Chapter 1: Things never Change…

'Tokyo, Japan, September 19th, 1998, Marcus' POV…'

I started to come to from being unconscious, I assume. Though, I'm hearing people, horns, and all sorts of noise. I got up and looked at my surroundings. You can imagine my surprise when I saw a bustling city all around me, like if the nukes never fell. Where I was standing, I'm in an alleyway, with the garbage bins and dumpsters. For the moment, I was confused.

"How the…"

Then my memories started to flood back in from possibly hours ago.

'Flashback'

"Location: Big MT, the Sink"

I was on the workbench tinkering with the Transpoderponder, trying to fix a glitch. After a few hours, no such luck.

I sighed, "Goddamnit…"

"Sir, still trying to fix the device?" the SCIU* asked. I usually call him Xavier.

"Yeah, but I still can't figure out what's wrong with it."

But then I started to notice the thing started to glow, which is not a good sign. I got brighter and brighter until…

"Holy shii-" I was interrupted by a bright white light.

'Flashback ends'

Oh, that's what happened. The damn thing imploded and teleported me somewhere else. Since I don't see it anywhere near me, I'm just gonna assume that it didn't survive at all, destroying any hope of returning home. Though then again, it's not like the factions or even my friends need me anymore. After that whole battle at Hoover Damn, I just wanted to wander someplace else. I looked at my Pipboy and noticed it was reconnecting to some operable satellites. It showed that I was in Tokyo, Japan…

...in the year 1998.

…..

I sighed, "Goddamn my luck."

I somehow traveled back in time and landed in Tokyo of all places. I guess I should be thankful for those language books I studied, otherwise, I'd be completely screwed. The only course of action I should take is fitting in. When I mean 'fitting' in, I mean doing some mercenary work. Odd jobs here and there. At least to make a name for me in this world. I switched from my Veteran Ranger Armor to my normal attire, the Merc Grunt outfit, and went out into the city and got to work.

'A few years later, January 26th, 2001'

Right in a few years of Courier business, assassinating VIPs, escorting VIPs, and the like all over the Pacific, like China, Japan, West Coast America, and the like. I finally earned plenty of cash, enough to buy some rations of food, medical equipment, ammo, and some normal clothes, especially warm clothes around this time of year. I've become well known as 'Reaper', considering I always wear my unmarked Black Veteran Ranger Armor.

I heard a beep from my Pipboy that I have gotten a message from someone unknown needing a job done. So I went to the place where the message to go where I will meet up with a man with the package, in a parking garage. Before I went in, I switched from my casual attire to my armor, considering it's business I'm doing. I met a businessman within the parking garage.

"Ah, you're here Reaper, good." said the businessman.

I nodded, "That's right. I'm here for the job, whatever it is."

He smiled, "Straight to business, I see? Very well." he handed me the package, which is basically a disk in a case.

He continued, "I stole this from a particular company here in Tokyo that needs to be delivered. I need you to head to a city of Roanapur, Thailand, in the South China Sea, and deliver it to a person name Balalaika."

I know that name. Being a mercenary for a few years, you tend to hear things. Balalaika, whose real name is Sofiya Pavlovena, is a woman of Russian origin and a veteran military head of the old Soviet Union, now turned Crime Boss of Hotel Moscow, along with Ex-Soviet Spetnaz that followed her. She even earned plenty of scars, the most noticeable one around one side of her face, a burn scar, by being tortured after protecting some refugees in Afghanistan. Truly a scary woman.

I nodded, "Right, I'll head there immediately. I call you when the job's down." With that, we exchange each others' contacts and we went our merry way, with me heading to the motel I was living in. When I left the parking garage, I switched back to the normal outfit I usually wear so that I don't get stared at by multiple people.

After a bit, I finally arrived at my motel room outside the city, went inside, and started to pack up everything in my Pipboy. Then I went to the front lobby, returned the key and left for the seaport, intending to leave, for Roanapur. Though I'm starting to have a nagging feeling that something's gonna go wrong.

