"Sister, I apologize if I've disturbed you; I know it's late there. It's just that I've got a bit of a problem and I need to speak to Eda. Is she in?"

There was a brief pause from the other end of the line before the Mother Superior spoke again. "My my, it must be serious if you're having to call in favors from Roanapur." No shit! Just get to the point, Sister! Any other time Rock would enjoy engaging the leader of the Rip-Off church in casual conversation, but now was no time for bullshit. Luckily, the kindly old woman seemed to sense his irritation and was quick to give him what he called for.

"I'm intrigued. At any rate, Sister Eda is indeed available. It seems that without Miss Rebecca around, she doesn't feel the need to carouse about town double fisting her whiskey quite so regularly."

Rock assumed that the comment was made for the sole purpose of taking a jab at Eda, and the assumption was proven to be well founded when he heard snarled words from a previously undetected second person on Yolanda's end of the line. After moments of this, he finally found himself speaking to the blond nun.

"Bitch, like your shit don't stink…" Eda mumbled into the phone in a clear attempt to evade Yolanda's sharp hearing. Rock got the distinct impression that the words were directed at the Mother Superior's retreating backside.

"Yo, Rocky boy! How's the big apple?" The blonde boisterously redirected her attention, causing Rock to tense up with anticipation. He then felt his shoulders slump almost as quickly when she continued to speak, dropping her voice into a sultry register that he knew all too well. "You haven't been gone very long. Do you really miss me that much, Rocky? I'm flattered! Two-Hands must not know how to work it in the bedroom, eh?"

At the mention of Revy, the businessman found himself jolted out of the momentary stupor that Eda had caused, and, ignoring his embarrassment at the situation and the blush spread over his cheeks, he snapped sharply.

"Eda! This isn't the time to be bullshitting!"

In the immediate silence that followed, both of them swore to themselves that if a gnat farted in China, they probably would've heard it. For her part, Eda was stunned, but also intensely worried. Rock had always endured her teasing no matter how embarrassing he found it. If he felt the need to snap at her, well, the shit probably broke the fan.

"Fair enough. Wanna tell me what's going on then, Rock?"

"Eda, Revy was taken by a pair of dirty cops." Lagoon's hired white collar didn't waste a beat getting down to business or a breath on any preamble, and Eda was only slightly cognizant of her eyebrows trying to rise into her hairline. It seemed Rock was on a roll today, he'd been surprising her since she took the phone from Yolanda.

She knew enough about Balalaika's operations to know that she preferred to stay under the radar on foreign soil; that knowledge gave her a guess at why the cops weren't dead for their stupidity. Still, she couldn't help the question that escaped her lips.

"Shit...How?" The nun liked to think she had a fairly vivid imagination, but try as she might, she just couldn't imagine Revy going peacefully with the enemy…especially if it seemed like the most logical thing to do.

Rock shook his head on his end of the line. He'd wasted enough time already and though he was normally a man of patience, it would do no good to play a game of twenty questions.

"It's not important—I'm sure you can guess for yourself. Anyway, to get to the point, you strike me as someone who's done her fair share of traveling…made a few connections. " If Rock could only see the shark-like grin on her face at that moment. Oh, she had connections all right, and she suspected he knew that better than he let on. The business man from Japan had always been unusually perceptive. That perceptive quality was making it increasingly difficult for the nun to hide herself from him, and as inevitable as the outcome was, for the moment she would enjoy their little game and play her cards as close to the vest as possible.

Rock continued, "You and I both know that, as valuable as Revy's skill is to this trip, Balalaika won't risk herself to intervene. So, what I'm asking is: Do you have any calls you could make?"

"I dunno, Rocky," Eda drawled, "My stock in the big apple isn't exactly blue chip at the moment." Just as she could hear him take a breath to argue, the nun chuckled at him and spoke again, toying with him just slightly, "But, I guess I could do this tiny little favor for you just this once." Her voice was back to that quality it had when she was teasing him and the businessman felt his face go red.

"Eda…this still isn't the time."

"Aw, if you insist, Rocky boy; but remember, you're gonna owe me a favor."

With that, the line went dead and Rock was left standing in the booth with the distinct feeling of having just made a deal with the devil. At any rate, the price was of no consequence as long as they were able to get Revy back to Roanapur with them.

