Once upon a time there were two brothers. Twins actually. They lived on a big and remote tropical island. Their father barely looked after them, too wrapped up in himself. Their mother died giving birth to them. Their father was from Spain but their mother was from the island. The boys were mostly raised by the other islanders and their older half sister. They grew up respected by the other natives because they were twins. In their culture, twins were supposed to be powerful. They were trained how to fight, how to hunt, and how to survive. They were told that once they were old enough, one of them would be the leader of the tribe, of the Rakyat tribe. And the other would be his second in command. This didn't cause them to be competitive though as they were too close for that. Plus they didn't want to be the leader of the tribe anyway. Well one of them didn't mind the idea of leading but wasn't good with following traditions, the other had no interest in leading.
"What do you think the rest of the world is like Lupo? You think it's nicer than this?" said one twin as they were laying in the grass looking up at the sky one day.
"I don't know, Vaas. I'll bet there are places that are a lot nicer. And places that are worse. Wouldn't it be nice to see it all though?" said the other twin.
"Lets do that someday, hermano. Lets go see the world. Go to Spain and see where father is from. Go to America."
"Citra wouldn't approve. She'd say we were shirking our duties as leaders if we left." Lupo said smirking at his brother.
"I don't care. Our sister will just have to deal with it." Vaas said.
"Don't let her hear you talking like that. She'd probably come at you with a knife." Lupo said jokingly.
Only a few minutes later, their sister appeared frowning at them. "What are you two doing here? You both have training right now!" She dragged Lupo to his feet and glared at Vaas till he got up as well.
"Ok Ok. We'll go. Geez Citra. You don't have to be so naggy." said Lupo as he pulled himself from her grasp.
They often dreamed of going off to see the world. Their sister didn't approve. She thought they should spend more time on the here and now. She was very much into the traditions of the Rakyat.
But they loved their sister despite how much she pushed them. They would do anything for her. One night, she tested that.
"Vaas, Lupo. We need to talk." Citra went up to them as they were preparing for the night. "I need to ask something of you."
"What is it hermana? What do you need?" said Vaas.
"I need you to kill our father. Your father. He needs to die for the good of our tribe." Citra said determined. She hated their father. He was a violent drunk who barely contributed anything to the tribe. He had been respected at one point but that time had long since past.
They stared at her, thinking about it. "We will do it sister. For you." Lupo said solumly.
They each took daggers to the dwelling their father was staying in. He was as drunk as usual. They went in and surrounded the man. Vaas went up and stabbed the man in the chest. Lupo went to stab him as well but couldn't do it. Their father bled out on the floor anyway. They stared down at the body as their sister came in and praised Vaas for stabbing him. She ignored her other brother. She had seen him hesitate and disapproved.
Later that same night, Citra came into their dwelling and roused Vaas from his bed. "Shh. Don't wake Lupo. Come with me brother." She urged him to follow her. And he did.
She took him to the temple, which was empty of people at this time of night.
"You are a true warrior, my brother. You did what needed to be done. Now I must ask you to join with me. Together we will create the perfect warrior."
"Join with you hermana? What do you mean?" Vaas said, not liking where this was going.
"Don't play coy. You aren't a child anymore. You are aware of what a man does with a woman?" she said seductively, trying to pull him to the alter in the middle of the temple.
"But we can't! You're my sister! This is wrong!"
"It is destiny. Our child will be powerful! He will be the perfect warrior! Strong enough to lead us!" Citra said.
Unbenowst to them, their brother, Lupo, had woken up and had followed them to the temple. He couldn't believe what he was hearing from his sister. He paid more attention to their traditions than Vaas did. He knew what she wanted to do to Vaas.
"Citra! How could you try to do this to your own brother?!" Lupo said coming out of the shadows.
"It must be him! He is a strong warrior!" Citra cried out.
"Hermano?" Vaas said confused.
"Are you aware of what she wants to do with you Vaas? She doesn't just want to have sex with you to conceive a child. She wants to sacrifice your life to make the resulting child stronger!" Lupo yelled. "How could you Citra?! We trusted you!"
"...She wanted to sacrifice me? Is this true?" he asked his sister.