'A few days later, in the South China Sea, on a boat nearing Roanapur'

I was standing at the rear of the ship, in my Merc Grunt outfit, just watching the ocean waves, smoking a cigarette, as the ship got closer and closer towards Roanapur. Throughout the whole trip, I was doing things to keep me occupied, like reading, cleaning my weapons, played some of the Pipboy games that I gathered throughout my wanderings, and listening to some recorded music, both from the Wasteland and this world. I have to say, this 'Rock'n'Roll' is pretty good.

As I stood there, I started to hear shouting, mostly from fear. I was going to investigate what was going on until a man in vacation clothes running towards me.

"Hey, bud, what the hell is going on?" I asked him.

The man yelled with fear in his eyes, "Pirates! They boarded the ship!"

The man continued to run towards the cabins, with me frustrated.

I sighed, "I knew something felt off."

I switched to my Black Veteran Ranger armor and pulled out the Survivalist Rifle in my hands, Maria in its holster and Blood-Nap in its sheathe. I then began to hear two sets of footsteps and readied myself. It was time to go to work.

I stood there, waiting until the two figures appear around the corner. The first person is a bald African American. He was wearing an old Vietnam War-era Marine sleeveless coat and wearing sunglasses. He also wields a Remington 870 Marine Magnum Shotgun and a Smith & Wesson 629 Revolver.

The second person was an Asian female, though unfortunately, I couldn't tell which country. She's wearing a black tank top of sorts and daisy dukes, wielding dual modified Beretta 92Fs Inox.

They spotted me standing there, rifle in hand, and they froze. After a few seconds, they pulled out their handguns while I aimed my rifle at them. A stand-off, if you will.

'Dutch's POV…'

It was supposed to be a simple job, provided by Balalaika, by retrieving a package from a courier from Tokyo. We were expecting a Japanese no-body, but when we found him, it sent shivers down my spine.

The courier himself wore what looked like light but effective body armor, a military-grade helmet, and the mask, well, is a mixture of a gas mask and what looks like infrared lens that seems to glow red, staring into my soul. He was wielding what looked like an M16 of sorts, but with a wooden stock instead.

This tells me that this man is a battle-hardened mercenary, just by his reaction. Calm, collective, and possibly cautious and paranoid. It looks like he's waiting for the moment for me and Revy to break the silence.

In fact, I have been hearing rumors from all over the Pacific that a man with that same look was roaming around, taking jobs, and earned himself a name for it. It's when I realize that Revy and I are staring at the one known as the Reaper.

Not how I imagine my day would go, that's for sure.

'Revy's POV…'

Well holy shit, it looks like this courier ain't no pushover. Just by seeing him armed with an M16 of sorts and wearing what I would believe to be, I admit, a pretty badass getup.

"Careful, Revy" whispered Dutch.

I slightly turned towards him as he continues, "That man there is known as the Reaper. He's a well-accomplished mercenary who made a name for himself all over the Pacific in a matter of a few years."

My eyes slightly widened when I heard that. The Reaper was known for completing jobs all across the Pacific with deadly efficiency. I even heard that any of his employers dare turned back on their deal, he would hunt them down, kill them, and take anything of worth. If that was the case, then this job got a bit harder.

I asked Dutch, "So… what are we gonna do? Fight him?"

Dutch answered, "No, let me talk to him."

'Marcus' POV…'

I stared both of them down as they stood there. Then the man started to whisper to the woman next to him. After a few moments, the man spoke up…

"So… you must be the Reaper, correct?"

I nodded and in a firm voice, "Correct."

He nodded, then asked, "Do you know why we're here?"

I stood there, thinking about it. Then it hit.

"You're here for the package I'm carrying."

He nodded, then said, "We're here to take that package from you, though we thought it was some nobody carrying it, but…"

"... but you found me instead." I finished for him. He nodded.

"Only one question remains…" I spoke, both tensing up.

"Who sent you?"

He answered, "Balalaika sent us."

We stood there for a few, but intense, seconds until…

I lowered my rifle, then said, "Well lucky you, I was sent from Tokyo by a businessman to deliver it to Balalaika. The businessman stole it from some company that he never bothered mentioning."

The two of them relax, putting their firearms away.

The man offered a handshake, "The names Dutch."

I returned in kind, shaking his hand. Then he motioned towards the woman, "That there is 'Two-Hands' Revy."

She nonchalantly said, "Sup?"

I nodded, "How do you do."

