Ring-Ding Ship Chase
On the ocean
As Revy was getting impatient, Laura took the horn speaker and called to the crew of the St. Joan. "Attention to all aboard the St. Joan! I don't care what your names are and who we are is none of your concern. Your vessel is in possession of items that we consider more important than your lowlife paychecks. We're heavily armed and we're not afraid to use them. So, if any of you don't want to end up in a seaman's grave, stop your engines immediately and comply with our demands!"
The St. Joan just blew their loud horn again, which annoyed Revy as she had enough of waiting.
Meanwhile
Dutch was in the pilot house when Benny called to him on the radio. "Dutch, the St. Joan has opened up communication with us. We've finally made contact."
"What did they say?" Dutch asked his friend.
"They say: move aside immediately or we'll have no choice but to push our way through."
"Well, I guess it can't be helped." Dutch said before contacting Revy. "Revy?"
Back with Revy and Laura
"Good. I was sick of waiting." Revy said with annoyance as she prepared her rocket launcher.
Laura was having enough of waiting too and told Revy while forming a grin on her face. "Revy, show them what happens to people who try to play hero."
Revy formed a big smirk as she aimed her rocket launcher. "With pleasure!" Before she fired a rocket, hitting the front of the ship but not enough to damage it critically. "Soldier girl, let's switch." She said before Laura smirked and did just that, switching the horn speaker to Revy and taking the rocket launcher and reloading it as Revy called out to the vessel. "Listen up very carefully, you dipshits: our rockets are faster than any of your lame distress signals! So unless you wanna end up in a court filled shipwreck, then I suggest you stop moving. YA GOT IT?!"
After the ship finally stopped moving, Revy and Laura boarded the vessel. And while Revy was getting the valuables, Laura was in charge of hostage control.
With her machine gun in hand, Laura kept an eye on all the crewmembers who were sitting in a corner in the bridge. As she aimed at them, Laura warned. "Don't even think of being a hero over here. As long as you comply, no one is gonna get hurt. But don't even think I won't use it if I have to, understand!?"
All the crewmembers, even the captain trembled in fear as they all nodded.
Laura sighed while thinking. 'Hard to believe that before any of this, I was a bodyguard and delivery girl to some piece of shit that underpaid me for years. Now... I've become a pirate of the South Seas. This big ship was today's prey. And I wander... what else could be in store for my recent career change?'
An hour later, Revy contacted Laura on the walkie-talkie. "Yo, Soldier girl, our client has loaded up the last parts of this dumphole and we're ready to go."
Laura formed a smile and called back. "Be right there." Before she then aimed her machine gun on the hostages and told them very seriously. "Now listen up! We're leaving, and all of you will wait one minute before you can come out of this damn hole that you call a bridge. If not, we'll sink your vessel to the bottom of the seas, GOT IT!?"
Seeing that no one even dared to stand against her, Laure slowly left the bridge with still pointing her gun at the hostages, till she was out and walked back, entering the Black Lagoon.
Revy, with the rocket launcher still over her shoulders and a cigarette in her mouth, walked over to Laura who watched the St. Joan. Revy grinned as Laura handled the situation perfectly. "Not bad for your first time boarding a ship. But no surprise since you're ex-military."
Laura smiled while glancing for a moment to Revy. "No problem. Though I knew those crewmembers didn't have the balls to stand against us, I always take no chances, cause you never know what someone can do when you think everything's okay."
"Damn straight." Revy said, while she too looked with Laura at the St. Joan for a moment before going back inside their boat before it speeded away from the larger vessel. "Want a celebratory smoke?"
"Fuck yeah, Revy." Laura said with a smirk, eager for a cigarette before Revy gave her 1 and they smoked together in celebration of the former soldier's 1st successful job as a pirate of the Black Lagoon.
