Whoa, 10 chapters to go! I can't believe we're at this point of the story already.
I love the end scene in this chapter, but just how will things play out?
A lot of the upcoming chapters will focus on getting things done, so hang on to your seats. I'll try to give Beca and Chloe as many moments they can get in the craziness that's about to unfold, but expect a whole lot more action than down time.
I don't own pitch perfect.
Stacie took in a deep breath, this was not how she expected her evening would go. The henchman pointing a pistol to her head pressed the gun's nozzle a little closer to her temple, sensing her hesitation. "I'm just trying to make sure everything is correct," she said in response.
She was on her way back from the parking deck to the tower, dinner take out in hand for her, Aubrey, and Emily, when she was accosted by Rufus Tseng and his goon squad. They had a bloodied and beaten-up Luke all apologetic and restrained in tow. Before she knew it they were taken down to the temple where the kingmaker's goons also took care of a praying Amy. They managed to infiltrate the temple without rousing much suspicion from the rest of the residents currently at the tower, who were mostly having dinner at CR's, as they normally would.
Jessica and Ashley were out for dinner, on their way back from a doctor's appointment now that Ashley was pregnant, and Lilly and Chloe should still be on their way back from dropping Beca off at the airport. The Trebles were also gone for a night out, so it really was just Stacie's luck to not have anyone to come to her aid.
She couldn't even call for help or try as the goon squad confiscated her phone. They also provided the laptop she had to use to crack into the safe.
From what she gathered, Rufus Tseng managed to track down info pertaining to the blueprints of the tower, the vault, and how – or in this case who – he would need to access it. They already knew about the hidden spot underneath the mats, the cement slab, and the vault door and its system.
He came prepared.
Luke tried to signal for her to buy for time before she got started and that she did, he seemed to be trying to break free from his restraints. She worked as slowly as she could assume to be possible under pressure and threat. Amy, bless her, did her best to distract the goons as much as she could.
"Ah, so that's why I felt like I was getting zapped whenever I meditated in that spot. And here I thought it was Buddha enlightening me," she had said earlier, doing her best to sound as surprised as she could.
Unfortunately, despite their best efforts to delay the inevitable and buy time to perhaps cause a distraction and flee, or call for help, Stacie was at the end of the road. All she needed to do was hit enter, and the vault doors would open.
And that she did.
Rufus Tseng smiled with glee, greed sparkling in his eyes as his henchmen opened the vault door. He nearly shoved them aside as he rushed down the ladder, instructing half his henchmen to come along with him and bring Luke too so that he could procure the Guillotine File.
Luke gave Stacie a nod before going down. Rufus Tseng had about twenty men with him, ten left with Stacie and Amy. The perfect chance to escape would come once their down there, and it would seem that Luke had loosed up the binding of his restraints enough.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Rufus Tseng exclaimed, followed by the sound of Luke fighting off his men below.
"Go!" he had yelled at Amy and Stacie.
Stacie grabbed the laptop and used it to hit one of the henchmen in the face. Amy, on the other hand, easily took down two of the men surrounding them.
"Go, Stace, I've got this," she then said, getting to work on the other men in the temple with them. Stacie nodded and made a run for it. She trusted in Amy and Luke to handle things.
She wasn't worried about the Guillotine File falling into wrong hands, she already knew it was with Beca.
As for the gold?
Stacie grinned.
She wasn't worried at all.
After all, the vault had been emptied. All except for one sizeable golden Buddha statue that Amy hid behind a false wall made of cardboard, just in case any of the residents stepped in there while they were moving the gold out.
Because of course Amy was in on it.
A few days after Stacie offered her help to get the gold out, Beca approached Amy about moving the temple, she made it sound like she was concerned of the structural integrity of the building and possible mold and mildew issues. That's when Amy figured that it was probably because of the gold. One night of meditating led her to find the hidden cement slab cover and the vault door, because the current kept zapping her. She didn't speak up about it when the rest of the residents found out, because she figured it would just cause chaos. Besides, Beca was the real owner of the gold. They can't lay claim on it.
