Le Pouce (ルプス Rupusu) was the leader of Les Cinq Doigts, a five-member unit of France's Service d'Action Civique (SAC). One mission she had as a member was to go to Roanapur and hunt down a man called "La Mouche." Her name is French for "the thumb," also being her codename in Les Cinq Doigts.
Appearance[]
Le Pouce was a young African woman with a skinny build and long, dark hair styled into locs. She wore a bullet-resistant black pantsuit with black gloves and shoes. In addition, she carried a Jericho pistol for a weapon.
History[]
Sometime in the mid-1990s, Pouce led the other four members of Les Cinq Doigts (L'index, Le Majeur, L'annulaire, and the first L'auriculaire) to Nigeria to hunt down a man called La Mouche for his involvement in planning the 1989 attempted coup in Burkina Faso. Pouce went to the country on sketchy intel, which led to them walking into a trap. The first L'auriculaire helped her comrades escape but at the cost of her own life, angering Le Majeur.[1] Pouce viewed her death as an unavoidable sacrifice due to their soldier life, and soon a new L'auriculaire took the place of the first L'auriculaire. Soon after her death, SAC's network pinpointed La Mouche's likely location to Roanapur in Thailand, so the five women headed there.
L'homme sombre[]
In Roanapur, Pouce and her four comrades arrived, then looking for any Black man that matched La Mouche's description as a tall Black man. At a fight ring run by Ronnie the Jaws, the Frenchwomen relaxed and waited for the fixed match between Somsak and Kittikhun to end. Hearning L'annulaire's complaint about being in Thailand, Pouce assured the group that her intel was absolutely accurate then. Majeur still had skepticism stemming from their botched operation in Nigeria, but Pouce asserted that they were sticking to their current plan. When the fight ring referee asked the crowd if anyone wanted to volunteer to fight the winning boxer, Majeur volunteered, much to the anger of the ring's crowd who were betting on the boxer. Pouced watched Majeur dodge the fighter's punches and knock him out, infuriating the crowd and causing the promoter's henchmen to take Majeur into their office.
As Pouce continued sitting at her table, Majeur was quiet while the Black promoter interrogated her, and she only asked him his height and if he was familiar with several African names associated with the events that took place on September 18, 1989 in Burkina Faso since he matched the physical description. With the promoter confused and angry, Pouce and the other three women entered the room to back Majeur up, prompting the promoter to order his men to kill them. Acting quickly, the women drew their pistols and easily killed the henchmen except the promoter to interrogate him.[2] In a later incident, they began to interrogate another Black man, but L'auriculaire accidentally killed the man prematurely, remarking that they had killed 5 people so far. When L'index stated that too many killings would draw even more attention, Pouce responded that they just had to keep at it and be patient since their informant was missing.[3]
Not convinced, Majeur responded that bad intelligence would get one of them killed again, to which Pouce replied that she would make sure that she would not let that happen a second time. With Majeur still adamant, Pouce said that they chose a lethal line of work and added that the first L'auriculaire had to make a sacrifice, angering Majeur enough to draw her weapon on her. When the other three women also drew to discourage Majeur from shooting, Pouce reminded her that the first L'auriculaire voluntarily saved them because their squad was exposed. Seconds later, Majeur sheathed her pistol and walked away, frustratingly remarking that it was not a good reason to die.[4]
Elsewhere at night, Pouce and the women barged into a building with several drug dealers associated with Hotel Moscow and killed them all, only leaving Jinx, a Black man, alive. After they shot him in the knees, Jinx claimed not to know anything about their date or the names that they mentioned, so Majeur prepared to kill him, but men from Hotel Moscow showed up, forcing the women to flee, leaving Jinx alive. After Rock and Revy talked to Jinx and Rock deduced the possible next targets besides Dutch, they traveled to Isaac's antiques shop to talk to François Modibo since he was possibly a target. As Rock, Revy and Shenhua finished speaking to Isaac, the Frenchwomen showed up outside, with Pouce telling the others to go inside while she remained in the car.[5] Majeur and co. entered the building, warning Revy to move out of the way since their business was with Modibo. To their annoyance, Revy, Shenhua and Modibo easily pushed back the Frenchwomen, forcing them to retreat. Although the women got into the car and Pouce started the engine, L'auriculaire asked Pouce not to drive yet. Immediately, L'auriculaire drew her pistol and intentionally shot Majeur directly in her left eye, incapacitating her. Pouce was shocked but she drove off after L'auriculaire shouted that Majeur was dead anyway, leaving their comrade behind.[6]
About a day or two later, Majeur returned to her safehouse where Les Cinq Doigts resided, feigning forgiveness for abandoning her.[7] All the women were skeptical, but Pouce assured them that Majeur was fine, elaborating to Majeur that she was glad to see her alive. Accordingly, Majeur told them about La Mouche's location via an informant whom she talked to. She clarified Dutch's particular location in three days where he would be exposed, and Pouce agreed to the date while rejecting L'annulaire's suggestion that they do reconnaissance first. Three nights later inside the nightclub, the women confronted Dutch, but Balalaika and her Vysotniki surrounded them, beginning a gunfight. Pouce and the women called for Majeur's help, but she had already run out of the trap area, angering L'auriculaire in particular since she was suspicious about Majeur's return.[8] As the firefight escalated, Pouce ordered L'annulaire and L'index to use suppressive fire in order to escape. L'annulaire tried to kill Dutch but she herself got murdered, and L'index was shot by Balalaika immediately after surrendering, demoralizing Pouce. With two Frenchwomen killed, L'auriculaire chased down Majeur while Pouce continued thinking what to do as she was cornered, soon leaving her cover.[9]
She managed to escape the Vysotniki but was severely wounded, leaving behind a pool of blood. After Revy killed L'auriculaire, she noticed Pouce's trail of blood, so she, Majeur and Shenhua followed it. Majeur then found Pouce bleeding and sitting upright on the ground, and Pouce asked why she betrayed them. Majeur replied that it was all because of the first L'auriculaire's death, to which Pouce apologized for as well as the failed Nigerian operation. In a saddened state, Pouce stated that she knew Majeur set the trap but wanted to believe her, enraging Majeur, who shot and killed Pouce after hearing her confession. Then more or less nonchalant, Majeur remarked that Pouce was a selfish and manipulative person who used others for her own gain, and she left the establishment.[10]
Trivia[]
- In a popularity contest during the 12th manga collection release, Le Pouce ranked 39th with 25 votes.[11]
References[]
- ↑ Chapter 105: L'homme sombre Part 4
- ↑ Chapter 102: L'homme sombre Part 1
- ↑ Chapter 103: L'homme sombre Part 2
- ↑ Chapter 104: L'homme sombre Part 3
- ↑ Chapter 106: L'homme sombre Part 5
- ↑ Chapter 107: L'homme sombre Part 6
- ↑ Chapter 109: L'homme sombre Part 8
- ↑ Chapter 110: L'homme sombre Part 9
- ↑ Chapter 111: L'homme sombre Part 10
- ↑ Chapter 112: L'homme sombre Part 11
- ↑ http://sundaygx.info/blacklagoon_contest_12/