Chapter Text
Year 2097
The sky was gloomy with the threat of rain; appropriate for the mood that dominated the tent. A man by the name of Morgan Rojas, sat in the front row, biting his non-existing fingernails while his right leg bounced anxiously up and down.
A few feet in front of him was a dark casket with an extravagant — and no doubt expensive — floral arrangement surrounding it. Just to the left of that was an enlarged picture of a handsome man with salt and pepper hair who smiled towards the somber audience.
The laugh lines around his mouth made him seem more inviting than what the man proved to be when he was still alive (at least, to Morgan). However, according to the eulogies that were said, he was the most welcoming man you’d ever meet.
Morgan’s thoughts were on everything but what was happening in front of him. Instead, his mind was on what waited for him after this morning’s event. A firm hand found his thigh, bringing him back from his impatient thoughts to stare into brown eyes that gave him a cutting look.
“Stop fidgeting. People are beginning to stare.” Morgan’s boyfriend of six months, Garrett, admonished him in a low tone that held a hint of femininity.
“So? Let them stare.” Morgan said a little too loudly with a glare to the people who stood behind them.
They were all in their best funeral attire. All black suits and black dresses, no doubt taking the opportunity to show off their wealth by wearing the latest from some well-known or obscure designer.
“They’re all a bunch of fakes anyway. They’re only here to kiss me and my sister’s asses.” Morgan added. He saw right through these people who used to hang around his father.
They were only here just to say they attended Bernardo Rojas’s funeral; a somber affair that doubled as an attempt for them to gain their favor now that they were hours away from inheriting their father’s massive fortune.
Morgan gave part of his attention back to the front.
A woman who shared a partial resemblance to himself, spoke. The whites of her purple optic implants were irritated red and incapable of shedding any more tears. It was his older sister, Andrea, who was most likely the only one there who truly felt saddened by their father’s death.
Sure, Morgan felt somewhat sad. Bernardo Rojas had been his father too after all, but his sadness was nowhere near the amount of grief that Andrea must be feeling. His father made it hard for Morgan to love him when he gave it all to his first born, who also happened to be the only child he ever had with his first and only wife, Rene.
Their father gave Andrea everything while Morgan, the bastard, had to fight for his father’s attention.
Morgan wasn’t bitter about it, though.
Not at all.
Because at the end of the day, money was the best form of therapy out there.
“They should be doing more than kissing your ass.” Garrett agreed as he too turned his attention back to his boyfriend’s sister, who was trying her best to keep her composure as she continued to give her eulogy. The only eulogy Bernardo Rojas wanted from his family, apparently.
“After all, in just a few short hours you’re going to be a billionaire.” Garrett said as he thought about the notarized will that awaited Bernardo Rojas’s offspring upon the funeral’s conclusion. And if his boyfriend was going to be a billionaire, then that meant he was going to be one too.
“…my father was the greatest man I’ve ever known. He was my role model — my best friend. And even though he is not with us today, I know that he will continue to watch over me. I doubt I’ll ever be half the alpha he was while alive, but I’ll spend the rest of my days striving to be.” Andrea recited somberly.
A moment of silence took over the tent where Andrea gathered her bearing once more. Only this time, a tear finally escaped and made its way down her cheek. She wasn’t the only one there with wet eyes, as some of the guests who were moved by her speech began to tear up as well.
“That’s all I have to say. Thank you.” Andrea finished before gathering her notes and moving to rejoin her brother’s side. Not long after, she was up once again. She and Morgan both moved towards their father’s casket and scooped up a handful of dirt from the mound right next to it.
As the minister Andrea hired for their father’s funeral said those final words of passage, they watched as their father’s casket was lowered into the ground. Morgan had to admit that such a sight made him somewhat emotional, but with the image of the man’s disapproving eyes bearing down on him still fresh in his mind, it did not last long.
As his sister said her last parting words to their father in a low tone to herself, feeling watched, Morgan looked up and towards the street not far from the tent where a black LV (levitating vehicle) could be seen.
The back window on the passenger side was rolled down halfway, and the eyes of a Japanese man locked with Morgan’s. Fear overtook him as he gulped and promptly looked away before hastily throwing his fistful of soil on top of his father’s casket once it was his turn.
