Roanapur Nights

A RosarioVampire and Black Lagoon Crossover

Chapter 29

Muffled grunts echoed ahead. The sounds of flesh slapping could be heard, and Chang knew better than to ask what it was. The sewers weren't a place to go exploring anyway. When he was in China they were used, at times, for less than legal activities. Much like now they were used to smuggle something that wasn't meant to be smuggled. Human trafficking was a booming business in China. Especially with babies and children that weren't officially supposed to exist. IIllegitimate children were what most of the police referred to them as.

They weren't born out of wedlock, or at least a good number of them weren't. They were children that just weren't supposed to exist. Most families had a cutoff of two, at most, and almost all families wanted little boys. The idea that the son would carry on the legacy of the father was just as big in China when he left as it was a hundred years ago. There was certainly the idea that community came before individuals, and that included individual families. Still, there was something about ensuring that the son carried on the legacy.

Those children that were moved more often than not were girls, and they were often sold to less than legal orphanages across the world. It was a huge and booming business in the United States. Thousands, perhaps millions, of men and women that were desperate for a child, and willing to take a little girl as their daughter. It was a lucrative business, and one that the more shady parts of the government was more than willing to take a cut from in order to turn a blind eye.

Chang felt like one of those children. He was being led from his home, from all he had known, and was heading toward his new home. Working for the Scilians wasn't a guarantee by any stretch of the imagination. He wasn't one of them, and that meant that he would never be a made man there. He knew enough about the organization to know that only those who came from Italian families would rise to the upper heights of the organization.

He would be an advisor, perhaps he'd be given the opportunity to run a crew, oversee some of the organization, but ultimately he wouldn't have the access he needed or wanted. This was, at best, a way to ensure his own survival. Leaving them came with its own problems, but for now they were the only ones that owed him enough favors to potentially get him out of Roanapur alive.

He could hear the sounds ahead even closer. The muffled grunts, the sounds of slapping flesh, the muffled cries, and the whimpers of someone else. It was a rape gang. They were prevalent in Roanapur. It wasn't so much a business as it was just individuals that were so lost, so twisted, that they had nothing else to live for. They had nothing else to do other than to torment those who had no protection from them. He knew what would be happening to them, and wasn't specifically wanting to see it. He wasn't really worried about Silent Penance. The woman was powerful in her own right. She could protect herself, him, and likely dispatch anyone that was attempting to do anything to either of them without much trouble. At least the normal sorts that ran with these kinds of gangs.

The corner was turned, and he saw the silhouettes. Ahead was at least four of them. All of them larger, slightly portly, yet muscular. There was a single woman there, she was situated between them. Tattered bits of clothing hung from her. The dim light showed the neon pink shirt, the safety yellow shorts, and the now stained white Converse All-Stars. That answered the first question. It was an American.

More often than not they were the only ones to dress so garishly. The girl was petite, likely just barely an adult, if that, and likely with family that was visiting. Depending on the situation the parents were either likely captured and awaiting their own hell, or they were dispatched. Any siblings were likely getting treated to similar fates. This was what Roanapur was for outsiders that didn't understand the city. This was what awaited them, and it surprised him to no end the number of people that were willing and ready to travel to it.

Those ready to trade their normal and expected lives for a life of uncertainty. Oh, most certainly someone that was truly understanding of the criminal world would do well here. It was almost a guarantee. They could exist in a place with so few rules, so little government, and they could do well. Of course the learning curve for how Roanapur's criminal world differed from the rest of the world was different. It was almost a guarantee that things could, and would, fall apart before long. The city was a monster, and he knew it. The reason everyone was called the living dead was because that was what was happening inside of it. He saw Silent Penance stop. Her body tensed for a moment. She seemed to be considering the next move, and he could hear her softly mumbling to herself, "That was just test phases, I am certain of it," she said, her voice almost so quiet that he could barely pick up on it being right next to her, "Human and animal cross genetic testing wasn't fully being pursued, did they up the testing? Is that it? If that is the case, then why are there genetic test subjects here?"

"What is is?" he asked, his voice moderately louder than her own." what do you see?"

She held her hand up, "Four potential genetic test subjects," she said as she stood there, "Their chemical makeup, along with pheromone release matches that of the razorback boars located in Eastern Arkansas. They are currently engaged in their group attactivity with a roughly seventeen to nineteen year old caucasian female. There is a slightly younger, perhaps fifteen to nineteen, female near them that is currently curled into the fetal position and is crying," her analysis was the kind of thing that a machine would report. It was cold and unfeeling, "I'm concerned because this is a potential complication that I had not accounted for."