Impressed by Amy's response, Beca offered her the golden Buddha statue in exchange for help in moving the gold. Every night, and sometimes early morning, the law firm team and Stacie would go down and take a few bars out. Amy would take some gold bars out under the pretense of going out for alms. Stacie had kept the few pieces that was her and Aubrey's share inside a "broken" piano in her school. The rest? They brought it to Chloe's. She had a spare basement room at her home, and she replaced the bed set-up and some of the covered furniture there with the gold. They did place the bars all together in the form and shape of the supposed furniture that they have since discreetly disposed of. DSM and Babel's previous attempt at Chloe's life resulted in increased security measures at her home as well, so it was the perfect place to hide Beca's share, Luke's share – though they haven't exactly kept him in the loop what with his penchant for being abducted and/or being blackmailed – Chloe's share, and Emily's share. Of course, everyone else's were just a few bars compared to Beca, but they figured it would do well to stay with Chloe for now.
Rufus Tseng can dream of gold and power all he wants, but he's not getting anything other than cobwebs.
"Chloe!" Stacie shouted as she neared the law firm, seeing Chloe on her way back. "Where's Lilly?"
"Parking the car… what's going on?" Chloe asked as soon as Stacie halted right in front of her.
But before Stacie could answer they heard Amy running towards them, followed by the marching sounds of nearly two dozen footsteps behind her. The armed goon squad close behind.
"After them!" Rufus Tseng bellowed as he trailed behind, with two of his henchmen both dragging Luke along.
"What's with all the racket?" Aubrey asked, marching out of the office, followed by Emily, who wasted no time in running away to look for back-up as soon as they saw what was coming for them. She took the hallway perpendicular to the one that Rufus Tseng and his men took. Aubrey wasted no time in checking in on Stacie, making sure she wasn't hurt in anyway, fussing about her. Stacie reassured her she was fine, but Aubrey nevertheless looked worried. She protectively placed her arms around Stacie and pulled her close. Meanwhile Chloe and Amy stepped up in front of her to protect her.
"Who the hell are these people?" Chloe asked.
"Thieves, treasure hunters, run-of-the mill intimidation squad, take your pick," Amy commented.
Chloe nodded and stepped up to meet the front lines of the kingmaker's henchmen. "Well, you better cut this out. I'm their lawyer and I'm not letting you take another step towards Amy and Stacie. We have an upcoming trial so if Babel or DSM sent you, then I hope you're ready for the legal ramifications of your actions."
"Well, lucky for me, this isn't about the trial," Rufus Tseng responded. "This isn't your business, girl."
"Tough. Because they're my friends too. I won't let you hurt them," Chloe answered. Stacie would be lying if she said she wasn't impressed by Chloe's bravery. If anything, it reminded her a bit of Beca.
Too bad their favorite consigliere had just left.
"Get them!" Rufus then ordered and two of his men started to rush towards Chloe, one with a crow bar ready to strike her.
"Aspettate," they heard the word, echoing through the hallway that Emily had taken to search for back-up.
Funny, it almost sounded like…
Stacie looked towards the direction, and there she was, marching straight towards where they stood. Beca Bella did not look pleased with the commotion. Chloe, Aubrey, and Amy looked just as surprised as Stacie was. Beca should be in an airplane headed to Milan right about now.
"What are you doing here?" Chloe asked. A mixture of awe and disbelief in her tone as Beca stepped between her and the two goons, who backed down upon Beca's arrival and take a few steps back. Her glare was enough to put them in place.
Beca shrugged, "I forgot to feed Inzaghi."
Luke chuckled and Rufus glared at him before turning his attention to the new arrival. The ever so dashing savior of Barden Tower, Beca Bella.
"And who might you be?" Rufus asked. "Are you the infamous consigliere that's given a few of my friends trouble?"
"I guess you're about to find out," Beca replied and took a fighting stance. "Leave, before this gets messy. Otherwise, I'll have to teach you a lesson," she replied.
"Get them," Rufus then ordered his men and Beca, ever so cool, simply smirked and balled her hands into a fist. One of the goons rushed towards her and Beca easily disarmed him before tossing him over the railings that peered down the lobby of the tower. She once again took her fighting stance and motioned with her fingers to come towards them.