A few days later
Inside the apartment of the Black Lagoon crew, Laura was taking a shower. As she washed herself, she was thinking about the city, which was a pirate hideout named Roanapur. 'I've been to a lot of fucked up places around the world, but Roanapur takes the cake. All kinds of international criminals coming here to lock horns with each other. All try to scam one another, from top to bottom. Just luckily my time in the military taught me not to believe everything I see.' Then Laura started to smile. 'And I have some good friends now that got my back, and I have theirs, especially Revy.' That last part thinking about Revy made Laura somehow blush.
As Laura had stepped out of the shower, dried herself with her towel and started putting back on her clothes, she decided to wear the red-white Hawaiin shirt that Revy bought for her. Though it wasn't her style, she would use it as a sign that she was on break.
Once she'd put on the shirt, she heard Dutch calling to Revy before leaving. "Revy. I'm stepping out for a while."
"Gotcha. Watch your back." Revy answered while still watching a magazine while lying on the coach.
When Laura stepped out of the bathroom, she asked Revy. "Revy?"
"Hmm?"
"Where's Dutch going?" Laura asked as she sat on a chair.
Revy shrugged. "Who knows. Besides, It's none of our business what Dutch does in his spare time." She answered as she sat straight and glanced at Laura, being happy to see her wearing the shirt she'd bought for her. "Oh, finally you're wearing it. You like?"
As Laura crossed her legs while giving a shrug. "It's okay. But don't be thinking that I'll be wearing it when we got a job." Then she went back to what Dutch was going to do. "Look, I only asked what Dutch was doing because I was curious for a bit."
"Noisy types aren't too popular here, you know." Revy stated.
Laura gave a nod. "Yeah, I've noticed. Things aren't even getting any better when you go downtown either, not in this city. But that doesn't mean I'll go too soft on anyone, especially not to the guys that think that they can just own every hot girl that walks around on the streets."
Revy formed a grin as she lay back on the couch. "I would love to see that." That made Laura raise an eyebrow, which made Revy chuckle. "That you would kick their asses, soldier girl. Duh. But I won't be held back so that they can just have their 'fun'. No one's messing around with my friends while I'm around."
That Revy would support Laura in those situations surprised her, but it also made her smile.
Meanwhile, with Dutch
The African American pirate walked up to a phone before calling 1 of his contacts, telling him to send $120'000 to the name 'Flyer's company' when a man in a green car called out to him.
"Hey, Dutch." He said, making the pirate walk up to him. "Great weather, huh? So how's business going for you guys?"
"Can't complain, Mr. Chin. We're getting by."
"Well that's great to hear." Chin said before getting to what he came to ask the African American pirate. "Tell me something: how long do you plan to work with that fried face bitch anyway? Maybe you're just not thinking straight, huh?"
"Don't know, Mr. Chin. Don't know what you're talking about."
"I'm talking about that crazy Russian." Chin said, referring to Balalaika. "Ever since they got here, we've been losing money left and right. That Ivan's taken all of our girls, the rights to our hotels and the heroin routes. They've got no sense of honor. And if we lose the sea routes to them too, those greedy bastards are gonna wipe us out completely." When Dutch just mumbled, Chin finished. "Allow me to spell it out for you: what I'm saying is you'll wanna pull out and quickly."
"Let me give you some advice: even bad guys have common sense, you hear me? When you sold that junk to the new people's army, we were the ones hired to deliver it." Dutch reminded him. "It wasn't even close to a no problem situation but why don't you remind me who pulled out then?"
"Why don't you let that go, Dutch? That's all behind us now, so don't bring up the past like some old bitch."
"I'll say whatever I want." Dutch countered. "And I'll tell you this much: Balalaika has a hell of a lot more honor than you ever did. If you wanna do business with us, you'll ship your goods at our rate." He finished before walking away.
As Dutch continued on walking through the city, seeing some of the ladies he knew and Benny, who had the latest board in his car before going to put it on the boat, a man he knew called for him, telling him that they had a job for him and his crew.
