Fishy's Adventures

Chapter Thirteen - Noir

Froggy was walking back and forth in the humbly-furnished safe haven that his house provided. Having nowhere else to go, Goldy was there as well, sitting on a cushion on the floor.
-"How can I regain my job and position, and how can you, young man, repair your reputation? We'll have to free our headmaster. What were Mr. Fishy's whereabouts again?"
-"The abandoned engine factory, in the northwest of the city. It is watched over by an armed guard and a terrible housewife inside. If there are any more people there remains to be discovered, Mr. Froggy."
-"Since we are both in such a desperate situation, don't bother calling me like that. Thaddeous will do."
-"Mike."
-"Very well, Mike. If we are to rescue Fishy, we need support from outside the IIIrd LO. But who's the most likely to give us aid in these troubled times?"
-"Hmm, has Mr. Fishy shown any interests? Golf? Swimming? Hookers?"
-"Actually, he had a terrible weed habit. We'd have to ask the dealers. He sure as hell knows all of them, if not more."
-"Our noble principal? A stoner? I thought his personality was cool as a cucumber and it turns out it's marijuana? That's a rude shock indeed, Thaddeous."
-"We will have to sniff around for a bit if we are to obtain aid. These dealers will surely fight for their best customer."
-"That's right. I will also consider my possibilities as a student. We could establish sentries in the school. Students detest Bukky."
-"Today is too late to do anything. I will go to sleep now, unfortunately the best I can give you is sleeping on the couch."
-"Understandable. Good night, Thaddeous."

The next day, Goldy and Froggy went to one of the shadiest districts of the city. They were quickly spotted by one of the shady-looking characters, a rather old guy.
-"What are you doing here, sirs? Don't you know it's not safe out here?" - The dealer said.
-"We're looking for your employers. Most dealers in here work for the mafia anyway." - Goldy watched too many crime films not to know that.
-"I wouldn't take you to them, even if I wanted to. It's not possible for obvious reasons. Why would you even want to confront the mafia bosses anyway?"
-"Because we know why their income has reduced in half in the last days." - Froggy spoke up.
-"Your sales have been low recently, haven't they, Mr Dealer?" - Goldy followed up.
The dealer shuddered all of a sudden. He then snapped his fingers and both exits from the alley were cut off by buff thugs.
-"You know enough. I may have sold Fishy his first bag of weed, and many more as the time has flown, but I was sure nobody knew about his little 'secret'. Unfortunately, the bureaucracy is strong within our ranks. You'll be now muffled and tied up, but don't panic. If you don't anger my employers, you'll see the end of this day."
The dealer may have been breaking the law, but he certainly was being serious when he told our heroes about the 'procedures'. They were trying to resist, but got knocked out soon enough. They opened their eyes to find themselves in a dark room, with curtains rolled down on the windows. They were tied up, but they could breathe and speak without much inconvenience. In front of them, there was a dark, elegant desk with an even more elegant armchair, with its back turned on our heroes. Somebody sitting there spoke to them.
-"Well, well, well. Jayden told me wonders about you two. You know the root of our financial problems. You willingly confront one of the most dangerous men in the whole city. Let me ask you, dear guests: what do you want? A cigarette, maybe?"
-"Thank you sir, we are non-smokers. We are here to ask for your help" - Froggy overcame his fear and spoke with his voice only slightly showing signs of panic.
-"An unusual request. Tell me: what bothers your lost souls and how will I benefit from all this?"
-"Your most generous customer, sir Fishy, is in 'trouble'. He found himself in certain 'circumstances', which make it impossible for him to do any more trade with you. It is also in our interest to help him, but we require a bit of your firepower." - Goldy spoke like a true negotiator. - "In other words, lend us some hands and guns, and we will do our best to make Fishy your greatest customer once again."
-"Hmm. A tempting offer. Unfortunately I can't just trust you right away. I'd rather not send my men with you, especially when they are needed elsewhere. You look like honest folks, probably walk around unarmed since the day you got on your legs. The old and the young. The master and the student."
-"To some extent that's true. Can we count on your support? And if not, can we be let go?" - Froggy was getting a bit nervous.
-"I'm still hesitant. Since you were so nice to me, you shall not be drowned in the nearby lake. Okay. I guess you could really use some help. As I said before, I can't really spare reinforcements in terms of manpower. Turf warfare, you know. But I can give you a pair of my fine 'persuaders'. That's totally fine. But I don't just hand out 'Saturday-night specials' to everyone who comes across my turf. This is not a charity. Take these wonders of modern technology as well as 3 days of time to bring back Fishy. If you fail... these very weapons will be used against you. Deal? Okay. End of audience!"
The thugs knocked our heroes unconscious again and left them on the sidewalk just outside of the shady district.
The guns were hastily put in their pockets, along with two clips of ammo. Froggy and Goldy slowly stood up, their heads aching and conscience eating them like crazy. They looked at each other.
-"Well, that was a fruitful day!" - said Froggy with a broad smile.