6 MAY 18

I added a lot more on finding out how Asuka injured Marco on the first time they met. I always felt like I left that open ended, so I came back around and wrapped it up in a nice bow!

It had been four months of being on the front line of the battlefield, casualties have been kept to a minimum and their name was starting to spread around fast. Soldiers that have lost their team or the whole CoC, made a home with his Reaper's unit.

No one was turned away, but they all worked hard to earn the spot they filled. The Commander made it a point to meet every newcomer, as well having a few of them follow him back to his camp after checking for any mission that was on the charts back at HQ.

He always did his best to be on the field with his men, a great leader always leads from the front. Many of their Comrades started to call them, Reaper Squad and it just stuck as their Battalion name.

"Who knew that dumb name of yours would stick on all of us?" Auska smiles at him and then punches his arm.

"I didn't start that name, you know that? The General gave it to me after we met." He kept looking over some of Ryoko's recon reports.

"Shut up… wait… you're serious?" She asked in shock.

"I shit you not!" Reaper looked over the paperwork to make eye contact with her.

Flashback

"Marco… you watch yourself out there… that place is a real mess!" Hekapoo was holding him in a tight hug.

"I know… but I need to help him get back to his people, it shouldn't take long?" He pulls her into a kiss.

"You know people, where I come from, would never believe this?" Henry looked at them and laughs. Right before him was the God he verywell worshiped with a human, he could tell they're in a relationship of some type.

"Should I be worried about that?" Marco looks at her.

"Meh, just keep it more to yourself, alright… I'll miss you…" She looks down at the ground.

"Is that some lame way of saying I love you?" Marco picks her head up by the chin to look at him.

"Grrrrr… fine I might have some strong feelings for you that I don't understand myself. Now get out of here before I drag you back with me!" She's pointing down the road.

He laughs now and pulls the back of her neck to his face, "I love you to Hpoo..." He gives her a deep kiss and walks away to help his new friend.

"I really thought you were full of shit when you were talking about Goddess Hekapoo… small world." Henry looked at him as they walked.

"I guess she's a real big deal around here?" Marco looks back to her smiling at him and waving.

Few Days Later

"I got a bad feeling about this…" Marco was starting to get tired of the shit.

"My people are right down the ways, a day or so… maybe. We've killed enough of these fuckers to keep them off our backs!" Henry was just as tired as his partner, but had to get back to his men.

"Alright… but after this, I'm done!" Marco looks up to him with his face covered in dry blood, some his and the rest from those he had to kill.

"You have my word Reaper." Henry decided to give his new name a test drive. Marco just seemed too simple and not fitting for a warrior such as himself. There were more than enough times the human was there to save his life during this task.

"I'm not sure if I like that name much, Reapers are beings you can't touch or see before you die… I'm pretty fucked up if you asked me!" He points at some of the gashes on his skin and a nice chunk of the tip of his ear missing.

"You make a good point… how about Solid Reaper? You can be touch and even hurt, but mostly deal out death to others… think that's a better fit?" Henry started to laugh.

Marco smirked back at him "I don't love it, but I don't hate it either."

"I don't think it'll stick, everybody will just call you Reaper, makes you sound more of someone that will kill right where they stand with the way you stare at our enemies before you end their life." The large Bison offers his hand to help Marco stand up.

The human was more than happy to take it and starts to walk down the road, "You got any nicknames? Henry sounds just plain for a guy your size."

"Oh, they mostly call me The General." Henry looked down at him as they walked.

"The General huh? That's a weird nickname." Marco just shrugged it off.

Day Later

"GENERAL!?" Asuka was in midair with her boot knife at the ready to land on Marco.

He was able to grab her wrist and deflect the knife from going into his heart, but it still dragged deep from the collar bone and past his nipple line, "FUUUUUUUUCK GGRRRRRRRR?!"

The General pulled Asuka by the hair and throwing her across the way, "STAND DOWN DAMN IT, HE'S NOT YOUR ENEMY!?"

He places has massive hands over Marco's heart to stop the bleeding, "MEDIC!?"

