The Power of an e-TME ticker! (part 1).

Written by Trigger and Black.

Chapter 5: The Power of an e-TME ticker! (part 1).

"The 'Black Snakes'. They are one of Tokyo's 79 Mafias and are ranked 10th in strength.

They have a force of 536 strong, and they are made up of mostly males, with few being female, they range from 15 to 39 years of age. They primarily sell drugs, illegal arms, and assassinations, but will do any task as long as the client has enough money. Their base of operation is a small, run-down building in the Kizashi district, downtown Tokyo, however, please keep in mind this is not the location where we had found Ishiduo, but a separate location, if it were that easy to infiltrate, we wouldn't be in this predicament. They have over 36 guards positioned all around a 360-degree radius of their base.

However this is just a facade, building on the surface is just a trap, their actual base is about 100 meters below surface level, a wide open space, whose contents are unknown. Through some investigation by my boys, they found that it was built in the Edo period, by an extremely wealthy family. It seems one of the higher-ups of the 'Black Snakes' is the sole inheritor of the family's fortune.

This building, being underground, allows for many covert operations that would have otherwise been impossible, such as the smuggling of illegal goods, retailing of drugs and illegal arms distribution, and other despicable acts to take place. All records of this underground building have been destroyed, our likeliest guess is that they; the 'Black Snakes' destroyed it all. This would explain why the police have never been able to catch them in the act, this could also be linked to their many ties to powerful individuals of the Underground, which would also make it easy to get rid of most information, and to keep the vast majority of the executives within the police force mouths shut."

Yakumo and I are currently receiving a briefing about the 'Black Snakes' from Ketsu.

5 days have passed since we decided to make Ishiduo and the 'Black Snakes' pay for their crimes, Ketsu had some of his boys scoping around the 'Black Snakes' territory and had found some useful information. Looking up at him, it was really weird, this was not the usual playful, dumbass Ketsu, but a brilliant strategist, who was completely focused on his task and would deploy any means necessary to achieve his goal, it was cool…

He stood up from his chair, kept one of his legs on the table, and then said. "So, let's talk about their underground base. In truth, I have a very limited amount of information, but I do know this, they keep a massive load of drugs and arms down there, like enough to fill a large house. These guys are bad news, like really bad news, that's why I can't wait to go down there!"

'Heh, I knew his swagger wouldn't last, it's Ketsu after all, what did I even think would happen~' I thought as I lost hope once more in Ketsu.

The funniest part of all this is the fact that Ketsu could get information that even the police couldn't get, although we found out most of the higher-ups within the cops are just moles for the Underground. In that sense, it's amazing how Ketsu got all this information… Should I say as expected from the child of one of the Underground's biggest bosses?

"So how are we supposed to get in there?" Asked Yakumo.

"According to my boys, it's easy, we just have to go down a vent, simple as that." Replied Ketsu.

"Go down a vent 100 meters deep?"

"Yeah that sounds impossible, but we do have an alternative, we could just seek it. I got some information about a trade they're making today by 11 pm, they're expecting a large supply of firearms."

"So how are we gonna get in?"

"Simple, we hitch a ride."

"....."

"Why are you looking at me like that, Yakumo?"

Yakumo sighed and asked. "Nothing, but you said 'hitch a ride', what do you mean?"

"Easy as pie! We'll hitch a ride on one of their transport vans, I got a guy who could help with that, then we sneak in, get the evidence, and hightailing-out of there."

"Sounds simple enough, but could we pull it off?" Asked Yakumo.

"No reason we can't, it'll be a risky one, but it's the best plan we got."

"Well, history has shown that simple, well-thought-out plans are the best."

"That's right Yakumo! And Jonael, what's your opinion."

Yakumo looked at me and asked. "Jonael, tell us the truth, what's your opinion on this, should we go with it or not? The choice is all yours."

Ketsu looked ready to go no matter what I say, on the other hand, Yakumo looked more reserved, he was probably looking out for me, but there's no backing down now, we have to finish what we started, we'll go with it till the end. I became resolute as I answered him.

"It's good enough. It's easy to understand and the risks are minimal, I'd say it's the best possible plan we can muster with such little time." I said honestly.

"Then we better get ready, we'll be heading out tonight by 10 pm." Said Ketsu.

Yakumo and I both replied. ""Yes!"" And we all got ourselves ready.

This night's gonna be action-packed!

♦

10 pm. Kisashi district, downtown Tokyo.

A van had just arrived in front of an old, rundown building that belonged to the Mafia called the 'Black Snakes'.

