Chapter 37: A Roman is Buried
Two Weeks Later, Los Santos
The sound of church bells tolling seemed to be heard across the city of Los Santos while rain seemed to be on a constant downpour on this day. This day, a memorable day, the day Marcus Roman the King of Ruin, would be buried.
After hearing it out loud Martin couldn't help but call it unreal as he found himself sitting outside of a church at a gravesite with a sad Maggie, Ling, Lee, Trip, and Link along with members of the Families from Chamberlain Hills, Forum, Davis, and even Carson Ave. One would call it weird because sitting across from them were a Ballas from Brogue Avenue, Original Covenant, Grove Street, South Rancho, Vespucci Waterfront, Riding 20s, and Loony Hood.
There were even prominent members of the San Fierro and Las Ventura Triad along with the Da Nang Boyz and Sons of Polynesia in the church. One would think of this as one big gang meeting but it wasn't…it was a funeral for a friend to all of them.
Mark had many friends and probably more enemies, but all had to pay their respects to the man whether they liked it or not.
The news of the youngest Roman's death had spread rapidly throughout the state of San Andreas in what felt like minutes. From the neighborhoods of South Central, the Barrios of East LS, the deserts of Blaine County, to the cities of Eastland and San Fierro, and the prison across that state everyone was talking about the deaths of Marcus Roman.
Maggie and the others didn't like it, they didn't like that Mark's death was being plastered on the news and they were constantly calling him a bad guy. Percival spun the story of Mark's death and twisted it so much that many didn't know fact from fiction.
On Weazel news he's been called a member of the Families, he's been called a Balla, but two things that stuck out was the fact that he was called a Terrorist and Murderer.
Percival went before the media and called Mark a terrorist, saying that he had flipped to becoming a radical during his tour in the Middle East. That he had infiltrated the ranks of Merryweather and gathered valuable Intel about the organization as well as the government and was going to give that information to terrorist. His actions had earned the wrath of Merryweather and they came at him in full force.
The people praised them for their actions and called them saviors, hearing a person like Don Percival called a Savior made Maggie sick to her stomach and as she sat in the front of the church with tears in her eyes and Marron in her arms…her mind constantly went over ways to kill the Merryweather CEO.
Mark wasn't the only person being buried today as Lee looked to his right side he noticed Trip with his face to the ground while Tiffany sat beside him rubbing his back. With the death of his older brother Mercy, the man of an Irish father and black mother felt empty inside. Since he was born he always had his older brother watching his back, but without him he felt like something was missing from his life. One of the best pieces of his life was gone and he could never get it back.
"This shit fucked up." Said Lamar with sadness and anger in his tone while Franklin patted him on the shoulders.
With Mark gone and Martin in mourning, one would think the many enemies of the Families would move on them with their violent guardian dead and their numbers shortened, but the attacks never came. It was surprising for Lee and the others, but things have been relatively peaceful for the Families since Mark's death. It was almost like they were given time to mourn and lick their wounds.
"I'll be right back." Said Lee as he rose from his seat and made his way away from the seated people and to the back of the cemetery where he quickly met a group of Cholo's standing on the otherside.
"I know Mark wasn't close to any of you, but you can mourn. We got some of your rivals here, but keep your beefs away from here." The Chinese man stated earning serious looks from an Azteca member with a shaved head. This man's name was Trouble, and he was now the new OG for the Azteca's.
"We ain't here to start shit ese, we're here for our Carnale." He stated earning a nod from Lee before he made his way back to the group and sent a look to Link who stood up and quickly looked to someone before making their way away from the group
"Felix." The man said while eyeing the Salvadoran man.
Felix unlike Mark and Mercy was still breathing but he wasn't unharmed. The Azteca OG got his hand cut off and was shot repeatedly in the deserts. The sand from the desert and the damage itself made it impossible for doctors to reattach the limb, but thanks to the money he had saved up from the Gold Heist and money he'd received from Lee and the others the Azteca OG had managed to receive something rare…a hand transplant.
He'd gotten it just nine days ago, but the result of it was that now he had a new hand. A hand that he didn't like, he didn't know much about the donor but one thing stuck out plain as day…the hand belonged to a white man. So his pale white hand clashed with his already dark brown skin. The Azteca OG had small amounts of European blood in his system, but he thought now it must have increased with his new hand.
So despite the few bumps, bruises, and broken bones Felix was fine…the same couldn't be said for North Rancho Azteca's because unlike the Families they were feeling the heat. Felix wasn't dead, but he was dead in the eyes of La Onda who quickly green lit the man for his actions in the desert. With the greenlight on himself came a greenlight on his hood, so for these past few weeks the Vagos, Marabunta, and even other Azteca Cliqua's were moving on hood and hitting them almost constantly and the group was almost pushed to the brink because of so.
"So how did it go?" Felix asked while folding his arms across his chest.
"The big homies spoke to the Onderos inside on our behalf." He stated earning a nod from Felix. "They say they'll lift the greenlight on us, but only if we give you up." The man added while Felix nodded his head.