Three Days Later

Marco wakes up in a dark tent feeling oddly warm, he starts to stir and realize he's not alone in the bed, then he hears.

"Don't get any funny ideas human… I was ordered to keep you warm… you've lost a lot of blood from my attack and hypothermia was starting to set in." Auska was miserable seeing how she's been stuck with him for the last 48 hours.

"I don't know if I should be honored or if I should kill you!" He tries sitting up but feels her hand push him back on the bed.

"You're not well enough to stand yet..." She steps out of the bed naked.

"Kitty got a nice ass ughhh!" He rolls to his side and coughs.

"Here... they told me to give this to you when you come too." Asuka watched as he tried to reach for the cup, but couldn't.

"Really would love to but my body isn't listening much hehehe..." He might be laughing on the outside, deep down he was pissed on how badly she injured him.

It had been years on the last time someone was able to get the jump on him, he told Henry there was no reason to scout out the camp site.

Flashback

"This is going to make us look suspicious Henry, if they're your people, shouldn't be any issues with us just walking down there?" Marco didn't like hiding up on the hill.

"Reaper, what if the campsite was over run and it's just a trap waiting on us, think about it!" The General looks through the binoculars again.

"I see your point… I think I see a opening on the right side about a 100 yards from here." Marco puts down his binoculars and points to where Henry should look at.

"Seems to be a good spot for us to use with make sure everything is on the up and up?" The men start to make their way down the hill slowly to not draw in any attention.

"I'll take point, stay behind me." Marco starts to move in and checks out the area hiding next to a large container, he wave for Henry to follow.

Inside The Campsite

Asuka was running late for duty and had to get to her guard position fast, "I am not peeling potatoes for a week again!"

That's when she saw a man running out from behind a container into the campsite, "Looks like my night just got interesting."

She makes a mad dash for him, as he was waving for someone to join him, "NOT TODAY ASSHOLE?!"

Asuka was in midair ready to land and deal a death blow to the human, "FUUUUUUUUCK GGRRRRRRRR?!"

The human's back smaches onto the ground with her on top, the Jinko placed all her body weight to shove the knife into him.

As she was about to make it deep into his gut, she felt someone grab her hair. She was stunned and then thrown 15 feet away from Marco's body.

"STAND DOWN DAMN IT, HE'S NOT YOUR ENEMY!?" Asuka couldn't believe who was yelling at her… all the reports said he was surely dead.

He places has massive hands over Marco's heart to stop the bleeding, "MEDIC!?" The medical personnel take over and started to treat Marco.

Asuka was frozen and couldn't move, "YOU!?"

"Sir… I... I..." She starts to back away from Henry as he makes his way to her.

"If he doesn't make it, you will not see another day!" Reaching down now and picking Asuka up by the throat.

"His life is now tied with yours! You better pray to whatever God you feel is the true one for his speedy recovery!" Henry could snap her neck if he wanted too, but couldn't seeing how she was only doing her job and Marco was right about this being a bad idea.

Slowly she is placed back onto her feet, "Soldier, make your way to the human and stay with him at all times…"

Without hesitation, "SIR YES, SIR!?" Asuka runs like hell holding her neck as she was now in the tent Marco was being worked on.

Flashback Over

"Don't move!" She brings the cup to his lips to drink it.

"This isn't weird..." Was in each of their mind.

They were trying not to stare at each other, "Thanks for the help..." Marco rather spit in her face.

Later That Day

While he didn't feel a 100%, he was walking around the camp trying to find Henry. "Shit man... these people keep looking at me like I disrespected their ancestors when I describe him?"

"Reaper?" Henry tracked him down after being told about his escape .

"Why the hell did you leave that tent I left you in to recover and where the hell is that Soldier?" Doesn't anyone listen to him around here?

"I told her to blow... what in the hell are you wearing?" Marco noticed his outfit seem to be military like.

"We'll talk about that later, but you're ready to fall over, you need rest!" Henry was trying to keep his temper in check after seeing the mess Marco was in right now. His upper chest was wrapped up tight with blood seeping out between the wraps.