Rock had one more call to make now.

With a more strokes of his fingers, he held the phone up to his ear and waited again. This time, the phone was picked up on the second ring and his boss' deep voice came over the line.

"This is Dutch."

It struck Rock that there was an unusual urgency mingling with the man's usual calm manner of speaking.

"Hey Dutch, its Rock. I—

"Rock? Where the fuck you been?" He was even more surprised at such an outburst. As far as Dutch knew, Rock had been with Revy this whole time. That knowledge would leave him little reason to sound pissed or worried like he did now. Something definitely wasn't right on Dutch's end.

"Dutch, what's—"

"Just get back here as soon as possible. I'll explain when you guys get here."

"But, wait!" The line clicked while Rock was in mid speech, "Revy's in…" He sighed, hanging the phone back on its hook.

"Jail."

It was the middle of the night in the city of Roanapur. Thailand's little hell hole was, as usual, alive with the hustle and bustle of career criminals and street thugs. To the casual observer it appeared the same as any other night, but the regulars knew better.

The city was preparing for war!

Instead of people talking shop or hustling on street corners, the sewer brats could be found scurrying for shelter before businesses shut their doors to patrons, while those higher up the city food chain spoke in hushed whispers of the rumors floating around. The subtle tension in the atmosphere had only been felt one other time in recent history: When the Romanian twins were let loose and the Visotoniki was tasked with hunting them down. With rumors of the recent slaughter at the Bougainvillea Company, city residents were left to wonder just how much of the city would be standing by morning. Of course, few of them knew that Balalaika herself wasn't actually in Roanapur at the moment.

Boss Chang could be found in the middle of it all. At present, he surveyed the busy sight from the relative safety of the backseat of a black triad Mercedes. He paid his fellow criminals little mind, however, and remained content to sit in silence taking puffs of a cigarette. Chang had his own business to attend to.

After tending to the wounded of Hotel Moscow, it was time to deal with the findings that suggested Italian Mafia involvement. Chang was a shrewd man, and he knew well that the Colombians were not exactly the biggest fans of the arrangement favoring Triad and Russian leadership of the city underworld, but he also knew that Abrego was not a stupid man; if he ever did turn on either of those factions, he would ally himself with someone who would not screw him over in turn. That was how he differed from Boss Antonio. Just like all the other Italians, he had openly mocked Balalaika and Chang on multiple occasions and threatened action against them. Chang hadn't counted on the man to be bold enough to actually follow through…granted he was merely reaping the benefits of the Yakuza's efforts.

Still…

The Mercedes pulled to a stop outside of the Italian Bistro that served as the Italian business front. Several car doors were heard opening and closing as Chang and his posse exited the main vehicle along with Abrego and his immediate subordinates & bodyguards across the street. They all knew the plan.

With a nod to the Colombians, the Triad leader turned on his heel and pushed through the doors of the Bistro. For a moment he was surprised that anyone would actually still be here given the state of things—even despite his intel. The Italians must've been feeling pretty confident in their well-being since they were dealing with the Yakuza. Even under normal circumstances, there were usually only a handful of the higher ups to be found in the place at this time of night. Right now, however, it could only be described as one big Italian shin dig.

'Perfect,' Chang mused to himself, making his way through the drunken masses toward the back of the room. 'All of Papa Guido's boys in one place.' It caught his eye on the way to the back that no less than three of the men were wearing berets…distinctly Russian berets…Berets identical to the ones worn by the Visotoniki. Ah, so either some of the Italian participants in the assault weren't killed by the Yakuza, or they returned to the scene of the crime. Either way, Chang's blood boiled at the disrespect shown to his close ally. He was not a scrupulous man and he still had a score to settle with the Russian bitch, himself, but what courtesies he did possess always seemed to be extended toward Hotel Moscow or the Lagoon Company.

"Hey, Chang! What brings you here?" The call pulled him from his thoughts and he realized he'd reached the back of the room. The Mafia head stood from his seat at the red velvet love seat and extended his hand.

"Antonio! Good to see you." Chang reached to grab his hand, but couldn't help squeezing a little too hard. He noticed that the usually fowl mannered man seemed already to be extra well-mannered tonight. 'He must know he's in deep shit.' Chang thought to himself.