He knew who those eyes belonged to.
They were the very same eyes that demanded a long overdue payment from him just a few weeks ago.
They belonged to Kyo Adachi, the only son of mob boss, Toru Adachi, a fearsome crime boss who ran the entirety of the Underbelly, a borough of Top Side that was located directly under National City. The floating city cast a permanent shadow over the borough that let little light shine through, cultivating illegal activity that rivaled the trenches of Gotham itself.
Kyo had a lot to prove to his father, and he was using Morgan to do it.
Morgan owed the Adachi family five million credits. A price in which he told Kyo he would have after today, after the reading of their father’s will where he was bound to inherit billions alongside his sister.
Finally, after one last prayer where doves were released in a show of dramatics that conjured up more sniffles and sobs, the funeral officially ended.
As they exited the tent and its air purifying machines, everyone made sure to put on their mini breathers; a small, silver device that plugged into both nostrils to filter out the grey smog that blanketed the Twin City of Top Side and Gotham, and even parts of Eastern Metropolis during the windy season.
Morgan walked his sister to her private LV. Andrea’s driver was already waiting and was quick to open the back door as they approached. But before Andrea disappeared inside, she turned to face Morgan and his boyfriend. Her hands were tucked into her stylish trench coat, and her dark shades were firmly in place, hiding her eyes of grief.
“Tim will meet us at his office after the reception. Two o’clock. Don’t be late.” Andrea told him before entering the LV.
Her driver closed it firmly behind her before getting in himself. The LV hummed awake and levitated from the ground, allowing its landing gear to fold underneath before driving them away.
“She’s always bossing you around.” Garrett grumbled as he glared at the departing LV.
However, Morgan was not listening. He was too busy watching Kyo’s LV leave the cemetery not far behind his sister’s. The further the LV got from him, the more Morgan allowed himself to relax.
The sooner he paid the Ninth Circle off, the better.
Morgan has always known that he would not inherit his father’s groundbreaking, multi-billion credit company. Their father had long started grooming Andrea for that responsibility years before Morgan was even born.
So, when their father named Andrea as the new owner and CEO of Obsidian, Morgan was unsurprised and completely fine with it because he had no interest in it.
In fact, Morgan had no interest in working at all.
All he wanted was his share of his inheritance so he could get the Ninth off his back. He wanted to live the rest of his life in luxury while he pampered his boyfriend, a man who had very expensive tastes after growing up poor in Gotham.
However, his dreams of everlasting wealth soon came crashing down like an avalanche that was purposefully caused, and the person who started it was his father – a life-sized hologram of the man on his death bed, which served as his notarized will, to be more exact.
“…and lastly, to my son, Morgan.” The sharp jawed man said with his blue tinted, holographic face on display.
Even with the holo, it was easy to make out the man’s poorly concealed grimace and disappointed eyes. A common look when it came to his only son.
Bernardo let out a heavy sigh that quickly turned into heavy coughs filled with phlegm. A hand, previously unseen and most likely Tim’s, entered the holographic frame holding a glass of water for his employer to take. Bernardo sipped from it before handing it back with a hoarse ‘thank you.’
“Morgan,” the dying man resumed. “I love you, son, but you have nothing to show for yourself and maybe that’s my fault. Whenever you would ask for money, I gave it to you. Designer clothes, exotic trips, expensive hotel stays — I paid for it all. All you had to do was ask and I would see that you got it…Never wanting. Never needing.” Bernardo let out a deep sigh filled with regret.
“You have no college education, and you’ve never worked a day in your life. I should have held you to the same standards as your sister.”
Morgan felt fear grip his heart as he sat in the brown leather chair that was inside Tim’s office. He had a white knuckled grip on the chair’s arms and his legs refused to cease its bouncing.
Morgan did not like how this was going. Especially not when Tim Hughes, his father’s longtime friend and lawyer of over twenty years, kept looking at him with sympathetic eyes to the point where Morgan wanted to punch his fucking face in. All the while his sister, from what he could make out from the corner of his eye, sat crossed legged and looking as if she already knew the outcome to Morgan’s inheritance.
“You have no value for credits.” The holo’d form of Bernardo Rojas continued. “To you, it is something that will always be a constant in your life. Well, son. Not anymore.”