A bit later
Laura had a feeling that there was a job coming up soon. So she got dressed and prepared her guns before Revy came in. "See you're already ready, soldier girl. I was just about to tell you we got a job." She said with a smirk.
"If there's anything that the military taught me: it's be prepared for the next mission. So, what's the job?" Laura said with eagerness to use her skills.
"Follow me and Dutch will tell us on the way." Revy said before they both headed to Benny's car and speeded off to the docks.
"So, Dutch, what's the job?" Benny asked.
"Just came in from Donnie Yen." Dutch answered while preparing a cigarette.
"Who the hell is Donnie Yen?" Laura asked with a raised eyebrow.
*He gives us jobs from time to time. Today we're receiving a package from the vietnamese military at an island. I figured since our schedule was open, we'd have a shot. Besides...ex-military like yourself are always up for some hard day's work, right, Laura?"
But Revy didn't like it. "What are we supposed to do with these lame jobs, Dutch? We keep this up, Soldier girl here won't ever be able to make a name for herself."
"Got that right. At least the St. Joan job was a little more challenging. I'm not a delivery girl anymore, Dutch, I'm a pirate now. And I want jobs that require me acting like it." Laura added.
But while they were driving, a man called Chin, who revealed that the whole job was a trap for the Lagoon crew, having set them up to be killed, which was why he offered Dutch the chance to pull out.
Later
Laura was drinking a beer, Revy sat down next to her. "Gotta say, Revy, this pirate business really is a big step up from my old job." She said with a smile. "I really hated that fucking job. A former Marine lieutenant forced to deliver and protect the ass of a shithead like that Kageyama."
"If you hated that fucked up job so much, soldier girl, why'd you even work for that underpaying, backstabbing shitbag? Why didn't you just quit?" Revy asked curiously, not understanding why a highly skilled female Marine would take a job as a bodyguard and delivery girl.
"I... don't really know why. Maybe I just needed whatever work I could get...or maybe I worked for him because I was waiting for the right time to make a career change, and it looks like my hard work and waiting paid off well since I'm here now, don't ya think?" Laura asked with a smirk.
"Yeah. Maybe all that delivery girl service you did was worth it in the end, though I would've killed the bastard a long time ago if he treated me like that." Revy answered with a grin before sipping Laura's beer.
"So, what about you, Revy. What'd you do before you ended up here? Though I guess I can already tell what your answer is, right?"
"Damn right, Soldier girl. What I do now is pretty much what I've always done. I stole, I killed. I did everything a normal person would consider bad. And it ain't no sick joke either." Revy answered with seriousness that Laura could tell, as Revy's past sounded a little bit like hers.
Suddenly, they were contacted by Benny. Guys, we got a problem! There're 3 speedboats on our asses. No! Now 6 and they're surrounding us so that heading port and starboard is not an option!"
"Really? And who do you think they are, Revy? Bunch of fucking cops trying to catch some unlucky pirates? Cause if they are, they picked the wrong damn pirates!" Laura asked her new friend as she prepared her grenade launcher and 1 of her Sigs.
"No, Soldier girl, they ain't cops. I can smell them even from this distance. And they smell like blood and smoke to be pigs." Revy answered with a grin.
"Then they must be rival pirates. Dutch, is there anyone you talked to today that may be wanting to take us out or was this just a trap set up by this Donnie Yen?" Laura asked her new employer.
"There's a lot of people who want us dead, Laura. And that hurts, ya know. I been conducting background checks on Donnie Yen's economic situation from the beginning. But you're right about 1 thing: this was most likely set up."
But that was when someone talked with Dutch from his radio. "Dutch! It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"Ah, Luak. Sorry, but there's no prey here. You should go home before you get lost." Dutch advised.
"There's prey right here, Dutch: your fucking torpedo boat." Luak said.
"6 vessels in pursuit. If it is Luak, he's brought everything he's got." Benny told his employer.