Then Dutch seem to get a call as hear put his hand towards his ear. Probably an earpiece. I listened in…

"Dutch, hey Dutch! Are you through with them yet? There's something heading straight for us from *static* Bay. It's probably a patrol boat from the Filipino Navy."

Revy seemed to scoff at this as both of them walk off, with me in tow, then me seeing the prisoners.

Dutch answered, "Nothing to worry about, Benny boy. In fact, we have someone coming with us. The courier that we've been looking for is also hired to take the package to her. Also, start the engines."

"Heh, can't wait to meet 'em." responded 'Benny'. Then heard engines turning on from below off-boat and, to my surprised, was an old torpedo boat. From the looks of it, it's an American PT-109, I think.

"Nice boat."

Revy grinned, "Thanks."

Then Dutch turned towards the captives, revolver in hand, and spoke…

"Now listen up, gentlemen! We're gonna disappear and you all are free to go. But I'm warning you, the deal's off if anyone comes after us. What you see there…"

He points towards the boat, continuing, "...are torpedo launchers. If you don't want to float home with what's left of your ship, I recommend you stay put for the next half hour. After that, you're free to do as you wish."

All three of us proceed down to the boat where I got to meet this Benny. He's wearing a red Hawaiian shit, his blonde hair in a ponytail, and eyeglasses. His face turned from normal to surprised when he saw me.

"Wait, you're the Reaper?!" Benny exclaimed.

I nodded, "That's right."

"Jesus, I didn't think you were the courier. I'm just glad you decided to tag along rather than shoot us."

"I'd rather talk in that sort of situation rather than shoot. You may never know the other side's story if you don't talk about it with them." I responded.

Benny nodded, "Good to know."

Then the boat started to move away from the ship, indicating that we were about to head off, towards Roanapur. Benny went back into the cabin and I sat down, opposite of Revy, whose focus was on one of her Berettas, with the occasional glance towards me every now and then.

'Dutch's POV, in the cabin…'

We started to head off as I got on the comms and called it in…

"This is Black Lagoon to Balalaika, can you hear me?"

"Just fine Dutch. What about the catch?"

I smirked, "It went fine, actually. In fact, we didn't need to do any punches or shooting. We picked up the courier as well since his job was to deliver it to you as well."

"Oh, and whose the courier, if I might ask?"

"The Reaper, ma'am," I answered. There were a few seconds of silence until she finally replied…

"The Reaper, you say? Hmm, that is certainly new. Once you arrive here with the package, I would like to meet this person, face to face. I've been meaning to find a way to hire him."

"I can figure out why. The man's reputation is, well, impressive, to say the least." I answered.

"Exactly. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll have to make another call."

"Of course, ma'am. I'll leave you to it." I hung up the comms. I got up and went to check to see how Reaper and Revy getting along. To my surprise, they were quiet, not even bothering each other, other than glancing at each other every now and again.

I decided to have a talk with Reaper…

"So Reaper, mind if we talk?"

He nodded, "Sure." He got up and walked towards me.

"So what's up?" he asked.

"It's about after your courier job."

"What about it?"

"What is that you intend to do afterward if you don't mind?" I asked.

"Well, whatever comes my way, I guess. Possibly rent out a motel room in Roanapur, do some odd jobs here and there. Why do you ask?" He asked.

"I was going to ask you if you wanna join up with our group."

"Your group?"

"The Black Lagoon Company. Think of us as a small mercenary group doing odd jobs here and there, mostly from the gangs and mafias here, like Hotel Moscow and others." I answered.

Revy got up and asked, hearing our conversation, "Are you sure, Dutch? I mean, not that I mind having him with us…"

I nodded, "I'm sure Revy. But that's his decision."

We both turned towards him, "So what do you say, Reaper?"

He stood there, silent for a few moments, until…

He shrugged, "Eh, why not. Got nothing else better to do, I guess. Count me in."

We shook hands, with me saying, "Welcome to the Black Lagoon Company, Reaper."

"Marcus."

I was confused, "What?"

"My real name, it's Marcus." He answered.

I nodded, "Right."

'Marcus' POV…'

Well, now I'm part of their merry band. It's good to feel like you belong somewhere for a change. I then decided to ask, "How much is Balalaika paying you guys?"