"You would live on in our child! And Lupo could lead until the child is old enough. It is destiny!"
"I can't believe it... You're our sister! I killed for you! My own father!" Vaas yelled at her.
"You will do as I say, brother! It is your destiny!" Citra said.
"Let's get out of here, Vaas." Lupo said.
"I'll tell the whole tribe that you killed your father! I will! Don't leave!" Citra yelled.
The twins both fled the temple and the tribe. They knew their sister would make good on her threat and tell the whole tribe. And they were right. The tribe tried to hunt them down. They had nowhere to go.
"We could sneak on one of the boats that the pirates use! We could get off this island." Vaas suggested as they were making their way through the jungle.
"Good idea. Then we could finally see the world like we wanted to." Lupo said.
There were fields where drugs were grown. The criminals that grew them had docks where they would load their drugs and take them elsewhere. The twins didn't care where they would end up. They just wanted to be as far from their sister as possible. They snuck onto the docks and waited for their chance to sneak aboard one of the boats. While they were sneaking onto a boat, one of them was noticed.
"Hey! Kid! What are you doing here?!" said a pirate guarding the docks.
Vaas motioned for his brother, who was already on the boat, to hide. He was grabbed by the pirate and dragged away.
"Vaas..." Lupo whispered as he hid with the drugs.
In the end, only Lupo got to see the world.
Years Later
Lupo had traveled all over. A mercenary had found him in the boat after it got to Taiwan. They let him live though and sort of took him in as a protege for awhile. He had joined the military of a far off country called Kyrat for a bit. That didn't last long. It was too cold for his taste. And the mortality rate for the soldiers was high. He became a mercenary after that. Trading his skills with a gun for money. He became very good at his job. Never again did he hesitate before killing. Currently he was living in America, taking a little break.
With time on his hands he started thinking more about his brother. Wondering what had happened to him. He hoped his brother had lived.
One day as he was talking with a former mercenary associate of his, he heard that some rich drug lord and slave trafficker was hiring mercenaries to protect his drug and slave enterprise on Rook Islands. Rook Islands! This was his chance to go back! To see if Vaas had survived. To get back at Citra for betraying them. He pressed his friend for details.
A month later Lupo headed to a dock in Taiwan to wait for a boat to Rook Islands. Several other mercenaries boarded the boat too and he spent his time chatting with them about various things. He asked them if they knew anything about their new boss. Apparently their boss was named Hoyt Volkner. He was from South Africa. He was apparently a very ruthless and feared drug kingpin and human trafficker. Lupo didn't care about the slave trafficking. He had grown cold over the years to things that his bosses had done. What mattered was the money. Screw morals.
When they got to the South Island where Hoyt's main enterprise was set up, Lupo noticed that most if not all of the privateers on the island dressed with some bit of yellow in their outfit. Most wore yellow armbands. Some wore yellow berets. He supposed that was to tell them apart from the natives? He also noticed he was getting some weird looks from most of them. Like they didn't know what to think of him.
One privateer wouldn't stop staring at him. He snapped a bit. "What you looking at?" The man looked away quickly like he was afraid of him for some reason.
Shortly after he had settled in and got his required yellow armband and such, he was called to the boss's office.
He entered the office. A man was standing there talking on a phone. He hung up and turned to face Lupo.
"Ah. Now I can see what my boys are talking about. You do look just like him. Identical even. It would seem you have some explaining to do. Lupo, was it?" Hoyt said.
"Explain what sir?"
"Explain why you didn't tell me that you are obviously from the islands. That would've been good information to have when hiring you."
"I didn't think it mattered. I have no loyalty to the natives. And they have no love of me." Lupo said defensivily.
"Calm down. Come sit down. Don't just stand there. I'm not mad that you kept this information from me. It was just interesting finding it out. Just don't keep anything from me in the future. You do that and I will rip your eyes out." Hoyt said motioning to a chair.
Lupo sat in the chair. Hoyt offered him a cigar. He didn't take it.
"Now you might be wondering how I know you are from the islands. Well, I'm not stupid. That's how. I remember a face that belongs to one of my employees when I see it. And your face...your face also belongs to another employee of mine. The leader of the pirates on the other island, Vaas Montenegro."
