Bubbles, Second Arc Part 6: Reckoning

Part six in the nine part second story of how Bubbles and Maki's relationship began.  Generously written by LFN Park.

If you're looking for the other stories in the series, you can find them by clicking the "Story" tag below this post.

Bubbles, Second Arc

Part 6: Reckoning

Maki grimaced as she looked at her surroundings. Dark shadows filled the empty warehouse, the only light coming from the square lantern she’d set on the small metal table she’d set up. She zipped her coat up, feeling the chill as she saw her breath crystallize in the air. Maki patted her pocket, making sure its contents were still there for the tenth time before rubbing her hands together for warmth.

Her grimace shifted to a wicked smile as she heard the warehouse door open, a cluster of footfalls filling the cold silence alongside the sound of leather being dragged across a cement floor.

Soon enough three figures entered her light, two faces obscured in shadow and another with a burlap bag covering it. She watched the two shadowy figures drag the bagged man to the chair, unceremoniously dumping him in it.

Maki jerked her thumb to the standing figures. She listened as their heavy feet left, followed by the closing of the warehouse door. She turned her attention to the seated man, taking in their disheveled and ragged clothing. She noted the greasy stains across the ragged pants and the small tears on the threadbare jacket.

Maki reached across the table, grasping the cheap burlap and yanking it off.

She watched the man blink furiously, a soft groan coming from him.

“Howard. You’ve let yourself go.” Maki clucked her tongue, noting the unshaven state of his square jaw and more streaks of grey in his unkempt hair.

“Maki?” He squinted at her for a moment, confusion giving way to a dour grimace. “You brought me here.”

“Very astute, darling. You were difficult to find. My hat’s off to you.” She grinned broadly.

“What do you want? Is this a favor for Grundwald?” Howard growled, looking around at the darkness surrounding them.

“No. I do admit the thought of Helena owing me is delightfully sumptuous. I actually found you to make an offer.” Maki reached into her pocket, withdrawing a manilla envelope and dropping it on the table.

“I require information that you possess. In exchange, a tidy sum of money.” Howard grasped the envelope, opening it and peering inside. Maki smiled when she saw his eyes widen slightly, his mouth moving as he counted the bills inside. 

Howard set it back down, his gaze narrowing towards the olive woman.

“The catch?”

“Well, if you don’t answer my few questions I may make a call. If I find your information to be false? I’ll string you up myself and let those you’re indebted to take turns extracting their payment. If the information is good? I may have another envelope of money to give you.” Maki shrugged, a wicked grin on her face.

Howard looked a her warily, eyes narrowed. Maki looked at her fingers boredly for a moment.

“You’ve really no choice, darling.”

“You always do that; give choices that aren’t really choices. Ask your damn questions.” He growled, setting the envelope down.

“An easy one to start with: Where did you find Titan?” Howard stared at her for a moment, silently studying her olive face before chuckling.

“I knew this was about her. You got her doing fights in the States? Or are you trying to find another giant in The Bloc? See if you can breed a family of freaks?” He smiled nastily. Maki’s smile grew wider as she fought the urge to reach across the small table and rip Howards tongue from his mouth.

“Your situation has made you crass, Howard. I remember you speaking with much more respect before. Where did you find the Titan?” Maki added a hard edge to her tone, fingers drumming on the table.

“Try being at the bottom of the barrel for a while.” He snarled, glaring defiantly at her.

“Oh, I’ve been in that barrel you speak of, Howard. I also know what crawls down in its depths and have crawled alongside them….or squashed them to crawl back up. If I have to ask you again, we’re done and I’m making a phone call. Where did you find the Titan?”

He pursed his lips angrily before sighing in defeat.

“A small town about 20 miles out of Prague. Balski, I think.” Maki nodded, pulling her phone from her pocket and typing for a moment.

“Found it. That wasn’t so hard. Next question: Where’s your other charges? I know Titan wasn’t your only fighter.” 

“I sold them to pay back what I could. I am currently slave-less.” He laughed hollowly.

“Unsurprising. Before she was Titan, what was her name?”

“You expect me to remember that?” He looked at her incredulously.

