Boris is in a different building close to Hotel Moscow's base.

He is on a sniping point with a VSS Vintorez rifle at a window.

He can see through the two windows at Balalaika's office. However, he cannot see what is happening beyond the wall that lies between the space of the windows' positioning. He only watches Balalaika at her desk. If someone should try to come close to her, he can easily pick that person off.

For now, Balalaika is on her own…with the Reaper.

"You certainly have a way to escape death itself, don't you? My, my…I have never seen anyone who has such luck…" Balalaika puts her cigarette back in her mouth while keeping her astute eyes on him.

Rock tilts his head a little, "…Why did you want to target the Triads all of a sudden that day?"

"…"

"From what I was able to notice, you and the Triads were on good terms. I didn't see any problem that would affect both sides. But back then…you wanted to go against them by using me as your tool."

"…"

"So…why, Balalaika…?"

The Russian woman exhales her smoke out of her lungs and shuts her eyes.

"…How did you get so lucky, Rock?" Balalaika ignores his question.

"…"

"A 7.62 mm cartridge, right in the chest...must have struck the heart, leaving you absolutely no chance of surviving. Even if you did, you still fell off that cliff with the raging waters below. With your massive loss of blood, you shouldn't have been able to fight against the tides…Perhaps someone helped you…?" Balalaika replays the whole scenery from that day.

"…"

"Now, tell me …How in the hell did you survive?"

"…" Rock opens the uniform and business shirt to reveal his chest.

The Russian woman sees an authentic cross-like scar on his left pectoralis. A wound that is comparable to hers. It has healed, but it left a darker color than Rock's yellow skin, due to the flesh reformation. It must look the same on his back. It is just grueling to watch, but Balalaika has no sense of disgust towards it. Battle scars are but measly cuts to a hardened soldier like her.

"On that day, the bullet struck here." Rock points to the middle of the scar.

The memory of the bullet's impact plays in Balalaika's mind.

"Dextrocardia..."

"Dextrocardia…?" Balalaika is unfamiliar with the term.

"You thought my heart was here…but in fact, my heart is here…" Rock points to his right pectoralis, away from the scar wound. "…on the other side."

"…!"

"I must be really lucky like you said." Rock smirks as he closes the uniform shirt, "Only lucky to be alive, but always ended up being in bad situations."

So Balalaika did not missed her mark, she just aimed in the wrong place. Rock really is a man of luck. However, there are still more explanations that are needed to detail how he survived the fall into the waters.

"But you haven't answered my question yet. Why did you do it?" Rock reminds her.

"(Sigh) Rock, you don't understand the concept of war." Balalaika exhales. "If you did, then there's nothing to discuss."

"…"

"You may have known about the rivalry link between us and the Triads. It all started back in '93 when we first arrived here in Roanapur. The first ones, Mr. Chang and his men, ruled this city. As we got ourselves on this land, he was aware of who we are. Of course, we did not put up with him with his so-called "rules." So, we declined. Then as you can guess…things got ugly." Balalaika muses over in the past with her first battle with Chang. "Our instant refusal had us battling all across the island…and thus began our war. We subsided to a truce, but both of us knew that it will not last for long…"

"Four years ago, that's when you called it." Rock connects another piece to the puzzle.

"I finally have them squirming for survival. This is what happens when someone underestimates us ex-soldiers. Chang and his rotten organization are nothing but corrupt goons who believe they are right about everything. They are wrong. For us, this is not some juvenile revenge, Rock. It is about winning the war that we were built for."

"…"

"War is not about who is right…War is about who is left." Balalaika drops her cigarette in her ashtray.

"…I see…" Rock can see this female warrior of unstoppable passion. There is no way to break her beliefs or her sheer will. Losing is considered a shameful action of one's commitment to the battle. War is all she sees…all she feels…all she knows. She must win this fight, no matter the cost, even killing him. "…But, don't you at least wonder how your men feel?"

"…?"

"Balalaika, you have been in war for far too long. Didn't you ever want to at least live free from the battles you always fight? Don't you want your men to feel unburdened from all the rampart violence?"

"…" Balalaika scoffs, "Why should I? As I said, I was born to be a soldier. We are all. I let them leave if they wanted to, but instead they stayed with me. Do you know the reason, Rock? It is because our ideals are the same. Our cause is what we strive through."