Revy huffed, then answered, "Twenty grand."

"You sound disappointed."

"I am. Before we even made onto the ship, I was going to use you to get a ransom, but that was before when we met. We thought it was some nobody from Japan being the courier." She answered.

I nodded, "I guess. How about I sweeten it up a bit."

Both Dutch and Revy raised an eyebrow, then Dutch decided, "What do you mean, Marcus?"

I decided to pull out three gold bars of the many I retrieved from the Sierra Madre Casino. Their eyes nearly popped out.

Revy muttered, "Holy shit…"

Dutch asked, "How the hell did you get those?"

"I have my ways. Let's just say I went through Hell and back to get these." I answered. I gave one to Revy and one for Dutch.

I hold up the third gold bar and said, "This one is for Benny. Though now you have to cash those in."

Dutch smiled while nodded, "No problem."

Revy grinned, looking at her gold bar, "It's almost like Christmas."

We walked inside I handed Benny the gold bar. His eyes widened and looked up at me from his computer.

"How the…"

I answered, "Consider it as a bonus from your new coworker."

That surprises him even more. He turned towards Dutch and asked, "Wait, Dutch, you got him to join us?"

Dutch nodded, "That's right. He's now our new member."

Benny took it in for a moment until he grinned and look towards me, "Well welcome aboard, I guess."

I nodded, then walked off as Benny continued to check the systems.

Dutch asked, "Hey, wanna have a smoke up top?"

I nodded, "Sure."

We went topside to have a smoke. I removed my helmet, which took Dutch by surprise. I guess to him, it just disappeared.

"How the hell? Your helmet disappeared!" He exclaimed.

I showed him my Pipboy and explained, "The Pipboy 3000 is a pretty handy device."

I showed him the inventory on the Pipboy and his eyes widened when he saw the weapons like the minigun, grenade machine gun, and other weapons in my inventory.

"You're more armed than I thought, Marcus."

I nodded, "Like I said, pretty handy."

He nodded, "Pretty advance too. I assume it absorbs the items you want to carry, right?"

I nodded, "That's right. I'm able to pull out any weapon and change outfits in seconds. I even have a secret weapon of sorts in here, but I like to keep it as a surprise for now."

He nodded, "Alright."

We sat there, smoking our cigs, and Dutch started talking, "You know, Black Lagoon is nothing more than delivery boys. Sometimes we break rules to put food on the table, but that's business."

I nodded, "I hear ya. You know, my first job ever was being a courier. Not like how I am now, but certain events eventually brought me here in the present. One botched up job involving me almost dying from bullet wounds to the head."

"Really? Must've been a hot item."

I nodded, "Yep, you got that right. But, as you can see, I survived, but at the cost of my memories. They eventually came back to me, but that whole time, I tracked down the son of a bitch that shot me with no memories, but payback. I even have his gun here."

I showed him Maria and continued, "As you can see, I returned in kind."

He seems impressed, "Damn, you must be one lucky son of a gun."

I shrugged, "Not always, but it did save me at times."

We continued to talk for the rest of the ride, informing my new boss, Dutch, of my capabilities and my history, only modified. After all, whose going to believe that I'm from an alternate timeline in the future after a nuclear war?

'A few hours later…'

We finally arrived in Roanapur at night as we docked the boat. At that time, I've told the entire group about the Pipboy. Revy was interested in seeing that I'm carrying an armory with lots of ammo, and got the idea of carrying lots of booze as well. Benny thought it was useful since it can hack into devices either by plug-in or wireless with ease. After it's firmly attached by rope, all four of us started to head out.

Dutch motion me to come along, "Come on, we know a place where we can get a drink."

I grinned, "Don't have to tell me twice, boss."

As we continued, I look around my surroundings, seeing strip clubs, liquor stores here and there, shady people, and the like. Then we finally arrive at a bar known as the Yellow Flag.

We enter the place and it was filled with people, all of them were armed with their own pistols. We took a seat at the bar and I looked around, feeling the nostalgia of the saloons back at the Mojave, except a little more crowded.

"It looks like every table has a set of firearms. It reminds me of those old west films with how every saloon was like. Hell, back around Las Vegas, there are still plenty of those there too." I said.

