The Nigerian Fortune
A HyperDolls manga fanfic
by HKMiller
27 October 2002
Featuring characters created by Shimpei Itoh; US licensee
Studio Ironcat.
To the best of my knowledge :), none of the Nigerian characters
actually exist.
- - - - - - - - - -
"This place is the PITS!" complained Miyu, sweating heavily and
fanning the neck of her blouse. "Why did we have to come here?"
"It was your idea," replied Maika. "You found the money trail
yourself, while hacking into the Traxx computer systems. Mr.
Kasuga, the Traxx CEO, has been wiring modest sums of money to
someone here in Lagos every month or so for over a year. So you
thought we'd better trace it, in case it's related to CHAOS."
The two girls, to all appearances typical uniformed Japanese high
schoolers, nevertheless looked somewhat out of place walking the
streets of Lagos, Nigeria. On all sides, gleaming, brand new
buildings, monuments to oil wealth, towered over decrepit shacks
teeming with people. Most of the passersby were Ibo or Yoruba,
with extremely dark skin; occasionally Fulani could also be seen
with a lighter, slightly reddish tinge to their complexion.
"But it's so HOT!" panted Miyu. "And HUMID! And smell the air!"
"We're close to this planet's equator and on an ocean shore. Of
course it's hot and humid," replied Maika primly. "And the air
smells bad because of pollution; just look at all the automobiles
stalled in traffic." Maika gestured at the street they were
walking along, filled with automobiles both old and new, none
moving as fast as the two girls were walking. "These vehicles burn
liquified carbon from fossilized lifeforms, remember."
"Let's just find our hotel. We can hack try hacking into the
Nigerian Central Bank from there." As she spoke, Miyu hefted the
box she was carrying.
"You're assuming that our hotel has working air-conditioning,"
replied Maika in a sing-song voice.
Miyu was about to growl a response when a harried-looking
individual bumped into the two girls. With a frightened glance
over his shoulder, the nicely-dressed, thirty-something, rather
small male pressed an overstuffed envelope and a business card
into their hands, muttered a hasty "Hold this! Meet me later!",
then darted off.
"Hey! Watch where you're going!" yelled Miyu, shaking a fist in
the direction of the fleeing man.
Maika quickly flipped through the overstuffed envelope, then
tucked it beneath her blouse. She then examined the business
card. "Hmmm. Ahmed Grema. Senior Partner in a law firm, Ahmed
and Associates." Turning the card over, she continued. "And
scrawled on the back it says '8:00 pm. Lobby bar, La Paix Hotel'.
Maybe he wants to meet us there to get his money back."
"Money? What money?"
"The 50,000 American dollars in the envelope."
"HEY! YOU TWO!"
Maika and Miyu looked up in the direction of the shout. Rapidly
approaching them were six rather large male individuals of unsavory
disposition.
"We saw Grema give you the money! Hand it over, now!"
Miyu and Maika glanced at each other in perplexity, then looked
back at the approaching gang's leader. "Why?"
Two knives, two automatic pistols, and one Kalashnikov rifle
appeared in various hands. The leader just grabbed for Maika,
unexpectedly missing as she dodged. He "oofed" audibly at her
elbow to his ribs.
"Don't you guys know that Japanese schoolgirls are unbeatable in
hand-to-hand combat?" asked Miyu as she grabbed one knife in her
right hand, one pistol in her left, and jammed the knife's blade
into the pistols' mechanism without regard for the two gangsters
who hadn't managed to let go of their weapons. Dextrously
avoiding their attempts to inhibit her progress, she methodically
repeated with the other pair of weapons. She then began tapping
the backs of their heads with her elbows, never permitting the
gangsters to touch her in return.
"Miyu, you're speaking Japanese to them," Maika pointed out,
while continuing to dodge her adversary without obvious effort.
"Try English."
"Too late." Unfortunately, the last gangster, the one with the
Kalashnikov, had retreated a few steps, and was just pulling the
trigger. "Oh shit. CONVERSION ACTIVATE!"
"No! Miyu, don't..." was as far as Maika got before the process
kicked in. In orbit high above, five satellites, undetectable by
any technology known to Earth, activated their energy
transmission beams, triggering Maika's and Miyu's transformation.
A blinding flash enveloped Maika and Miyu, temporarily blinding
all bystanders.