"Bring it on."
Emily wasted no time in sprinting away. A tactical retreat to look for help from the residents. Her efforts were quickly rewarded with a pleasant surprise when she ran into Beca.
"What's wrong?" Beca asked, catching Emily in her arms to help her stop from running past her. Emily practically word-vomited on Beca as she explained the situation. The ever so reliable consigliere simply nodded and said she'd handle things but to call for back-up none the less.
Emily practically saluted and then procured her phone to take a picture of Beca to send to the Barden Bellas. Beca looked at her confused but she simply shrugged in response. "This will get their attention faster," Emily explained before the two of them parted ways.
She had just reached the stairwell at the end of the hall when the rest of the cavalry showed up and ready to throw hands. Everyone was present and accounted for.
Boy, that was fast, Emily thought to herself.
The group, led by Lilly, Benji, and Jesse, took the opposite hall so that they could surprise Rufus Tseng and his men from behind and surround them. Emily was close behind them, but stopped at the end of the long stretch of the hallway, near the elevators, as to not get involved with the violence.
At the end of the hall, Beca was doing quite well in fending their attackers off, at least until one of the cronies tried to rush Chloe. Beca got distracted when he dealt with the assailant that one of the other goons managed to strike her on her back with a crane, causing her to fall down on her knees. It was a hard blow, most of the damage was done to her shoulders it would seem. Amy stepped up as she tried to recover. Things would have gone down for the worse though if they didn't arrive in the nick of time, Emily was sure of it.
"Aspettate," the residents shouted, echoing what they had heard Beca say while they rushed to their positions. This got Rufus' attention, along with his men. Luke smiled appreciatively, and Beca smirked just as she got up.
It was time for a throwdown. The atmosphere intense. Emily even started to flicker the light switch on and off to help set the mood for the brawl. Professional lackeys of the rich and pompous versus the secretly badass residents of Barden Tower. Emily's money was on the Barden Bellas of course. They had a lot of hidden talent coming up to the surface now that Beca Bella has entered their lives and inspired them.
Fight!
Emily watched as the Barden Bellas rushed the current tower invaders, battle cries and everything. They were ready to defend their home for the umpteenth time, each bringing their own special set of skills to the forefront of the battle.
Bumper was known in the streets as the nutria of the Trebles, with his sharp teeth, biting his enemies when he's wrestled them down on the floor, making them submit and cry uncle.
Donald and Uni were certified gangsters with unique fighting styles. Donald was quippy, slippery, and quick. He'd get on his enemy's nerves and hit them when they're distracted and losing focus. Uni was a bit of an acrobat and used incorporated his unicycle in his moves against his opponents.
Benji was known as "lightning scissors" back in the days of his troubled youth. While he's mostly used his talents with the scissors for his job as a tailor, he didn't have any qualms of once again using them as his weapons. He moved gracefully and swiftly to make short work of some of Rufus Tseng's goon squad with precise strikes with his shears.
CR knew wrestling, as her brother used to be on the Olympic wrestling team and taught her a thing or two. It didn't take long for her to take down a few of the henchmen herself.
Denise practiced capoeira, a dancing infused Afro-Brazilian form of martial arts. It was a skill she picked up from back in the days when she used to date someone who practiced it and it was what got her into dancing in the first place. She made quick work of those who tried to subdue her.
Flo used to box herself. Her punches landed strong and fast against some of the cronies. It was an easy knock out against her opponents.
Jessica knew Krav Maga, taking lessons in her youth, and Ashley was actually a gold medal weight lifter when she was younger. The two made a perfect pair, with Ashley tossing some of the goons over the railings from the floor they were on. It wasn't a bad fall, they'll break some bones, sure, but they pretty much deserved it. Jessica on the meantime took care of anyone who tried to attack her wife.
Stacie seemed to be proficient enough with smacking things with her laptop, swatting away anyone who tried to go near Aubrey while Amy, who knew mixed martial arts, backed Beca up and made short work of those who tried to go after Chloe, allowing Beca to focus on the others rushing them.