“No,” Morgan uttered, sounding completely terrified. He shot up from his seat. His fists were clenched at his side and his heart hammered in his chest as he glared at his holographic father.
“I leave you with one million credits to do whatever you please with. However, when that runs out, it will not be replenished. I can only hope that you decide to use these credits wisely.”
Morgan heard nothing else after that. His father continued to speak his reasoning behind cutting his son off, but Morgan heard none of it.
One million credits!
His father was worth billions upon billions, but he was only left with one million credits?!
Andrea will inherit their father’s company and all his fucking property — even the condo in Star City that Morgan frequented the most — but he was left with only one fucking million!?
That bastard.
One million credits would not last him long, especially when his boyfriend got his hands on it. The Gothamite man had a taste for all things lavish and one million was a week-long shopping spree in France for the well-groomed man.
Oh, god.
One million was certainly not enough to pay off the Ninth!
With that horrifying thought, Morgan swirled around from where he stood to glare at his sister with accusing eyes. The holo recording had ended some time ago while he’d been lost in his thoughts. Andrea was now on the other side of the room, quietly conversing with Tim.
“You bitch!” Morgan seethed in anger. “You knew this would happen.” Both Tim and Andrea turned to look at him with eyes of disapproval (Tim) and unconcern (Andrea).
“Morgan,” Tim attempted to scold the young beta man, but was quickly cut off.
“NO! Shut up! How could you let him do this to me!?” Morgan yelled, spit flying from his mouth.
Andrea heaved a heavy sigh of exasperation before saying, “Father may have been sick, but he was not losing his mind. He knew what he was doing when he made that holo’.” She told her brother, whose clenched jaw tightened under her gaze. “Frankly, I agree with him. I think he should have done this a lot sooner. You did nothing but waste his money – never appreciating the work that was put in for it.”
“You think you’re helping me, but you’re not! You’re killing me with this.” Morgan told her, thinking of Kyo and the Ninth.
“I won’t survive!”
Andrea rolled her eyes. “Don’t be so dramatic, Morgan. There are people outside this building right now living their lives off much less than one million and they’re making it work. I’m sure they’d be happy to take one million credits. Instead of buying shit you don’t need, why don’t you take a page out of dad’s book and start your own business if you want to keep living like you do. Unlike him, you have a one million head start.”
And with that, Andrea stood and shook hands with Tim, who she promised to see later in the week to finalize some things, before taking her leave.
The door closed behind her with a solid snick.
Andrea’s words did nothing to cease Morgan’s anger. He turned his sights on Tim.
“I want what’s owed to me.” He told the older man, who shook his head sympathetically.
“Sorry, Morgan. This is what your father wanted. This is how it will be.” Tim went over to his desk and retrieved a credit stick. “Your one million.” He said as he held out the small stick of money data for the younger man to take. “Good luck, son.”
Morgan snatched the credit stick from the older man’s hand before storming out of the office. Just as he exited the building to Tim’s law firm, Garrett, who had left for some coffee at some point, was just exiting a taxi and was now making his way towards him.
As he plugged in his mini-breather, Morgan made sure to school his features into one of nonchalance.
“Perfect timing,” Garrett said as he handed Morgan one of the two steaming cups he held in his hand. Morgan took it but did not sip from it.
“Sooo,” Garrett began with his brows raised in anticipation. “How did it go? How rich are we?” He practically said in giddy anticipation.
Morgan once again, and not for the last time, cursed his father’s name.
The money he was given wouldn’t last him long. Garrett was going to leave him when he found out. He was sure of it. Plus, he still had to do something about the Ninth, or they would kill him.
Speaking of the Ninth…
Across the street, a black LV slowly whirred up. Its back window rolled down halfway to reveal Kyo Adachi’s smiling eyes just like back at the cemetery. Only this time, the man winked at him. Tauntingly.
Garrett, impatient with his boyfriend who had yet to respond to his questions, once again asked how everything went.
“Um, things went great.” Morgan lied, his eyes still on the LV. “And I’ll tell you more about it later tonight. I need to head over to the bank and deposit the credit stick. And, you known, sign some paperwork to make everything official.” Morgan told Garrett.
His words were said almost too quickly, he nearly choked on his own spit. Though, Garrett did not seem to notice. He was too busy salivating at the sight of the credit stick that was clutched in Morgan’s hand.