The bullets from the Kalashnikov arrived just as the
transformation finished. Miyu's inpenetrable wristbands met the
bullets and deflected them back at her attacker's feet. His
attempt to spray his weapon across her did no better. Eventually
Miyu tired of her game, though, and stopped using her wristbands.
Instead, she just strode forward, ignoring the hail of bullets,
until she was in reach of the gun. She grabbed it, ignoring the
barrel's heat, and twisted it into a collar around the thug's
neck. She then turned back towards Maika, ignoring the hiss of
burning flesh and the scream of agony from behind her.
Maika had stopped her own play when the conversion kicked in,
choosing instead to impel additional velocity to her assailant's
next empty handed grab. As a result, her foe had gone flying
straight into a brick wall across the street, at substantial
velocity.
"You just HAD to transform, didn't you," complained Maika. "Now
that the Hyperdolls have been seen in Lagos, we'll have to go to
the trouble of covering up that our other selves have been here."
"I'd like to see YOU handle that Earth weapon without converting!
And it's not like we bothered to come here on an Earth airline; we
flew here on our own, so we just have to erase the hotel records
when we leave."
- - - - - - - - - -
After detransforming in a nearby alleyway, the two girls continued
looking for their hotel, walking down block after block.
"Hey, look, Maika! This is the bank we want to investigate!"
The two girls stopped in front of a large, impressive stone
building, apparently dating from the British colonial period, with
a wide set of stone steps. Above the entrance, a large sign read,
in English, "Nigerian Central Bank."
"So? What will we accomplish by going in?"
"Hey, you never know; let's just walk in and look the place over."
Maika shrugged. "I suppose we might need to break in at night, so
we might as well check the place out."
Coming down the steps towards them trudged a gangly, moaning
figure. "Oh, woe is me! Misfortune has fallen upon me vastly!
May God himself ease the suffering that has come unto me!"
The figure placed one hand on each of the girls' outer shoulders
and bowed his head.
"Umm... Excuse me?" asked Maika politely. Miyu removed the hand
on her shoulder, then straightened their interlocuter up by lifting
the front of his shirt, all while still balancing her box on her
other hand.
"Oh, sorry, sorry. Please excuse my inconsiderate behavior. It
is just, I am so upset in my head. I assure you that I do not
customarily behave in this shocking manner. I am Sir Sambujang
Jammeh, personal assistant to..."
"That's nice." Maika and Miyu walked around Sir Sambujang on
either side and continued up the steps.
"No, no, you must hear my story. It is so distressful. I really
must repeat it to you." Sir Sambujang turned and followed the
two girls back up the steps.
"Maybe some other time," Maika confided.
"My superior, Mohammed Abacha, has US$36 million in a secret
account in this bank, and I cannot find the means to withdraw it."
"Too bad," Miyu replied.
Sir Sambujang pulled a hankerchief out of his pocket and mopped
his brow worriedly. "I must find a way before the authorities
discover this secret account. The money was placed there by his
father, Sani Abacha, the former military head of state."
"Try finding someone who cares."
"And my superior's brother, Mallam Sadiq Abacha, is also after
this money. If I could just get a bit of help from someone living
in a safe, wealthy country, I could free up my superior's money.
You two Japanese schoolgirls would seem to be ideal for this
purpose."
Now at the top of the steps, the two girls turned in unison and
stared Sir Sambujang in the face, fists on hips.
"Look, creep, stop bothering us!" Miyu said angrily.
"We. Don't. Care. Got it?" Maika said sweetly.
- - - - - - - - - -
Inside the bank, the two girls walked around all publicly
accessibly areas. Miyu stomped hard every ten paces or so; Maika
drew a map based on the echoes. Both kept their ears peeled.
"I haven't heard anyone in this bank mention 'Traxx' or Mr
Kasuga, not even on the upper floors. Someone's cursing CHAOS,
though."
"I think he just means the state of this nation, not the secret
organization."
"I can't tell where in the building their computers are. Every
room in this place has either fans or air-conditioning, or both."
"Let's just go back to our hotel for now. We can always trace the
wires later."
- - - - - - - - - -
Hours later, the two walked into the lobby of the La Paix Hotel.
"Hey! How come THIS hotel has working air conditioning?" Miyu
complained. "C'mon, Maika, let's move to this one, okay? Okay?"