The figures stopped, and one of them turned toward them. They looked somewhat normal, from what Chang could see, and they didn't look especially dangerous. At least not when compared to Silent Penance. From where he was sitting it looked like four different men that might have recently came to Roanapur, decided to go on a raid of sorts, and caught themselves a couple of victims. Again, it was something that made no money, and it didn't specifically conflict with his interests.

When he was still in charge of the Hong Kong Triads he would more often not capture the girls that had been used by one of these gangs, if they were still alive, and sell them into slavery. Their spirits were usually broken, they were typically in such a state that it took very little coaching to get them to the point of merely following orders. It made them incredibly easy to handle, and it made selling them that much more cost effective.

The fact that they were now looking at them didn't bother him, but it had absolutely put Silent Penance on edge. He saw her tense, and he watched as she seemed to prepare herself, "Remember when I said do as I say, when I say, and you will make it to your new employers with no issue?" she asked her voice even and cold, "It was implied that you needed to keep your fucking mouth shut."

Two of the men began to laugh, "What we got here?" one asked, his voice sounding horse, the Chinese he was speaking sounded a little stilted and forced, almost as if he had learned it in education, "Some target practice and another hole."

"You are mistaken," she said as she leveled her arm out in front of her, "You are seeing your deaths, pure and simple"

With that there was a flash of light and the man on the right side screamed in pain. Chang, even in the dim light, watched as his face began to morph and alter until it was a pig's head. His body was bulged and huge, the kind of body that normally was reserved for dock workers that did long hours and ate some of the worst shit in the universe. Still, whatever she'd shot him with hadn't killed him. It had absolutely hurt him, but it hadn't killed him. The effect seemed to be surprising to Silent Penance as well, "This is your one chance," she said, her voice not betraying her, "Move, let us through, or I will personally ensure that all of you are put to death."

"Help me please!" the girl that had been between two of them cried, her mouth now empty, "Please! Help me!"

Silent Penance didn't even look at the girl, her eyes remained trained on the creatures before her. For Chang it was looking at something that shouldn't exist. It was literally something straight from fantasy literature. He'd read about them before. Orcs, mythical creatures that a bunch of shut-ins pretended to fight in their little tabletop games. Only they weren't real. They couldn't be real. Every bit of potential evidence that pointed to them being real couldn't be.

They couldn't be real, because it flew in the face of what he knew, what he expected, what was the one guiding truth in his existence. He breathed out, took a moment, and stepped back, "Do not get too far from me," Silent Penance warned, "While I can track you with my sensors /I would rather not give these animals the chance to get any form of an upper hand. Plus, who is to say that they won't decide to enjoy a man as much as a little girl."

He stopped where he was standing. The thought of something like that happening hadn't fully occurred to him, but it should have. Men weren't exempt from being raped. It happened to both sexes. His time as a police officer reminded him that to the predator it wasn't about sexual gratification. It was all about power, and using that power against someone else. It was hurting someone else for the pure purpose to hurt them.

The three that remained standing seemed to move. The girl was forgotten about for a moment, and she wasted no time moving toward Silent Penance and Chang. He watched as she threw herself at his protector. The cyborg assassin didn't even register her. She didn't pay a bit of attention to her, and instead she began to move, her arm still pointed at them, while putting them away from where they were.

"Just know we don't forget other strong monsters," one of them said, "You'll be seeing us again."

A low growl escaped from her, and Chang hoped that this would be behind them soon. As they moved away from where the one wounded and other three orcs were, a different orc was currently looking for his wayward brothers. His task with tracking the cyborg had hit a wall. He'd been looking for her specifically for a while. He'd even found the apartment that she had used at some point. There were plenty of cleaning chemicals that had been used, but the latent smell of metal and woman flesh was still there.

All of the evidence pointed to the same thing. The one his master was looking for had been here. He'd talked to his brothers, and all of them swore that they would look for her. Most of them had wanted the same thing as him. All of them wanted to face a cyborg. A manmade monster, something powerful made by humans to face them, and they wanted to measure how powerful she was. There was also likely the idea that they wanted to see what she would be like if she bedded.

