Chapter Seventeen

"Thank you… Garda, right?"

"That is correct. It is a pleasure to see you again, Rock… Oh, what does 'Gook' mean?"

"It's a racist word for a Korean person. I'm actually Japanese, not Korean… But they probably couldn't tell the difference…" Rock said. Garda nodded.

"Hello, Linus… I wish we could have spoken longer the other day." She said, turning slightly pink and actually smiling at him. It was a thin, bland smile that seemed forced, but it also seemed genuine in some ways. Linus smiled at her as well.

"It's good to see you as well. The outside world is stranger than I expected it to be. We've been gone from the facility for years, but I still am not accustomed to normal humans.

"I fear I used too much power in dealing with Revy. I hope I haven't crippled her." Linus said. Garda sighed, walking over to Revy, twisting her arm and setting her shoulder and elbow and compressing on her wrist, setting the bones in the right place before she injected Revy with a strange green solution.

"Her arm should be as good as new by tomorrow. You always were the most compassionate of the experiments.

"I think that's why I found myself attracted to you… As much as any of us could be, anyway." Garda said. Linus blushed slightly. "You're embarrassing me in front of my friends… But I am flattered." Linus chuckled nervously.

"And for the record, I admired your tenacity. Do you remember the day we were learning a new form in the martial art Genesis had created specifically for superhumans?"

"Yes. I was just 4-F29 back then. We hadn't even given ourselves human names yet. I had dislocated my elbow, wrist and shoulder and gotten a hairline fracture in my tibia, but I refused to stop practicing until I got the form perfect, even with my infirmities. The scientists feared that I would cripple myself. But I injected myself with the healing solution and kept practicing."

"Exactly… I didn't know from love back then, but I was so attracted to you that day… And ever since…" Linus said, his blush deepening. Garda sighed, kissing Linus on the lips. It felt a little lukewarm, like she was going through the motions of emotions she was only just beginning to experience. But Linus's world was still lighting up like the Fourth of July.

"You always were the poetic one, Linus. Sheaves and sheaves of paper covered in tiny, neat handwritten poetry and short stories. Science-Fiction and Horror stories if I remember correctly." She said, laughing, although her laughter still seemed a little empty.

"Your emotions are showing, Garda Klein." Linus said. Garda's eyes widened.

"Sorry… I don't mean to."

"No, no… I like it. It's nice to see you finally embracing your human side. How did you do getting the Russian Mafia to take you in?"

"She gave us a test. She pitted us against three of her best soldiers." Garda said, seeming amused by this.

"Oho… I hope you didn't kill them?"

"No… But I said that I would take all three on alone and emasculated all three of them. Miss Balalaika was duly impressed by my combat skill. I told her that all three of us were approximately at the same level and she hired all three of us. It didn't seem to matter that none of us were Russian…" Garda said. "It would be great if you would join us. "

"I can't. I've sworn my loyalty to Lagoon Company."

"Please, Linus? For me? Remember that time you humiliated that Special Ops sniper? He challenged you to a sharpshooting contest and you hit a bullseye at 100 yards without a scope with a handgun. He tried the same shot and couldn't even hit the target."

"That was the first time I actually laughed in my life."

"I remember… It sounded like a weird cackle. But you got the rest of his allies laughing as well. The Korean Black Ops Team tried to recruit you, but you refused. And I laughed as well… It was… Fun… I'm using that term properly, right?"

"Yes… Why don't you join Lagoon Company with me?" Linus asked.

"Because I think your girlfriend isn't the kind to want to share… She seems the possessive type."

"Well… Miss Revy probably is. But she's not my girlfriend. She's just my coworker, and I don't think I did myself any favors with her by defeating her in single combat. I could have thrown the match, but I guess I was being a bit vain in beating her with one hand tied behind my back."

"That was pretty impressive. Do you want to get Miss Revy into the hotel? We can throw her in her bed, and then I can throw you down on your bed… Yeah?" She asked, smirking, mimicking Linus' own speech quirk. Linus laughed, blushing slightly.

