Location: Serpico Tenura; in The Inner Lounge
July 2nd 1948
9:48 AM
The trip from the warehouse to the outskirts of Geld then towards Adalberto's property was not a long one. It was just the bumpy ride made every movement hurt like a, well, like an open gunshot wound on his shoulder. There was no more accurate description. It was just a good thing that he agreed to having the house, well, for it's size, it was a casa signorile, a mansion, but that was beside the point. The point was that it was a good thing to have the house situated closer to Geld and have the open space behind (and beside) it for plantation itself; the rows of tobacco and grapes.
Angelo quickly went out of the car and opened the back seat and took Ignacio and rushed along side Mercurio inside the house. Adalberto hissed through his teeth and went out, beckoning the other man; whose name he didn't know, with him. The men (and women) standing about stared at them, well more of him than them, looking something close to horror and disbelief. Adalberto gave a little chuckle and winced in pain. "Signore Adalberto!" Their live in kitchen staff (well, she was basically the head of everything in his household), Giulia, cried in horror, pushing her basket of tomatoes to closest person beside her. "Stai sanguinando!" You're bleeding. He allowed her to guide him towards the medical wing. "Giulia, sto bene. I'm fine." He attempts to tell her, looking behind him making sure that the man that saved them followed.
The older plump woman gave him a very dark glare and Adalberto shut up, much to the amusement of to the others that had followed. "Chi è lui? Who is man?" She asks in heavily accented English, looking curiously at the other man, who's hands -Adalberto saw- were no longer claws. Adalberto didn't know when his claws turned back into hands, that was a fascinating ability. He didn't answer her and she gave him searching look and after a moment, she nodded grimly, worry lines appearing on her forehead. Right, famiglia matters then, as a civilian, it was safer for her not to know. He gave her a fond smile, smoothing out the lines on her forehead and winced when he moved his shoulder. This prompted Giulia back to action and Adalberto allowed the motherly matron to order everyone about. He turned away from her and saw one section that was supposedly filled with their bigger medical equipment closed off and knew there was movement. That was brothers then. He quickly looked away, something close to regret and frustration showing on his face. Ignacio was even barely 20, if he died now. Well, the siblings were going to be looking for blood like a shark.
Adalberto winced as he allowed his medical team to bustle and rustle around him and his companion. Giulia was attempting to stare down their saviour and direct him to one of the beds. He looked away when the medical personnel assigned began to wrap his torso and shoulders. He allowed them to help put his blazer on his shoulder and beckoned the man that once had claws to follow him. He waved away the concern of many, some in accented English, though most in rapid Italian.
They went deeper into the house and Adalberto stopped in front of double doors in intricate design, obviously showing the clan symbol of his loyalty. He wasn't born a Vicenti, but he was raised in the clan. Glancing at his guest, Adalberto waved him in. He wasn't about to hide what he was. And, the fact he brought him into the lounge that only his trusted entered, Adalberto was making a gamble. Grinning to himself, he opened the liquor cabinet and got two glasses. Despite what happened, Adalberto was certainly not bored. He couldn't be with all this action happening.
"Sorry about Giulia, she's got sons in Messina and she tends to mother everyone around her since they're not here." Adalberto rambled. He poured himself a healthy amount of scotch and drank it. Sighing in relief, he then managed to bring both the glasses and the bottle to the table surrounded by couches while his left arm was in a sling. "Do you drink?" He asks the other, already pouring into the two glasses. "I'm Adalberto Serpico," he introduces himself, because hey, better late than never. "What do I call you, friend?" He asks as he nurses his glass as he sat on the couch, relaxing his muscles. Hearing the response, Adalberto gave him a wry grin. "There have been stories in Italy about the Cryo Corp. None of them are what my bosses approve of. Have you hear of the Vicenti famiglia?" He asks, then shakes his head before the other could reply. "It doesn't matter. The Vicenti are an old mafia clan with a very traditional and rigid set of morals.
"One of the things they don't approve of, is human experimentation." He added, and took a gulp from his glass. "Well, harming children is something they actively fight against, to the point of creating feuds and wars, but human experimentation is something they also do not approve of." He reached for the bottle and pours himself another glass. Aldalberto swirled the glass around and sighed. "And Cryo Corp earned itself an enemy when they touched child experimentation. The last that did that in Palermo, was obliterated. Not a single one from the Serpico famiglia survived, except for the children and one single woman." He laughed and gave a dark grin to the ceiling, trying to block the memories of his past. If his companion was fast, he'd have noticed that his name matched the ones that were massacred. The lone woman was his mother, after all. Years of abuse and torture made his own mama not quite...right.
"We've had stories of children being stolen from the streets, from orphanages and hell, even in parks. All missing, some resurfaced in orphanages, they were different somehow. Strange." At the last word, he faced his companion, meeting his eye. Adalberto knew his fury reached the other, he could feel his poison respond. He knew his eyes turned green. "Some having fangs like wolves, others had scales or gills, but you're the first one I've see with claws."