"I didn't expect anything different." The Salvadoran replied while giving a small chuckle.
"So Trouble, what are you gonna do?" Felix asked while eyeing the man closely.
"I can't ask the Cliqua to kill you Carnale." He replied.
"You have to do it for the sake of everyone else, it's a fate I'm alright with accepting amigo." The Veteran replied while looking down at his discolored hand. "I got nothing much to live for now." He added while Lee and Link eyed him closely.
"What about Eva?" Trouble asked while noticing a half-smile spread across Felix's face.
"As long as she is safe…I'll die happily." He replied with a half-chuckle before turning around to reenter the church with Lee and Link.
"You gonna be alright." The ex-cop asked while eyeing Felix closely.
"Yeah I'm just finding this ironic is all." He stated to the groups confusion. "La Onda tasked me with killing Mark in order to gain rank." He replied earning wide eyes from the group. "Now here we are he's dead and I'm still going to be joining him soon." He finished.
"You know I told him I had to kill him and you know what he told me?" he asked while looking to Lee and Link. "Do what you have to do, and now I'm telling the same thing to mi Familia." He added.
"Life's just one big ironic fuck you isn't it." Lee stated while Felix nodded his head before the group made their way back inside of the church and took their seats just as the preacher moved to the front of the church and began to speak.
The man spoke with such loud and powerful words but nobody seemed to be listening to them. The memories of the youngest Roman seemed to be filling all their minds and reminding them more of how they loved the Afro-Samoan American man.
"I'll always be there for you." Came a familiar voice as Maggie's mind flashed back an instance where she was a child and seeing a Mark standing before her with a smile on his face. "Where ever you go I'll follow and protect you no matter what." The voice seemed to be speaking and flashing images through her head as she remembered the day her convoy was hit by an enemy IED and waking up to see Mark standing over her laying down covering fire.
These memories seemed to bring more tears into the eyes of the Chinese-Filipino woman as she held onto her daughter tightly while the child gave out a sad filled shriek.
"Why don't you come with me?" came a familiar voice to Lee as a memory flashed through his mind of himself and Mark sitting outside a Chinese Restaurant in San Fierro filled his mind. The memory was so strong and powerful for him because the day in particular was the day he first met the man that is Marcus Roman.
"Come with you where?" he asked with a raised brow.
"I can't give you an exact answer on that yet, but me and you are both alone and if we're alone together that may make things interesting." He stated before extending his hand to the young Lee who quickly took it and established a lasting relationship with the Afro-Samoan American man.
This memory seemed to bring a tear to the eye of Lee as he looked over at Trip whose entire head was nestled into the neck of Tiffany as his mind flashed back to memories he shared with his two brothers.
"All I'm saying is that if's natural for someone to want to get away from a place they've been in the rest of their lives." stated a young Trip.
"Yeah but those rules are different when it comes to LS, mostly because this place is so big and really the only places we know are Davis, Strawberry, Rancho, and East Beach." Replied Mercy.
"True unless you're like me, I don't consider the Valleys or much else past South Central apart of LS. Right here is the real LS everything else is just incorporated cities." Stated Mark.
"Don't let your teacher here you say that brother they may not like it." Replied Mercy before the group was interrupted by a loud yell causing them to look over and notice a Vago yelling at them to get out of his car, but this only seemed to make the group step on the gas petal and send it speeding down the road away from his home.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything." Came a familiar voice that caused everyone in the funeral home to whip their heads around and notice a familiar man standing at the entrance of the church with a wide smile on his face.
"Marrick." Said Martin as he forcibly rose to his feet while Lee, Link, Trip, Felix, Maggie, and a few other gang members jumped to their feet and notice the group of Merryweather officers on the other end of the cemetery.
"Don't tell me you're all surprised to see me I'm sure that wetback had enough time to tell you who pulled the trigger and made the wanna-be Roman a memory." Replied Marrick with a chuckle.
"You sick bastard." Lee yelled with anger in his tone while Maggie pushed Marron into the arms of Dr. Ling.
"Why Marrick why betray us?" Martin asked with a hint of sadness and anger in his tone.
"Do you need to ask brother?" Marrick yelled out with anger in his tone. "Marcus tried to kill me inside, scratch that he wasn't man enough to kill me himself so he let the wetbacks do it for him, but they failed and killed B-Rock instead…and you killed Dex." He added to the surprise of a few gang members who turned to face Martin.
"In that moment you and Marcus said fuck me and fuck being in a gang and plotted my death." He yelled out with anger in his tone.
"What Mark did for you was a blessing." Lee stated earning the attention of Marrick.
"You were looking at life in prison with no chance of parole if not the chair. To spare you from that Mark took that pain on his shoulder and saved you from a life of getting shanked by what remains of everyone you've wronged in your fucked up lifetime." Lee stated earning a chuckle from Marrick.
"Is that what you told these dumb fucks to get them on your side?" the Middle Born Roman asked with a slight smile. "That you spared me of my pain, I never knew murdering someone was sparing them." He finished with an evil smile while Martin eyed him closely.
