Fun Money

"Looking sharp, brotha." Roy says.

A morning full of opportunity had arrived. Roy had researched several gigs for his little brother to make some quick cash. Leo had on a well tailored black suit and matching tie.

"You sure these won't rip?" Leo said as he stretched around.

"These are what they give us in urban environments, maintains professionalism and they're super breathable too, believe it or not." Roy answered. "We're meeting with my handler first, so be on your best behavior. You can take the suit off after unless you like it."

Skai had arrived outside in the car they ditched previously, her locs put up in a bun with obsidian black shades on. "Beep! Beep!" She jests.

Roy hopped in the passenger and Leo in the back. They drove to a shipyard, listening to all of the new songs by Leo's favorite artists. When they arrived, a man in a similar outfit with the addition of hat and cane awaited them. 

"Leo, stay here."

"Wait, why?"

"I have to talk to my handler first."

"How can I meet Ishikawa if I'm sitting in the car?"

"You're not meeting Ishikawa, you're meeting Murphy."

"I thought Ishikawa was your handler? Who the fuck is Murphy?"

Roy holds the bridge between his eyes. 

"Ishikawa is my Japanese handler. Murphy is my international handler. I only told that cop I was under Ishikawa to shut him up."

Leo stares blankly at Roy.

Skai turns around to explain. "It's ok! It confused me too at first. Basically Roy, and I by technicality, are employed by Horikoshi Ishikawa to do stuff, and by using his name we essentially get a free pass on just about everything. However, this is only a guarantee in Japan."

"And since we're currently on vacation, we go through Murphy for some spending cash. Plus, it isn't too smart to use Ishikawa's name outside his jurisdiction." Roy says as he looks at Skai who is staring off into the distance, remembering a cruel lesson.

"Horikoshi Bad Money. Murphy Fun Money. Heard." Leo says, cutting the tension.

KNOCK KNOCK!

Murphy pangs on the glass window beside Roy.

"We don't have all day! Hurry up and get out of the car." Murphy says before angrily turning around. Roy, Skai, and Leo all hop out of the car quickly. "I HAD a job for you but your faaaaavorite handler contacted me before you got here, saying he had an urgent message for you. And you know how he is, so I need you to go handle whatever it is he needs you for then rush back here so we can-"

"Oh I got it! Gimme a shot." Leo interjects.

Murphy turned around slowly and pushed his shades down to get a better look at who was talking. "Roy…who the hell is that?"

"He's my little brother." Roy said with an awkward smile.

"Absolutely not!" Murphy bluntly said.

"Aw, come on!"

"Murphyyyy."

"Pretty pleaseeee!"

The group groaned.

"You must be out your fucking minds! Have you even told him what you're signing him up for?!" Murphy argued.

"Not a drop!" Leo says with a wide smile.

Murphy returns a speechless bewildered gaze.

"He just got out of prison. He'll be fine." Roy explained.

"Just got out of What! Jesus Christ! Roy, we barely, and I mean BARELY got away with this whole Mr. and Mrs. Smith act you have going on here. Now you brought your widdle baby brother into this too! This isn't fucking family feud Roy! You, and Skai, are paid by the government to operate in the SHADOWS. That means discretion. How do you think Ishikwawa is going to feel about this?"

brnng, brnng, brnng

"He's not going to know about this."

brnng, brnng, brnng

"Oh you think so!?" Murphy turned to Skai, "And YOU! You cosigned this idiot? Think about what they did to us!"

brnng, brnng, brnng

"Murphy, I-"

"Roy, go answer the damn phone! It's for you anyways." Murphy demanded.

Murphy handed Roy a small flip phone. When he opened it, there was a note taped to the screen.

WE ARE BEING WATCHED

Roy crumbles the piece of paper and answers the phone.

"Finally here, my protege. Have you picked up a new habit of being late or has being in America made you fatter." The voice on the phone says.

"I apologize, Sensei. I was just-"

"Save it. You know how I feel about excuses, Roy. Are you having fun back home? Our hackers found recent search activity about me and a couple of the organizations that I'm involved with, you wouldn't happen to know why that is? Would you?"

"Well, I had a run in with an Officer and-"

"An officer!? You didn't just kill him? I thought I taught you better than this."

"It wasn't just any officer, it was a hero! A rising star. Killing him, let alone in front of my family home, would raise suspicion. I figured that by-"

"That by not killing him, you could undermine my authority and-"

"No, Sensei, I promise I was just-"

Back over at the car, Murphy eyed Leo up and down. "What's your name kid?"

"Leo Konza!"

