Forcibly United
oOo
Chapter 9
oOo
As soon as the two boys left, a small vial in their hands with a rolled note tied to it, Ryouga spun to face his companion curiously.
"Why didn't we just beat him up and take the cure?" Ryouga wondered, crossing his arms.
"I thought of that. I was gonna do it, but I noticed something: He didn't talk about having it, he talked about being able to fix the problem," Ranma noted, shrugging. "Look, I ain't any happier about having to pay all that money but if Cologne doesn't have a clue how to fix the problem, this guy might be our only shot."
"And if we mess things up with him, we'd be stuck together for the rest of our lives," Ryouga grunted, frowning.
"Unless you think you could fall in love with me... Again," Ranma said, making a kiss noise towards his companion.
"As I recall, you managed to trick me once. On the other hand, didn't you once offer to kill yourself for me if it would make me happy?" Ryouga wondered, innocently scratching his chin.
"Hey, that was magic! That didn't count!" The pigtailed boy scowled. He jerked his head down the street. "C'mon, pork-breath. Let's go find the psycho driver and head back to Chang's place. We need to get some more training in."
oOo
Chang picked up his cell phone as it rang, curiously glancing at the ID before flipping it open and bringing it to his ear.
"Balalaika. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Chang wondered, leaning back in his office chair.
"Chang, I have a little proposition for you. Those two boys you have staying with you, would they be available for some work beginning the day after tomorrow?" The Russian woman asked, driving right to the point.
"How dangerous would it be? I have an obligation to see that they're not killed and right now they're still not used to dealing with guns," Chang admitted, walking to the window which overlooked the interior of one of his warehouses. Said interior was covered in splotches of paint, and at the far end of the building he saw his men spreading out with their MP5s to corner the two frantically dodging boys.
"It shouldn't be anything they can't handle. They'll be working with the Lagoon Company. It's a simple courier mission I didn't really feel like wasting my soldiers' time with, though it does need a little more muscle than Two Hands and Dutch can provide on their own," the Russian woman said. After a pause, she added, "I'm sure that they'll be fine. Rock will be more than capable of managing the interpersonal difficulties that might arise and I'm curious to see if their close-combat skills work well with Revy's ranged prowess."
"It is an interesting proposal," Chang mused, rubbing his jaw. He almost flinched as a spray of simunitions pattered across the glass. Had they been actual bullets, he would have already been behind his desk and pulling out his pistols. "That's an interesting way of putting it, though... 'Interpersonal difficulties'. So what did Rock do to make you angry enough to stick him with this headache?"
"Why nothing at all. I'm surprised you'd even think that, Chang," Balalaika chuckled, the noise strangely... girlish. The Chinese Triad Boss eyed his phone for a moment wonderingly. "I'll admit that my motives are not entirely pragmatic in the matter."
"Well, I suppose if Two Hands is going to be working with them instead of against them, I can allow it. Besides, the boys have quite the debt to pay. I'm sure you'll be happy to make the first down payment on their rather extensive bill," the man noted with a dry laugh.
"Oh?" The Russian woman wondered.
"The solution to their problem is going to cost them a million square. When you add on the fact that my hospitality is, sooner or later, going to run out, they're in dire need of some funds rather quick. What should I tell them they're being paid?" Chang asked.
"I think five thousand each is more than fair compensation for the relative ease of this job. The biggest danger to them will probably be the one with the pigtail antagonizing Revy," Balalaika noted.
"Ten thousand dollars? I'm sure they'll be thrilled to hear that," Chang admitted, looking out over the factory. "Especially when I hand them the bill for all the ammo they've been going through learning just how hard guns are to dodge. Simunitions aren't cheap, you know."
oOo
Later that night, the boys were sitting down to dinner at a small café run by the Triad when Chang sat down at their table.
"Chang-san," Ryouga said with a nod towards the man, setting aside his chopsticks. Ranma finished slurping the noodles he had in his mouth and reluctantly placed his own utensils on top of the bowl of ramen, turning his attention to the man across from him. "Come to see how our training is going?"