Miyu wrapped her arms around Maika and dragged her feet, forcing
Maika to pull Miyu along.
"Would you mind acting your age for once?" Maika asked.
"Which years, and which age? This body's, or my mind's?"
"Never mind. We didn't get anything done today; let's just give
this guy his money back and get out of here."
Inside the hotel bar, the two spotted Ahmed Grema immediately. He
was sitting in an easy chair in front of a small round table in a
quiet, secluded area of the bar. Next to him, in another chair,
sat a woman. As the two approached, Grema stood and rubbed his
hands together. "Ah, good, good. I hoped that the gang would not
suspect you. Do you still have the envelope?"
Shrugging, Maika passed over the envelope. Grema busied himself
counting, his lips and fingers moving rapidly.
"Pardon me; my name is Susan Lateef," said the woman sitting with
Grema. "From where do the two of you come?"
"The central gal-" Miyu's answer was abruptly cut off by Maika's
mouth.
Maika, smiling, answered. "Japan. The Tokyo area. Have you heard
of it?"
"Japanese tourists? We don't get many Japanese tourists here."
"Yes, the money is all here," Grema remarked. "Please, sit down.
I'd like to show my appreciation to you two."
"We really should be on our way..."
"No, I insist. Waiter! Bring these girls whatever they're
having!"
"Tea," replied Maika.
"Beer," said Miyu, ignoring the sideways "hmphing" look Maika gave
her.
"I'm sure the two of you are wondering what all this is about,"
began Grema.
"Not really," answered Miyu.
"A now-dead client of mine, Hamza al Mustapha, was working with
Miss Lateef's now-dead father in a scheme to siphon off excess
profits from diamond mines in Sierra Leone. This money is now on
deposit at the Nigerian Central Bank in a secret account. It comes
to a sum of US$42 million dollars. The money in this envelope is
to be used for bribes, fees, etc, for the two of us to get this
money transferred to a numbered account in Liechtenstein."
"Wait a moment," Maika replied, puzzled. "US$42 million? We
were told that this secret account held US$36 million?"
"No, it's definitely $42 million; you've probably heard about a
different secret account."
"Oh." Maika's expression cleared. "That must be it. We didn't
realize that secret bank accounts were so common on this plan...
I mean, country."
As the two got up to leave, a shadowy figure followed them.
- - - - - - - - - -
Back in their hotel room, the two girls found that the air
conditioning was now working, sort of, in fits and starts. Miyu
collapsed onto the king-sized bed the moment they entered their
room; Maika sat at the desk and resumed her attempts to hack into
the Nigerian Central Bank. "By the way, Miyu, you did ask Akai
if we could borrow his computer, didn't you?"
"Ulp, err, well.." replied Miyu. "But I'm sure he won't mind."
"If you say so," replied Maika. "You're the one with the crush on
him."
"I DO NOT HAVE A CRUSH ON THAT BLITHERING IDIOT!"
"Of course not," Maika replied sweetly. "Forget I said anything.
Let's just..."
Just then came a knock at the door of their hotel room. The two
girls exchanged a puzzled glance, then Maika got up to answer it.
Outside the door was a plump, sweating man wearing an expensive
tailored white suit, gold chains around his neck and a ring on
every finger. "Hello. I am very sorry to disturb you two ladies
so late at night, but I have something quite urgent to discuss.
May I come in? My name is Momoh Sanni Momoh."
Maika gestured towards the room's one chair, then joined Maika on
the bed.
"I am a lawyer representing Mallam Sadiq Abacha, one of the many
sons of the late General Sani Abacha. I believe the two of you
have had some contact with a person or persons representing one or
more of the other sons?"
"Not deliberately," moaned Miyu.
"My client is seeking possession of a sum of money belonging to his
father, which is on deposit with the Nigerian Central Bank."
"This sounds familiar," Maika allowed.
"I do not know what other arrangements you have made, but we are
willing to offer you a higher percentage of this sum in exchange
for your services in transferring it to a bank in Macao."
"Would this be the US$36 million sum or the US$42 million sum?"
"The US$36 million. This is the first I've heard of the other
figure."
"Maika, the other account had nothing to do with this Sani Abacha
guy," reminded Miyu tiredly. "It was something to do with diamonds."
"Oh, yes, that's right," Maika said smilingly. "Silly me. Well,
at any rate, we really haven't made any arrangements at all. So
I'm afraid you're talking to the wrong..."
