Chapter 2: Nothing is True

Review Replies

calderoneric758: You motherfucker you based him off the most badges red coat wearing badges from the nineties Trigun ... I fucking love it man

Dragon Emperor0: Good to hear

ThermalsniperN7: Very good.

church2550: You really brought in a version of Vash the Stampede from Trigun into the world of Black Lagoon? You two are crazy and I'm all aboard for this crazy ride. Roanapur is in for one rude awakening

ThermalsniperN7: Collateral damage is going to be high. That's a promise.

Dragon Emperor0: Yep.

-West China Sea-

In the island refuge of Roanapur, a boat came into port, allowing a figure to hop down onto the dock.

The figure in question was around five eight and looked to be a twenty one year old young man, however, his head was obstructed by what he was wearing.

The man was Caucasian, probably an Italian American and was dressed in a pair of jeans, sneakers, a white t-shirt, and a white beaked hoodie with a red interior.

Though what really seemed odd about this person, was the tattoo on his arm. Which looked like a stylized A in the form of an eagle's beak.

Weapons wise, the guy had a pocket knife, a gun on his waist, and a pair of machetes cross strapped to his back.

"Alright… Time to look around for Hades." The man muttered with a slight Italian accent before he started walking around.

(Elsewhere)

"Thanks for the lift, guys." Hades grinned as he hopped off the Lagoon company's boat.

"Yeah yeah, just get outta here." Revy barked, flipping the man off.

"Ya know, you never said who you're meeting." Rock noted idly, getting a hiss from Revy, who gestured for him to shut up.

"Oh, I'm gonna meet a buddy of mine, Julius Caesar Maro." The gunman stated. "He's a guy I met in little Italy. Needs my help with something." He elaborated.

"You mean he's crazy enough to ask you for help?" Benny remarked with a raised eyebrow.

"Rude." Hades huffed. "But yeah. Whatever he needs my help with must be nuts if he told me to meet him here." He added.

"That much is definitely obvious." Dutch stated as Spot hopped off the boat. "Well, take care out there, Hades."

"Will do! Oh, here." The black haired man said as he tossed a stack of cash at the man. "Hope that's enough!" He called as he walked away, leaving the company to get back to work.

(Timeskip)

Lagoon company sighed as they kicked back after a botched boat job that turned out to be a trap by one of Dutch's old acquaintances, if they could be called that. It was a waste of time and other shit that just left them feeling drained.

That's when Dutch offered to take them to a local bar, much to Revy's excitement since she wanted to stay there until dawn.

As the group entered the bar, they found that Hades was already there, and he was busy trying to smooth talk his way out of getting beaten up by Balalaika's men.

"Guys, really. Is beating me into the ground really necessary? I haven't done anything since I got here." The walking disaster asked, trying to sound smooth.

"True. But the captain says that, knowing you, everywhere you go–trouble isn't far behind." The biggest of the guys, Ivan, said–leaning down to the man's eye level as Rock and the gang sat down at the bar.

"Dang it, curse my sparkling reputation." The walking human hurricane hissed under his breath.

"Hey, Ivan. Keeping an eye on him?" Revy asked.

"Oh, hey two-hands. Yeah, me and the boys are making sure that the disasterpiece over here doesn't wreck the place." The man replied with a nod.

"Yeah, well I'd lay off. Trust me, he's been about as much of a nuisance as a cockroach since he got here." The woman told him. "Sit down, have a drink, and if he does cause trouble, then kill him." She added. "Until then, let's at least try not to ruin the vibes of a good drink night, yeah?"

"... Fine. Take a seat, boys. No reason to waste good booze, da?" Ivan shrugged before he and his men took some seats. Hades slumped over in relief a moment later.

"Thanks for that. I was getting worried they'd actually punch my handsome face in." He chuckled.

"Don't mention it." Revy dismissed as she ordered a rum. "No seriously,,don't, or I'll do it for them." She added, holding up a fist.

"*Gulp* Uh, sure." The man nodded as he went back to his drink.

Meanwhile, Rock turned to look around and noticed a rather odd scene outside. It was a man in a white hoodie who was walking down the street, when one of the enforcers for the Italian mob stopped him–and the man responded by flicking his wrist and punching him.

This made the other man slump over as the man in the hoodie pushed him against the wall, making him lean against it as if he was sleeping… Before he started walking towards the bar.