He recognized the look that was in Marrick's eyes, it was that same look he had after he did a job. Marrick was high on meth and was probably pretty unpredicatable right now.
"Well then, why are you here Marrick you must be pretty stupid to walk into the funeral of the man you killed and knowing that everyone here would love to have your head on a plate?" asked Maggie as Marrick watched the woman rise to her feet and with her followed Franklin, Michael, Lamar, and a few members of the Ballas and Families.
"I figured you wouldn't be able to keep your mouth shut, sister-in-law, oh wait Mark ain't here no more so you're on the market for a new man." He replied with a sick chuckle while rubbing his nose. "You know I could keep you warm at night, except I don't like kids." He added.
"In truth though I didn't come here for a fight well with any of you, I came here to kill the other brother who tried to kill me." Marrick replied while all eyes fell on Martin.
"I came to kill you, those guys will take care of the rest of you." Said Marrick as everyone looked to their lefts and notice that they were surrounded by Merryweather soldiers armed with Assault Rifles and Submachine Guns.
"You want to start something Marrick we can, but not at our brother's funeral and with all these people who don't need to be here." Martin stated while Marrick chuckled.
"No, they need to be here because this is exactly the place where we all need to be. Not far from their graves." Said Marrick.
"So…who dies first-." Marrick started before the loud popping of a gunshot went off and Marrick fell backwards onto his back while all eyes fell on Maggie who was holding a smoking P99 Pistol in her hand.
"NOW!" the woman yelled out while Trip and Lee reached under the pews and pulled out two M32 Grenade Launchers they had hidden under their seats.
"FIRE!" Maggie yelled before the duo launched two Grenades each at the Merryweather soldiers sending them up in flames as a powerful explosion blew up two trucks and killed several soldiers before they could draw their weapons.
"Under your seats." Lee yelled out while Link, Felix, and a few of the gang members reached under their seats where they quickly found Pistols, Assault Rifles, and Submachine Guns duct taped to the bottom of the chairs or hidden in boxes.
"Oh hell yeah." Said Franklin as he pulled out an M4A1 Assault Rifle, while Michael pulled out a M90 Sniper Rifle, Lamar pulled out two Micro SMGs, and Trevor pulled out an M60 Light Machine Gun that was hidden under a box.
"This is my kind of funeral." Yelled Trevor as he fired a barrage of rounds in the direction of five Merryweather soldiers and easily cutting them down in a hail of gunfire.
"Is this why the seats were picked out for everyone?" asked Michael as he fired a shot from his Sniper that struck a Merryweather soldier with an M16 in the center of the throat.
"Maybe." Lee replied while firing another Grenade from his Launcher and blowing up a truck that quickly took out six more Merryweather soldiers.
"Franklin Lamar take your friends get everyone to the church I got a feeling we're going to be here a while." Stated Maggie as she fired her P99 and shot down another Merryweather soldier before reaching under her seat and pulling out Mark's MP7 Submachine Gun and firing off a barrage of rounds from it.
"But what about you, it wouldn't be fair of us to leave you out here?" the Forum Gangster asked while he and Lamar shot down another soldier with a barrage of rounds to the chest and head that easily splattered the man's brains over a tombstone.
"Don't worry about me, just keep everyone safe." She said before looking down at Dr. Ling as she clutched Marron tightly in her arms.
"Go!" she said before watching the woman run-off while she provided cover fire while the Merryweather soldiers returned fire.
"Sons of bitch!" said Marrick as he looked down and noticed that the bullet had lodged itself in his vest. He then quickly drew his Pistol and shot a CGF gang member in the back of the head before hitting a Da Nang Boy three times in the back before being struck from behind and knocked forward.
"You wanted to fight me." Said Martin causing Marrick to turn his head and look back at his older brother. "Well here I am." He said while Marrick eyed him closely.
"Push um back!" yelled Felix as he and the other Azteca members fired on a group of Soldiers before retreating back to cover just as a soldier tossed a hand Grenade at the group.
"Grenade." Trouble yelled out before Felix quickly scooped up the weapon and tossed it back at the Mercenaries who tried their best to run from the explosion but the blast was strong enough to take two with them.
"Shit!" said Felix as he massaged his sore hand. This was his first time using a gun since the transplant and the kick back from the pistol was already starting to weigh on him.
"If you can't fight just leave it to us brother." Yelled Trip as he launched another Grenade that collided with the center of street and took three Merryweather goons with him.
"Fucked up hand or not, I'm not missing out on this fight especially after everything thing these Pendejos and Don Percival has put me through." Felix shot out before drawing his MP5 Submachine Gun and firing it with his good hand.
"These motherfuckers are well-armed." Yelled a Merryweather soldier as he kneeled down behind a truck firing a M4A1 Assault Rifle and striking a member of the Families several times in the chest before turning his fire on a Balla and striking him once in the throat.
"It's the funeral of Marcus Roman, the Emperor of Ruin what did you expect." yelled another soldier armed with a M16A2 as he shot a Samoan Balla in the head before the duo was blown apart by a Grenade courtesy of Trip.