"YOU! What are you doing with these girls?!" a new voice came
from the door.
Framed in the doorway stood Sir Sambujang, an angry finger pointing
straight at Momoh. "The account belongs to my master Mohammed!
You have already stolen the other account on behalf of that beastly
client of yours!"
"Other account?" asked Maika, raising an eyebrow.
Momoh merely gave a faint, superior smile, and crossed his arms.
Sir Sambujang continued, "My master's Lebanese mistress had US$25
million saved away in her retirement account, but this dishonest
thief has made it to vanish into thin air!"
"And what are you going to do about it?" Momoh stood up and glared
menacingly at Sir Sambujang. "I might make you, too, vanish into
thin air if I hear any more noise from you!"
Momoh moved to leave the room. At the door, however, he stopped
to look at the two girls. "I can make things either very pleasant
for the two of you or very hot indeed. Remember that when you are
deciding which party you will side with."
Momoh slammed the door on the way out, accidentally catching Sir
Sambujang's foot in it. Maika escorted the hopping Sir Sambujang
to the door, smilingly but forcefully, then locked it. "Hand me
that steel pipe by the bed."
Miyu, still lying face down on the bed, felt around with one hand.
Finding the pipe Maika sought, she tore it loose at the point where
it emerged from the floor and tossed it to Maika. Maika promptly
wrapped in around the door handle and embedded the other end into
the wall. "That should keep these nuts away from us for the night.
Maybe we can get some sleep."
So saying, Maika undressed and collapsed onto the bed next to Miyu.
- - - - - - - - - -
The next morning, the girls came up with a new plan. "Hacking into
the bank just isn't working. Let's just go there and 'persuade'
some bank employee to help us."
At the bank, the two girls looked around the lobby carefully. "How
about that supervisor over there?" Maika proposed. Miyu agreed.
The man behind the desk, thirty-something, lean, and athletic, got
up to shake hands with the two girls. "I'm Roy Okoro, Assistant
Director. You are Japanese? I'm glad you have stopped in; I could
use a little of your noble assistance."
"I think there must be some misunderstanding..." Maika began.
"Our bank has an deposit of money which has never been claimed. I
have determined that the money was placed there on behalf of Mobutu
Sese Seko, the deposed dictator of Zaire, now deceased."
"That's nice, but what we're actually here about..." Maika tried to
insist. Miyu clenched her fists.
"If the two of you could pretend to be relatives of Mobutu Sese
Seko, I could sign over the money to you. We could then come to
an accomodation about percentages. For US$30 million, I'm sure
we can come to an agreement on that."
"Listen, creep!" Miyu exploded, slamming one fist down on Okoro's
desk, which promptly split. Small wood shavings drifted down onto
the floor as Mr. Okoro, shocked, stared at his desk. "We don't
care about your money!"
Glancing around the lobby and meeting the stares of the patrons,
Maika temporized. "Perhaps we could go somewhere a little more
private?"
- - - - - - - - - -
In a dimly-lit room in the basement, Miyu held one finger firmly in
the small of Okoro's back as he operated the computer terminal,
sweating heavily and glancing occasionally at the slightly-smiling
Maika.
"I think I can keep my partner under control. Assuming you hurry,"
assured Maika.
Miyu stuck her tongue out at Maika, but obligingly growled. "Just
let me break a leg or two."
"Not yet, Miyu. You can have your fun later."
Finally, Okoro had the data. "Those transactions from a Mr. Kasuga
in Japan were deposited into three different accounts, apparently.
One is in the name of Ahmed Grema; the second is in the name of
Momoh Sanni Momoh; the third in the name of Susan Lateef."
The two girls looked at each other.
"Does that make any sense at all? Kasuga is the CEO of a major
corporation in Japan. Why would be be sending money here to these
clowns?" Miyu asked.
Maika thought about it a bit. "True, but he did inherit the
position. And I didn't get the impression that he's too bright.
Maybe they hit him up for 'help' on liberating one of these secret
deposits?"
"Exactly!" Mr. Okoro said. "And I'm sure he's a much wealthier man
now, because of it. Just as the two of you will be, if you'll just
help me with a few details of this $30 million account."
Miyu rolled her eyes in disgust. Maika gave him a quick chop to a
sensitive nerve cluster. Okoro dropped like a stone.