Still, thoughts about what she could be like, what the fight would be like was secondary at this point. He knew that, and he knew that whatever happened from this point on was determined by his master's will. His master wanted this woman found. He grunted a little as he looked around. The trail was growing cold, but for an orc that wasn't a problem. Following her just meant following what trail there was left. He moved, allowing his snout to lead him, and it lead toward a place that seemed to be made for some monsters. He'd made his way to the basement of the building. Inside of the basement he found a large bookshelf.

The shelf itself seemed to be tall, nearly reaching to the ceiling, and the design was something heavy. Moving to the side of it he saw that it appeared to be attached to the wall. He studied it for several seconds before he moved back to the front. His snout worked hard as he identified the smell of the woman. Coming to the place that he was certain of he felt around the bookshelf, finding a small place where the wood didn't quite match up.

He pressed it, and the bookshelf moved. He grasped the side of it and pulled, finding that while it appeared to be attached to the wall it was just an appearance. Instead it had been a door, and the door itself was flush with the wall. It gave no indications that it was even there with the bookshelf the way it was. He moved, entered into the doorway, and heard it click behind him. Part of him questioned his own sanity. After all, it wasn't exactly a good idea to go chasing after an unknown without more information, but he owed his life to his master.

Without a second though he entered into the darkness, allowing the door to shut behind him. In a City called the City of the Living Dead he was welcoming his bullet with open arms. He was practically begging for it to come and claim him. He would have absolutely no complaints if it did. That was merely how things worked here. It was part of what brought him and his brothers here. The idea of a place where there were no questions, a place where a monster could hunt without worry, and it was all welcoming to them.

The city was enticing, welcoming, and in truth it reminded him very much of the succubi. The monsters that ensnared men with their charms, and they sat up on them with their desire. The city was attempting to capture those that entered it in the very same way. He didn't mind too much though. Succubi were fine, but any other monster had to understand that they were just fun. A Succubus wasn't someone that anyone could claim as their own until they found their destined one.

It was then, and only then, that the succubus would be faithful and true. They would never stray, never cheat, never leave their destined one. That was their blessing and curse. Until the day they met their destined one they were the ones that were throwing back against countless bodies, and after meeting their destined ones they were betty fucking crocker. That was where they differed from the city. It was into body counts big time. It wasn't going to slow down, and he doubted that the city had a destined one. If it did then likely it was an open fucking relationship.

He laughed at the little joke, moved further in, and listened as he walked. The smell of the woman was mixed with a man. Human, normal, scared, but trained enough to not break down. Someone that could be dangerous with a weapon. He had to keep his head about humans. It was best to not underestimate them. That was a mistake that more often than resulted in the death of those who were not prepared enough to deal with the very real repercussions that could happen when dealing with humans.

He kept his mind sharp, listening, looking, and sniffing as he went. The smell changed to a female, young, almost to the point he'd turn his head and go on. He wasn't into those that were too young. A good age for him was just in the twenties to early thirties. Old enough to know how to do things, still tight enough to enjoy, and of course enough usually feisty enough to make it enjoyable. He looked to see his brothers, tending to one of their own, a young girl curled up, crying, her mind likely long gone, "What's this?"

One of them looked toward him, "Hampton, it was that thing you told us about. She was here, had guns in her fuckin' arms! It was cool! I wanna find her and fuck her, but we gotta figure out how to get the drop on her. She's got a better nose than we do," Jowl said in a rough voice, "She gave Mince a warning shot, nearly broke two ribs on him, I think she could've killed him if she wanted."

He nodded, "Which way did she go?"

He pointed toward the darkened area, "That way, headin' toward the shipyard. I think that maybe if we go above ground we can maybe beat her to the exit there. Maybe we could jump her and see if she'd be surprised. Can't just be one of us," he said, his voice sounding excited, "We're gonna have to go full on family action brother, we gotta have that one! Little treats like that little thing ain't nearly gonna be as much fun!"

He nodded, but at the same time he knew that he needed to contact his boss. He needed to let them know that they were heading toward the shipyard. Maybe his boss could deal with her, maybe not, but he wanted to make sure that he knew, "Good, go up, head over there, and I'll be right there, I'll drop off the sweet treat with a buyer, might as well make some money, right?"

They laughed, nodded, and he looked toward the girl, she was young, broken, and a fitting present for his master. He liked blood, she was an American, and he'd eaten a couple of them before, they didn't taste too bad. Maybe it'd score some points for him.