The Rip-Off Church (リップオフ・チャーチ Rippuofu chāchi), also called the Hooligan Church (暴力教会 Bōryoku kyōkai), is a drugs and weapon smuggling operation located in Roanapur. The church is notorious for its double dealings and is run by Sister Yolanda with assistance by Eda and Rico.
Overview[]
Their base of operations is located in a Catholic church atop a hill. Besides the chapel, to the left of the building is the drawing room, to where the clergy members usually guide visitors for deals. According to the 2nd light novel, the Hooligan Church is officially registered under the Vatican.[1] Apart from his own group, Mister Chang allows Yolanda to be the only other person in Roanapur to sell weapons, which shows that they are on good terms with the Hong Kong Triad.[2] Eda is seen drinking with Revy often and accompanies her on bounties, demonstrating good relations with the Lagoon Company. Since the church also secretly engages in drug dealing, it is doubtful that they are on good terms with Hotel Moscow. For financial dealings, the head of the church on documents is given as P.W. Deegan.[3]
Yolanda is aware of the fact that Eda works for the U.S.'s Central Intelligence Agency, allowing her to operate so long as she gets paid for any intelligence that she provides to Eda.[4] There are only three known members of the Rip-Off Church, although several other people in clerical robes were once seen unloading a truck filled with "laundry" (which Rock easily identified as drugs).[5] Furthermore, the church deals in information brokering via a network of informants throughout Roanapur, and church members are able to create fake passports, travel permits and identification documents,[6][7] demonstrating that the Rip-Off Church is quite a vast organization.
Black Lagoon history[]
Calm down, two men[]
Rock and Revy had to finish a weapons deal with the Rip-Off Church, so the two went to the church to account for the delivery. When the two arrived, Revy knocked on the chapel door and called for Sister Yolanda, but Eda came out and told the two to come with her and not to enter the chapel. Near a shed, two clergy members asked Eda if she really wanted the "clean" items in the shed, but the nun assured them that it was what Yolanda requested. Inside the drawing room, the two Lagoon Company pirates talked with Yolanda, who said she could not give them one of the weapons on the list. When Revy threatened her due to Yolanda asking for a discount, Revy and Eda pulled out their guns in a standoff. Rock negotiated with Yolanda by informing her he knew about the Rip-Off Church's unauthorized drug shipments as well as the uneven amount of weapons leaving and entering Roanapur originating from the church. Hearing him say that he was on friendly terms with Hotel Moscow but did not exactly work together, Yolanda allowed the Lagoon Company to receive the extra weapon, commending Rock for his business skills and politeness. As Revy left, the elderly nun recommended that she emulate Rock's behavior since waving one's gun around only escalated things. Irritated, the pirate insulted the old woman and left.[3]
Bloodsport Fairy tale[]
When Hänsel and Gretel arrived in Roanapur to kill Balalaika, Eda visited Rock and Revy at the Yellow Flag to tell them about Balalaika's bounty on the twins, but Bao informed her that everyone already knew, disappointing her. Eda also stated that many prominent bounty hunters had arrived to town to participate in the hunt, with Green Tooth Johnny ordering an elephant rifle from the Rip-Off Church.[8] Later on after Revy and Eda abandoned their hunt for the twins, Gretel held Eda hostage so that the Lagoon Company would be forced to take Gretel on the condition of Eda's survival.[9]
Greenback Jane[]
Looking for help to escape capture by the Nuevo Laredo Cartel, Janet Bhai ran to the Rip-Off Church and banged on the chapel's door. Inside, Revy and Eda were relaxing and heard the knocking, so Eda told Jane that the church was closed and she should come back another time. When Jane continued knocking, Eda pushed the door open and demanded that Jane leave, but Elvis and his men showed up. Elvis shot at the door and told the nun that he only needed the girl and he would leave, but Eda and Revy got angered and started shooting back. In the commotion, Lobos stepped away from his car and claimed to Revy that there was a misunderstanding, but that only encouraged both women to continue shooting.