"…"

"Let me ask you this…Why did you chose stay here in Roanapur?"

"…"

"Clearly, this is a city that does not suit a man of weak permanence. You never belonged here, because you are not a man of combat. But, you chose…to stay. Why is that…?"

"…" Rock's calmness is still untainted, "I just…felt like it."

"…What…? You… felt like it? Would you kindly explain that?" Balalaika puts her elbows on her desk as she leans forward.

"Roanapur is the kind of place I like to be in. Unlike Japan, where my life is a system of routines and looped cycles of internal torture, this place fits me better."

"…That proves it, then. I was wrong." Balalaika smirks and points to the Japanese man, "You, too, crave for war. Your blood boils in the battlefield. The rush of adrenaline and energy are your addiction and you cannot help but want more of it. It's all the same to you. It's all the same with us. You are becoming more like a bloodythirsty soldier like us."

"No…not like you." Rock shakes his head, "If I indeed am a lover of war, I have a different kind a view of it."

"How so…?"

"I am not a kind of soldier like you; I am the kind that does not fight everything or all things I see. A true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him."

"… Is that right…?" Balalaika fancies that quote, "Then, what is that you love in this city that keeps you here?"

"…" Balalaika sees a look that passes by in Rock's eyes. Instantly, she knows what it meant.

"My my...how unexpected. It is her, isn't it?"

"If you care for your soldiers, Balalaika…Then you will call off your men and leave this city." Rock quickly states.

"…" Balalaika stares at him with those concentrated eyes, "That I cannot do."

"…"

"It is already too late. My plan has already unfolding to its success. Surrendering is now no longer an option."

Reaper grips his Springfield pistol with a little more force.

Balalaika notices his finger movements. Her hand is at a good position to swoop down and grab her Dragunov that is hidden from Rock's sights.

"Killing me now will only push my comrades further into the battle. You wish to stop this fight? I suggest for you to stop trying…it's hopeless for you to intervene."

"…"

"I am not here to kill anyone." Rock resents.

"Why are you here if that is not the reason?" Balalaika's fingers twitch.

"Chang and I are working together now. I was the one who told him about your plan."

"…!" Balalaika was right all along; Rock did tell the Triads about the thirty-five targeted men.

"They are now on their way here, to come and settle this rivalry you have between yourselves."

"…Is this a bluff you schemed, Rock?"

"This is no bluff." Rock takes out a hand-held recorder. Balalaika recognized that device. She gave the same one him four years ago. Rock plays Chang's recorded voice.

"All right, we are working together now. You will find a way to Balalaika while I take care of her troops. I'll join you once you call."

The recorded message stops.

Rock puts it back into his pocket after seeing Balalaika fully convinced that he is on the Triads' side.

"I already called him. He is on his way now. I am not here for revenge either…I am here to tell you…that you will lose this war, Balalaika."

Without warning, the double doors break open.

A flying kukri knife heads straight for Reaper. He reacts by deflecting the blade with the slide of his Springfield. Despite the successful counter, the blade's length manages to slice Reaper's right shoulder. The military clothing and business shirt greatly lessen the impact, but the slice still cuts his skin and bleeds Reaper. After the deflected knife is pulled back with a leather rope on its handle, Balalaika swipes her Dragunov rifle off the floor and riskily quick-scopes at him. Reaper notices her rapid movement and dashes to the farthest window while firing one shot from his Springfield.

The bullet travels across the room and pierces into the scope of the Dragunov.

In the process of dodging, the bullet bursts out of the scope and grazes on the side of Balalaika's forehead. The scope is broken and without it, the Dragunov sniper rifle's usage heavily decreases. Reaper tackles through the window and falls down about three stories high, onto a pile of garbage bags.

Boris was momentarily distracted by Balalaika's sudden grab of her weapon before he sees the Japanese man running out of the pile of trash. He does not aim for him. His priority is protecting the Kapitan from the unknown force that just attacked.

Another kukri knife soars across the room and halves the rifle in Balalaika's hands. The pieces and the knife land on the floor as the attacker enters the room.

A Taiwanese woman in a red qipao dress and small white jacket with long hair comes to the middle of the room. She pulls the knife on the floor back into her hands, having two in her possession and smaller knives wrapped around her thighs.

"Oh, so sorry about door. I fix it later after you dead." Shenhua taps the backside of one of her knife on her shoulder.

