Forcibly United
oOo
Comes the Hot-Blooded Dragon
Chapter 2
oOo
"No way, Dutch! No way I'm fucking letting you get away with this crap!" Rock groaned as he threw himself onto Revy's torso, holding her down on the bed as she struggled against the blankets and her weakness after the fight. "Rock, get off me! I'm not letting you bastards out of my sight!"
"Take it easy, Revy," Dutch said calmly, nodding his head as if that settled the issue. "The job we're doing is just a supply run. No danger, no problem. We've just hired Ranma and Ryouga to take your place temporarily while we do the job, just in case."
"Bullshit!" Revy snarled, twisting and biting into Rock's shoulder. The Japanese man yelped in pain and twisted away, allowing the enraged thug to painfully sit up. She pointed the hand on her unbroken arm at her boss. "You're taking those supplies through the port at Bedok, right near where that little bastard attacked us! And you've hired those two punks to take that fucker out!"
"Nonsense, why would we try to go behind your back like that?" Rock pleaded, getting a dirty look in return. Admittedly, it hadn't been his best lie.
"He's mine! I'm going to shoot that fucker right between the eyes!" Revy promised, trying to swing her legs out of her bed. Rock caught her bare feet, lifting them and swinging them back to the foot of the bed before the woman could shift her torso.
"Revy, this is just a supply run so we can earn back some of the money we lost," Rock swore, meeting her eyes. After a moment of careful consideration, the woman nodded to her partner and settled back into her bed. "Ideally, we'd like to avoid these guys. Our reputation is damaged right now because of the attack, and if we start to refuse work in that area our credibility as a delivery service will suffer. We had to take the job."
"Alright, fine," Revy finally said, her anger deflating. She glared at Dutch. "You better not get caught again, you hear me? My rep's on the line with this one just as much as yours! Everybody knows that you don't mess with the Lagoon Company because of me! If you guys fuck things up while I'm recovering, I'll kick your ass!"
"There'll probably be no trouble, Revy. Just a quick supply run," Rock said, moving to the doorway. After a moment, Dutch followed.
oOo
"She's going to kick your ass when she finds out you lied, Rock," Dutch admonished as they walked towards the car. The man in question just smiled a bit.
"Dutch, I didn't lie. We didn't hire Ranma and Ryouga to take out this Ryu, Ranma volunteered to do so for free. We're just providing him with a basic protection contract to cover his expenses while he's at sea with us," Rock pointed out. "Besides, it'd be ideal if we did avoid this guy. I never said anything about what I actually expect."
"Put that way, it'd be ideal if Revy didn't kick your ass as soon as she finds out," Dutch said grimly, opening the driver's side door of Benny's care. He paused right before getting in. "However, I expect that she's going to beat you like a stepchild when she does."
Rock chuckled nervously and got in the passenger-side door.
oOo
After two hours of nothing but staring at the water, a certain pigtailed martial artist was starting to grow very bored.
Ranma glanced up from where he sat at the front of the Black Lagoon, catching a can of beer tossed by Ryouga as the Lost Boy popped one of his own. While neither boy especially enjoyed drinking beer, especially Ryouga, the Heirekan which Dutch kept stocked in the cooler beside his piloting console was generally preferable to the torpedo boat's water filtration system.
"A couple months ago would you have believed we'd be drinking beer?" Ryouga asked, sipping the drink as he gazed at the dwindling sight of a small island, the only feature visible on the expanse of water surrounding them.
"Not really. I mean, who'd have thought we'd be working as bodyguards for criminals? Fighting other criminals?" Ranma pointed out, then flashed Ryouga a grin. "Oh, speaking of criminals, did you get a chance to read Nabiki's letter?"
"What, the one where she freaks out about the picture of you standing guard with Balalaika?" The Lost Boy asked with a chuckle. He shrugged. "Yeah, I saw it. Who would have believed Nabiki was a fan?"
"Ryouga, you're asking why Nabiki would be a fan?" The pigtailed boy sighed, taking a sip of his own drink. He quirked an eyebrow. "Personally, I'm surprised she didn't bug me to get her a job."
"Nabiki in Roanapur. Now that is a scary thought," Ryouga noted with a shiver. He adjusted the dark blue shirt he wore, then rolled up the sleeves. "No, I just pointed it out because hearing about this Ryu guy reminded me of how different things have been."
"Yeah. You're not a fashion disaster any more," the Saotome heir pointed out, his partner's brown eyes glaring as they turned to look at him.
"Like I had any choice. Ranma, do you know how hard it is to find a store when you're wandering in the wilderness?" Ryouga returned, sitting down on a railing. He waved a hand. "Being stuck with you was the first time in a long time I've been able to actually do something right when I put my mind to it. It's pretty weird to decide to go shopping and then be able to actually shop."
"Maybe for you," Ranma snorted.
"Shut up, Saotome," Ryouga sighed. Two months of working with some of the worst criminals in Roanapur had evened out the worst of their disagreements. "Anyway, the point is... Do you think we're slowly starting to get a little too used to this weird lifestyle? I'm spending money on clothes and you're sending money back to your mom."