Rico, Yolanda and Eda use their firearms while Revy (far left) helps them
Seconds later, Rico joined the women with his machine gun, introducing himself to Revy. In the chapel, Yolanda saw Eda's old fashioned glass and alcohol, berating her for drinking in the chapel. Eda told her she could explain, but Yolanda tossed the glass and said they would talk later, pulling out her golden Desert Eagle to aid in shooting the Nuevo Laredo gangsters. As Elvis and his men fled, the annoyed Yolanda remarked that someone needed to pay for the chapel door's repairs and the many bullets used, telling Jane that she had some explaining to do. Jane entered the chapel and explained herself while the three church members and Revy listened.
Jane's knowledge on reproducing counterfeit U.S. currency started to tire out the church members, causing Yolanda to ask what her point was in her story. Jane showed two counterfeit bills and proved that Revy could not spot a counterfeit like she could, but Yolanda still asked what she exactly wanted. Finishing her story, Jane told them she ran away and arrived at the chapel, making Eda remark that Jane betrayed the Nuevo Laredo Cartel instead of fulfilling her deal. Nonetheless, Yolanda offered Jane help by informing her that she could be given safe passage by the church or the Lagoon Company too. When Jane said that she would offer $30,000 for her printing plates and escape, Yolanda rejected her offer, disappointing Jane.
The young counterfeiter told them she would find help elsewhere, but Eda gave her some advice to stay at the Ramsap Inn since she would be easily found at any other hotel. As soon as Jane left the chapel, Yolanda commended Eda for setting up a plan to convince Jane to agree to whatever price they wanted, confusing Revy. Immediately, Eda called Richie Leroy to tip off Jane's location at the inn in exchange for money.[10] The same night, Eda had Rock and Revy escort her near the motel, explaining her plan to the two. Although they doubted the plan involving Jane seeing signs that Eda put inside her room to show her an escape route, they saw Jane running toward them.
Eda ordered Rock to drive the car backwards, passing by and teasing Jane that she was out awfully late for a jog. Realizing that she had been tricked, Jane kept offering various prices to Eda, who rejected the prices and reminded the young woman that she was being chased by various mercenaries. Desperate to survive, the panicking Jane agreed to whatever Eda desired.[11] To the young woman's fortune, Eda let her into the car, and they escaped to the Lagoon Company dry dock. While waiting on the second floor, Eda reminded Revy that the Rip-Off Church would pay for the expenses created by Dutch abandoning his then-current job for Isaac.[12] In the end after fighting several bounty hunters hired by Russell, Eda managed to get Jane safe passage out of Roanapur on the Black Lagoon, receiving Jane's payment in money-printing plates later on.[13]
El Baile de la muerte / Roberta's Blood Trail[]
Inside the church building
When news spread throughout Roanapur that Roberta returned to the city, Eda hung out with Revy inside the chapel and once more teased her about her relationship with Rock. As they continued drinking and playing cards, Revy remarked that Roberta's enemy was the U.S. military, causing Eda to hesitate but keeping her surprise hidden.[14] Afterward at sunset, the nun found out that an NSA unit, the Grey Fox Commando Group, was the particular group who Roberta despised. In the drawing room, Eda elaborated to Yolanda that the NSA was trying to compete with the CIA's influence, clarifying that the NSA's Plan 117 to interfere in Venezuelan politics was carried out without CIA input. Yolanda promised her that the Rip-Off Church's informant network would gather information on the NSA members' backgrounds and location, adding that she needed financial compensation from the CIA in return. Eda replied that she would bring up the compensation to her boss Ravencroft, whom Yolanda was happily familiar with. Soon, the elderly nun provided her the list as well as a transcript of the Council meeting at The Golden Swingin Night Club between Roanapur's crime lords.[15]