“Let me see how much is on there.” Garrett reached out to grab it, but Morgan was quick to hold it back.
“Hey, hey!” Morgan said with a small, nervous laugh. “It’s a surprise! But I promise – you won’t have to want for anything.”
At his words, Garrett let out an excited squeal before launching himself at his boyfriend lips. Morgan returned the kiss before detaching himself, all the while taking a quick look over the man’s shoulder to the LV that still watched him.
“Listen, I really do need to go now. Here. Take this and call a ride home. I’ll meet you there later.” Morgan said before his eyes momentarily shone blue while he accessed his banking app through his optic’s HUD system, giving Garrett timed access to the virtual card that was linked to his account.
Garrett’s eyes shone blue upon receiving it. Giddy with the thought of a shopping spree, Garrett wasted no time in giving his boyfriend another sloppy kiss before taking off down the street and towards Ashland Ave, the high-end shopping district of Top Side.
Morgan watched him go for a few moments before he quickly walked to the side of the law firm where his LV was parked, making a hasty exit straight towards the West National Bank.
Kyo’s LV had followed him the whole way, but it disappeared just before Morgan went inside to deposit his one million credits into his near depleted account. Kyo’s LV was quick to rejoin him again as soon as he exited the bank and began driving once more, following right behind him, as seen in his rear-view mirror.
When Morgan’s LV sped up, Kyo’s LV sped up too. Every turn he took, so did the trailing LV, making Morgan increasingly nervous the longer this went on.
Morgan eventually stopped at a red light, and like the other times before, Kyo’s LV followed. Only this time, it pulled up right next to him on his driver’s side. Morgan was too focused on Kyo’s LV that he failed to realize that he was now effectively boxed in by three other LVs that looked identical to Kyo’s.
Kyo’s window rolled down for the third time that day, only this time it went down all the way. With the entirety of his face in view, there was no mistaking Kyo and his glossy, gold plated metal jaw.
The man smirked and wiggled his fingers in hello, causing Morgan’s throat to dry once more, and his sweaty palms to grip harder at the steering wheel.
Morgan gave a quick glance in front of him and immediately let out a small curse. The light was still red. That didn’t matter all too much with there being another LV in front of him. He couldn’t run the light even if he wanted to.
Morgan looked back at Kyo, who motioned for him to roll his window down. Morgan did, albeit reluctantly.
“What’s up, Rojas? Do you have my money?” The Japanese man asked, his tone almost playful.
Morgan didn’t doubt his seriousness though. He knew what Kyo was capable of. Morgan went to open his mouth to respond, but Kyo was quick to interrupt him.
“Ah-ah. I only want a simple yes or no. I’m not here for excuses. Now — my money? Do you have it?”
Morgan’s dry throat wouldn’t allow him to answer with the singular word that would ultimately seal his fate, so he shook his head ‘no’ instead.
Kyo’s face morphed into one of darkness as he sighed and said “, such a pity,” before looking away from Morgan and rolling his window back up, all the while muttering a few words in Japanese that Morgan could not hear.
Just then, there was a knock to Morgan’s passenger side window. He turned to see another man smiling at him with his face pressed against the glass, effectively distracting Morgan from his partner who opened the driver’s side door and yanked Morgan out of his LV.
Morgan tried to fight back, but it proved to only waste his energy as he was easily stuffed into the back of Kyo’s LV.
Kyo stared at him from across the small aisle that separated the two leather benches that faced each other in the backseat of the luxury LV. Two of Kyo’s men slid in on either side of him, squishing his body in between theirs. Morgan looked between the two muscled men who stared down at him with intimidating eyes and gulped.
The LV began to move.
“Where are you taking me?” Morgan asked Kyo. His voice sounded pathetic even to his own ears.
Kyo smiled at him. “You’ll see when you wake up.”
Morgan was going to ask what he meant by that, but a hard punch to his face stopped his line of questioning, effectively knocking him out cold.
When Morgan finally woke up, he found himself tied to a chair. Such a thing was not a first for Morgan. Kyo had him tied up once before in the basement of the Golden Belly, a casino he and his crew operated out of in the center of the Underbelly. It was the very same casino that got Morgan into this damn mess in the first place.