I then looked at Dutch and asked, "So what's the story of this place?"

He nodded, "Good analogy there, Marcus. This place was founded by the Southern Vietnamese soldiers who survived the war. Then they started taking in fugitive soldiers too, and before we knew it, it has gone straight to hell."

Then I heard a few folks started to get into a fight near us as Dutch continued, "Poachers, junkies, mercenaries, hitmen, irredeemable criminals. Every one of them."

"So, I should watch my back, huh?" I answered.

He nodded as I took a swig of whiskey, "Pretty much, yeah. But I get the feeling you'll fit right in just fine."

I then heard someone yelled out to the guys fighting, "Shut the fuck up before I throw you out, damn it!"

I spoke up to Dutch, "Usually, at most, I tried to avoid confrontation from people like those guy back there. But when it comes down to it, I will fight when I have to or if it's part of a job."

"Why so?" Dutch asked.

I answered, "Places like Japan, China, and other countries have more laws than this place, I have to stay low for those type of things, in order to avoid the law."

I took a swig of whiskey before continuing, "But as I said, I will fight when I have to or if it's part of a job I'm doing."

Dutch nodded, "Fair enough."

He stood up and said, "Hold on, I'm gonna make a call."

He walked off as me, Benny, and Revy continued to drink away.

Benny turned towards me and said, "Dutch is a bit unusual. After being around for over two years, it shows he tough, intelligent, and eccentric. You can give up on trying to figure him out."

I shrugged, "It ain't the first time I met someone like him. Some old veteran who served for a group of elite snipers in the U.S. Army. Craig Boone was his name. Lost his pregnant wife to a bunk of gang members, and he killed the lot of him. May he rests in peace."

It's not true, Boone was still pretty much alive, it's just that he doesn't exist in this version of Earth. But to avoid any further questions, I decided to go with that.

Benny nodded, "Sorry about your loss, Marcus."

I nodded, "It's been years, don't worry about it."

We clanked our drinks together and took swigs. After that, I decided to ask, "So what's your story? You seem different from the rest."

He chuckled, "A college in Florida. I was fooling around and managed to piss off the Mafia and the FBI at the same time."

I whistled, "Damn."

He chuckled again, "I know, right? And then-

"-Yours truly stepped in and saved his ass from being stuffed in a bag and being thrown overboard." Revy butted in.

"Let's stop with this damn storytelling and get to drinking!" She said as she poured a shot of Rum and slide it my way.

"So let's start talking about something more interesting, Mr. Reaper." She poured herself a shot.

I grinned, "Is that a challenge I hear, Two Hands?"

She grinned back, "Yes. Can you handle it?"

"Oh, you're on!" We grabbed our shots and started chugging. After that, we yelled for the barkeep to give us some Barcardi Rum.

I then heard Benny muttered, "Jeez, and all this time, I thought he avoids confrontations."

'Dutch's POV…'

I was talking to Balalaika on the phone, but the news she was giving me wasn't good.

"No shit. That's definitely not good news. Yeah, go on…"

"Something wasn't right about that industry that the Reaper stole from. So I baited out a Chinese rat and he went right for it. In fact, I'm talking to him right now."

I heard some groans from the background on Balalaika's side. I asked…

"Who's on the move?"

"One moment… what's your owner's name? Make it loud and clear."

I listened in, hearing the Chinese speaking, after hearing the guy's owner's name, she got back on…

"You got that?"

"Yeah. Not good." I answered. I then heard her speak to the rat…

"Tell him the number and affiliations of those soldiers. Speak up and make it fast."

"Guys from Extra Order Mercenary Contact Agency! I don't know how many there are!"

"Those guys got plenty of experienced origins."

I sighed, "Just our luck…"

"Just try not to die."

Then I heard gunshots in the background, indicating they eliminated the rat.

We both hung up, with me now more paranoid.

I muttered, "Just our luck."

'To Be Continued…'

Note: I've also added a few more things in the Bio/Equipment. A few more weapons, his S.P.E.C.I.A.L., and the likes if you didn't notice.

Also, there are some things I didn't hear or decipher what was said in some. Not a lot, just the name of the bay and the name of that one guy near the end.

SCIU- Sink Central Intelligence Unit