After discussing a course of action with the other crime syndicates, Mister Chang went to the Rip-Off Church's chapel in the evening and met Rico, who pointed out the confession booth to him in order to speak to a CIA agent. Unknown to Chang, the CIA agent was Eda disguising her voice, and she provided Chang with Grey Fox's soldier names, hideouts, and mission purpose (to capture Shue Yan) in return for learning about Chang's course of action. When the Triad boss refused to answer on the basis that the Triad was not the CIA's lapdog, Eda laughed and warned him that the Triad could only control individuals and businesses whereas the CIA could topple governments.[16] To prevent the NSA squad from completing their mission that interfered in CIA territory, Eda had Rico forge travel documents for Roberta so that the maid could kill the U.S. soldiers to the CIA's benefit. Once Rico had sneaked into Roberta's hiding place and placed the documents inside, he returned to the chapel and informed Eda, who ordered him to report to Sister Yolanda.[6]
At the same time after Eda agreed to Rock's request for the Rip-Off Church to act as a mediator that would inform the NSA about the Lagoon Company's boat for Grey Fox's transportation,[17] the church forged fake travel permits and identification documents for Dutch's crew so that the Black Lagoon could legally travel through the Golden Triangle border region to ensure the confrontation between the foxes and the hound.[7] On the plane, Eda, disguised in a business dress rather than her nun outfit, relayed the U.S. troops' destination to Roberta and even provided a car arrangement for her when the plane arrived.[18] After Grey Fox had left the region and taken Shue Yan into custody, Eda was at the church when she received a phone call from Ravencroft and was pleased to learn that Shue Yan was transferred to the CIA's watch, not the NSA's custody.[19]
The Wired Red Wild Card[]
After Rock needed information to connect the dots of Feng Yifei's findings, he went to the Yellow Flag to meet up with Eda and Rico (both dressed in casual clothing). Eda calmly informed Rock that she knew that he was protecting the Chinese woman, slightly surprising him. Elaborating his request, Rock specified that he would give her the Lagoon Company's list of recent clients and shipments from the beginning of the year to April in exchange for breaking Revy free from jail and receiving info about any dealings between Cosa Nostra and the Albanian Mafia in the past six months. Eda happily agreed, telling Rico that they needed to report to Sister Yolanda first.[20] The next morning, Eda and Rico (dressed in clerical clothing) visited Rock and told him about the Sicilian-Albanian relations as well as the backgrounds of the assassins hired to kill Feng.[21] After Rock and Revy left the police station, Eda killed Montero to prevent him from murdering Feng, completing her deal with Rock.[22]
L'homme sombre[]
When Black men were suddenly being targeted and murdered in Roanapur, Dutch cancelled several contracts with warehouses to keep his own weapons close to him. According to what Rock saw on the inventory list in the Lagoon Company office, Dutch bought weapons from the Rip-Off Church.[23]
Other history[]
Ballad of the Sinful Wizard[]
Returning to Roanapur from the United States of America after being briefed on Operation Persephone, the CIA's newest covert operation, Eda spoke with Sister Yolanda at the chapel about her mission. Sighing, Yolanda wondered why the CIA had to get rid of their messes all the way in Thailand, but Eda reminded her that the United States was the same country that kidnapped and killed Native Americans. Yolanda nevertheless was still skeptical of the plan. When Eda elaborated on the parties involved, Yolanda confirmed that she knew who Philip O'Sullivan was, also revealing that she knew about the friendship between Philip and Zeng Shunten, a Communist Party of China member alleged to be connected to the Fujianese crime syndicate Budaibang. Looking at the hard copy of the CIA strategy to stage the overseas kidnapping of the heiress Tricia O'Sullivan in order to convince the U.S. President that the CIA needed funding for international operations, the old nun sighed once more.