"Boys, I've got a little job for you. It's nothing too dangerous, just a courier job to get your feet wet and introduce you to work here in Roanapur," Chang said, grinning at the boys. He spread his hands. "Well, you boys think you're up for a little work?"
"Sure, we're ready for anything," Ranma noted cockily, crossing his arms. "How much does the job pay?"
"Five thousand," Chang admitted, spreading his hands. "The job's a courier run. You'll be working with the crew of a torpedo boat to deliver your cargo safely. That's where your responsibilities end. It'll take maybe eight hours once you leave the dock."
"Five thousand? As in five thousand dollars?" Ranma sputtered, jaw dropping. Ryouga merely stared wide-eyed at Chang.
"Yeah, five thousand each," Chang confirmed. "I know it's not much, but given the circumstances, you should be glad. Ranma's little fight with Revy caught a lot of eyes, so before you know it you boys will be up to the big bucks."
"Wait, five thousand dollars each for eight hours work is chump change?" Ryouga gasped in disbelief.
"Well, yeah. Boys, Roanapur is a pretty dangerous place. In that danger is a lot of opportunity, as well. Balalaika's probably paying forty thousand dollars out just for the protection and delivery of the cargo, but she'll probably make ten times that if the deal goes off without a hitch," Chang finished, rising and patting the stunned boys on the shoulder as he walked off. He paused at the café door and looked back in. "What, you boys think everyone here likes the city for the atmosphere? That million you boys need to earn is change under the sofa for some people around here."
He exited, leaving Ranma and Ryouga to stare at one another.
"Ryouga, you get the impression that maybe we're in over our heads in this place?" Ranma wondered with an awed smile, raising some noodles to his mouth and slurping.
"Not yet, but it looks like we might be heading there. This place is dangerous: We don't know what we're in for and the only guy we can trust in this place is a mob boss," the bandanna-clad youth growled. He shook his head, turning his attention to the beef dish in front of him. "I can't wait to be done with this place."
"Are you kidding? Danger, excitement, and a crapload of money? Pushing ourselves to new limits in the Art?" Ranma slapped the other boy roughly on the back. "Man, this place is perfect! Can you imagine how awesome it's gonna be when we can actually catch those bullets?"
"Maybe eventually you'll be able to. Girly speed freak," the Lost Boy muttered.
"Pht. You're probably bullet-proof anyway, pork-butt," Ranma countered, turning back to his soup. He waved his hand for emphasis. "I mean, let's face it. You spent a week slamming a boulder into yourself. Do you really think a tiny hunk of metal is gonna do any worse?"
"Do you really think that's something I'm eager to test?" Ryouga demanded incredulously.
"Good point," the pigtailed boy noted.
oOo
Balalaika snapped her phone shut as the return call from Chang ended. The boys had agreed. Well, this would certainly be interesting.
"Sergeant?" Balalaika called, prompting the broad man to glance in her direction. She handed him a sheet of paper. "Can you please see that this cargo gets sent to the Lagoon Company's dock at oh eight hundred the morning after tomorrow?"
"Of course, Capitan," the man said, striding out of the room, leaving the Russian woman with her thoughts.
She glared irritably at the slim cigar she held in her hands. Much like it had before, the wrapped tobacco product no longer held any joy. Just more thick coughing. It was a piece of her life, one she'd enjoyed, and one which was no longer available to her thanks to random chance.
Random chance had caused a lot of changes, she'd mused. Random chance left her trapped in the body of a girl when she was a woman. Random chance left her dealing with mood swings and urges she'd thought she'd long ago mastered. It wasn't all bad. The opportunities her new position granted her certainly outweighed the negative effects.
She threw the lone cigar into the trash, followed by the box its brothers rested in. Keeping them around would only remind her of what she'd once had, something she no longer possessed and probably wouldn't for a few years, at least. With the ruthless pragmatism which marked a lot of her decisions, she threw it aside to concentrate her attention on the present.
Her eyes boring into the paper in front of her, she started to note a common thread in the weapons smuggling problem she'd been dealing with for weeks. They mentioned a blond a couple times. Then it clicked. Blonds were not common in Roanapur, and only a handful were the age described in the three reports which mentioned her.