As unpleasant and frightening that experience had been, it had all been completely pain free. However, this time Morgan seemed to have a killer headache that throbbed intensely with each subtle movement he made of his neck. The deviation from his last experience brought him great concern.
He liked pain free.
No pain was nice.
“Go tell the boss he’s awake.” A man spoke in Japanese, yet Morgan could not understand what was being said, nor could he see him due to the blindfold that covered his eyes.
“He’s awake?” the familiar voice of Kyo spoke in Japanese not long after. His voice, like the other men, echoed throughout the room.
“Yeah. He still seems out of it though.”
“Then wake him up some more.”
A few moments later, a shock to Morgan’s system came in the form of a bucket of ice-cold water to the face.
“What the fuck!” Morgan gasped and sputtered while the unseen men around him laughed.
The blind fold was unceremoniously ripped from his eyes. The bright lights of the room temporarily blinded him while his optics painfully readjusted. When that faded, he immediately locked eyes with Kyo, who grinned widely at him as he leaned against a metal table that had an assortment of tools spread on top.
That, paired with the fact that Kyo and his goons all wore black surgical gloves, did not comfort Morgan at all.
Oh god, they were going to kill him and chop him up! Morgan thought with a pathetic whimper.
“I know what you’re thinking.” Kyo began as he stuffed his hands in his pockets, looking far too relaxed for Morgan’s liking. “You think we’re going to kill you, yes? Possibly even chop you up.”
Morgan gave a hesitant nod of his head. That was exactly what he was thinking.
“Had this been ten minutes ago, you would’ve been right.” Kyo said, sounding just as disappointed as he looked. He pushed off the table to move in front of Morgan, crouching down to eye level with a tug of his pant legs.
“As soon as you woke up, I was gonna smack you around a little.” Kyo gave light, yet stinging, slaps to both sides of Morgan’s cheeks in demonstration, taking pleasure in the way the blonde man attempted to flinch away.
“Before putting one right…” Kyo trailed off as he formed the shape of a gun with his right hand before bringing it up to dig his pointer finger painfully into the middle of Morgan’s forehead. “Here.”
“’Finally put an end to all this leading on you’ve been putting me and my father through.” Kyo continued before releasing a heavy sigh. “Unfortunately for me, lucky for you, my father continues to hold respect for yours, even in the man’s death. That, and something unforeseen has come up that is proving to be more pressing than your… pitiful self, Rojas.
"So,” Kyo suddenly exclaimed along with a loud clap of his hands that made Morgan jump. Kyo shot up from his crouch and to a standing position. Morgan’s eyes followed his movements, looking up and into the Japanese’s eyes with trepidation.
“Here’s the deal. Thirty days. That’s how long you have to come up with the five million that’s owed, plus an additional five million for…let’s call it a ‘because-I-fucking-said-so’ fee for the headache you’ve caused us. That okay with you?”
“Th-that’s too much!” Morgan exclaimed with wide eyes. Morgan was sure that his heart was officially a part of his ass now from how much it dropped.
“The last time you were here begging for your life, you told me you would inherit billions when your father croaked. Well, the man is dead, Rojas. Where is the money?” Kyo stated.
“I know! I know! But my father – he went crazy and changed his will at the last minute! He gave everything to my sister!” Morgan stammered out in a quick succession.
“Maybe you should have been a better son and learned the family business instead of gambling and puffing all of his hard-earned credits away.” Kyo said with a hardened face. “How you come up with the money is your problem. All I know is – come day thirty, I better have a stick full of credits in my hand. Understood?” He asked with a raised brow.
Morgan nodded his head franticly. Anything to appease the man.
“Now,” Kyo began again with a sigh as he causally removed his suit jacket before folding it up, revealing a white undershirt that displayed the Japanese styled tattoos that littered his arms and chiseled chest. “To prove how serious we are, we’re going to have ourselves some fun.” He said as he slowly made his way over to the metal table where he carefully laid his jacket off to the side.
On the table, there were all kinds of tools laid out. Kyo inspected them all with interest.
Fear griped Morgan’s heart as he stuttered out, “I thought you said you weren’t going to hurt me?!”