"The fuck…?" The former businessman muttered in confusion. Revy looked at him and followed his gaze before spotting the hoodie wearing man.

"What's got you interested in some rando?" She asked.

"It looked like he just knocked out an Italian mobster, but I can't tell." He replied.

"Seriously? Guy must be a beast." Benny said, noticing that man too.

The figure walked towards the bar and sat at the very end, taking off his hood to reveal what he looked like.

His features definitely looked Italian, with brown hair, eyes, and a scar on the right side of his lip. He was also rather handsome, with sharp cheekbones and a strong chin with mature eyes. Like a young Julius Caesar.

As he sat he ordered a drink and seemed to keep to himself for a good twenty minutes, ordering another drink.

This didn't last, however, as Ivan checked his phone and his face hardened as he whispered for one of his men to approach the guy.

"Oi, yaponski I'm gonna need you to come with me." Ivan's lackey told him.

"Not interested." The man replied uncaringly.

"It wasn't a–" The Russian mafia member started to say before his head was suddenly slammed onto the bar, getting everyone's attention.

"I said I'm not interested, damn it!" The hoodie wearing man growled in irritation as a wrist blade came from his left sleeve.

"Holy shit!" Benny gasped as he and Rock backed up, the latter realizing that the blade that was just deployed was what took out that Italian mobster.

As the Russian mobster was held at blade point, the rest of the bar soon saw the guy's tattoo, and the Lagoon company all collectively tensed up–save Rock.

It looked like a black, stylized letter A, but really it was an imprint of an eagle's skull. It was an assassin's symbol.

"Aw shit." Dutch cursed as the group tried not to move.

"What? What's going on?" Rock asked.

"See that tattoo that guy has? That's a symbol of an Assassin Brotherhood nobody in Roanapur is dumb enough to cross." Revy told him, her entire body tense.

"Exactly. Crossing them is a sign of bad luck, and you'll be dead before you realize it." Benny added, looking very wary.

"Assassin Brotherhood? Never heard of them." The former businessman muttered.

"What? Never seen a secret society before?" Revy questioned.

"No, but then they wouldn't be secret if the whole world at large knew about them, would they?" Rock shot back.

"Oh, well, point taken." The femme fatale conceded.

This standoff continued as Ivan and the rest of his men drew their weapons and pointed them at the Assassin.

"Lower the blade, Assassin." Ivan ordered.

"Leave me be, and maybe I will." The Assassin retorted.

It was then that Hades finally noticed everything that was going on–having not heard anything because of having headphones on.

"Julius? Julius! Hey! You made it!" The man said as he stood up.

"Huh?" Julius uttered as he turned to who he was looking for. "Oh! Hades! I didn't even notice you were here." He smiled as he let his hostage go.

"The guy Hades was looking for is an Assassin?!" Benny whispered in disbelief.

"What a headache…" Dutch groaned.

"Don't worry guys, he's a friend of mine." Hades said as he slowly pushed Ivan's gun down.

"Did you bring the map?" Julius questioned as he and Hades convened at another part of the bar, the Russian mobsters watching them.

"Yep. Got it right here." The hidden badass nodded, handing him a white cylinder.

"Good." Julius nodded before giving him some cash. "Your payment." He added.

"Thank you." The gunslinger nodded. "... So what now?" He questioned.

"Simple, now you're gonna help me get the package to the site this map mentions." The assassin stated, looking around. "Before my enemies figure out I'm here." He added.

"You got it." Hades nodded in agreement. "Should we leave right away?" He asked.

"That would be best." The Assassin nodded. "Preferably in a ship with a competent crew." He added.

"Hmmm…" The man hummed before looking back at the Lagoon company who had gone back to their drinks. "I think I may know one." He nodded.

(The next day)

The Lagoon company was now getting their boat ready for their new job. Literally last night, Hades offered them an escort job in getting Julius to wherever the map lead, and were promised a cut of whatever it was they found.

After some extremely cautious debate (for good reason), they agreed.

"There's no way it's just simple pirate treasure from the 1700s." Rock remarked as he got some stuff loaded. "I'm not that naive." He added.

"The identity of what we're trying to retrieve is on a need to know basis." Julius stated as he got in the boat. "And right now? You don't need to know." He added as they hopped inside the boat's cabin.