Lilly was, well, Lilly. She was practically a living ninja. The perfect bodyguard to a badass mafiosa. She freed Luke who managed to help them in subduing their enemies.
Jesse, president of the "Oh My Consigliere" fan club – one he started for Beca, who has no idea of its existence, and one they were all part of, including Theo and sans Aubrey and Chloe who didn't know the fan club existed either – and certified CIA agent took care of the rest of their attackers.
Even Emily got in the action herself. When Rufus Tseng saw how quickly his men were being dismantled, the coward tried sneaking out and making a quick getaway. Emily quickly rushed over and picked up a discarded bat and swung at him.
She'd like to say she hit a home run, Rufus Tseng falling unconscious shortly after he took a bat to his face.
The residents cheered once all their enemies were out, Beca even applauded their efforts.
Emily beamed with pride herself.
It was all in a day's work.
Chloe stood side by side next to Beca, a cup of coffee in each of their hands, as they both rested them on the railings of their quiet corner at the rooftop. She was smiling softly, sneaking a glance at Beca every now and then. She still can't believe she was here. That she didn't leave.
Somehow, Beca always knew to arrive just in the nick of time whenever Chloe needed her. If she wanted to keep calling herself a villain, she really needed to stop being her dashing hero. Not that Chloe's complaining.
Once the dust had settled, Luke filled them in on what Rufus Tseng was after. In turn, they filled him in on what he was missing out on. Beca assured him his share was safe, though they didn't tell him where they kept the gold now – could never be too careful, he might get kidnapped and coerced again, after all – and he laughed. To Luke, the most important thing is that everyone was safe, and that chaos didn't descend upon the tower residents who were still none the wiser about the gold. They reasoned that the old owner of the building, prior to Luke, was just paranoid and wanted to have a bunker type safe room, and that was the real reason people started gossiping about the existence of the non-existent gold everyone was after.
They may never know it actually exists, but in the end it was for the best.
The tower was their gold, their treasure, after all. At least that was what Denise had said after the fighting was over. No truer words could have been said then too. Because the tower was what brought them all together, it was their home and the place of their livelihood too. And once the trial was over and Beca and Luke reclaim ownership, it would be the gift Beca plans on giving to them. Co-ownership of the tower, with Beca taking care of the taxes and fees and all.
"What?" Beca finally asked with a light smirk on her lips after she caught Chloe staring at her for the third time. They were simply standing there, enjoying each other's company in silence before Beca decided to finally break it.
"I can't believe you missed your flight, would they even refund you your tickets or rebook? I bet that's a lot of money down the drain, they were for first class seats after all," Chloe then said. "Seriously though, why didn't you get on the plane?"
"I messaged Luke the other day about my travel plans but he didn't respond. I tried calling and messaging him too. I figured he was just busy. While waiting for boarding, I decided to message him one last time and reached out to his wife, who told me she couldn't reach him either," Beca replied. "I figured something was wrong so I decided to come back right then and there. Good thing too, I got back here in time."
"But what about the Bella family?" Chloe asked, concerned that Beca's mafia family might end up in a bloody war themselves without her.
But Beca didn't look at all worried. She shrugged and took a sip of her coffee before responding. "I talked to Giacomo and made a few calls. Let's just say that with Paulo gone, the new head of the Bella family manage to access all of funds and make decisions about selling old assets and homes were not really using," she said with a proud grin.
Chloe laughed. Beca was not subtle at all. "The new head, huh?" she remarked. "So should we start calling you Donna Beca instead of consigliere?" she teased.
Beca laughed. "With you Chloe, I'm just Beca," she replied rather shyly, looking away at the distance.
Chloe blushed a little and smiled. "So, what happened then?" she asked, getting back to the subject.
"I called the heads of the other families and made them deals with our shared business interests. As for the head of the main family picking a fight with us, I offered them 80 million dollars to leave us alone. That did the trick and settled things down."