"That would be… Divine… But I'm afraid I have to decline… For now… I wouldn't want to be interrupted, yeah? Especially by Miss Revy… Who would probably unload a few clips into me."

Linus and Garda laughed, but Linus picked Revy up, throwing her over his shoulder, carrying her upstairs and putting her in a bed, and sitting down with Garda.

"So… Where are Alric and Astrid? Did they… Decide not to join you?" Linus asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No… We simply stayed behind to assure people that they had not been cheated by your dimwitted Japanese friend.

"There were still many who were uncertain of how you managed to defeat the violent street urchin and we assured them that you simply had been training in martial arts since you were able to walk and thus did not need to cheat to win." Alric said. Astrid looked around.

"Your room is… Likely not up to your standard of living." She said. Linus sighed.

"Well… It's a little bit rustic, but it works. I've slept in worse, yeah." The young mercenary replied.

"Garda… You are welcome to stay with this so-called 'Lagoon Company' if you prefer. You can be with Linus again. I am certain that Miss Balalaika would not begrudge you the most insipid but natural of human emotions." Alric said, seeming to neither begrudge Garda her emotions nor support her. Garda sighed. She didn't want to leave Alric and Astrid, both of whom she had been travelling with for two years. But she wanted to be with Linus again as well.

"Rokuro Okajima… You have a woman, correct?" Garda asked. Rock nodded.

"Please, call me Rock if you would? Rokuro died in the South China Sea years ago. Rock is all that's left." Rock said. Garda nodded.

"Very well. You have a woman, Rock. What would you do?

"You have a chance to remain with the allies that you've travelled with for two years, ever since you met back up with them in Paris. What would you do?"

"I…Listen, Garda… I was a typical Japanese salaryman before I came to Roanapur. On a business trip, I was taken hostage by the Lagoon Company and they planned to blackmail my company. I was told to disappear, that I would be declared dead.

"So I did. I joined Lagoon Company. It wasn't until after I left my old life behind that I realized how much I hated it, and how it was killing me. Here… Well, I'm not sure if I'm free, but I'm closer to freedom than I ever was in Japan. I'm just not sure I'm the right person to ask. I would never want to see my old friends and family again." Rock said. Garda sighed, seeming distressed that he wasn't able to answer her question.

"But… It's really up to what you think is right, Garda… Either way, you'll still have both things. Your friends will still be in Roanapur, doing jobs and Linus will still be here. You're still in the same town." Rock said. Garda nodded. "Yeah, I know… Do you ever feel empty when you're away from your girlfriend?"

"Not really. I see her often enough. We go on a date at least once a week and we both have lives separate from each other. We understand that. Frederica lives with a Taiwanese assassin and… Actually, I'm not quite sure what Lotton is. He's learning to be a gunman… He's gotten a lot better; stronger, more athletic… But he's still a bit clumsy… Maybe you could help him?"

"I doubt it. Guns aren't my strong point. You two should ask Linus about that. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to teach both of you. You'd be in the best possible hands with him." Garda said.

"Lotton will be happy to hear that. Revy is charging a lot of money to teach him and Lotton, being mediocre at best at shooting right now doesn't have the money. He'll probably in debt to Revy for the next twenty years by the time he gets enough skill to stop asking Revy for lessons."

"I see… Well, I doubt Linus would ask for any money, but you should ask him. I can't speak for him." Garda said, gesturing Linus in. He hurried back into the room, having been checking on Revy. The mad gunwoman was beginning to stir. He was sure she would be awake within five minutes.

"I heard… I'm happy to take both you and your friend, Lotton on as students. I take it you'll be wanting martial arts, gunmanship and general Parkour lessons all together, right?"

"That's what Revy has been doing. I don't think she calls it Parkour. It's just an acrobatic fighting/running style that she developed for herself kind of freeform." Rock said. Linus nodded.