Lupo eyes widened at the name. His brother was alive! He had always hoped that Vaas survived. And I guess he did pretty well for himself. Leader of the pirates.
Vaas PoV
Vaas was pissed off. He didn't know why Hoyt had called him to the other island and frankly he didn't care. He just knew he didn't want to be there. He didn't like taking orders from Hoyt but had little choice in the matter. After he got out of the boat he was on, he stalked across Hoyt's compound angrily. Many of the privateers hurried out of his way, not wanting to piss off an already angry Vaas. Vaas liked that. He enjoyed being feared. He got to Hoyt's office and a privateer let him inside.
"Hey boss! What is it that you wanted that I had to come all the way here? I had things to do." Vaas said.
A man sat in a chair across from Hoyt who was leaning against his desk smoking a cigar.
"Good. You came right on time, Vaas. I want to introduce a new employee of mine. Lupo say hello." Hoyt said.
The man in the chair turned and Vaas 's eye widened at who he saw there. He saw a face that he saw every time he looked in a mirror.
"...Lupo? Is that you hermano?"
Lupo smiled. "Obviously. Not many other people with this face is there? Other than you of course. It's good to see you brother."
Vaas had an unreadable expression on his face. He actually looked a bit angry.
"Well isnt this a happy reunion." Hoyt spoke up. "Which brings us to the business at hand. I hear you've been having trouble with the damn natives, Vaas."
Vaas pulled his eyes from his brother to look at Hoyt. "It's no trouble boss. My men will take care of them soon. We just need a little time."
"It is trouble since its effecting my enterprise here! You need to get it under control! ...And to help you along, I'm having a privateer of mine join you on the north island to help things along and train your men a little better."
"I don't need no soldier boy butting into my business and telling me what to do boss!" Vaas said angerily.
"I would've thought you'd be happy for the help. Plus the privateer I'm sending is your brother. I hear he's pretty skilled at combat and since he's familiar with the islands, he'll be a big help to us." Hoyt said. "And it would get him out of my hair. He's been making my men nervous. Must be that face of his. They think he'll be like you I think. And anyway, its not up for discussion. he's joining you on the north island. You'll be like one big happy family again. Isn't that great?" Hoyt smirked.
Vaas stared at Hoyt, enraged. Then looked away. "Fine! Is that all?"
"For now. Show Lupo around your island. Introduce him to your men." Hoyt said dismissivly. He handed Lupo a radio phone. "Lupo I want you to keep in touch with me. Keep me updated on what is happening on the island."
"Sure thing boss." Lupo said before getting up.
"You coming hermano? I'm not waiting for you." Vaas said as he walked out the door. Lupo hurried after him.
"Wait. I need to go grab my bag from the barracks." Lupo said catching up to his brother.
Vaas huffed in irritation. "Fine. Go get it. But be quick."
Lupo hurried to go get his bag and his favorite weapons. Vaas was waiting for him when he got outside. "Got everything hermano? Let's go."
Vaas still looked irritated as he walked with Lupo at his side to the boat that would take them to north island. Privateers whispered to each other as they passed.
"Great. Now there's two of him! As if one Vaas wasn't enough!" One privateer sad to his friend.
"Shut up he might hear you. That man makes me nervous." said the other privateer.
The pirate handling the boat stared at Lupo and Vaas confused when they got to the boat. "Boss? You clone yourself or something?"
"Shut up! Get the boat ready to go." Vaas said as he got into the boat. Lupo got in behind him.
As they made their way to the north island, Lupo tried talking to his brother. But Vaas refused to talk to him. He was angry at his brother. For a lot of things. So they sat in silence till they got to the north island. When they got off the boat at the dock, Lupo confronted him.
"Why are you so angry, brother? I would've thought you'd be happy to see me after all these years?" Lupo said.
"Why am I angry?! You didn't come back! It's been years and only now you come back! You left me here alone, hermano!" Vaas snarled at him. Nearby pirates edged away from them.
Lupo looked at him surprised. "Vaas. I couldn't come back. Not when I was young. It was too dangerous. And I didn't even know if you were still alive! I had to go make myself stronger before I came back. Before I came back and found you."