Several vans unloaded huge cargo compartments containing firearms and other unlawful products, and in one of those cargo compartments, there were 3 teenage boys.

"Get the hell off me, you're squeezing the life out of me." One said in a hushed tune.

"I can't help it, there's not enough elbow room in here, you know?" Replied another.

"Guys just shut up, we're gonna get caught." Warned the last.

These teenagers were none other than Jonael, Ketsu, and Yakumo, respectively. They had succeeded in getting into a cargo compartment, and now it was just a straight shot down to the Underground hideout. But…

Two bulky men arrived in front of the cargo compartment.

"So, I heard these cargoes ain't no joke, these babies are worth quite a fortune, we talking 800 million yen here, if anything goes wrong we're screwed. Said the first.

"Here let's search for them first, you know for the Mafia, and if we can just take some things as payment, hehe." Said the second.

"Yeah." Replied first.

And so they started searching all the cargo compartments.

This did not go unnoticed, two sets of people were watching this unfold, one where the teenager and the other was a mysterious woman.

The teenagers were caught in fear.

"Ketsu, do you have a plan for this?" Asked Jonael.

"No, no I do not." Replied Ketsu.

"How about you, Yakumo?"

"I don't either." Replied Yakumo.

They all fell into a state of despair, all they planned was about to fall apart, the worst part was that they haven't actually gotten in yet, but now they were about to be caught… this could mean death.

Ketsu, as if accepting his faith, spoke as if in a state of enlightenment. "Yakumo, Jonael, it's been really fun hanging out with you two, I hope we meet in the next life…" he had fully given up…

Both Yakumo and Jonael looked at the guy who until recently had so much bravado and said. ""Shut it."" They were having none of it.

Jonael then looked at Yakumo and asked. "Yakumo, what are we gonna do? If those bastards get to us we're screwed and Ketsu's pretty useless now, I mean look at him."

Yakumo looked in the direction Jonael was pointing at, Yakumo found Ketsu doing multiple prayers to multiple gods. 'I'm not sure that's how it works'. He thought.

"There's nothing we can do, we can probably just ask them to demand ransom from our parents or pay them to keep quiet. That's all we can do, running away ain't no option. If we tried that we'll be shot down, these bulletproof vests can't block gunshots to the head, can they?"

"Your right, Yakumo."

Yakumo was right, they had no other option than to negotiate if they were caught, it was the only way to survive."

But as luck would have it on them…

"Hehe, so you guys want to steal from the Mafia, eh?" It was the gentle voice that belonged to a woman, a voice Jonael knew all too well.

"Who dares accuse us–"

"Who–"

Both the first and the second man were stunned in silence.

"Return everything you took and follow me." She said.

"Yes madam." They replied, returning everything, and then followed her.

They left, and it became weirdly quiet.

"Jonael..."

"What?"

"Aren't you affected by her?"

"Ketsu, I came for revenge, if she's foolish enough to help then so be it."

"Ok. It seems some people are coming to take us in, please be quiet. Said Yakumo.

♦

1 hour later.*

"Jonael, Ketsu I think it's okay for us to talk now." Said Yakumo.

They had been dropped in an unknown location for about 15 minutes now, they chose to stay quiet until they were sure everything was safe.

Ketsu then proceeded to look through a small hole within the cargo compartment.

"Hmmm, this doesn't look like much I was expecting something better." He said, sounding unimpressed.

"It's better than nothing, who would ever think that they got an underground base?" Answered Jonael.

Yakumo observing the base said. "We should wait a bit, no one seems to be here, will get the information when we're sure no one's gonna be here."

Both Jonael and Ketsu replied. ""Okay,""

Another hour had passed, and no one seemed to have come down.

"Let's go." Said Yakumo.

""Yeah.""

They then left the cargo compartment, and…

"Hehehe, you guys do have a lot of patience, who would have thought a bunch of teenagers could wait so long in a cargo compartment? And what freaks me out is how you managed to get in here without anyone noticing!!" Said a loud voice.

"They have some balls trying to sneak in here, let's just kill them and be done with it."

"Take it easy Ishiduo, even if I'm not so dumb as to kill the sons of some of the richest families in Asia, that's like signing a suicide note!"

"So, what are we gonna do with 'em?"

"Ransom, duh! Ain't it obvious!?"

"You're so smart."

At this moment, Jonael, Ketsu, and Yakumo knew they had been played, someone had betrayed them or somehow information on their exploits had been leaked.

"""We're fucked.""" They said unanimously.