The fake smile on Antonio's face stretched wider as he released Chang's hand from his sweaty grasp. "Now, don't lie. You don't like to see me any more than I like to see you…and it's after midnight."

"That's unusually astute thinking for you. You must be more drunk than you look." Chang chuckled, enjoying the flustered reaction that his comment received.

"Now, now; don't get your underwear in a wad, Antonio. I just came by to ask a couple questions." The Triad boss lowered his sunglasses and grinned a pirate smile that suggested he intended to do a lot more than ask questions. Antonio blanched at the sight; unsure if the subtle expression was actually there or if he'd had just enough alcohol. The thought quickly soured his mood.

"Yeah? Waddaya wanna know, then?"

"Well, I didn't plan to ask this, but I didn't see Donny and Mike on the way back here, they all right?"

"What do you care?" Antonio bristled, backing into the cushions of the loveseat just the tiniest bit.

Chang popped a cigarette in his mouth and flicked his lighter, leaning his forearms onto his knees as the stick of tobacco began to simmer between his teeth.

"Call it a courtesy between business rivals." He explained, taking a short drag. Right about now, Abrego's group should be making their way toward the back.

"They were embezzling from the organization, so I had them killed."

"Interesting…"

Antonio growled, "Stop with the cryptic bullshit, you cocky little bastard!"

Chang was completely unmoved by the outburst and simply offered a brief explanation. "No, no. I think it's interesting that you had them killed when I found them dead inside Hotel Moscow just a few hours ago."

The mafia boss let out an audible gasp as his eyes widened and he retreated further into his seat. The sweat that had been forming on his brow since Chang first made an appearance was prominent now.

Suddenly, a voice spoke from behind them over the din of other raucous voices. It was Abrego.

"You know what else is funny, puto?" Abrego and his subordinates came to stand by Chang's group behind the loveseat where he sat. "You say you had your men killed for embezzlement? You been doing the same for months to all of the other syndicates." He and his men let out laughs at Antonio's expense. By now, Antonio and the few men in the vicinity who were sober enough to notice the impending conflict had their hands near their guns, and Chang's group mirrored them, but Chang wasn't finished talking yet.

"So, we already know you're a filthy guido hypocrite, and no doubt you got involved with the Yakuza because you were a coward trying to get on their good side, but I just have one question left."

There was a sudden explosion of gunfire from the front of the Bistro. Most of the drunken men never knew what hit them, and the rest barely had time to draw a weapon, let alone fire it. In a few short moments, the only people left were the Colombians and the triads against Antonio and the handful of Italians behind him.

"So, about that question:" Chang drew one of his custom pistols, and several more pops were heard as Abrego, Biu, and Gustavo dispatched all of the remaining Italians except for Antonio, leaving him a quivering mess of fear on the loveseat.

"Who are you really more afraid of?"

In his state, the mob boss found himself unable to answer. In fact, he was unable to make any intelligible sound. All he could do was let out nervous cackles as he raised is gun and smiled manically all the while. However, before anyone could pull a trigger, he turned the gun on himself and placed it inside his mouth. A sharp crack was heard a moment later that signaled the end of the Italian era in Roanapur. Chang pulled a piece of cloth from his pocket and wiped the blood spatter from his sunglasses, muttering:

"They always were such a pain in the ass."

He stood from his seat and turned to face his own men while the cartel looked on.

"Alright, listen up! What we did here tonight was just a first step toward taking our city back. From this point on, we will cease all business function and devote all of our man power to patrol and combat in the city. Biu, I want you to place a handful of our best gunmen at Hotel Moscow, as well."

Biu's eyes widened, "But Dai-Lo, that's too risky. Please, have some concern for your safety!"

Chang merely shrugged, flicking the remains of his cigarette onto Antonio's corpse.

"No buts, Biu. Just get it done, will ya." He nodded to Abrego and Gustavo as the triad began to move out.

"It was fun, boys."

So that's Chapter 17! I really can't remember who became head of the Italian Mafia after the Vampire Twins arc, so the character of Antonio is an OC. Also, I know it's been an incredibly long time since I've updated; to make up for that, I'm going to do a double update. I should have the next chapter out by Tuesday at the latest. Anyway, I hope you enjoy! R&R!