She then asked Eda what she thought was the mission's chance to succeed. When Eda remarked that she could still go with the second best option, Yolanda asked what would happen if Philip went to someone else instead of the CIA to get help for recovering his kidnapped daughter. Eda coldly answered that Tricia would just have to die, which would result in the marriage between the O'Sullivan and Zeng families being cut off anyway. Finishing her story, Eda requested that she be allowed to use the Rip-Off Church chapel as a meeting place for the liaison agent Cardinas Sheringham, who would "save" Tricia. Although she was still skeptical, Yolanda obliged her and laughed with Eda about the coincidence that both Sheringham and the Roanapur local Lotton shared the nickname "Wizard".[1]
Later after Lotton "saved" Tricia at the Yellow Flag, he unintentionally brought Tricia to the Rip-Off Church chapel, surprising Eda, who had left a cellphone on the altar for the agent to use. Seeing the cellphone, Lotton picked it up and answered the call while Eda used a voice changer to disguise her voice. Beginning to speak, Eda addressed Lotton as "Wizard" because the contact was coincidentally nicknamed "Wizard," and he muttered a line about how prophets were useless if God could use a telephone. Brushing off Lotton's unusual question about God "abandoning" Tricia, Eda asked him for a report. When Lotton told her that the men at the bar claimed to be working for Zeng Shunten, she swallowed her words in pain as that meant that Budaibang would become involved in her CIA plan Operation Persephone, which would have to change course. Albeit annoyed by Lotton's berating of her, Eda wondered how an aloof man like him could take on two Budaibang thugs with ease, thinking that he was possibly smart but feigned being an idiot.
Lotton confidently told the disguised Eda that he could protect the girl, and Eda in turn assessed the situation to figure out why Budaibang interfered instead of Philip O'Sullivan. Knowing that Darryl's subordinates would prevent Philip from finding out about the CIA's involvement in Tricia's disappearance, Eda had time to think of a story to concoct regarding how Budaibang's intervention made the situation worse for Philip's daughter, so she advised Lotton to take Tricia to room 207 at the Ramsap Inn as a safehouse. Speaking in his usual grandiose matter, Lotton replied that God's guidance would take them to safety, annoying Eda. Begrudgingly agreeing, Eda responded that he could choose a place but needed to be discreet. After Lotton ended the call, Eda mistook Lotton and Sheringham as the same person, but she entrusted that he would fulfill his end of the operation and she herself would try to distract the police and Watsap so that they were baited away from discovering her involvement in the recent mess in Roanapur.[24]
Gore Gore Girl[]
After being in a brief gunfight, Rico was at a restaurant carrying a rifle and ordered a ham sandwich and honey latte, remarking that he was exhausted after a long night. Once he got his food, he saw that Rock, Sawyer the Cleaner, Shenhua and Lotton were also dining there, asking them if they were having a party. As Rico told them that there were a lot of people who rushed to the Rip-Off Church that previous night, he saw their confused faces and asked them what was wrong. Seeing that Rock did not recognize him, Rico told him that he was with the Rip-Off Church, making the embarrassed Rock pretend to finally recognize him. Rico began to sweat nervously as he felt insulted, but Rock assured him that he meant no offense toward the apprentice priest and invited him to sit down with them. In contrast, Shenhua calmly stated that she had never heard of him, surprising Rico.
While he sat down at a table adjacent to theirs, Rock asked him if he was involved in the shooting that they heard minutes ago, with Rico stating that it was simply a "missionary activity," adding that it was also noisy the night that he worked a lot. While Rock and Shenhua agreed that they were not fond of working overtime and way late at night, Rico replied that he just did his work to get by. As they continued to eat, several armed men arrived at the restaurant, yelling at everyone to give up their money. Rico and the others were unfazed and tiredly paid no concern to them, and so Shenhua convinced Sawyer to deal with the robbers.[25]
In another story, Yolanda had to leave the chapel for one night, so Eda was left in charge. In the evening, a father and child had visited the chapel so that the former could request an exorcism for his allegedly possessed child, but Eda refused. The man then started to speak words that she did not understand and then shot his child, causing Eda to shoot him in turn. Annoyed by the turn of events, Eda told Rico to clean up the mess, but as he entered the chapel, the apprentice priest began vomiting and went on a rampage, causing Eda to subdue him and tie him up. Knowing that Yolanda would be furious with the corpses and blood inside the chapel, Eda called Sawyer the Cleaner to come over that night to clean up the mess. As Sawyer arrived and sat in the pews, the nun yelled that the cleaner would normally be forbidden from entering the chapel but she had made a one-time exception.