"Take out those fucks with the Grenade Launchers!" yelled a Merryweather soldier as he turned to man with a M72 LAW Rocket Launcher who quickly jumped from cover and fired Rocket in the direction or the group.
"ROCKET MOVE!" Maggie yelled as Lee and Trip quickly rolled to cover just as the Rocket hit the ground next to them and went up in a violent explosion that knocked the duo back while and took the lives of several gang members.
"Shit!" yelled Maggie as she fired a barrage of rounds from the MP7 at Merryweather soldier with the Rocket Launcher and forcing him into cover only for two more soldiers to return fire in her direction.
"Fall back to cover." Yelled Link as Trevor fired a barrage of rounds at a Merryweather trunk that four soldiers were using for cover before hitting the gas tank and sending it up in a violent explosion while Michael shot down another soldier with a Light Machine Gun.
"Is this what you want Marrick?" asked Martin as he stood before his now only brother with an angry look on his face while Marrick smiled at the level of death and destruction going on around them.
"Actually yeah, you surprised to hear that?" Marrick replied Martin charged him and quickly threw a punch that Marrick easily evaded before throwing a punch of his own that caught Martin in the side of the head.
The second born Roman then responded by throwing two more punches at Martin that the eldest Roman couldn't defend against before kicking him in the center of the stomach and knocking him off his feet.
"You ain't beating me this time Martin I have the same level training as Marcus, so we both know how this is gonna go." The middle Roman replied with a half-chuckle only for Martin to run at him shoulder first and tackle him to the ground.
"You have his training but not his patience." Martin shot back before throwing three punches to the face of Marrick who quickly rolled over and threw three punches of his own into the face of Martin.
"Shit!" said Lee as he and Trip struggled to lift themselves up while noticing a group of members of the Families, Ballas, Da Nang Boyz, and Azteca's engaging a group of Merryweather soldiers.
"Got you." Yelled a young Da Nang Boyz member of Vietnamese and Cambodian descent wearing a purple flannel shirt over a white t-shirt, black jeans, and a black beanie firing a M4A1 Assault Rifle as he struck a Merryweather soldier in the throat.
"On your left." Yelled a bald dark skinned Balla member with a P90 Desert Eagle as he emptied his magazine into the chest of a Merryweather soldier before finally striking the man in the head.
"Thanks Cuz." He shot out while reloading his Rifle. In the past the Balla member wouldn't have dream of working with the a Da Nang Boyz member. He thought of them mostly as wannabes, but today was different especially since when he looked to his right he saw two members of the Families shooting beside him. One from Chamberlain and the other from Carson Avenue, any other day he'd dumped on them both…but today was different.
"Right side right side." Yelled the Azteca member as he tried to shoot at soldier who dove for cover while shooting at him and striking the brown gangster once in the arm.
"Fucking Gringo." He yelled out before firing a shot from his Glock 19 that hit the Merryweather soldier dead in the center of his bald head and creating a cracking sound in the distance.
"Keep fighting." Maggie yelled out just as a Da Nang Boy member with a Shotgun got his face blown apart as a round from a Sniper Rifle struck the man in the back of the head that came out his face.
"SNIPER!" yelled Link.
"Maggie!" Felix yelled out earning the attention of the woman who watched as he tossed an Assault Rifle in her direction that the woman quickly caught. Upon looking it over she noticed that it was a CZ-805 BREN Assault Rifle that was outfitted with a Grenade Launcher.
"You can do more damage with it then I can." The Azteca OG yelled out while turning his MP5 on the direction of Merryweather soldier and striking him with a barrage of rounds in the chest.
After grabbing a hold of the weapon Maggie pulled back the slide on the Rifle and looked through the scope where she noticed four Snipers using an adjacent rooftop for cover. The woman then fired the weapon and struck a soldier in the chest before a barrage of rounds caused her to duck for cover.
"Damn these motherfuckers just keep coming." Yelled out Trevor as he fired a barrage of rounds from his M60 and struck down eight soldiers while Michael managed to shoot a Sniper in the center in the face with his Rifle.
"AH!" Michael yelled causing Trevor to look back and notice that the family man had a bullet wound in his side that knocked him off his feet and caused him to grip the wound.
"Mikey!" Trevor yelled out before he, Franklin, and Lamar layed down covering fire for Trevor who quickly ran to the side of Michael and noticed that place of his bullet was almost in the same place he was shot a few years back.
"Well doesn't this bring back a lot of fucked up memories." Michael yelled out with anger in his tone.
"Yeah, but things are going differently." Trevor yelled out before kneeling down, grabbing Michael, tossing him over his shoulder, and then running off to cover while a group of Merryweather soldiers sent a barrage of gunfire his way.
"Looks like I'm gonna be the one take out Trevor Phillips." Said a Merryweather Sniper as he put his Crosshairs to the back of Trevor's head but before he could fire the weapon a large explosion blew the Sniper off the roof along with much of the others around him.