“If you want to get paid, I highly suggest you do.” Maki murmured, looking at him boredly. Howard groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“It was something flowery, like Lily or Rose. Best I can do.” He shrugged, folding his arms together.

“Well. That will require verification, but we can accept it for now. Now, here’s my biggest question.” Maki leaned forward, her fingers intertwining as she stared down Howard like a lioness eyeing her prey.

“Were you truly scared of her?” Howard tilted his head, looking at Maki as if she’d grown a second nose on her face.

“Are you serious? Have you seen Titan in action?”

“Yes. She’s very skilled. I’m just wondering; you had her trained and obedient. Were you truly scared of her?” Howard scoffed, staring at the small woman with a wry smile. 

“You’re damn right I was scared. That woman is a monster. When her little brother died? The fight right after his funeral? Fujimara’s finest taking on The Titan. Fujimara’s Dragon was on god damn fire. A hundred and sixty fights in The Far East; undefeated, and those bastards don’t put up wimps. They do deathmatches on the regular, you know. The hype on that shit? Far East versus The Bloc? So much money. The bets were flying like crazy; what round would Titan fall? What round would Dragon bite it? Second round, third round….” He chuckled mirthlessly, rubbing his face for a moment.

“Round one she just fucking walked out and put his teeth to the curb. She finished his career in the span of sixty seconds, then walked back to the locker. I saw her eyes: Unfeeling, practically a monster. No fucking mercy; just a cold rage. Right then, I knew I was on a timer; she’d snap eventually and kill anyone in her way...and guess who would be first? The guy who got her brother killed.” Maki’s eyes lit up, slapping her hand on the table.

“I knew it. I knew it wasn’t pneumonia. What the hell did you do?” Maki narrowed her eyes at the man, her face curling to a wicked frown.

“I didn’t do anything!” Howard raised his hands defensively. “Grundwald’s people cut up Titan’s face as the first warning when I didn’t pay him back fast enough, then when there was a hiccup in payment to Sirico, he decided to make an example of one of my slaves. Next thing I know, kid’s coughing blood up and dead on the floor.”

“What kind of hiccup?” Maki asked shrewdly, a dangerous tone creeping into her voice. She watched him fidget, remaining silent as his eyes shifted downward. Maki groaned as it struck her. “You tried to double your money gambling...as you always do, and lost it all.”

“You don’t know that.” He muttered.

“Don’t I? This is how you lost everything in the first place, Howard; gambling your money, trying for that easy payout….” Maki rubbed her forehead wearily.

“Look, not all of us have Daddy’s fortune bankrolling us. Some of us actually have to work and take risks. Big risk, big reward, or big failure. It sucks, but that’s what happens sometimes.” Howard shrugged idly.

“Except this time the consequences were to your charges.” 

“I owned them. That’s just how life shakes out.” Maki felt her anger rising at Howard’s callous words, but she forced it back down with a wicked smile as she stood.

“You enrage me. You disgust me. My questions are answered.” She turned abruptly, pushing her chair aside. She spat at the ground before turning, walking into the shadows.

Howard sat there for a moment, staring blankly ahead at the retreating Maki until he could no longer see her.

“....So…..I can go now?” Howard slowly reached toward the envelope on the table.

“No.” He froze when a deep voice answered him, the sound of crashing boulders reverberating in its tone with a haunting familiarity. Howard felt the blood drain from his face as a new figure stepped into the dim light of the lantern, towering over the table and him. He made out massive boots and jeans covering impossibly long legs, attached to a heavy jacket buttoned up. He saw caramel hands brush against the table as the figure stepped to the side followed quickly by a monstrous face all too familiar, though Howard was surprised to see a dark brown eyepatch covering her right eye.

“....Hello Titan.” Howard gulped, looking up at her scarred, angry face.

“You killed Gregory.”  Bubbles growled, staring down at the man.

“I did no such thing. That was Si--”

“You got him killed. You took him.” She snarled, grabbing Howard by his shirt and lifting him from his chair violently. It clattered to the floor as his legs kicked uselessly, dangling over the concrete.