"I get it. I didn't even realize what kind of shit I was carrying before I landed with this company." The ex office worker shrugged. Not knowing what he was carrying or receiving felt commonplace to him.

"Yeah, well fuck that!" Revy yelled as she kicked over a stack of empty beer cans and stepped her boot on a chair. "If I'm gonna risk my neck, I wanna know what I'm trying to get. So why don't you tell your secrecy to go fuck itself and tell me what the hell it is we're looking for?!" She yelled, flipping the assassin the bird.

"Chill, Revy. If we wanna collect our pay for this job, we're gonna have to put up with it." Benny told her as he looked over his instruments.

"Ya know what?! Fuck it! I'll be on the deck!" The gunslinging woman growled before heading to the deck.

"... This is what you have to deal with on a daily basis?" Julius questioned.

"Yep/pretty much." Rock and Benny nodded.

"My condolences." The assassin said.

"Alright people, we're leaving!" Dutch called as the torpedo cast off. As they traveled, Rock decided to bring up the question that had been plaguing him.

"Hey, Julius. I know you won't tell us what that map is leading us to, but what place is it even leading us to?" He asked.

"Well, I guess that's not sensitive." The Assassin shrugged, not seeing the harm. "It's taking us to a rocky cove a decent distance from Roanapur between it and the south China sea, specifically between it and the coast of Hong Kong." He explained.

"That sounds pretty dangerous, not gonna lie." Benny called from the tech room.

"It's a treasure hide hole, what did you exactly expect, Benny?" Dutch called back.

"Point made!" The techie conceded.

The rest of the trip was mostly silent, the only chatter being Benny saying that there were no boats following them every now and then. Revy was still stewing on the deck, not enjoying the secrecy.

"Well this is awkward." Hades noted awkwardly as he sat next to Julius while Rock went topside.

Julius only rolled his eyes. "Sure, captain obvious."

(Elsewhere)

Meanwhile, on the topside of the boat, Rock walked across the deck towards where Revy was sitting on the bow, before handing her a cold beer as he sat down.

"Hey, Revy." The Japanese ex-business greeted in a placating tone, as if trying to keep a bear calm whilst you try to sit next to it.

"Yeah, hey." The gunslinger snapped softly, her earlier steam dying down as she took the beer and opened it.

"What do you think this whole thing is gonna get us? I know Hades and Julius are keeping quiet, but I can't help but wonder." The man mused as he popped open his own beer.

"Don't have a fuckin' clue. I just hope it's worth all this secrecy shit." Revy shrugged as she took a sip.

"I hear that." Rock nodded. "This kind of secrecy was common back at my old job. Nobody ever told me what I was delivering or what I was looking for." He added, sounding a little bitter about it.

"That's pretty fuckin' pathetic, Rock." The woman barked in distaste.

"Yeah. Why do you think I joined you guys?" He questioned with a small smile, getting a light punch in the arm.

"Fuck off." The purple haired pirate retorted as the boat slowed down. Revy turned to face where they were going and her face almost went pale. "Oh shit." She gasped in horror.

"What?" The ex-businessman wondered as he looked where she was looking… and swore his heart nearly stopped at what he saw. "Oh, kiss my ass…" He groaned in dismay.

What was in front of them was a monolithic mountain that was covered by jagged rocks that beared an ominous resemblance to a ribcage, and the opening of a cave at the center of the mountain gave it the appearance of the open maw of a demon, eye shaped formations included.

"That sonuvabitch." Revy cursed under her breath as she looked at Rock. "They're leading us straight to Naraka's Backbone!" She exclaimed as the said area got closer and closer…

This did not look good.

Dragon Emperor0: For those of you unaware, Naraka is one of the Hindu and Buddhist kings of the Nine hells. So essentially, this is a Chinese version of the Devil's Spine Rock formation from pirate legends.

ThermalsniperN7: So you can bet that shit's gonna hit the fan once they get close to the place… And that Revy's gonna swear up a hurricane.

Dragon Emperor0: No kidding. Also, apparently Hades was going to Roanapur to meet a mother f*cking assassin. That's a swerve

ThermalsniperN7: Makes me wonder what kind of shit Lagoon company is stepping it with him involved. And if they'll get out alive… Ah, who am I kiddin'? They will.

Dragon Emperor0: They better. Else we won't have a story. Anyway, see you guys later.