Orso Fiction 002

Orso Fiction 002- Beauty and the Beast
"Commander!” Rachel said. "The message from the Boss is here."

Bradley Ratliff rose from his desk and accepted the piece of paper from the Orso's Primo Thunder Varia Officer. He unfolded it, sat back down and began reading. He smiled as he read on, and then rolled his eyes.

"Well? What's it say?” Rachel inquired.

"Well, it starts with his hoping I'm doing well while he's out in the middle of nowhere", Bradley began. "He says training Conner is going very well, and he can't wait to get back home to see us all again."

"That's all?"

"Of course not", Bradley smiled. "Would he have interrupted his Spartan training just to tell me he missed us?"

"Yes."

"You're right, he would...Well, this message has more. Seems Zach is a little concerned with the state of the equipment coming in from Italy. Someone was supposed to report to him when it arrived, and no one has yet."

"So he's afraid it was intercepted?"

"Yeah, that's what he says."

"So what does he want done?"

"Well, he wrote out directions for where it might be. Seems the delivery truck would have passed through ground we haven't laid claim to yet. He says he needs someone to check on it, and make sure the delivery gets here." Bradley smiled larger. "And what do we have here... He says he wants his best man on this job."

"So that means..."

"Yep", Bradley said, standing up, pulling his black Varia uniform over his shoulders as he rose. "Time for me to get to work."

Bradley walked quickly through the office, Rachel following behind him, trying to keep up without running.

"Rachel, I want a team of five on this mission. We don't know what we're in for, and I want to be prepared.” Bradley said quickly.

"Commander, we don't have five people on staff.” Rachel replied, sighing.

"What? Why not!?"

"It's three in the morning. Everyone else went home."

"Then why are you still here?"

"Honestly? Making sure you don't break anything. You insist on staying late, and someone has to make sure you actually remember to lock the doors after you."

"Huh. So you're the only one left?"

"That's right."

"Perfect. You're in."

Rachel sighed. It would be a long night, but someone had to look after the over-eager Commander.

"Weaponry on you, Rachel?"

"It's all at the front desk, sir."

"And your uniform?"

"Also at the desk."

"Excellent.", Bradley said, buttoning his uniform. "We need to do this mission properly. Meet me at the front desk in five minutes."

"Yes, sir.” Rachel sighed. "I'll make sure to meet you there."

Bradley powerwalked to the front desk and smiled contentedly. Rachel sighed, and followed him. Next time, she told herself, she would go with Zach. Spartan training in the wilderness couldn't be hard as babysitting.

"You're driving too fast.” Rachel noted, trying not to be obnoxious about it.

"Nonsense. Too fast? Not fast enough. Hey, that gives me an idea!", Bradley said cheerfully, then stomped on the gas pedal. Rachel sighed. At least he had good taste in music to play too loud in the middle of the night.

"You're more excited than usual tonight, Commander."

"I've told you so often to just call me Bradley, Rachel. And of course I'm excited. Zach's been gone for a month, and he hasn't sent word since he left. He's very good at picking missions for people. I know this mission is going to be fun."

Rachel smiled. It was clear that her Boss and her Commander missed each other. It would be sweet enough to make her sick, but a thought crossed her mind, and she frowned. Bradley noticed her silence, and smiled.

"I forgot to mention, but there was another paragraph to that letter he sent."

"Oh?"

"Something to the tune of 'And let Rachel know that not seeing her lovely face every day is worse than anything I'm putting Conner through, and I can't wait to see her again.'"

Rachel's frown disappeared, and Bradley focused his attention to driving once more. He was going too fast, but Rachel didn't say anything, but began to sing along to the radio. The Commander's excitement seemed to be contagious

"This is where Zach said the shipment might be.” Bradley said, parking the car. He looked at the huge warehouse. "There's a small-time gang that hangs around here. They're probably the ones who intercepted it."

"So how are we doing this mission? What's the plan?” Rachel asked, knowing the answer already.

"We pretend like we're going to be stealthy, and then at the first sign of an enemy, we start to make as much noise as possible so we get to fight them all at once."