“Just calm down, Titan..”

“That isn’t my name!” Bubbles slammed him against the small table, one hand going around his throat.

“You took Gregory! You took my smile! My eye!” Howard gagged and choked as Bubbles’ grip tightened around his neck. He clawed and pulled ineffectually at her massive hand. Bubbles bared her teeth, watching his face turn purple as he started to gurgle.

“I gave you so much. I gave you my childhood. My memories! I gave my body to your meatgrinder.” Bubbles hissed through clenched teeth. She released her grip, stepping back as Howard gasped and gulped air into his deprived lungs. “Then you betray me. You took everything I had left.”

Howards gray eyes glared back at her as he rubbed his throat, defiance and rage glinting in them.

“You ungrateful bitch.” He gasped.

“What?” Bubbles tilted her head down at him, her eye narrowing dangerously.

“You should be thanking me, you fucking ingrate! I took you off the street, where you would’ve fucking died! I gave you structure and a home! I turned you into a goddamn champion! Okay, mistakes were made, hiccups happened, but look at you now! Sitting high and mighty on that rich whore’s private fucking island!”

Bubbles hand struck him before she could think about it, sending him across the table and knocking the light to the floor. The shadows shifted with the light violently, leaving it bathed over the fallen Howard

“Don’t call her that!” She snarled, standing over the man with trembling fists.

“Oh, a sore spot! You don’t like me insulting your new Master? Well, guess what, you one-eyed bitch? Maki’s nothing but a rich fucking slut playing the heroine--” Bubbles roared as she drove her boot into Howards stomach, forcing the air from his lungs violently.

“Watch your mouth.” Bubbles reached down with one hand, dragging him to a standing position as he clutched his stomach.

“Truth hurts, freak. Why so god damn sensitive? You got a crush on that olive bitch? You two fucking? The all-mighty Titan reduced to a god damn sex slave. Fucking pathetic.”  

“You know nothing.” Bubbles snarled. She raised him, his legs hanging limply, until she could see directly into his grey eyes. She found no remorse, no regret in them; only rage and indignity.

“She’s a fucking cunt, and so are you.” Bubbles roared, slamming Howard back to the ground with a sickening crack in his shoulder. She dropped to her knees, straddling the smaller man as she drove her fists into his angry face.

“Shut your filthy mouth!” Bubbles snarled, punctuating her words with violent blows that sent sprays of blood across her bare knuckles and the lantern light on its side.

She grasped his hair, pulling Howards head off the floor. Blood poured from his bent nose, one eye closed in ugly, swollen purple flesh as trickles of crimson leaked from his open mouth. A single gray eye looked up at Bubbles with defiance.

“I gave you a fucking purpose. I made you into a goddamn champion. What the fuck did she give you to wrap you around her fucking finger?” Howard spat, blood creeping down his face to the concrete floor below.

Bubbles shook with unfettered rage as she tightened her grip on his hair, near pulling it from its roots as she drew back her fist. She screamed as she brought it downward in a familiar, devastating arc.

Howard closed his eye instinctively, tensing for the incoming blow. One second stretched to three, then five before he opened his eye once more. Bubbles massive fist hovered in front of his nose, Howard’s own blood dripping from the knuckles onto his face and neck.

“A choice.” Bubbles growled, releasing Howards hair. She stood, towering over him as she took deep breaths.

“How fucking fairy tale.” He groaned through bloody teeth.

“I’m done with you.” Bubbles stepped over to the fallen table, picking up the envelope.

“That’s mine!” Howard spat, propping himself up. She tucked it into her jacket pocket and turned, glaring down at the bloodied form of Howard illuminated by the fallen lantern.

“I’m taking it. Isn’t that ironic?” She glowered down at the bleeding man.

“You fucking bitch!” Bubbles stepped forward, driving her boot into his stomach. Howard curled on himself, gasping for breath for a moment before vomiting across the concrete floor. Bubbles shook her head, disgusted as she saw bile and blood spray her boots.

“Goodbye, Howard.” Bubbles turned, stepping into the darkness towards a sliver of light as Howard lay coughing on the cold concrete.