"..." Balalaika stands up calmly, "Chang must have sent you here, I presume. How noble…"

"Bingo. Dai-Lo said he be here soon, but I look just in case."

Shenhua looks at the broken window Reaper used to escape.

"Oh my, I miss him by inch." Shenhua glances at Reaper's blood at the tip of her kukri knife. "Oh well…Big Scarface can't get away so far."

Balalaika realizes Shenhua thought she was trying to attack Boris, but it was actually Rock. That is reasonable since Boris is always around Balalaika but Shenhua is wrong this time. However, it does not matter; her main target is the Russian woman.

"You Chinese rats are really irritating." Balalaika draws a semi-automatic TT-30 pistol under the table and aims it at the woman with blades.

"Ah ah ah!" Shenhua readies her knives, "I don't do that. Dai-Lo is coming. And you don't want to leave now. You make him very angry."

"I could care less about how he feels. I have been angry myself long enough."

"And I don't give a damn-" Another voice enters the room.

It is Chang.

He stands beside Shenhua and faces the Russian woman.

"-about how you feel either. Better yet, who even does?"

"Chang…" Balalaika growls.

"Let's just make this quickly end. I can't stand around and look at your squalid face. Give up now, and we'll make this as less painful than it will be if you don't."

Balalaika scoffs, "Heh, heh, heh. You've not changed for all these years. You are underestimating me again, Chang. Those glasses of yours have been blinding you for a far long time. You know, I can't quit just because of some dangerous position I am in."

"I don't think you understand, Balalaika. You have no choice in this position. You try to keeping putting up the gloves, and I will seriously knock you out of the ring."

Some Triads members enter the room with Taurus PT100 pistols and stand beside their leader.

Chang holds out his dual Beretta 76 guns. "Give up now, Balalaika. This is your only chance."

"…"

She slightly turns her head towards the window and quickly glances at the building across from it. Boris perceives her signal and acknowledges. He randomly fires at the wall between the two windows. The bullets do not hit any of the Triads, but they did manage to make them flinch and duck down. Balalaika takes the opportunity to dive out of the window and make her getaway. Boris stops firing and goes to reunite with his Kapitan.

Chang and the others get up and look outside the broken window for her.

She already escaped.

"Shall we go look for her?"

"No…She will come to us sooner or later." Chang replies.

"So, we do what now, Dai-Lo?" Shenhua sheathes her knives.

"…"

A phone rings in Chang's pocket.

It is Reaper.

"Where are you right now? I don't see you here…"

"I didn't think you would bring your female assassin with you."

"Yeah, I sent her first because you know that I couldn't trust you alone with Balalaika. Had to make precautions."

"…tch…Well, she was aiming for the wrong target when she threw her knife around. Got a wound on the shoulder for that. Balalaika got away, didn't she?"

"…" Chang looks out of the broken window again, "She did…but not for long. I will find her eventually. She won't stay out of this battle, so she will return eventually."

"I know. Anyway, we should discuss another strategy plan I formed in case this happened. I am up in the forest hills close by to the Chatuchak section of the city. Meet me there alone."

"What about the fight that my men are in right now?"

"Since Balalaika is now on the move, she would order her men to retreat and come to her protection. You should do the same. Your men needs to recover as much as possible until the next battle. You might want have one of your men to tail the Russian soldiers in case. That way it can all end much sooner…"

"Hmm. Very well, then. I will meet up with you later."

"See you there."

As Chang puts back Dao's phone into his pocket, he smirks in a malicious manner.

"So what now, Boss?" A Triads member asks him.

"…We shall have victory soon." Chang turns to Shenhua and his men to converse about his next plan.


The sun is going to set in due course.

Reaper is waiting at the road that leads up to the cliff where he "died." The trees' branches rustle as a breeze of foul wind gusts through the land. The ground shudders with the explosive rumbles in the area of combat. He has already changed back into his other outfit and threw away the military uniform after bandaging his wound he received from Shenhua.

His "Shadow Aero" is parked alongside the road. He leans on its side as he waits patiently for Chang while coming up with more strategies that are new. Reaper can see the entire city landscape from where his spot. The smoke from the demolishing hospital rises up into the sky and sounds of gunfire with screaming sirens echoes. He never thought his plan would go smoothly and create this amount of chaos in a city like Roanapur. The last four years, he vigilantly planned this out.

The city is now on the borderline to becoming different.