"Brilliant. Your tactical prowess continues to baffle me.", Rachel said, rolling her eyes.

"Alright, so long as we agree. So, which one of us is going to make the big entrance?" Bradley enjoyed keeping at least one of his team in reserve, to appear at the most dramatic moment possible.

"That will be me, I suppose. I'll wait here."

"Perfect.", Bradley said, holding his Orso Ring to the lock on the door. The ring ignited in a very large, orange Dying Will Flame, quickly melting the lock. The Commander opened the door and crept through. Rachel tagged behind at a safe distance. "Near Bradley" had stopped being a safe place to be the second he pulled out his ring.

"So, what are these we're guarding again?", a voice came from behind a large crate. Bradley considered jumping out at them, but he held back to listen.

"Stuff we stole from the Orso Family a little bit north of us. It’s a huge cache of rings and Box Weapons.", another, slightly more intelligent sounding, voice explained. Bradley looked over his hiding place. Both speakers were tall men leather jackets and green bandanas tied around their arms as gang signs. The one explaining things had long black hair, and the one asking the questions had short brown hair.

"What now? We're guarding jewelry?"

"It's more important than that, Will. Hasn't anybody explained this to you yet? Inside every person, there's a certain spiritual wavelength. There's a few different kinds, but I forget how many. Anyways, the rings are what people use to make the wavelength into flames outside their body. It's kind of a physical form for their lifeforce, or their willpower. You can use the flames for all sorts of things, but one of the best is to put it in one of these Box Weapons. You plug in some flames, and boom, you've got a weapon, or an animal, or whatever, that only works for you. At least, that's what I heard." At this point, Bradley began sneaking up behind them.

"But aren't the Orso a little too big a gang to mess with, Jack?"

"Yeah, but the boss wants us to make a big spectacle and make a name for ourselves. There's no bigger spectacle than a fight with the Orso. And with all this equipment, we'll be able to overpower them easily."

"You think so?” Bradley said cheerfully from behind them. "I really doubt it."

The two men jumped when they heard him, and pulled out knives.

"Who are you?” the one called Jack asked.

"Imagine your worst nightmare come to life. I'm the guy who scares the thing that scares that. Did that make sense? Whatever. I'm really scary."

"Get him!” the one called Will shouted, and jumped at him.

"Oh, bad idea.” Bradley said. He effortlessly dodged Will's stab, and gently pushed him aside with one finger. Jack jumped at him next, and Brad grabbed his arm and threw him at Will. The two crumpled. Brad shook his head and began to put on a set of ornate orange gloves. On the backs of their hands were a metal "I" numeral across a circular orange gem. Bradley stretched his fingers and pointed his right palm at the men, still on the ground.

"Don't move", he commanded.

Rachel sighed. Using the gloves was such overkill. Zach had insisted that he, Bradley, and the family's Outside Advisor be crafted a set of three exceptionally high-quality weapons, capable of withstanding their incredible Dying Will Flames. Each one represented the trait their owner most exemplified, "Power", "Wisdom", or "Courage". Bradley's I-Gloves stood for "Power". They magnified Bradley's Dying Will Flames to an even more ridiculous level, and allowed a forceful expulsion of flames

"Heh...heh...heh...” Will grinned. "You think we're that lame?"

Bradley looked at the heap of people he had just caused.

"Of course we had more than two men on staff while we were holding onto these goods.", Jack grinned as he rose. "And all that that just happened was all an act. You're surrounded, Orso."

Bradley looked around and saw a pack of gang members surrounding him from all sides.

"And we're no mooks.” Will said, as both of them pulled a green Box from their jackets. "We're the two bosses of the Rairyu Family."

The two men ignited their rings with Thunder flames, and then plunged them into their boxes. A Thunder Sea Turtle emerged from Jack's, and a Thunder Octopus emerged from Will's. Bradley began to smile.

"Perfect. This is all so perfect.” he said quietly. He ignited his Orso Ring and plunged it into the ornate orange box at his waist. The box opened, and a shot of Sky Flames jumped out, taking form as a giant lion, its mane and paws engulfed in flames. Its eyes held three concentric circles.