"Damn, all these stupid bastards." Dutch said with annoyance before realizing who sent them. "Chin got you involved in this, didn't he, Luak? God must pity you for your stupidity."
"Once we get some lead in you, it might put an end to all that pillow talk of yours." Luak said arrogantly as 1 of his boats aimed their guns at the Black Lagoon.
"Hey, Dutch, I got a plan to deal with these guys...if you feel like helping out a bit." Laura said with a smirk as she prepared her guns.
"Already on it, Laura." Dutch said with a grin before stopping the Lagoon at the very second the boat that was aiming at it began to shoot, making it hit another of the pirate fleet instead, causing a good amount of damage to it!
"Nice job, Dutch. Staggering your position to avoid friendly fire. Classic military tactic." Laura said with amusement. "Too bad these fucking amateurs don't know a thing about it."
This only got Luak angry. "Bastards! Don't get too overconfident. I'll send you straight to hell!"
"Well, soldier girl, you wanted some action? Here it is." Revy told Laura as they walked to the front of the boat together.
"Oh yeah, Revy. Let's kill these assholes!" Laura said with excitement.
"Benny-boy, we got 2 closing portside and another closing starboard. Sound about right?" Dutch asked his friend.
"1 more, directly behind us." Benny answered.
"Cool. Do that 1 last, girls." Dutch told them.
"All right. We'll start with the shit on the left!" Revy said before firing her grenade launcher at the pirate boat on the left, hitting it and causing damage to it.
"Let's dance, baby!" Laura yelled out as she and Revy both jumped on the 1st boat on the right, landing on it before Revy used her machine gun and grenade launcher to kill the pirates on board while avoiding their gunfire.
"Damn it! They're on the next boat!" A pirate said to his colleagues.
"Do something about that purple haired bitch!" Another one said.
But Laura had already jumped towards the boat. "Not so fast, boys! 1st you gotta get past me!" She yelled out before landing on the boat and using her military fighting skills to easily kick and hit them with her weapons before shooting them all dead, allowing Revy to jump on the boat as well as the 3rd boat, which was still alive, was coming up to them. Revy quickly shot her grenade launcher at it, killing the rest of the pirates on board before the Lagoon came up to them, allowing them to jump back on it.
"So, ladies, how many boats was that?" Dutch asked.
"All except the one behind us, Dutch." Laura answered with a grin while standing beside Revy as they reloaded their grenade launchers, ready to kill Luak.
'Damn. With me alone, they would have still been dealt with easily. But Laura's skills are... equal to mine. It's like... we're 1 in a way. Fuck, when we work together, it's almost like we're unbeatable." Revy thought to herself, very impressed with how she and Laura worked together, as if they were 1 person split into 2.
'Holy shit! Revy is... like...my other half given flesh and blood. And the feeling I got when we were killing those incompetent assholes. Is this... what it means to find... your match?' Laura asked herself mentally.
"Damn it, my fleet! They took out all my boats!" Luak said with disbelief.
Dutch began turning the Lagoon around so that Revy and Laura were facing Luak's boat. "You just hit a dead end. Seems you're the 1 destined to dance the Cha Cha with some hot lead, Luak." He said with a grin.
By this point, Luak knew he was beaten and tried turning his boat around to get away. "Damn it! How dare you! Those bitches ain't even human! Chin can kiss my ass, I'm not dealing with these demons anymore!"
As they aimed their grenade launchers, both Revy and Laura then smirked at each other as they both fired on Luak's boat simultaneously, killing him for good before they both sat down and shook hands.
Dutch was very impressed with Laura's skills, seeing that it was like watching 2 matching pieces of the same person working together as 1. 'Congratulations, Revy, it looks like you found yourself a partner.' He thought with a smirk.
Later
When Chin got word of Luak and his crew's deaths, he knew that Balalaika would be coming for him and quickly packed up to leave Roanapur. But it was too late, as Balalaika and her partners already got to him, making him nervous and afraid.