"Things were awful after you left! I had to survive on my own! And I did. I fucking owned this place before long. And then you just waltz in here thinking I still need you?!"
"You think things were easy for me? You told me to stay on the boat! I would've died if a mercenary on the docks of Taiwan hadn't taken pity on me! You have no idea how hard it was without you!" Lupo yelled.
"Damn it! Fuck!" Vaas yelled. Then he sighed. "...it is good to see you alive, hermano. Despite all this shit. Despite the fact that you are a privateer sent to keep an eye on me. Damn it." Vaas went up and hugged a surprised Lupo. After his intial shock he hugged him back. Vaas pulled away and shouted at all the nearby pirates. "Hey everyone! My twin brother is back!"
Vaas was still pissed at his brother...but it was his brother. He had missed Lupo quite a bit. He was glad to see the fucker.
"Come on, Lupo. Let's get you settled and I can show you around." Vaas said.
Lupo PoV
Lupo guessed he wasn't surprised that his brother was mad at him for not coming back until now. He would've been too. He was surprised at how Vaas's emotions seemed to change at the drop of a hat. Going from rage to cheerful and back again. He wasn't like that when he was young. Vaas cheerfully showed Lupo around his main outpost, introducing him to his pirates. If any of his pirates stared too long at the fact that Lupo looked exactly like Vaas, Vaas would start threatening them with violence.
To be honest though, Lupo noticed that they didn't look exactly alike anymore, not if you looked closely. Lupo looked healthier. Less strung out. And Lupo didn't have a large scar down his face like Vaas did. Lupo wondered how he got that scar. Vaas also looked as if he was using drugs. Lupo couldn't help but feel worried about him.
In the next few days, Lupo worried about Vaas's mental state. Vaas would torture people in some rather interesting ways. Some of which seemed a bit strange. He had a 'garden' filled with people he had buried in the sand up to their heads. It seemed as though Vaas had lost his mind a bit. But Lupo just sighed and went along with it, loving his brother despite all of that.
Lupo spent his time training the pirates. He trained them how to use their weapons a little better. How to track a victim. How to be more alert to their surroundings. It was hard. Several of them were on some rather hard drugs and weren't entirely cognizant. And several of them were a little pissed that they were being trained by a soldier boy privateer. But he was told to train them by Hoyt so train them he would. After a little while, most of the pirates he had trained seemed to improve their skills. So it wasn't all in vain.
Vaas started asking him to tell him about all the stuff he had done while traveling the world. So at night while they were just chilling out he would tell Vaas stories. Vaas got really interested in the violent parts. Lupo was a little curious though as to how Vaas's life had gone after he had gone away so he asked him one night. Vaas got angry and raged for a bit...and then told him.
After Vaas was caught by the pirates, trying to sneak on a boat, they dragged him off and beat him up. Then dumped him in the middle of nowhere. He found his way back and tried again. They again found him and beat him up. This time Vaas killed several of the pirates that tried to beat him. Impressed, a pirate decided to keep him around. He forceably hooked Vaas on drugs to keep him from running. The pirate trained him in violence and bloodshed. One time when Vaas tried to run, the pirate slashed him across the face. That's where he got the scar. After awhile, Vaas had had enough of the pirate's abuse and killed him. Hoyt, who had been dealing with the pirates, was impressed with Vaas's viciousness and saw potential in him. So he hired Vaas to keep the rest of the pirates in line. He would supply the drugs Vaas wanted and let Vaas rule the pirates, and in return he'd do whatever Hoyt told him to do.
"So then I became the pirate king, hermano." Vaas said, finishing his story.
"I'm glad to see that you are enjoying your life now." Lupo said.
"Fuck yeah man. Life is good." Vaas said.
The Rakyat continued to give them trouble. Lupo could only train so many pirates at a time and even then, the pirates weren't always as alert and focused as the tribals.
About a month into Lupo's time on the north island, a group of reality tv film makers arrived on the island. Vaas was in the middle of chasing a 'deer' (it was a man with a deer carcas around him, Lupo found out later) when he got the word that a yacht was idling near the island. The pirates opened fire on the yacht.
Vaas met Lupo at the shore where they were unloading the survivors.