Once the clash between the Triads and Hotel Moscow ends, Roanapur will change into a new kind of city. Perhaps.

"Well, well…" A female voice appears behind Reaper.

He swiftly turns around and sees a blonde priest with orange sunglasses coming out of the trees.

"I would never believe this to be true." She takes off her visual accessory and looks at Reaper with a scoffing giggle, "You are a blessed devil."

"Sister Eda…" Rock pulls his hand away from the concealed holster behind his belt, "You knew I was here?"

"Actually, no. I was happening to stroll on by…that is until I thought I saw a ghost right here on the road."

"…"

"But, for god fucking sake, the last four years have been pretty good on you now, Rocky-boy." Eda studies him up and down, "How the hell are you still alive?"

"I was very fortunate." Rock forms a small smirk so she would not see his suspicion.

"Fortunate? You did not JUST fell off a cliff, did you? You got shot and, god almighty, the waters around here is not friendly to even tankers."

"You knew what happened?"

"Yeah, Revy told me all about it."

"…Revy did…?"

"She's been blowing her head steam a whole damn lot since that day passed by. Since then she could stop moping about you. Never thought she would that sensitive about her sex partner."

"What…? I'm not her-."

"Oh, fucking phooey! You know what you wanted some! Come on and admit it already, you know you-."

"No. It's…not like that between us. I don't see her that way." Rock's words are very callous, especially to a friend of Revy's ears.

"…" Eda stops her playful mannerisms, "You're very different now too."

"…"

"What really happened to you…?"

"…Why are you here, Eda?" Rock's pressuring question is putting Eda on a slender defense.

"I should be asking you that." Eda's voice is now certainly serious, "If you survived, who knows how, why are you back?"

"…" Rock looks in the direction to the city.

Promptly, two black cars drive up the road towards Reaper. They stop about twenty feet away from him. Already on guard, Reaper watches the people who are getting out of the cars.

None of them are Chang.

Eight Triads members walk and stand in front of their car.

"Friends of yours, Rock?" Eda questions as she notices them are having Taurus PT100 pistols in their hands.

"…No." Rock replies.

Then, the Taiwanese in a red qipao and white jacket comes out of the car, and strutting herself in front of the men.

"Oh, it's you…that lipstick bitch." Eda comments and has herself next to Rock with her orange sunglasses placed back on.

"Quiet, skank. No business with you right now." Shenhua comments back, "Dai-Lo said 'deal's off', you no help anymore."

"What…?" Reaper queries.

"Dai-Lo can take care himself. You no needed, so he call me to take care of you." Shenhua smirks.

"He went back on his word, then." Reaper rewords the phrase with a tone of non-panic, as though he knew this would happen.

Eda looks at Rock and wonders how he is connected to Chang.

"Now, 日本男子, you die. And you too, 白色母狗." Shenhua provides the go-ahead for the men to kill them.

"Tch…" Eda immediately draws her Glock 17L and lets loose.

The men dodges and fires back with their Taurus pistols. Reaper grabs one of his duffle bags and returns fire with his Springfield as he runs up into the forest.

"Hey, where ya going, Rock?" Eda marks as she too begins to back away from the crossfire.

A few bullets hit the "Shadow Aero" engine and spark a flame in the gas tank. The bike explodes, incinerating its metallic pieces and the two other duffle bags of Reaper's. Luckily, Eda was far away enough for the blast to knock her backwards and not catch her into flames. The smoke raised from the destroyed vehicle fleetingly covers Eda from the Triads. Reaper comes back and grabs her hand to take her into the forest with him.

The Triads guardedly traverse into the smoke with reloaded guns and look for Eda and Reaper.

"They must've gone up into the trees." A member reports loudly so Shenhua can hear.

"Then go find them, idiot! Make sure they dead soon. I go back to tell Dai-Lo about that, or we be in trouble." Shenhua tells and orders one of the men to take her back to Chang.

She leaves with one of the car, and the remaining Triads have to kill Reaper and the American priest as their mission.

They scamper into the forest to hunt them down.


"What the fuck have you gotten yourself into?" Eda angrily asks as she runs behind Rock.

"It's none of your business." Rock answers as they crouch next to a tree.

"The hell it does! A conversation is all I wanted, and you just had to get us in this mess!" Eda puts her back against the tree and peeks around for any signs of Triads.