Chloe was sipping on her own drink when she heard of Beca's offer and nearly choked. She coughed a bit to clear her throat and Beca couldn't help but chuckle at her antics. "D-did you just say 80 million? Wouldn't that set you back by a lot? Or… don't tell me… Just how rich are you?"
Beca simply shook her head. "It's no spare change, but no setback either," was her response.
"Then why did you even need your treasure here?" Chloe then asked in hush tones.
Beca once again shrugged. "I thought I was gonna have a war with Paulo."
Chloe stared at her in disbelief before both their attention was called on by a text message from Lilly that she sent to Beca. The messaged was a simple thumbs up emoji followed by the image of the unconscious Rufus Tseng in front of an overfilled dumpster. Next to him was one of those chocolate gold bar things you can buy at the supermarket.
The two shared a laugh and settled back into their usual conversation topics, this time mostly on what to do next and scheming for a way to get back at Rufus Tseng, possibly tank the kingmaker's current presidential pick.
Business as usual for the two of them.
In truth, Chloe was just thankful she didn't have to miss Beca Bella. Even if it was just for two weeks.
Chicago was pacing back and forth in his office. The last few days had him jittery and on edge, with constant attacks on his life being made by masked men. No doubt, Beca's men. She seemed keen on having him be dealt with. He's already increased security presence but they seem to still manage to slip in and out of his office, home, and pretty much everywhere else. Leaving behind bloody messages, ransacking his belongings, and just straight up launching an attack.
"There has to be someplace I can lay low," he said through gritted teeth.
"Oh, how about our – " Theo started to suggest.
"No, she's managed to infiltrate one of our other homes. That much is clear," Chicago pointed out, stating the obvious and remembering the time he nearly drowned in the tub because of Beca. He can't stay somewhere obvious to lie low. Anyone related to him or any of his or his associates' movements could be traced. He had to be off the grid somehow, if that was even possible.
"If only our attempts at getting her arrested worked," Luisa then said expressing her sentiments. "Shame that every single one of them failed. If she's behind bars, then she would practically be harmless. Heck, we can easily find a way to dispose of her."
Pieter then chuckled. "At this point, if jail can't keep Beca, I'd rather it kept me. I'd rather be incarcerated and away from her clutches and reach. With our connections, that might actually be the only viable way. But then again, who'd keep our interests going, right?"
Chicago immediately halted upon hearing Pieter's suggestion. "For once, you might actually have a brilliant idea," he remarked. It was insane, completely unexpected, and out of left field but it might actually work.
"Sir, what exactly do you mean?" the Kommissar asked. "You want to go to jail?"
Chicago snapped his fingers and pointed at her. "Yes! Exactly that! Beca's playing a different game than us, we have to get creative too," he then said. "Prepare evidences for me to get arrested for something light, a white-collar crime, money laundering? Oh, how about tax evasion? I spend time in jail, you handle the trial for the tower and come up with a plan to get rid of Beca. We can work on getting me out once she's dealt with and its business as usual," he then said, liking the sound of his plans better by the minute as he said it out loud. He can have the Kommissar do the dirty work, and the heavy lifting with the trial. Pieter's new position in the prosecution's office will allow him better access to certain officials and judges, get him to work on making a deal with them. Theo can once again be his puppet at Babel, and when all is said in done, and with Beca out of the way, he can have his brother take the fall for everything.
"If that's what you want, sir, I'll get to work immediately," the Kommissar then said.
"And I'll pull in Kimmy Jin to handle whatever case Luisa decides on, make sure it's one of our people handling it, sir," Pieter added.
"Oh, oh, what about me, brother?" his bumbling idiot of a brother asked, raising his hand to get his attention.
"Congrats, brother, you're being promoted to chairman again," Chicago replied, "Temporarily, okay?"
"Heck yeah," Theo replied doing a fist bump. "I won't let you down. Being a puppet is what I'm good for anyways."
Chicago nodded along as he turned his attention to the view outside of his office.
It's time to take a risk, if he wants to win this game against his most worth rival.
And he's willing to do anything to win.