He shouldn't be on his feet yet let alone walking the whole campsite looking for Henry, "Look… I don't even care anymore, just get your ass back into the tent and get some damn rest. I'm still recovering after our adventure also."

"I need to get out of here… just wanted to say good luck with everything and all that good happy stuff!" Marco wasn't going to have any of that as he starts to walk away, then takes a knee on the ground before falling over completely.

"How the hell do you plan on doing that in your condition shithead?" Henry picks him up and put him over his shoulder.

"GENERAL... let us take care of that" The PSD team tried taking Marco from him.

"STAND DOWN... I OWE THIS MAN MY LIFE" The Bison makes his way back to the tent Marco belongs in.

"Damn right Hen-" He passes out.

Next Day

"So you're The General that everyone been talking about... that's cool... why didn't you tell me that before?" Marco has heard of him in his travels.

"You never asked." Henry just laughs as the Human stares at him in a state of shock.

"Should have expected that much… well seeing how I'm able to stand now, I'm going to get out of here!" He then gets up from the chair.

"Reaper... I could use a man of your skills here. I've told some of my people of our little tale on getting back here. You already have a small fan club that would like to meet the Reaper." Henry really wanted him to stay long enough to give his people new hope on winning this war.

"Look, I'm really glad you feel that way about me and all, but Hekapoo is waiting for me..." He just wanted to get to her and keep on with their game.

"I understand love my friend... one of the greatest feelings anyone could ever have and cherish. I had someone that was very dear to me." He looks at a photo on his desk of the woman he loved and missed very much.

"This war had taken her from me and now I live to continue her memory on ending it. I'm going to ask you to help me with my goal... please." Henry put out his hand wanting Marco to stay and fight beside him.

"Damn it Henry... I'll stay, but I follow no orders, but yours... you should know that I'm not a Soldier." Then he takes his hand in a tight grip.

"Could have fooled me with the way you carry yourself!" The General opens a drawer and pours out two drinks.

"I owe that to Hekapoo and the mentors I've met along the years... just what in the hell were you doing in Ishvalan anyway?" He takes the drink.

"First a toast, to… hell, I don't know, I just need a drink!" They raise the glasses.

"I'll drink to that... why do I feel like I won't be seeing Hekapoo for a long time?" They laugh together.

"Now to answer your question, I was on R&R... things were going smoothly until my team was attacked and I was the only one left alive. If it wasn't for you, I surely would have died in some drain ditch." He slams the drink down his throat and hits the glass on the table.

"Then you thought because I was such a great guy, you'd asked me to help you get back out here... no wonder so many people wanted a piece of us?" Marco taps his glass for a refill.

"You could have easily said no... just wanted to put that out there." They tap the glasses together again.

"Damn this good-for-nothing conscience of mine!" They laugh and slam down the drinks.

"Don't say that... it's hard to find men out here worth a damn nowadays, I'm just glad you didn't know who I was or the bounty on my head!" He looks down at the empty drink in his hand.

"Hypothetically... if I did want this reward... how much would it fetch?" He raises his eyebrow.

"60 billion double dollars last time I checked?" The bottle was starting to run low already.

"Shut the fuck up... that much, huh?" Marco was scratching his chin.

"Yes, that much… now before we really get hammered, I want you to meet the factions and clans within my Army. Your rank from this day forward is Lieutenant, meet the men and work with them. If I had an Army full of men like you, this war would have been over in no time!" Henry pulls out Marco's rank from another drawer and throws it at him, he grunts and slams a freshly poured drink again.

"Look... you already fucked me so there's no need to buy me dinner now!" They both laugh harder as he pins on the rank and now finish off the bottle.

"By chance, do you know the name of that cat chick that attacked me?" Marco was rubbing one finger on the rim of the glass.

"She's a Jinko, ferocious species... you're lucky I was able to pull her off you when I did. Their people are extremely loyal and harden warriors, you're not a furry freak, are you?" Henry just had to ask to make sure, not like there was anything wrong if he was,

"General... it's all pink on the inside!" He said as he was unable to keep a straight face.

"What the hell did I get myself into by meeting you Reaper?" Marco just laughs harder now leaving the office as he waves goodbye.