"That was for my brother Mercy." Said Trip as he slowly rose to his feet with his Grenade Launcher still smoking his hand while trying to wipe the blood from his forehead. The man of Irish and African American parents then lifted his Launcher and fired another Grenade that struck the side of a building and blew a massive hole in the side of it while chunks of debris rained down on the Merryweather soldiers below him.
"Have you reloaded that launcher?" asked a Merryweather soldier as he shot down a fleeing Family member while watching the man with the LAW load another Rocket into the weapon.
"Now I have." He yelled out before preparing to jump from cover and fire the weapon but before he could he was instantly hit by a barrage of rounds courtesy of Lee who slowly rose to his feet with his G36C Assault Rifle in his hands.
"Fire it now bitch!" he yelled out before spitting a fair amount of blood on the ground and then moving to fire on another group of Merryweather soldiers.
"Choppers!" yelled Felix as the group noticed three Attack Helicopters flying in their direction and causing the group to let out angry growls.
While Maggie and the others continued to hold off the Merryweather soldiers Martin had finally managed to roll from under Marrick and throw two punches to the man's face only for Marrick to finally kick him off and roll away.
The middle Roman then jumped up and started hitting Martin with a series of knee strikes to the midsection that Martin was unable to block but instead of blocking he decided to take a page from Maggie's book and quickly drew a switchblade from his pocket and stabbed Marrick in the center of the thigh.
This earned a loud shout of pain and shock from the newest Merryweather soldier who quickly threw a punch to the side of Martin's face and knocked him away.
"You worthless fucking asshole." Marrick yelled out before throwing a punch to the side of Martin's head and knocking him back down only for Martin to jump up and dig his fingers into Marrick's leg wound and cause him to give a loud wince before swinging his left arm outward and catching the eldest Roman in the side of the head.
Martin then in a fit of rage rolled similar to that of an alligator with prey locked in its jaws and forced Marrick off his feet before climbing on top of him and throwing more punches to the face of the middle Roman.
This fight seemed to be dragging out but Martin was able to figure out that when it came to fighting Marrick didn't have much of a ground game. With Mark he would use his small size to evade and dodge the attacks but with Marrick it was different. He wasn't able to dodge or evade and just took the hits and Martin hoped that maybe he could do enough damage in the ground and pound to stop or incapacitate his brother.
"Out of the way." Yelled Trevor as he ran inside of the church with Michael on his shoulders just a group of gangsters opened the door and allowed him inside with Franklin and Lamar.
"Is there a doctor here." Trevor yelled out just as Dr. Ling approached Michael and quickly took a look at his shoulder.
"Damn that stings." The North Yankton Bank Robber yelled out just as Ling looked him over.
"Feel lucky the bullet didn't hit anything important." She replied before rising up.
"You can't give me anything for the pain?" he asked.
"You're not at a hospital and right now you aren't the biggest concern." Ling replied causing Michael and Trevor to turns their heads and notice that the inside of the church looked like a Vietnam War Field Hospital with various men and women lying on the floor with gunshot wounds in various places of their bodies and even a few corpses lying outstretched after bleeding to death on the floor.
"Goddamn!" said Franklin as he and Lamar looked at the bodies of the injured men including an innocent person who had bandages covering their forehead and eyes while Dr. Ling went to check on an Azteca who had been shot in the shoulder while Martin's wife Tanya looked on with Marron in her arms and Jasmine by her side.
Ling was the only doctor on hand but Maggie had told her the potential of something happening was to great, because of this she didn't want either her or Marron to be present at the funeral but the woman insisted. She knew more people would live if she was here then back at the hospital.
"Okay hold still." She yelled out before taking a pair of tweezers and pulling the bullet out of the man's shoulder while he gave a loud shriek to the heavens.
"Damnit I'm gonna kill that asshole who shot me." The Azteca member yelled out while Ling put alcohol on the wound.
"I think they might be dead already cuz." Stated a Balla member. "Only Martin, Maggie, Felix, Lee, Trip, and a handful of homies out there but they putting up a fight." He yelled out.
"Damn I need to get back out there." The Azteca member yelled out before being pushed back down by Ling.
"You'll do more harm than good out there so stay down." She replied causing the man to lay back down.
"How is Martin doing?" asked Tanya.
"I'm pretty sure he's fine just worry about the kids." Ling yelled out with annoyance in her voice as she moved to a woman who'd taken a bullet in the leg.
"Trippy fire." Maggie yelled before she and Trip both launched a Grenade from their launchers at one of the choppers and managed to strike the side of it before watching with smiles as the vehicle started to spin out of control before crashing on top of a building.
Their victory was short lived though as the two other choppers started to rain a barrage of bullets in their direction and forced them into cover while kicking up a cloud of dirt in their paths of destruction.
"Damn!" yelled Lee as he looked to Maggie and Trip before noticing the fallen body of the Merryweather soldier who had the LAW Rocket Launcher in the distance. The man's body was just a few yards away from him but the man injured so each step would probably feel like a mile.