"She is a very adept fighter. Even I'm impressed by her skill. I don't know that any normal human I've met could beat her…"

"Rosarita Cisneros beat her. A man named Manslayer Ginji almost beat her."

"Mm… I've heard of Manslayer Ginji. His trademark is being able to cut bullets with his sword."

"It was. Revy killed him." Rock said casually. At that moment, Revy walked out, rubbing her head.

"Goddamnit! What the fuck did you do to me, motherfucker!" Revy screamed, grabbing her gun and shoving it in Linus' face. "My head is fucking killing me!"

"I hit a pressure point on your Carotid Artery. It knocked you out without having to do brain damage to you. You will want to relax for a while… I was careful not to do excessive damage to your body, but you passed out due to the shock of being hit there. Plus, your arm is still healing. I reset your elbow and your shoulder, but your wrist fracture is still healing."

"Fuck you! I'm gonna fucking kill you, asshole!" Revy screamed, unloading a few bullets in Linus' direction. Linus grabbed Rock's gut blade and sliced one in half, and dodged the other two. Revy's eyes widened. This man was incredible. Even Manslayer Ginji or Roberta would have had nothing on Linus. Still, he had beaten her in a fight, and she was still deciding whether to admire his skill or get revenge. She could shoot him in his sleep, but that didn't seem too satisfying.

But seriously, could this guy do everything? She tried shooting him several times and he either dodged or cut the bullet in half. He was more agile than Jumbo, stronger and more talented than Roberta, and more accurate than Chang. He could singlehandedly put all of Roanapur out of business.

"If you could fight with a chainsaw, you could put Leatherface outta business too, damnit!"

"I can fight with a chainsaw. They make for excellent intimidation weapons, but not terribly practical. Alric built a chainsaw that ran about fifteen times more efficiently than your typical chainsaw. It was made out of a metal developed by the Genesis project. Its blade rotates at approximately 500 mph. It can cut through a human like a hot knife through butter and when the blade gets back into the mechanism, it spits out the meat and bone shards so that it doesn't get gunked up." Linus said.

"I learned to fight with that… Actually, I should still have it with me… Alric gave it to me for my birthday one year. Honestly, it was completely pointless. Great gift, but I use guns, not a chainsaw… You should give it to Frederica for her birthday. It's coming up, isn't it?" Linus asked. Rock nodded.

"But how did you know?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. Linus laughed.

"I did my research on you guys before I came to join you. It would've been stupid not to, yeah?" He asked. Rock nodded.

"How much would I owe you for the chainsaw?" Rock asked.

"Normally I'd say nothing, but since you're giving it as a gift and not me, let's say 300 dollars."

"Really? That's all? You could probably make thousands off of it on the market." Rock said.

"Take it before I change my mind." Linus said, winking. Rock nodded and took 300 dollars out of his pocket, handing it to Linus, who pocketed it and dug through his boxes, which had just arrived earlier that day.

"Ah! Here it is! It's about five feet long. Here." He said, handing Rock a huge chainsaw that Rock tried to lift, expecting it to be difficult to wield because of its size and weight. Surprisingly, it was very light considering how big it was.

"It weighs much less than an average chainsaw of its size. It was designed for combat wielding, so the metal is lighter than aluminum but stronger than titanium.

"Garda joked and called it up-your-tanium… Ahh… She has a strange sense of humor. Alric simply calls it "Unnamed Metallic Compound 52… I've taken to calling it Qo'ostreodium… I dunno… I wanted to give it a weird name. I'm sure your girl will love it. Her birthday is in three days."

"Either this guy is a better researcher than Benny-boy, or he's a weird ass stalker that you should watch out for. I'm voting for the second one…" Revy whispered to Rock.

"Thank you, Linus… I'm sure Frederica will love this. How many rotations per second does it do?"

"I'll… Write everything down for you to give to her. It's only right that a cleaner such as herself should understand her weapon of choice." Linus said, taking a pen and writing everything down in very neat calligraphic font, finally handing it to Rock and helping him wrap everything.