A pirate hands Vaas a camera that had come from the yacht. He turned it on and handed it back to the pirate, making him film.
Vaas went up to the frightened looking girl that had survived. "Sophie."
"My name's Jenifer." the girl said.
"Your name's Sophie! We are going to play a little game. Its like wheels of fortune. Expcept without the wheels and I'm not going to give you my fortune. I'm going to let you choose who dies." He points to two of the other survivors and placed a gun in her hand holding his hand over hers to aim the weapon for her. "Him or him?"
"Please don't make me do this!" she cried. The men begged for their lives.
Vaas manipulated her hands so she pulled the trigger twice, killing both men.
"Wow! I give you one and you take two!" Vaas said smiling.
"You did it! You made me!" Jenifer cried.
Lupo shook his head. His brother just had to be dramatic. He turned around and thought he saw some movement behind a rock some distance away. But when he looked closer it was gone.
"You are greedy you." Vaas said to her.
"Hey Vaas! Take a look at this." A pirate handed Vaas a tablet. Lupo came over to look at what his brother was looking at. The tablet was playing an intro for a rather ridiculous reality tv video, that involved Christopher Mintz Plaaz hanging out in the jungle of Rook islands.
"Wow!" said Vaas smirking widely. "Wooo! Mclovin is here! He is here!" Vaas yelled to no one in particular. Then he talked into a two way radio they had found on the yacht.
"Amigo. Let me be the first to graciously welcome you to the island." Vaas said into the radio dramatically. Lupo rolled his eyes. "I am a big fan of your work. I have seen most of your movies. Even some of the shitty ones."
They heard a "fuck you." over the radio in response.
"Hey hermano! Mclovin! Big movie star! You watch and you learn." Vaas called to his brother, pointing at the radio.
"Yes Vaas. I know who that is." Lupo said. "I had Dish back in America."
Both Lupo and Vaas noticed movement behind a rock. Chris Plaatz was apparently hiding behind a rock nearby. Vaas smirked. "Actually I think I can see you right now." he said into the radio.
"Look over there." Vaas pointed at the rock.
"I saw it." Lupo said.
"I know its you." Vaas said into the radio. He motioned for the pirates to chase Chris down.
"We are going to have a bit of fun on my island. We are going to make like a reality show. Come on." he said to the pirate that was still holding a camera filming Vaas. Vaas got up and calmly followed after the pirates that had run off. Lupo followed after him shaking his head. This is what he had to deal with. The camera guy pirate followed behind them.
Chris actually managed to decapitate a pirate with a machate but him and his camera guy ended up running right into one of Vaas's favorite outposts. Right into a head 'garden'. The camera guy was shot in the leg and Chris ran off leaving him behind. Vaas beat the camera guy when he found him.
Vaas was a little upset that Chris had gotten away, and spent his time talking into the radio at Chris. Chris never answered back, except to curse at Vaas.
Vaas was in the middle of threatening to cut up Chris's camera man if he didn't come back, when Chris came back holding a rifle. Chris actually had the balls to threaten Vaas. Lupo and several pirates aimed their guns at Chris but Vaas just dared him to shoot at him. Surprisingly Chris did shoot, but had the worst aim on the planet, not hitting anyone.
"Do you have any fucking idea how rude that was?" Vaas said to him. Chris ran away fast as he could.
They caught him this time. Lupo suggested holding him for what would likely be a big ransom but Vaas was in a mood and decided to bury Chris up to his head in the sand on the beach. And then he filmed himself torturing Chris until he died.
"Vaas! There's been word that a group of tourists skydived onto the island! Lupo said walking up to Vaas burying what remained of Chris.
"Seriously?" Vaas laughed. "When will they learn? Alright lets go, hermano."
The pirates surrounded the tourists and captured them easily. Only one boy gave them any real trouble and Vaas ended up slicing him open to teach the others a lesson.
"Vincent! No!" cried one of the tourists.
"Let that be a lesson to you." Vaas said. "Take them away."
Lupo called Hoyt to tell him about the merchandise that had just come in. Hoyt decided to come see them himself.
They got all of the tourists safely into cages. Lupo met Hoyt at the helicopter when he touched down.