"First of all, Eda, you shot at them first. Plus, I could have left you there by yourself with them. At least, be generous." Rock unzips his only last duffle bag.

"Feh…since when did you start talking this way?" Eda checks her surroundings around her.

Reaper pulls out from his bag a semi-automatic rifle.

Eda notices that it is a unfamiliar design. It is probably new.

"What you got there?"

"It's a Kel-Tec Sub 2000. A prototype, actually…I happened to met the designer in Florida, and he let me try out it first stage of development."

"Florida? That's where you've been in the last 4 years?" Eda remarks, "How the h-?"

A bullet flies past Eda and Reaper and collides into a different tree trunk.

Eda responds with her bullets going back at the point of source. Several Triads spot her and hide behind other trees as cover while they keep firing. Reaper flips open his Kel-Tec 2000 and loads the magazine. Using the tree as a aiming support, Reaper places the side of the barrel next to the bark to reinforce his aiming stability. Back to back, Eda and Reaper hide behind the one tree and shoot against the seven Triads. Unlike Eda, who shoots constantly and hopes her bullets hits the enemy, Reaper waits for one of the men to reveal himself out from hiding behind the tree, and fires only one bullet. He manages to catch two men on both of their legs, disabling them from being able to chase them. Eda catches with her eyes one of the men pulling the pin off a grenade. She turns to that man and aims for him.

Her Glock 17L only clicks.

"Shit…!" Eda curses and catches Reaper's attention.

The grenade is thrown into the air.

Reaper visualizes in his head a memory of a similar situation. A training session he had during the last four years…

He turns the rifle's barrel to the flying grenade and timely shoots it with lucky accuracy.

The grenade explodes and causes the Triads to duck behind the trees.

Reaper and Eda make a run for it.

A few minutes or so after losing their tracks to the Triads, Rock and Eda stop for a breather.

"…Damn…you better have some explanation to do, Rock." Eda states as she reloads, " I hate to be too involved in a shitstorm you're getting yourself into."

"…" Reaper stares at her with grueling eyes.

This is his chance.

"I think you already know, Eda…" Reaper puts his Kel-Tec down along with his duffle bag, "You are already too involved."

"…!" Eda's keen eyes dilate at what he said and begins to turn to him, "Wh-?"

Reaper instantly closes in, seizes her priest clothes, and performs an Ashi Guruma throw.

"Agh!" Eda grunts as she lands painfully with her back onto the rocky dirt.

Her Glock 17L drops and Reaper clutches her right wrist behind her.

Reaper shifts her body so she is facedown and draws his Springfield gun out to put it at the back of her head.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING, ROCK?" Eda yells.

"There is a reason why you are here with me! There is no coincidence! Eight Triads did not come here to just kill ME! It was you as well." Reaper shouts.

"I don't have any fucking cl-!"

"YOU'RE CIA!" Reaper howls.

"…!" Eda hushes completely.

"I know about you and Chang. You were his armorer when he asked for you for weapons earlier this day. The code 'Need a new box,' you were the one he talked to in that box he burned in the middle of the road's side. You are his informant. And you are Central Intelligence." Reaper speaks with a tone to show that he is evidential with his words, "And I bet he called you out here as well."

"…fuck…" Eda mutters under her lips.


A/N: Please type in your review below!

I apologize for a long update and for only a short chapter. My current job is giving me a shitload of work to do and keeping occupied from the finalization of my drafted chapters. The next update might take just as long as well, but hopefully, sooner.

If you noticed, the names Rock and Reaper switches constantly to define how the other mysterious side of Rock's persona takes hold. For example, in a conversation, Rock's name is stated, but in an action sequence, Reaper's name is stated. The reason why I did not use this style in the previous chapters is that I wanted Reaper to be an agent of unknown mystery. I first heard about dextrocardia in the movie called, "Ninja Assassin." It is a very interesting trait to have in your body.

I used two quotes by Bertrand Russell and G.K. Chesterton. Guess which ones they are.

The Kel-Tec Sub 2000 is designed by Swedish man named George Kellgren. He is the founder and the chief engineer of Kel-Tec CNC, which was founded on '95. And Rock stated that he met him…

Now Rock finally begins his side-investigation with Eda being a Central Intelligence agent. What happens next? Please tell me your thoughts/theories/ideas by reviewing this chapter.

Thanks for reading! Until the next update!