"Leaving so soon, Mr. Chin? That's such hard work. Perhaps we could help you." Balalaika said while holding a cigar in her right hand.
Chin, like the coward he was, tried to lie his way out of whatever the Russian woman was going to do to him. "There must be some kind of misunderstanding. I don't know what pathetic rumer is floating around town, but I'm sure if we sit down over lunch, I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation."
But Balalaika didn't buy his cowardly lies and kicked him in the face, making him fall to the floor with a bloody nose. "Listen carefully, you piece of dog shit: we didn't come here for you to tell us a story, we already know everything we need to." She said before picking him up with her cigar in her mouth. "Prey. That's the only thing you can still do while you're still alive."
A little later with the Lagoon crew
Revy and Laura were laying down on the couches, eating pizza while Dutch was sitting down in a chair. "So all that was for nothing? Total waste of time was what that was, even though I did get to kill some people." Revy groaned with annoyance.
"Don't worry, Revy. We'll get a job soon that hopefully will get us a large buck. And if not, we could always find a job and force him to pay us upfront and without any problem, even though it would be fun to hurt or kill somebody." Laura assured her new friend before the phone rang, making Laura answer it. "Lagoon company, Laura speaking."
"Ah, the brave and badass soldier girl, Laura. It's been awhile. Is Dutch around?" Balalaika asked over the phone.
Laura threw Dutch the phone. "It's Balalaika."
Dutch quickly answered. "Yeah?"
"Hi there, Dutch. I heard you went on a wild goose chase, and you got stuck playing games with Mr. Chin."
"Who told you that?"
"He told me himself. Let's just say he's a bit too loud to organize any kind of conspiracy. He was blabbing away to just about everyone in town that even the dead would have known what was happening." Balalaika answered with a smile. "Anyway, we'll make sure nothing like this happens again. It was a real pain for you, wasn't it?"
"No, I wouldn't say that. Barely gave me a headache."
"Thanks, Dutch. I understand it was difficult for you, but I'll let you hear something amusing: they call it pleasure and pain." Balalaika said with amusement before pulling out a detonator that went to some C-4 that was inside Chin's apartment, with a strapped up, bound and gagged and crying Chin inside it with C-4 and gasoline pouring on the floor close to him, set by Balalaika and her partners. She pushed the button on the detonator, blowing up Chin alive inside his own apartment and killing him.
"Yeah, that sounded cool." Dutch said with a smile.
"We'll have a job for you soon. I'll call you then." Balalaika said before hanging up.
"Was that a call about another job?" Laura asked her new employer.
"Something like that. She filled me in on some gossip to cheer me up." Dutch answered before he put the phone down, stood up and addressed his employees. "Revy, Laura, you guys have any plans?"
"Not really." Revy answered for both her and Laura.
"How about you, Benny-boy?"
"Bit of maintenance work on the electronics, but nothing that can't wait a day." Benny, who'd put down a box, answered.
"All right then. Considering what we all went through today and the fact that it was all for nothing, as your employer, I feel I must provide some entertainment for compensation. And after careful consideration, I propose a trip to the Yellow Flag tonight to drink away our pain. This one's on me, of course. So who's coming?" Dutch asked with a smile, getting his employees' full excitement.
"You're serious?! Can we stay there till dawn?!" Revy and Laura both asked together.
"I'm in!" Benny said with a grin.
"Laura, you're so wearing that red-white Hawaiin shirt I bought you!" Revy told her new friend as she put her hands on the ex-soldier's shoulders.
"Shit, Revy, as long as I get to have a lot of drinks, I'll go there bare ass naked if you want!" Laura told her friend and partner with excitement as her hands were on Revy's cheeks.
There you go, my dear friends, the 2nd chapter is complete. Next will be the painting mission episodes, where Laura's past will be revealed. Rate and review and I'll see you all soon, my dear friends.