Theo took a sip of his tea. He was currently sitting on the counter of a new omakase place with Beca, discussing their next moves. The news cycle was in a full frenzy, with the news of Chicago's arrest and incarceration for tax fraud. Not exactly false charges, he does commit tax fraud, though his arrest was a ploy to keep him safe and away from Beca's clutches. That's why the prosecutor in charge was still one of his allies, Kimmy Jin and new chief prosecutor of their district, Pieter.
Chicago was back to his old puppet-master role, or so he thought, placing Theo as the chairperson of Babel once more. Since taking over, Theo wasted no time in putting to work what he's learned from his tutoring sessions with Beca, as well as righting all of Chicago's wrongs. Shutting down BLSD and RDU-90 for good and course correcting on projects, making sure that he takes Babel in a new, better direction.
Beca seemed rather amused by the sudden turn of events. Theo wasn't sure if she had anticipated this, but she wasn't worried at all.
"He'd be safe in there, you know. DSM has the inmates, especially the most notorious ones, all wrapped up around their fingers. The Kommissar can get them to do whatever she wants in exchange for a reduction on their sentences. Including protecting Chicago and doing his biding."
"He can surround himself with common thugs as much as he wants," Beca then replied with a smirk. "But at least he's out of the way for now, and just in time for the trial."
Theo nodded. "And don't worry about that, by the way. I'm keeping an eye out for whatever shenanigans DSM may try to make things swing their way. Speaking off, I already know who the proceeding judge is."
"Oh?" Beca remarked.
"Yeah, John Smith. The same judge from the BLSD trial."
Beca chuckled. "Good, then. At least we're acquainted," she then said before giving Theo a pat on the back. "Great work."
Theo beamed with pride.
It was nice to be appreciated for once.
Beca had a pleasant smile on her face as she saw Chicago be brought out from behind the metal door and seated by the jail guard in front of the glass that separated them in their little visitation booth. She waited for the guard to step outside behind the door, where he was keeping an eye on their visit through the peephole before picking up the phone on the receiver on her end. Chicago did the same, scoffing as he found her visit amusing.
"Orange looks good on you," Beca jested.
"You can make fun of me all you want, but I'd like to see you try to get me now. Don't even think your stunt with your assassins will work here. In this prison, I am the king."
Beca laughed, "Do you really think I'd hire someone else kill you? No, that privilege belong to me."
Chicago shakes his head and chuckles. "I guess all that was to scare me, huh? Well, it didn't work."
Beca smirked. "You're in there now, aren't you? I'd say my plan worked a little too well."
With that statement, any confidence Chicago had was wiped away. He looked at her in a mix of confusion and indignation.
"I have a nickname in the mafia, gatto sazio," Beca went on to say, "sated cat. Because a sated cat plays with the mice she catches as her food, even when she's full, just because she can," she further edified.
"Do you want to know how I earned it? That nickname. It's all thanks to the man who killed my adoptive parents. It took time to find him after the rival family he served protected him and hid him away. When I did, he was sick, dying for a disease. I approached him without telling him who I was. I paid for his treatments, I made sure he lived. Once he was out and in the clear, I took him to the fanciest restaurant I could find to celebrate his recovery. Paid for an expensive multi-course steak dinner, before I made him pay for his crimes. I'll spare you the details, but do know he suffered. Know that I did not make his death easy. I keep my word, after all," Beca recounted before leaning closer to the glass that separated her from Chicago. "You're behind bars because that's where I want you to be. Right now, I'm a sated cat," she said with a smirk. "But soon the sated cat will be hungry," she concluded, before returning the phone to the receiver.
Chicago started slamming his hand and shouted back at her as she got up and left.
He can threaten her all he wanted, cry out his frustrations and disbelief. But at the end of the day, Beca will do what she does best, and turn her words into reality.
Chicago can do what he wants with his dwindling days, but the end remains the same.
Come hell or high water.
Chicago will die by her hands.
Chicago literally played into Beca's hands, but will he just sit there and take things? That's the question.
The gold has been settled and moved, the vault emptied.
It's time to win back full control of the tower for the residents before taking care of each and every one of Beca's enemies.
UPNEXT: The Trial for the ownership of Barden Tower!