Of that handful, only one didn't work at the Sloppy Swing or a similar establishment. Two, now that Yolanda was facing the same problem as Balalaika. The Russian woman leaned back in her chair. So... The Church. She hadn't considered them a problem in the past.
In fact, she was amazed at the blind spot: How could she not have seen it? She was surprised that this had slipped by Rock. The boy certainly seemed to be smug about his intelligence, so how could he have possibly-
Oh, he wouldn't have. The young Japanese man most certainly wouldn't have kept the information from her. She rubbed her temples as her perception of Rock's intelligence butted with his silence on the matter. Would he have really kept his silence for some reason?
Of course he would. The boy was rather chummy with the Church, and seemed to be able to extract information from them at will. He was far too buddy-buddy with Eda to have failed to notice it. So he'd kept his silence, but for what?
Money? No, if he wanted money he wouldn't be working for Dutch. He was smart enough to break out on his own and make far more than the pittance he earned working as the delivery boy and booking agent for a small business like Lagoon Company.
Love? Certainly not. Half the time he seemed more annoyed by Eda than anything else... And if the Russian knew her surrogate sister, Revy would have been a lot more vocal about the formerly older woman's attentions if Eda actually had her claws in the Japanese man.
Then it struck her: The boy was building up a network. One of which she was a merely a part. Her eyes widened at the implication. It hadn't really occured to her that Rock wasn't just pushing her limits to see where he stood. He was doing it with everyone, and doing so with a casual charm which had everyone ignoring him.
Nobody thought much of Rock, except to think that he was a nice, charming boy. Perhaps a little too innocent for Roanapur, but certainly not a threat. Sitting in her office and going over what she knew of Rock with a far more critical eye, the Russian teenager wondered if she should be enraged about just how much he was manipulating the powerhouses of the city or impressed with the audacity it took for a delivery boy to attempt it in the first place.
Either way, she knew she'd be scheduling a very pointed discussion with Rock in the near future.
She eyed the reports once more, then decided that the Ripoff Church could wait. For now. Rock must have had a reason for allowing their weapons smuggling to continue. Perhaps his reasoning might even be interesting enough to spare her wrath once more.
oOo
Nearly a day and a half later, Balalaika sat in her limo with Boris, waiting for the arrival of the Chang's two young fighters to bring the crew of the Black Lagoon up to the strength she thought they might need. Already Dutch had his crew bustling around the small torpedo boat, securing equipment and readying the ship for departure.
The crate she'd given them for delivery was already secured in the boat's hold. Boris had made certain of that nearly an hour ago.
As the Taiwanese woman of Chang's pulled up in a sleek red sports car, the two boys in the passenger seat, the Russian woman emerged from the car and strode towards the boat, her Sergeant at her heels.
"Well, it seems your backup has arrived. I take it there'll be no problems?" Balalaika called from the dock.
"Sure sis, why would I have a problem working with Eda?" Revy called with a grin. Then the Chinese-American thug's eyes moved beyond Balalaika to the two boys emerging from the car. "What the fuck!? Those two assholes?"
"Sorry. Eda was unavailable, so I contacted Chang. He mentioned that he had two young men who had quite a lot of skill. Do you two know each other?" Balalaika asked innocently. Rock emerged from the hold, took one look at the situation, and shot the Russian teenager a dirty look.
"We've met," Revy snarled, her hand twitching as if to move towards the guns slung under her arms. Instead she curled her fingers into a fist. "Are you sure we're going to need these fucking punks on this job, sis?"
"Quite certain. I need something simple to see if these boys are as good as Chang claims," the blond said with a small smile, turning her attention to Rock. "By the way, Rock. I'd like to discuss something with you once you get back. You'll make yourself available when you return to Roanapur, I trust?"
"I'll be at your complete disposal, Balalaika," the young man said. She grinned at the way the boy seemed to flinch a bit at the unconscious use of the word 'disposal'.