"Let's just go back to the hotel, get Akai's computer, and leave.
This money trail isn't going to lead us anywhere near CHAOS."
- - - - - - - - - -
Back at the hotel, the two girls unlocked their door and opened
it only to find a dozen guns pointed at them. Across the room,
Momoh sat, smiling, with one arm around Susan Lateef. To one side,
the dead body of Ahmed Grema lay, riddled with bullets. On the
desk, next to its box, Akai's precious computer was smashed to tiny
pieces.
"Akai's not going to be happy with you," remarked Maika, with a
side-glance at Miyu.
"I'll buy him a new one. He probably didn't have anything
important on that primitive magnetic storage anyway."
"Sure he didn't. Quantum subspace storage isn't available on this
planet, you know."
"Boss, these two don't look worried like they should be," noted one
of the goons.
"They will be," said Momoh menacingly. "This is your last chance
to decide, ladies. Are you with me or against me?"
"Can you answer one teeny, tiny question before we decide?"
answered Maika.
"NO!"
In unison, Maika and Miyu shrugged. "Your problem." Faster than
any of the gang members could follow, Maika and Miyu moved to
either side of Momoh's chair. Maika lifted Momoh up out of his
chair with one hand; Miyu lifted Susan Lateef in one of hers, then
threw her one-handed across the room. With the other hand, she
bent one of the gun barrels upwards into a right angel.
"Now, let's do this peaceably. You guys all leave, and your boss
lives."
"Shoot anyway! We can split the money without him," shouted Susan
Lateef, shaking one fist.
Shaking their heads sadly, Maika dropped Momoh, and she and Miyu
plunged into the midst of the gang. Ducking and dodging with
inhuman speed, kicking and punching with uncanny accuracy, and
occasionally aided when one gang member accidentally shot another,
the two disabled the thugs one after another until the entire group
lay moaning or unconscious on the floor.
Miyu grabbed Miss Lateef and dragged her over to where Momoh lay.
"Now, about those questions," began Maika sweetly. Miyu growled
menacingly, idlely tying gun barrels into knots.
"Questions? We'll be glad to help, won't we, Momoh dear?" answered
Miss Lateef brightly.
"Both of you have received wire transfers of small sums from a Mr.
Kasuga, from Tokyo, Japan, into accounts in your names for over a
year. This Mr. Kasuga is the CEO of a large corporation in Japan;
we also know him to be a member of a secret world-wide evil
organization named CHAOS. We want to know everything you can
recall about those wire transfers."
Both Momoh and Lateef blanched. "Wire transfers? For small sums,
say of a few thousand American dollars? Well, we get so many, you
see," replied Momoh hastily.
"Not so many from Japan, though. Give me a minute or two, maybe
I can remember something," added Lateef.
"You get a lot?" asked Maika. "Okay, then do you do the same thing
with all of them? And why do you receive so many?"
"Well," replied Momoh nervously, "we have many well-wishers, you
see..."
"...who wish to aid us in liberating money frozen in various bank
accounts."
"And of course, one cannot accomplish anything in this country
without the occasional bribe..."
"...fee for this service or for that transfer..."
"Honest, we manage to keep very little of this money for ourselves.
We have to pay it back out again in bribes to various bank
officials, to keep the police looking away, that sort of thing."
"So you're saying that the CEO of Traxx Japan sent you all this
money so he could get his hands on one of these secret bank
accounts?" asked Miyu with a dubious expression.
"Well, I can't recall the particulars for Mr. Kasuga, but most
probably..."
"Okay, THAT's it. I'm fed up with this place. Let's just go,
Maika."
"That's what I said earlier, Miyu. AFTER you pick up any
identifying marks on those computer parts," replied Maika, pointing
at Akai's shattered computer, "and I've paid a visit to the
hotel's records department."
- - - - - - - - - -
The next day, back in Japan, Maika made sure Miyu apologized to
Akai.
"And I'll get you a new computer, Akai, tomorrow. I promise. I'm
sorry, I'm sorry."
Hideo Akai frowned momentarily at Miyu. "All my stored email,
gone. Including the message I received a few days ago from
Nigeria. It might have been worth hundreds of millions of yen!
It seems there's this secret account, see, lying untouched in the
central bank for years..." Akai paused. "Miyu, why are you
knocking your head against my wall?"
THE END.
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