"Good to see you sir." Lupo said respectfully.
"I want to see the merchandise." Hoyt said.
"Right this way sir."
"At least you seem more respectful than your brother." Hoyt said. "I like you Lupo. So I hear you've had quite the haul lately. A yacht and some skydivers. Not to mention the locals you snagged. Ah here they are."
Hoyt looked at the people in the cages. "They seem healthy enough. Sometimes your brother mishandles the goods." They walked over by a cage with two young men in it. One of the men was staring defiantly up at them. His mouth was taped shut or he'd probably be throwing curses at them. The other just looked scared.
"Where's Vaas by the way?" Hoyt asked moving away from the cages.
"Going through their stuff. It seems like we could get quite a big ransom for some of these tourists. They're all rich looking Americans." Lupo said.
"Hey boss. How's it going?" Vaas said walking up holding some IDs and a phone.
"I'm going to go inspect some of the other hostages. Keep an eye on your brother would you Lupo? Make sure he doesn't rough any of the merchandise up too badly." Hoyt said walking away.
"I don't need my brother to play babysitter to me." said Vaas under his breathe.
Vaas walked up to the two young men tied up in the nearby cage. He brought out their phone and played some of the videos they had taken of their trip. The videos ended with them skydiving. "You boys think you're crazy huh? Jumping out of airplanes. Flying like birds. That is crazy. Hmm?" He showed the video to Lupo who just rolled his eyes. "I like this phone. It's a nice fucking phone."
Vaas got up and looked at the IDs he had in his hand. "What do we have here? Grant. And Jason. From California. Well I hope your mama and papa really love you, cause you two white boys you look very expensive. And thats good because I like expensive things." The bigger looking young man, named Grant, started making muffled noise behind his gag. He sounded a bit like he was cursing and threatening Vaas. Lupo smirked at the man.
"I'm sorry what? Do you want me to slice you open like I did your friend?!" Vaas yelled at the man.
Lupo took the IDs from Vaas while he was ranting at the man. He took a look at them.
"Ah. Military man are you Grant? I was in the military myself. You think you can get out of this using those military skills of yours? Afraid not. You are in over your head pal." Lupo said smugly.
"You're my bitch! I rule this fucking kingdom!" Vaas yelled at Grant. Then he went over to the younger man, Jason. "What is it Jason? Why aren't you laughing like you did up there? Is this not fun anymore? Have I failed to entertain you? You see, up there you thought you had a chance. Way up there in the fucking skies you thought you had your finger on the pussy trigger, but hermano, down here...down here...you hit the ground."
"Vaas! Stop scaring the hostages! I need you to take care of the rejects!" Hoyt said. "Lupo we need to talk before I leave."
"Sure boss." Lupo said.
"I just hope that you two fucks are more entertaining then your friends. Ta ta." Vaas said to the young men before leaving to take care of the reject captives.
Hoyt walked off with Lupo close behind him. "You are still having problems with the locals. I'm not mad. Its not as much as before. But you need to get a grip on things." When they got to Hoyt's helicopter, he put his hand on Lupo's shoulder. "You need to make sure that brother of yours understands the seriousness of the situation here. If you don't...well I only need one of you here really. Don't make me need to do something rash."
"You won't have to sir." Lupo said nervously.
"Good boy." Hoyt said before hopping in the helicopter.
Lupo went to where Vaas was. He noticed before Vaas did, that the two American boys were sneaking out. They stupidly stopped to check a map, right outside the outpost where anyone could see them. So much for that military training. Vaas noticed them and shot the one named Grant. And then let the other one start running before he had his pirates shoot at him.
"Run Forest! Run!" Vaas yelled after him.
"Damn it Vaas! What if he gets away?" Lupo said angrily.
"He wont get away. And if he does, the jungle will eat him alive. No worries." Vaas said unconcerned.
Lupo had some pirates try and head the guy off. The man ended up on a bridge. Hoyt happened to be passing by in his helicopter and starting shooting at the bridge. The bridge broke and the man fell in the water below.
Lupo was getting tired of his brothers shit. He had noticed that Hoyt had given him a rather pointed look as the helicopter was passing by. He wasn't sure he was getting paid enough for this.