"Screw it!" Lee yelled out before firing a barrage of rounds from his Assault Rifle at one of the Choppers to earn its attention before sprinting in the direction of the launcher just as the aircraft started to fire on him causing the Chinese man to run faster than he ever thought he could with his legs picking up just as much dirt as the bullets coming after him.
A launching sound then drew Lee from his trance as one of the attack choppers fired a missile in the direction of the Chinese man who cursed under his breath before leaping away as the missile slammed into a car just a little away from the Chinese man who rolled to towards the LAW and scooped it up in his arms.
"FUCK YOU!" He yelled out with anger in his tone before firing the Rocket and striking the top of the aircraft and causing it to go up in a flame filled explosion.
"Hell yeah brother." Yelled Link before he noticed the helicopter moving to crash in his direction.
"OH SHIT!" he yelled out before running away with Maggie and the others as the chopper hit the ground and created a loud explosion that knocked them all off their feet while the last chopper hovered above them.
"They're all done prepare for a gun run use all weapons." Replied the last remaining pilot while his copilot prepared the weapons.
"Stay down." Martin yelled out before throwing another strike to the face of Marrick and then following up with another to bloody the face of the middle Roman.
"You should have stayed down and this death is because of you." He yelled out before moving to stab Marrick again only to be stopped by a piercing feeling in his side that caused him to look down and notice a Combat Knife sticking out of his side with Marrick's hand on the other end.
"I'd be dead, but you and Mark would still be disgraces." he replied before spitting blood into the face of Martin and then knocking him away.
"Damn it!" said Martin as he tried to crawl away from Marrick who only responded by chuckling and slowly stalking his older brother like a predator would its prey.
"That's it brother crawl away on your belly like the snake you are and always have been." Marrick yelled out with anger in his tone as Martin finally reached the center of the cemetery where the casket of his youngest brother was located.
Martin then gave a loud shriek of pan as he felt Marrick stab him again this time in the shoulder but with enough force to have the knife go all the way through. Then at the last second the middle Roman stomped on the hilt of the knife and forced it through the body of Martin and successfully pinning him to the ground and causing Martin to let out another shout of pain.
"Now you just stay there." He said with an evil chuckle before moving to kneel down in the face of his eldest brother.
"Despite Mark probably having more bodies then me you always loved him more like a brother then me. You always saw me as the mistake of the family that would someday bring us down. Did that make it so easy for you to sign off on my death?" he asked before slapping Martin across the face.
"You two betrayed me and left me for dead, but now I'm the last one standing. The best Roman is the last one standing at the end of the day." Marrick yelled out before stomping Martin repeatedly in the back until he coughed up blood.
"Now you get to join him in that coffin." He added before knocking the coffin off its stand and then approaching Martin. "And you get to watch everyone around you die, but don't worry I'll take really good care of Jasmine and Marron." He replied earning a slight smile from Martin.
"I don't think Mark will like that." The eldest Roman stated while Marrick gave a chuckle.
"Oh yeah what's he gonna do haunt me from the grave?" Marrick asked with a chuckle while Martin continued to look away from him. The eldest Roman no doubt believed he had a few broken ribs, a concussion, maybe cracked his skull, and figured he was probably lost too much blood because right before his eyes he was seeing him.
He was seeing his guardian angel, the one person that's protected him and his friends for so long, the King of Ruin Marcus Roman right before his eyes. He was shining or glimmering like one would expect all angels but he was standing there with an angry solemn look on his face and death in his eyes.
As he continued to look at his brother Martin could feel himself already starting pass out, but just as his eyes closed a loud bang filled the air and caught everyone by surprise including Marrick who lifted his head and noticed that the last remaining attack chopper was starting to spin out of control with blood splattered across the cockpit as it crashed onto a rooftop and exploded to everyone's surprise.
"What the hell-?" Marrick yelled out before feeling an object pass through the center of his chest and cause him to lunge forward before catching himself and looking down to notice he had been shot through the chest.
"Who-!" he started before whipping his head and instantly going wide eyed while Maggie, Lee, Felix, Link, and Trip struggled to pick themselves up.
"Damn it!" Maggie said before noticing a pair of shoes step beside her causing her to turn her gaze and go wide eyed at the sight of someone stepping past her.
"No fucking way." Yelled Lee as he, Trip, and Link watched as the man pulled back the slide on his RSASS Sniper Rifle and then taking aim before firing another shot that hit Marrick in the left arm. The force of the round was powerful enough to not only push the middle Roman back but also blow much of the flesh from the appendage.
"HOW!" Felix yelled out as the man stepped past him while Marrick struggled to stay on his feet while looking as the man stood before him with a smile.
"I killed you." Marrick yelled with a pain filled voice while looking over the familiar Afro-Samoan American man standing before him who seemed to have a look of anger and hate in his eyes.
"No you shot me, she killed me." He replied while Marrick gave a confused look before feeling another sharp pain this time in his right leg causing him to look down and notice that whatever had hit him blew his right leg off at the knee and caused him to fall backwards with no balance.