He slouched on the couch, his eyes growing darker, returning back to his natural brown colour. "The previous head of Crypo was brutally murdered by one of their staff decades back." Here, Adalberto smirked. "But that's just a cover. We found that he was playing around with merging lions and children, while he was observing them in their 'rooms'-" here he made air quotes, "-one of the children escaped from the cage and attacked, fatally injuring him. They shut it down and buried the truth by getting rid of all the children, they killed all those above 3 and threw those younger around the world, selling some, abandoning others in orphanages or the streets." Adalberto met the other's eyes and said, "And since Cryo Corp was conveniently placed here in Geld, well. I saw we team up. That is, if that's what you want." He said with a shrug, wincing at the pain. "I mean, you're a friend of mine for sure. I owe you a great debt, and I'd gladly do anything within in my power should you need anything. I don't want to force you into doing anything." He added. "Especially since you kind of saved our--"
What he said next was cut off by the arrival of one of his men, opening the door with loudly. If his guest flinched, he didn't see because attention was at the soldato he had assigned in the streets of Geld. "Enrique, I have a guest--" he attempted to scold as he relaxed his form, no threat, just an over excited teen. "Capo! A straniero attacked Stefano's bar, he killed everyone! I, he, papa was there last night. He didn't come home. He-he won't come home." The teen added, his eyes suspiciously wet. He approached and gave him a copy of today's paper. Adalberto took it quickly, his eyes widening at the headlines: Masked swordsman unleashes reign of terror. He read through it quickly, his eyes widening at the sight of the mangled bodies and that there shots that rang. He gave it to the newspaper to his guest and narrowed his eyes. While Stefano's bar was indeed a shady one, those of the underground of Geld usually mingled, traded secrets and simply unwound, but then, those of civilian status worked and went to that particular bar. It was one of the little places that allowed immigrants to enter without being asked to leave.
"Your family will never want, Enrique," he assured the boy, softly. A pale imitation of comfort, but that was what he could offer for now. "Tell your mother and your sisters to come to the Tenura, immediately. We don't want them caught in whatever schemes the polizzia will make out of this mess." The boy nodded but hesitated to leave. "Capo, we-we'll get them back, si?" Adalberto wilted and closed his eyes. "We don't know who attacked us, Enrique. But make no mistake, we will, eventually." The teen looked about to argue but thought better and rushed away, eager to leave. The teen looked shocked to see Giulia outside looking very unimpressed. "Enrique, chiamare il mio nipote." Call my nephew. She instructed him and the boy nodded shakily, running to escape the matron.
She then came in, pushing a cart of food and frowning at the opened bottle of scotch on the table. "Bere a metà della giornata, signore?" Drinking in the middle of the day? She commented, looking very much like the Mother Superior who was in charge of the orphanage he owned. "You has NOT eaten today!" She cried, her accent thick in her frustration and took away the bottle but allowed both men to keep their current glass. "I be bringing your, eh, il pranzo, early." She announced. Adalberto looked at her with fondness as she turned to their guest. "You be eating lots!" She instructed the other man firmly. Her gaze on him not leaving until he gave some sort of sign of agreement. "Signore, si prega di fare in modo che si mangia. Egli è pelle e ossa!" Please make sure that he eats. He is but skin and bones! She instructed him with a firm look.
She crouched down and whispered, "Bruno ha sentito sussurri. Egli vi dirà di più." Bruno has heard whispers. Adalberto looked at her with half-lid and nodded. Giulia frowned and then attempted to smile then left, leaving the two men with the heavy news. Adalberto turned to his guest with a sigh. "As gruesome as those news seem, I'm certain that they have nothing to do with Crypo Corp. It sounds like they're personally attacking me." He told his guest, pointing at the newspaper he had handed over. "I'm sorry for dragging you in, my friend. But if you lend me a hand with this menace. I'll help you with anything, anything at all. You have my word." Adalberto let that promise simmer as he glanced at his meal and smiled. Arroz Caldo, a dish from a country in Asia, was something he enjoyed on a bad day. Plus, she gave them chicken lollipop! He loved chicken lollipop!
Happily taking a bite, he glanced at the door at the arrival of Bruno, one of his more senior soldato. "Bruno, come, dine with us." he offered, knowing there was enough of that Arroz Caldo to go around. Bruno, a tougher looking man covered in scars, older than Adalberto by a few years, shook his head. Giulia's brother was one of the minor but loyal capo for the Vicenti's and was killed by a rival mafia, and was raised by Giulia herself alongside his 2 other siblings, and this was on top of her four sons and 2 daughters. Bruno sighed heavily and shifted in his place.
"There 'ave been whispers, Adalberto." He said, looking at the stranger. Adalberto waved his hand. "He is fine. He is a friend of ours." Bruno nodded and looked back down. "The underground is a buzz with news, and not the good kind. There has been constant hiring men from everywhere and are coming to Geld. They say they are here because of made man; an uomo d'onore, has called them, here." Adalberto bit into his chicken lollipop with a narrowed look. "They have been saying that you will be laundering money this Venerdì, Friday." Bruno added, looking up with a worried, confused look. "You...'aven't, right?" He asked, looking worried for being worried.
Adalberto couldn't help the snortle that escaped him. This wouldn't be the first time they asked him about whispers they here underground, knowing his more chaotic nature of not listening to orders or simply causing chaos. But no, this wasn't him this time. Besides, all the funds that were coming from Geld was legal. The shipment of firearms wasn't even for him and his men, they were just passing by. And the brothels he's funded, not much were going to him, he let the women keep most of them. So, really, he had no need to launder money.
"No. No, I have not, Bruno." Adalberto said as he twirled the congee with his soup spoon. "It seems like someone out there is attempting to frame me, goodness knows why." He said with his angry drawl, "And another one seems to have it out for my blood. They attacked Stefano's bar and he was mostly neutral and our associates there were butchered, along with a few of our civilians." Adalberto's eyes flashed green.
He turned to his new friend with a bitter smile. If they want to play with poison, well, Adalberto would be glad to watch them choke in his blood. Let's see them go against him then.
"Do you wish to join the underdogs, friend? We have good wine, and oh! Giulia's cooking."