"Let's do it...Uranus. Cambio Forma, Modo Difesa."

The lion roared loudly, and began to glow orange. The pattern in its eyes changed from being concentric to linear, and Uranus began to change form. The lion split into two bodies of flame, each wrapping around one of Bradley's legs. When they stopped glowing, Will and Jack saw that the lion had become a set of greaves. At the knees, a lion's head was carved into the metal, and across the shins, there was an orange gem with an "I" written overtop of it.

"Ciccioli di Rinvigorimento. That's what this form is called.” Bradley said quietly. He jumped at the Thunder Sea Turtle and broke its shell with a single downward kick. The animal, too badly injured to fight on, returned to its Box.

"They give me the strength of a hundred men in my legs. That's just for starters.” Bradley said, swinging his leg at the Thunder Octopus. The flames from his legs spat at the creature, burning it. The Sky Flames began to harmonize the animal with the concrete of its environment, turning the creature to stone.

"This guy fights like the Devil himself...” Will whispered to Jack, who nodded.

"Uranus! Cambio Forma, Modo Attaco!", Bradley called, and the greaves on his legs merged once again and shaped themselves into a large, black pistol with the same orange gem across the barrel. "Lo Umbro Pistolo. Now, I bet you're wondering...why aren't your subordinates helping you? Well, I'll hold my fire so you can look around..."

The two men looked around to see that all of their men had fallen. Only a serval, crackling with Thunder flames, stood. Rachel jumped down from the rafters next to her animal.

"Good work, Rachel. Juno. You're almost too fast for me to keep up with", Brad said. "See, gents...It's hubris to think you can fight one member of the Orso's Varia and win...Stupidity to think you can beat two."

Jack pulled a gun from his jacket and pointed it at Rachel.

"Throw your weapon away.” he demanded of Bradley, and Will did the same. "I'll shoot!"

"Rachel, you'll be fine, right?” Bradley asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes, Bradley.” Rachel said with a smile. Will, enraged at how calm they were, pulled the trigger.

"Juno! Cambio Forma!” Rachel called. Quickly, the serval changed into a suit of armor, covering the girl in time to withstand the bullet. The armor began to crackle with energy, as though it had absorbed the full force of the shot. "Armatura Giovani"

Thunder Flames launched from Juno's armor form into Jack, knocking him unconscious. Bradley sighed and pulled the trigger to Uranus' gun form, launching a stream of concentrated fire at Will. The man fell just as Jack had, his skin only intact because Bradley had consciously lowered the heat of the flames he would fire to avoid killing him.

The two looked around, and seeing no more enemies, returned their animals to their Boxes.

"Perfectly done as always.” Rachel noted with a smile.

"You can tell Zach picked your weapon, Rachel. A suit of armor that hurts anyone that tries to hurt you? Clearly, he's trying to keep you safe, even if he can't be there himself.” Bradley said with a grin.

"And your gun and leg guards? What do those mean?"

"Think about it.", the tall, blond boy said with a knowing smile. "Now, let's pack all this up. Thanks for coming out, kid. You're pretty fun to work with."

"Th-thank you.” Rachel said, not knowing quite how to respond. Something about the fight had made Bradley seem much more...serious, and mature.

"Now, let's hurry. I just remembered I left the base doors unlocked, water for some late night pasta on the stove, and my keys in the car."

Rachel sighed. It didn't take him long to get back to normal.

After the two had left, one of the Rairyu members stood with much less effort than would be expected from one who had been attacked by Juno.

"Bradley...and Rachel...” he murmured to himself.”The Orso Family's Varia...I've picked up some valuable information..."

The man ripped off the green bandana he wore on his arm to symbolize his gang, revealing a highly stylized skull and crossbones tattoo. He slipped a green skull-and-crossbones ring on his finger.

"Guess I should go report to the Chief...” he said, walking out the door. He noticed a spill of gasoline on the ground and nonchalantly flicked open his lighter, dropping it in the liquid as he went. By the time he had reached his car, the building was engulfed in flames. "Goodbye, Rairyu. And soon...Orso."

--

Next -->