"Excellent. I wish you luck," Balalaika said, turning and walking back towards her car with a small wave. She smiled as she heard the shouting erupt behind her as the two boys reached the boat.
oOo
Twenty minutes later, Ranma was lounging at the rear of the boat watching the city of Roanapur disappear in the distance when he heard a quiet chuckle behind him.
"You know... Most people who piss Revy off go out of their way to avoid her in the future. They typically don't find work with her a few days later," Ranma turned to find a young blond man in a Hawaiian shirt grinning at him.
"Well, I didn't exactly know what I was signing up for until I got here," the pigtailed boy admitted. He then looked at the man curiously before shaking his head. "You know, I coulda sworn you were older when I saw you at that bar. You got an older brother that hangs out with these maniacs?"
"It's complicated," the blond admitted with a slight frown, extending his hand. "My name's Benny. I work the computers, radar, and other electronics here on the boat."
"Ranma," the pigtailed boy offered, shaking the man's hand. "Me and pork-breath over there beat the crap out of people."
"Pork-breath?" Benny asked, confused.
"Shut up, Ranma," Ryouga snorted, cuffing the boy in the arm. He offered his hand. "Ignore this idiot. My name's Ryouga Hibiki. So what do you mean by complicated?"
"This'll sound crazy..." Benny hedged, scratching his chin.
"C'mon, spill the beans!" Ranma encouraged, grinning. "Me and Ryouga do crazy pretty well."
"Well, you're right. When you saw me in the bar, I was older. I ate something that turned me back into a kid for a while," Benny admitted, blushing a bit. He waved his hands as the boys stared at him. "You don't have to believe me, but it is the truth."
"Were they mushrooms?" Ryouga asked bluntly, causing the blond's eyes to widen. Before he could speak, Ryouga grimaced. "Let's just say that Ranma and I ran into them in the past. We know exactly what sort of pain in the ass they can be."
"Really? I was stuck as a twelve-year-old for a while. How much worse could it get?" Benny wondered.
"Try six!" Ranma countered, crossing his arms. "You had it easy, man. Believe me, it coulda got a lot worse. The things change you according to their size. Eat a small enough one and you're a toddler again. Or worse."
"You boys sound like you've got a lot of knowledge on the subject," Benny said, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. "You wouldn't happen to be the ones who brought these things here, would you?"
"Nope. Last time we saw any of the things was months ago, in Japan. We got lucky and the last two we ate were able to restore us to our proper ages," Ranma admitted.
"Benny! Get in here! I think we got a problem!" A deep, booming voice yelled from the interior of the cabin. Ranma and Ryouga followed.
"What is it, Dutch?" Benny wondered, standing in the doorway to the boat.
"Take a look at the radar. We've got incoming. They were waiting for us at the mouth of the harbour. You think you can figure out what sort of boats they are? All I can tell right now is that there's at least six of them and they're faster than us," Dutch informed him. With a nod, the blond ran towards the ladder leading down deeper into the boat, leaving the two teenagers alone with the large black man. He glanced up. "Looks like your first job's about to get a lot more interesting."
"Define interesting," Ranma muttered, worriedly looking out the window at the sea.
"Well, let's just say I hope you didn't get lucky in your little fight with Revy. I have a feeling we're going to need all three of you to get out of this one alive," Dutch admitted. Amazingly, the man was grinning at the prospect.
Ranma and Ryouga exchanged mutual looks of trepidation.
oOo
Author's Notes:
Apologies for the delay. Reading Air Gear and plotting this story's future have kept me busy.
Speaking of plotting, would you believe that I've now plotted out detailed information for damned near forty chapters worth of material? I think this is going to be 'that one story' for me. The story which just goes on and on because an endless amount of ideas sprawl before me as an author. I don't really have a definitive end for this story, beyond the overall goal of Ranma and Ryouga getting the bracers off.
Now, I know I've portrayed Rock as a chessmaster, but now that Balalaika has him figured out, he knows that there's absolutely piss-all he can do to stop her if she gets it in her head to viciously retaliate. His safety is predicated on her good will, something which is in short supply at the moment. And he knows it.