“Nooo,” Kyo said with a laugh. He turned his head slightly to look at the pitiful man that stared up and at him with terror in his eyes and sweat on his brow. “I said we weren’t going to kill you. I never said we wouldn’t hurt you.”
“You got off way too easily the last time you were here because of the respect my father held for yours. That same respect is still saving you now, even in your old man’s death. But no, this time you’re not leaving here as easily. I’m not letting you go just so you can shit on my father’s generosity again. A lesson will be learned today.”
That lesson came in the form of tanbo sticks beating on him so ruthlessly, that he and the chair he was tied to tipped over and to the floor. When they were done with him, Morgan was crying on the floor in agony until Kyo had his men set him upright once again in the chair.
“And now for the main event,” Kyo said with excitement in his voice as he raked his hair back from his face. The strenuous activities sweated his gelled hair out, causing it to frequently fall into his eyes.
“I want an apology. A sincere apology for the time me and my father spent waiting for false promises to come through.”
Morgan tried to apologize, and profusely so, as he hated pain, but the others just laughed right at him.
“Your words mean shit. You’ve already proven that.” Kyo laughed at his poor attempt. He then motioned his head towards a nearby goon, who wordlessly moved forward and untied Morgan’s bound hands before firmly bringing the blonde’s right hand up and presenting it to Kyo.
“If you do business with the Ninth, you get punished like one.” Kyo declared.
Morgan’s eyes widened in realization.
They were going to take a portion of his finger as was the way of the Ninth Circle when someone fucked up so royally, only a missing finger would do to replace meaningless words.
Kyo’s goon forcibly pulled Morgan to the metal table where he laid his hand on top, forcing his fingers to spread apart. No amount of struggling Morgan did made any difference. The goon’s thick, muscled arms may have been unseen underneath the suit he wore, but they worked all the same.
Morgan was not going anywhere unless they allowed it.
Kyo joined his goon on Morgan’s right side. The struggling blonde stared up and at a smirking Kyo as the Japanese gangster lightly caressed his pinkie finger with the back side of his tanto knife’s blade. It sent a shiver down Morgan’s spine.
“Are you ready?” Kyo taunted the blonde, who only whimpered in response.
“Please. I-I’ll get you your money. I swear to god, I will.” Morgan tried one more time, but Kyo remained unmoved.
“Should have thought about that before you made promises you couldn’t keep.” Kyo told the blonde before he proceeded to chop off a third of his pinkie finger.
Morgan screamed.
Blood gushed.
A goon was quick to stuff his mouth with the blindfold that previously covered his eyes, muffling his screams.
“For my father.” Kyo said to Morgan as he handed off the severed fingertip to another of his goons, who collected it in a small box with a hinged top that was lined with satin on the inside.
“Now for me.”
Kyo proceeded to take another finger, this time the tip of Morgan’s middle. Once again, the goon collected the fingertip.
Kyo smiled at his work.
“Do you like it?” He asked the crying beta who only screamed through the blindfold in response. Kyo took that as his approval. “Yeah, I do too. I thought taking your middle finger for myself would be my own little fuck you. Clever, right?”
Morgan sobbed. Snot flew from his nose and was immediately soaked up by the blindfold that was still stuffed inside his mouth. Kyo grimaced in disgust.
One of Kyo’s goon’s spoke then, saying something in Japanese that Morgan could not understand besides the word ‘shocker’, which caused everyone there to burst into boisterous laughter.
Once the laughter died down, Kyo gave a motion of his head. The goon that still held Morgan in place released him. Morgan promptly fell to the ground, cradling his bloodied hand to his chest as he moaned and rocked on the ground in pain.
Kyo moved to stand over him. He watched him for a few beats before crouching down beside him.
“Lesson learned?” Kyo asked a sweaty faced Morgan.
Morgan nodded, his face pale as he let out a pained whimper.
“I’m going to hold on to these.” Kyo promised as he shook the closed boxed that held Morgan’s severed fingertips. They made a tumbling noise as he did so.
“You can get them back once your debt is paid. Remember. Ten million within thirty days. I better fucking have it and not a single second late or your sister will be tossing rocks over your dead body next."
Morgan gave one last weak nod of his head before his eyes rolled into the back of his head.
Like a light, he was out.
Kyo scoffed.
“Send for the doctor.”