"I haven't sent that much back!" The green-clad martial artist pointed out shrilly.
"Ranma, you've sent over fifty grand back home," Ryouga replied, deadpan.
"Yeah, that's not that much over two months!" Ranma cried.
"That's my point! Ranma, before two months ago, did either of us ever have fifty grand to our names over the entire course of our lives?" Ryouga demanded, crossing his arms. "We've only saved up a couple hundred grand, and we still owe Bao forty for the time you and me fought the Columbians with the grenade launchers and wrecked his bar! We should have a lot more saved up than we do!"
"Aside from sending my folks back some cash, I ain't been spending my share of the funds on anything but the necessities!" Ranma groused, chugging his beer and glaring at the other boy. He thrust the half-empty can towards him. "You're the one who's spending money on random crap like those fancy shirts you've been wearing!"
"Your shirts aren't any cheaper, and I doubt buying an enchanted spatula from the three hundred years ago from Fei Chin was a necessity," Ryouga said grimly.
"It's Ucchan's birthday in a few weeks. You want I should just ignore it?" The pigtailed teenager asked.
"No, but maybe spending fifteen grand on a spatula whose only trait is that it will never rust or need to be cleaned is a bit wasteful, wouldn't you say?" The Lost Boy wondered.
"Hey, it can also banish the undead!" Ranma protested. "She might find a use for it. And like you're one to talk about frivilous expenses! I heard you talk about buying depleted uranium from that Korean guy. What the hell do you need that for?"
"Training is important! My umbrella is getting too light for me!" Ryouga informed the other boy. He grinned a bit. "I've got a blacksmith who agreed to reinforce it for me, too. I should be able to knock down a house with the thing if I need to."
"Ryouga, you can knock down a house anyway," Ranma grunted, finishing his beer. He chucked it over his shoulder, wiping his lip with his sleeve. "Why do you need an umbrella to do it?"
"...It's still costing me less than the stupid spatula," the fanged youth finally replied. He then quirked an eyebrow. "And when the hell is Ukyou going to need to banish the undead? How often are spirits and corpses going to attack?"
"The Cave of Lost Love, that stupid ghost c-ca... thing, the vengeful spirit doll at the hot springs..." Ranma said, ticking off a finger for each one. He paused to rub his chin. "Plus, that girlfriend of Gosunkugi's freaks me right out. She might be a problem some day."
"Okay, so maybe you have a point," Ryouga muttered. "You're still an idiot for getting her an undead-destroying spatula. It's not even combat-sized! It's not much different from the one we've got in our apartment kitchen! In fact, it's not even as good! Ours has an actual handle with ergonomic dips for our fingers!"
"Yeah, but cleaning it's a pain in the ass! Ucchan will have more time for herself at the end of the day, now!" Ranma pointed out triumphantly.
"She's still got to clean the griddle and close up her shop. You've saved her maybe a minute at most," Ryouga retorted.
"Saved her a minute and gave her the ability to fight off the inevitable zombie horde!" Ranma said smugly.
"...I think I'm going to go get another beer," Ryouga finally said, standing. He then stopped. "Scratch that. I think I see a boat on the horizon. I guess without his computers, Benny didn't notice it coming. Let's go tell Dutch."
oOo
"It's a good thing you spotted them. I didn't quite understand how blind we were without Benny's equipment, I guess," Dutch noted. He handed Rock a pair of binoculars. "Rock, head up top and see if the guy following us is this Ryu guy who attacked us before. Benny, you take over for me here. I'm going to need to support these two."
"Got it," Benny said, sitting in the chair after Dutch stood up. He glanced up. "Do you want me to keep the current heading, or should I be trying to evade them once they get in range?"
"Keep our heading. I'm confident that we can deal with these guys," the large black American grunted, pulling his revolver from his holster and checking the ammo. He quickly filled a pair of speed-loaders with hollow points, only glancing up as Rock climbed back down the ladder.
"Dutch, it's them. Their leader is standing on the prow of their boat," Rock informed the man. He grinned, snapping the cylinder of his S&W 629 shut with a firm click of metal.
"Well boys, time for you to earn your pay," Dutch said with a grin, gesturing to the hatch leading outside.
"Last time you said that, I woke up in the bunk downstairs with a big headache," Ranma complained, leading the way.
"Last time you had to fight a helicopter. This time you've just got to fight a few people," Dutch noted pragmatically.
In the distance, the boat rapidly closed with the Black Lagoon.
oOo
Author's Notes:
Bugger it. Part of the reason I wanted to delay the story is because I'm not looking forward to writing this arc as much as I'm looking forward to writing other arcs. Amber, my pre-reader for another story, pointed out that waiting to write more because I wanted to write something that happens later in the story was counter-productive at best.
Damn woman and her logic!
Anyway, on the bright side, this arc is only going to be a few chapters more. Then it's time for a horror-ish story called Sealed In Stone which might just be a little longer. I'm looking forward to that one.