"You called me weak because I didn't kill you." Mark replied while standing over Marrick to everyone's shock and surprise as they watched him closely. "Well who's the weak one now." He shot out before opening up the casket and revealing to everyone that it was empty inside.
"Today a Roman will be buried, but that Roman ain't me." Mark yelled out before grabbing Marrick by his shirt and tossing him into the casket.
"Mark stop it, you can't do this to me just fucking kill me you son of a bitch-." He yelled out before Mark closed the lid to the casket and quickly locked it while Marrick proceeded to beat on the lid as Mark took a seat on the top of it.
"Rest in piss Marrick." Mark whispered out while lowering his head in an attempt to catch his breath before finally passing out on top of the casket as Maggie and the others ran to him.
Later
Things were finally starting to return to Martin as he slowly opened his eyes and found himself lying in a hospital bed strapped to a heartbeat monitor while bandages covered much of his entire body.
"Shit!" he said before slowly lifting himself up.
"I wouldn't move to much if I were you." Came a familiar voice that caused Martin to lift his head and notice Dr. Ling standing at the doorway with a half-smile on her face. "You took one hell of a beating out there." She added before stepping before Martin.
"Marrick really did a number on you." She replied.
"How am I alive right now?" Martin asked but just as Ling was about to answer the duo was interrupted by Tanya and Jasmine running into the room and quickly approaching Martin.
"Daddy." Jasmine yelled before jumping into the bed with Martin and causing him to give a loud groan of pain.
"Hey baby are you okay?" he asked while looking the child over and noticing she was unharmed.
"Yeah we're both fine." Tanya shot out earning the attention of the eldest Roman.
"I'm sorry you two got caught in the middle of all of that." He shot.
"You told me Marrick was dead." She stated.
"I thought he was as well, it was shocking to everyone." He replied earning a nod from the woman.
"That wasn't the biggest shock of the day." She replied to Martin's confusion.
"Really what was?" he asked before watching Dr. Ling move the curtain to the bed beside him and causing the eldest Roman to go wide eyed at the sight before him.
There he was in the flesh, Marcus Roman, lying in a hospital bed passed out sleeping connected to a heartbeat monitor that showed he was still breathing and to Martin's shock alive. Not only was Mark resting in the bed but so was Maggie who was lying by his side while Lee, Trip, and Link sat sleeping in chairs around him.
Even Felix was there but he two was lying in a bed with bandages on his newly acquired hand.
"You two have been out for almost twelve hours and everyone's been here waiting." She replied.
"How is this possible, we saw him fall, we saw a body, he was shot in the heart for fuck sakes?" asked Martin with a loud yell.
"I think we can help you all with that." Came a familiar voice that caused the eldest Roman to turn his head to the side and notice a familiar black haired woman standing in the doorway with a serious look on her face.
"You, you work for Don Percival!" he said with a raised brow.
"My name is Veronica." The woman replied while stepping into the room and hovering over Martin. "And yes I do work for Mr. Percival." She added before looking to Dr. Ling, Tanya, and Jasmine.
"Can we have the room?" she asked earning a few seconds of silence from the group before Ling made the first move out of the room while Tanya gave Martin a quick kiss before also walking out of the room.
"I told him not to leave his room but I guess he didn't listen." She stated while looking over the body of the youngest Roman.
"Talk, how is he still alive?" Martin yelled out with anger in his tone.
"Because he wants freedom from under Don Percival and I think he's the only one who can also give me freedom as well." She shot back to Martin's confusion.
Flashback (Weeks Prior)
The sound of his cellphone chiming from a text message seemed to cause Mark open his eyes from his sleep. It was about two in the morning and Maggie and Ling were still slumbering beside the youngest Roman. The group had successfully pulled off the gold heist and were have a slight celebration threesome. Well to Mark it wasn't much of a celebration since he figured he would be dying soon.
Upon looking at his phone he noticed he had a text message that told him to meet someone in his car outside. The number was somewhat unfamiliar and Mark was slightly confused but he decided to investigate. So after getting dressed without waking anyone he quickly made his way outside to the parking lot where he looked inside of his car and noticed a familiar woman sitting in the passenger seat.
"Get in!" Veronica whispered while Mark looked in the backseat to make sure there wasn't anyone in the back. "This isn't an assassination attempt this is a conversation." She added while Mark gave a low chuckle before opening the driver's side door and stepping inside.
"That's how a lot of assassins operate. They don't come with guns they come with smiles and hugs." He shot out while sitting down.
"Well I'm coming with neither." She said while looking away from Mark.
"So is this the part where you kill me or fuck me because only criminals and legs are up this time of night." He shot out while the woman gave a low chuckle.
"Call your wife down and maybe." She shot back with a slight smile. "No I'm here to tell you that Percival will be killing you in a few days along with Trueblood." She replied earning a nod from Mark.
"Tell me something I don't know?" Mark shot back while looking away from the woman.
"I'm willing to spare both of your lives and help you take down Percival." She replied to Mark's confusion.
"Oh yeah and why is that?" he asked earning a few seconds of silence from the woman before she spoke up.
