Back to Business

Stepping out of his favorite car along with Ichiban and Nigel, Dante moved quickly inside a seemingly abandoned building. The young mafioso had a frown on his face as he marched inside. Fresh off of his short vacation with his fiance Dante had been ready to begin dismantling his father's criminal empire to eventually take it over. Moving some personnel to certain locations, missing shipments, implicate a few people to distract the older Jackson etc.

What he hadn't expected was to find out that one of his personal warehouses had been raided by Elevens.

'Or at least partially raided.' He amended mentally.

His men had sent footage from the hidden cameras around the complex. The Numbers had moved well and efficiently. They'd managed to pick off his men one by one. Considering the timing of the guard changes and ambushes had coincided with each other it was safe to assume that they had been scouting his security for some time. Had one of them, a red head with short spiked hair, not been so hasty to catch up with his comrades and properly secured his target they might very well have pulled their theft off without a hitch.

It was thanks to this failure they'd only gotten a few crates of rifles and bullets into their truck before being swarmed by reinforcements of his personal henchmen.

Upon realizing they were outnumbered the thieves cut their losses and attempted an escape. With only one person left behind.

Dante noted two of the men standing guard over the prisoner's room while the rest were in the midst of packing up to move the remaining stored items to a new location. Aside from a few bruises they seemed well.

"How is he?" Dante asked.

"Still alive young master." One answered. "Like you asked we haven't done anything too permanent. Guy's been silent aside from a few grunts and swears. We made sure to chain him up nice and tight so he doesn't try anything funny."

Nodding his understanding Dante, Ichiban and Nigel moved inside the room with one of the men while the other stayed outside. There they found the prisoner.

He was an older man, probably in his later 20s. He had brown puffy hair and grey eyes. Currently he had on a large orange sweater and grey jeans. Of particular note was the red headband he wore on his forehead.

Like his man had said the Number was bruised up but overall seemed fine. Blood was leaking from the side of his mouth onto the collar of his now torn shirt and the left side of his face had begun to swell. He was seated on the ground with his arms behind his back. Despite his injuries he still had a defiant look in his visible eye.

"Unchain him." Dante ordered.

"You sure young master?" The thug questioned earning a hard look from Nigel. Before he could berate him the Jackson heir continued.

"If he's stupid enough to fight while outnumbered 4 to 1 he'll regret it." He explained before turning his attention back to the captured Number. "However I'm sure that our friend here realizes that it's normal to be compliant and not start a fuss while in this situation."

A slow nod was his only response but it was enough. With that out of the way the goon moved to undo the man's chains. When he was done Dante ordered him out while Ichiban and Nigel stood to the mans left and right, rolling his wrists for circulation.

"Seems you've had quite the rough night friend." Dante said casually taking a couple of folding chairs and setting them up. Dante took one for himself and pointed at the other. The quiet man grunted as he tried to stand before Ichiban moved to help move his fellow countryman to his feet. Once he did their captive gave a tentative nod of gratitude to the larger Honorary before limping to the other chair.

"I've had worse." He responded grimly as he held his right kneecap.

"I don't doubt it." Police brutality against the natives was common practice. "So why don't we start with names? I'm Dante Jackson, owner of this warehouse." He said extending his hand to shake.

"...Kaname Ohgi." Came the response after a short pause and accepted the handshake.

It was truly fascinating seeing the effect the earings had on others. Despite his going along with Dante's whims Ohgi still held hesitance and was making his responses as clipped and short as possible.

"Well Mr Ohgi, why don't you tell me who you're affiliated with." Despite being framed as a question it wasn't one.

Ohgi grimaced before answering lamely, "We don't really have a name."

"Are you new to terrorism?" Dante probed.

"We're not terrorists!" He protested strongly. When he noticed Nigel place his hand on his shoulder in silent warning he continued more calmly, "We've been raiding for a few years but we've avoided harming any civilians. All we steal is food and medicine. At most we've attacked police or helped others get away from being assualted."

"But it seems you're stepping up your game if you decided to try robbing my wares." Dante countered.

The captive Number frowned but retorted, "Well we can't kindly ask the Mafia to stop peddling Refrain in the ghettos and expect to be taken seriously."

"Refrain huh?" Dante muttered to himself before leaning back in his chair. Seeing him taking out a cigarette the only Honorary Brittanian in the room moved and offered his boss a light. As he accepted the offer Dante thought about the mentioned ****.

If he was being perfectly honest he wasn't a fan of the stuff. It certainly brought in money but the cost was too damn high in his opinion. In a world where you're the bottom of the pecking order and more than likely used and abused at anothers whim any form of escape must be appealing to the downtrodden masses. Add in it's already addictive qualities and you are set to have repeat customers.

In exchange you eventually become a vegetable. That wasn't even hyperbole. The stuff literally rotted the the brain away. There were safer less destructive **** out there but none could allow you to relive your most beloved memories so clearly. Getting your dream job, seeing your lover once again, a moment a group of friends would cherish and keep their little secret were just a few examples Dante could think of as enjoyed several drags of the nicotine.

'So they want to drive out the Refrain dealers?' Dante didn't have much control over the **** trade in Area 11 but... 'Well I have to start somewhere. Might as well be something I don't like or particularly need anyway.' He could already imagine the fury this would set off in his father. Not only in terms of lost profit but his favorite tool he enjoyed using when breaking down Numbers. 'All the more reason to do it.' The Jackson heir smirked as he took a final drag. "Well now Ohgi I might have a solution to your problem."

"You do?" The puffy haired man asked not hiding his suspicion.

"You're skeptical right now." Dante acknowledged, "But hear me out and I guarantee you'll see it's normal to comply."