"Konza? You guys got different Dads or something? You two don't exactly look alike now that I think about it."

"I think we have different moms too. I'm basically adopted." says Leo, still with a bright grin on his face.

Murphy holds the bridge between his eyes. "Christ. You look and sound so much like a protagonist. You're making me nostalgic."

"Nuh uh! I'm not a fucking superhero. I'm going to take over the whole fucking world one day!" Leo laughs evilly.

"Yup. Bonafide shonen protagonist. Look at him, he even has little stars for pupils. Definitely the wrong line of work for you kiddo."

"Oh fuck you too." Leo says as he throws his arms up.

"It's almost cute." Skai giggles.

"Not you too." Leo groans.

Back at the docks, Ishikawa had finally finished scolding his pupil.

"With that being said, Roy, I would like to introduce you to the newest addition to our family, Kema, the Seventh Serpent." Ishikawa announced.

"Seventh Serpent? The Snake Clan has only had six serpents for the past 300 years." Roy barked.

"Not anymore!" A third voice emerged from the call. "I would've come down there to greet you personally, but it's fun watching you punks from afar."

"From afar-" Roy spun his head around then zoned in on a highest peak of the Zaheera Tower. Roy squinted his eyes until he could barely see the silhouette of a man standing on the skyscraper's antenna.

"Now you see me." Kema says.

"In fact, the rest of the Serpents are in this call as well. Roy, you must take me for a fool if you thought I'd arrange a meeting just to reprimand you." Ishikawa subtly laughs. "The reason behind this meeting is to remind you all of the annual celebration of the Kembaku Alliance. I'm afraid some of you fear my punishment more than you've been fearing me as of late. Which is why I've added Kema, Zara, and Reiko, my son, to our ranks as temporary serpents."

"Temporary?" Roy questioned.

"Quite observant isn't he?" Kema chuckled.

"As Roy said earlier, the Snake Clan has had Six Serpents for centuries. The Alliance Celebration is in six months. I have nine serpents currently, and should only have six then." Ishikawa stated.

Roy laughs to himself then out aloud. "So Kema, I guess you're here to take my spot, right?"

"I definitely didn't come here to fight drug dealers and pimps in your ghettos." Kema says following a bellowing laugh.

"Well it won't be easy for you, I can definitely tell you that. This is like post-grad work for an alumni like myself. And with a name like, Kema, the Ogre, I know you can't relate."

"You-"

"Yeah that's right. I've heard about you, and I'm not afraid of you. Come settle this soon or you can enjoy watching me from afar." Roy says before hanging up the phone and storming back to the others.

"How'd it go, champ?" Murphy asks.

"He knows." Roy solemnly answers.

A face of shock is painted over Leo and Skai. 

"Yup…" Murphy sighs, "I figured."

A moment passes, Murphy taps the ground with his cane.

"Well get to it dumbass. I'm going to give your brother one chance at this. He's going to need the experience anyway."

"Yes! Thank You!" Leo says.

Roy's eyes light up electric blue as lightning begins to course up his arms. "You heard the man." Roy smirks, "I'll be home before dinner, might even make lunch." Following his statement, a strong gust of wind blows through the area as Roy bolts into the clouds.

"Cocky bastard." says Murphy as his hat flies off into the distance. "Skai could you-"

Before he could finish, Leo fetched it in about a fraction of a second.

"Grab that.." Murphy puts his hat back on. "So speed's your thing, huh? Convenient. Well kid, here's the job."

Leo excitedly leans in.

"There's a Covert Ops hitman who's gone rogue. Name's BulletProof. Been sighted at a dozen crime scenes, everything from robbery to murder, a few of them at that. The job is to bring him in for questioning plain and simple. If I knew you better, this would be a dead or alive mission, but I don't know you, so let's not get ahead of ourselves, OK?" Murphy pulls out his phone. "Now pull out your phone so I can-"

"Don't have one," says Leo.

"Jesus!" Murphy sighs before he reaches into his pocket to pull out a spare. "Nothing to worry, I always keep a spare. Encrypted too! " He hands Leo the phone. "The locations of several known safehouses are already logged into it. Once you apprehend him, give me a call."

"Yes! A phone! I won't let you down boss man!" Leo excitedly said before taking off in a full sprint. Another gust of wind knocks Murphy's hat backwards.

"...I got it this time," Skai says as she hovers up to catch his hat. "Close one huh," she says after politely placing the hat on Murphy's head. "Well, that was fun, I guess." She begins walking to the car. "Murphy, I'll see you-"

"I got a job for you too."

"Fuck!"