"Because I realized you're right. The only way from under Percival is in a box and I don't intend on dying young with nothing to my name. I want to die a success." She replied.
"Oh yeah and how are you gonna do that?" he asked with a raised brow.
"Because you're gonna help me take over Merryweather." She replied to Mark's confusion.
Flashback Over
"So me and Mark came up with this little plan where I would kill him, fake his death, and make Percival believe he was finally done with." She stated before looking Mark over closely.
"But how?" Martin asked.
"Before their fight in their desert both Mark and Mercy had consumed a large number of drugs to keep them fighting, alert, and their hearts pumping." She replied. "I didn't intend for Mercy to die, but my plan was to shoot Mark close enough to his heart with a Sniper Rifle that one would think he was dead and the combination of drugs would lower his pulse and heart rate to undetectable levels." She added.
"We cheated death and through my contacts in the hospital made it look like he was dead." She finished to Martin's shock. "But he's been alive and resting with me and Trueblood these last few days." She added before looking to Martin with a smile.
"Jesus, well why does he look like that…like he's barely alive?" asked Martin as he looked over Mark and noticed that Mark had bags under his eyes along with a slight greyish tone to his skin.
"I shot Mark with a 7.62 Round it was supposed to go through his armor, but instead the bullet lodged itself close to his heart and an army doctor pulled it out." She replied. "He isn't supposed to be moving around too much, but…he's stubborn as shit and whenever he moves he fucks up his stitches…like he did today." She shot out to Martin's surprise.
"You're probably pissed about that, but you should be thanking me because now Percival not only believes Mark is dead he also thinks the rest of you died at that funeral." She added to Martin's shock. "A lot of people died and it was easy to stick your names in the list of the deceased." She stated.
"Why, why does Percival need to think we're dead?" asked Martin.
"Because now he won't see us coming." Came a familiar hushed voice that caused Martin to turn his head and notice Mark with his eyes opened and looking to him and Veronica.
"Mark!" he said before noticing the smile on the man's face.
"Good to see you again brother." The former Merryweather soldier greeted with a half-smile.
"You should be resting." Veronica shot out.
"I will." He finished before looking to Martin.
"Percival won't see us coming now." He stated to Martin's surprise. "We got one shot to kill him and Veronica can get us close enough to put a bullet in his head. We heal our wounds and pick ourselves up, and then…we hit him hard." Mark shot out with venom in his hushed tone.
"Count me in then." Martin shot out while Mark nodded his head.
"Glad to have you onboard." Mark shot out before lying back down and running his hand over the back of Maggie.
"When we're done with this, everything will be right." He replied while looking up at the ceiling.
Authors Note: And there you have it people who keep calling me names, Mark is not dead. You did pick a good ending for hell sakes I like bitter sweet endings but come on that would have been too fucking dark.
You might ask how exactly is Mark alive more so then what I mentioned I will plainly admit…plot armor. That shit is strong in this story but I ain't afraid to admit it, I hope you know I'm not afraid to kill off main characters but not Mark and not now.
Also the good and bad endings sorta came from Veronica's decision. I was originally gonna just write out how the bad ending would have played out but I don't think I want to do that anymore so I'll just explain it.
Veronica would have killed Mark, Marrick attacked the funeral with Merryweather and him and Martin would fought so hard they both killed each other, Maggie and the others go into hiding until they finally come out and go after Percival.
I don't want to spoil too much for next chapter because I do have another character death next chapter and yes another main one, but I can tell you in that bad ending Maggie, Lee, Link, and Trip would have all died trying to kill Percival and the end result was Felix being the last man left standing and living in Mexico with Eva Mark and Maggie's daughter Marron and his own daughter.
That was my bad ending it was dark as fuck but that was the ending you all avoided. The good ending and sorta the end will be next chapter. I don't want to explain too much on how they will kill Percival but a lot of things will happen that bring him down and isn't like one would think as being a bullet to the head.
They bring him down hard.
The hand transplant Felix has been something I looked into a long time ago. I watched this movie where this white guy got an arm transplant and ended up getting a black persons arm and when he got sent to jail the Aryans wouldn't accept because he had a black persons arm so he wasn't all pure and the blacks wouldn't accept him because he wasn't black but it's funny the dude arm had a Crip Tattoo and he got celled with the Crips.
You can get a hand transplant but not many people get it because it does cost a lot in fact it cost more for a hand transplant then an organ transplant and you don't just get feeling back into it that quick. If you notice Felix shot with his good hand and really only used his good hand so he's not all there yet with his hand.
Also I know I promised this chapter up sooner so let me explain why it took so long. If you haven't noticed compared to my others this chapter is short as shit and I kept racking my brain on how I could make it longer and there was not much I could do so I just decided to just post what I had.
Hopefully it's not bad but I'm open fall reviews good or bad.
Thank you all for reading stick around for next chapter which will be the final chapter of Roman Empire as Mark and what remains of his family go after Don Percival and a small epilogue into the future.
Have a nice night a good Christmas and be safe Zilla Out.