The nun then showed her the tied-up Rico, yelling at him to ask how he was doing. As Rico turned around, his eyes rolled backward into his head and he began speaking violently toward Eda, repeatedly calling her a "slut" and making sexual comments. Seeing that he had not recovered, Eda kicked him back onto the ground, then explaining the whole story to Sawyer. Once finishing, they heard a knock on the chapel door, so Eda prepared her Glock pistol and opened the door, asking who was there since no one was in her sight. Seeing a huge mass of fog go her way, she again demanded the person to answer themselves. Sensing someone behind her, Eda pointed the gun at the silhouette behind her, which disappeared before she could see it, angrily confusing her. The fog then surrounded her, scaring her backward and again demanding that the person show themselves. Looking around, various human silhouettes with glowing eyes stared at Eda, frightening her. To her relief, Sawyer pulled through the fog with her chainsaw and charged at the group of silhouettes and began swinging at them manically. Eda smiled and clasped her hands, thanking the cleaner for dealing with the shadows.
Deciding that Sawyer would deal with the intruders, she ran elsewhere in the chapel to retrieve Rico, but she only saw a loosened rope without Rico present. Sensing someone behind her again, Eda turned around to see an apparition of a grinning Russell, terrifying her since she knew that she killed him a while back. Sawyer suddenly appeared and immediately thrust her chainsaw into Russell's back, and Eda's eyes began to spin, soon falling into unconsciousness after laughing and saying Jesus Christ's name. The next morning, Yolanda returned to the chapel and talked with someone, learning that there was a hallucinogenic gas in the cargo of the boat that crashed at the port the previous night, with the fog drifting up to the chapel. Seeing the tied-up Rico and the unconscious Eda and Sawyer next to the pews, the elderly nun yelled at Eda to wake up, wash her face, and slowly explain herself, and the awakened Eda pleaded with her to grant mercy on her. Next to her, Sawyer was peacefully sleeping with Russell's hat next to her head.[26]
Eda Initial Stage[]
At an outdoor dining café, Eda spoke with Rico, who gave her documents detailing requests from a third party for weapon shipments. Impressed, she advised him to continue his plan. Once more, Rico called her "sis" to her annoyance, but she got distracted as she thought she saw a familiar face nearby, jumping up from her seat. Startled, he asked her why she moved so suddenly, with Eda telling herself that she remembered something that she should not have.[27]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Black Lagoon 2: Ballad of the Sinful Wizard (Edith Blackwater)
- ↑ Episode 11: Lock'n Load Revolution
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chapter 09: Calm down, two men Part 1
- ↑ Episode 26: An Office Man's Tactics
- ↑ Episode 07: Calm Down, Two Men
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Chapter 69: El Baile de la muerte Part 26
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Chapter 72: El Baile de la muerte Part 29
- ↑ Episode 13: The Vampire Twins Comen
- ↑ Chapter 15: Bloodsport Fairy tale Part 5
- ↑ Chapter 38: Greenback Jane Part 1
- ↑ Chapter 39: Greenback Jane Part 2
- ↑ Chapter 40: Greenback Jane Part 3
- ↑ Chapter 43: Greenback Jane Part 6
- ↑ Chapter 52: El Baile de la muerte Part 9
- ↑ Chapter 53: El Baile de la muerte Part 10
- ↑ Chapter 56: El Baile de la muerte Part 13
- ↑ Chapter 64: El Baile de la muerte Part 21
- ↑ Chapter 73: El Baile de la muerte Part 30
- ↑ Episode 29: Codename Paradise, Status MIA
- ↑ Chapter 92: The Wired Red Wild Card Part 16
- ↑ Chapter 93: The Wired Red Wild Card Part 17
- ↑ Chapter 98: The Wired Red Wild Card Part 22
- ↑ Chapter 104: L'homme sombre Part 3
- ↑ Black Lagoon 2: Ballad of the Sinful Wizard (Edith Blackwater: 2)
- ↑ Gore Gore Girl Chapter 08: Chill Out
- ↑ Gore Gore Girl Chapter 12: The Fog
- ↑ Eda Initial Stage Chapter 01: Devastating New Face Part 1