(A/N) Hi, this is a story I've been cooking up in the works a what if story based on an alternate universe where what if Rock finally gave into the darkness at the end of Roberta's Blood Trail which was heavily hinted that Rock was starting to lose his good self to get what he wanted, however to build up where that began I'm making a prologue before those events took place and the chapter afterwards will take place after the arc (I'm basing the blood trail after the manga version so if details confuse you consult the manga release) without further ado ladies and gentlemen lets begin.
Black Lagoon is owned by Rei Hiroe and Viz Media please support the official release
(Chapter 1 - Regret)
Everything around him faded into darkness, the sound of Revy's voice in pain telling him to look at her as he looked on with regret, disgust in himself and sorrow for the one who he failed to save. Yukio plunged the sword into her throat, the sound of her choking on her own blood but continued to plunge the sword in until she fell onto Ginji's body. Rock shed a tear as he clenched his fist until he felt a touch on his arm which came from Revy who was losing blood.
"Crap, sorry let me patch that up" Rock grunted.
"I'm not gonna act soft Rock but in his line of work you see a lot worse than what you saw today, I'm sorry you feel this way but you won't like what Balalaika has got next after this now" She grunted in pain.
Rock didn't say a word back to her as his eyes diverted back to the two bodies on the floor, they weren't the enemy before all this, sure as hell the innocent Yukio didn't want this before forcing herself to accept the darkness to protect her family legacy, all for a bit of money this world is a fucking mess.
"Dutch will be here soon we best get out here before the cops come." Rock said quietly.
"Rock..." Revy said.
"Please just...I need a moment to process all this" He replied sternly.
Normally she would fight back at his attitude but realising it might make the situation worse and that she was about to pass out should she remotely yell at him she kept tight lipped, Instead she watched him look out into the sea lighting a cigarette.
*Don't lose faith in yourself Rock* She thought before sitting back against a light post.
It wouldn't be long before Dutch would arrive helping Rock carry Revy into the vessel as sirens echoed through the street which was their signal to get the hell out of there. Benny drove them off as Dutch and Rock continued to carry Revy into her bed where they disinfected her wound and redressed it with better bandages which by this point Revy was conked out on the bed thankfully her condition was stable.
"You cut that pretty close Benny, just hope we're blamed for their deaths" Dutch said.
"Their? Wait Yukio and the scary man in the glasses are dead?" Benny asked.
"Balalaika's orders were to seize the Japanese underground in whatever means necessary. Just so happens the girl was the daughter of a significant part of that underground"
"Damn...that's a bit much don't you think?" He asked.
"A jobs a job Benny its not a good idea to go against Hotel Moscow in a 4 man army against a militia" He finished before sitting down.
Rock eavesdropped on the conversation showing annoyance to Dutch's almost passive nature to what they just did today. But what did he expect even before they got here they probably did something similar in the past and walked away not without Dutch turning his head slightly and sighed as he realised that Rock was close by.
"I think we need to get Rock's mind off this, mans been through enough today and I heard that girl was close to him before this" He said standing up.
"What's with the change of heart? Benny asked.
"None of your business" Dutch finished.
"Fair enough" Benny replied turning on the TV.
(The Next Day)
Revy woke up with shock and pain when she realised that her knee was still healing much to her chagrin. That was until she saw coffee next to her bedside along with a crutch for her to use, she took a small sip which was the best thing to wake up to after a long night.
"Man I'm starved" She said to herself.
She slowly left the room trying to get used to moving with one left, this will surely put her out of a job for a good few months. She saw Benny napping on his chair until Revy used the crutch to whack him in the leg.
"Ow wha-? Oh yawn Good morning Revy how you feeling" Benny said stretching.
"Like shit, I'm gonna assume it was you who made me the coffee?" She asked.
"Nah that was Rock he didn't say a word this morning so Dutch took him out to breakfast" He said lighting a cigarette.
"sigh Shit..." She rubbed her eyes.
"Dutch told me about yesterday it seems he's taking is way harder than any of us here" Benny said taking a puff.
"It seems that way...the look in his eyes Benny they reeked of vengeance" She said clenching her fist.
"I think you should take him out sometime, we should get a decent amount of pay so we possibly can lay low for a while till this whole thing blows over" Benny said.
"You may be right" She replied.
(In a market district somewhere in Roanapur)
Crowds of people swarmed the streets more so than before with the news quickly spreading of the dissolution of the Washimine crime family and Hotel Moscow making their claim on part of the Japanese underground. Dutch sat outside drinking some coffee as he looked at the numerous police officers barricading the roads while cars drove in.
"Excuse me sir you have a minute?" A young officer asked nervously.
"Sure thing officer sips coffee What's the problem?" Dutch replied.
"Well...we're looking for people that may have been linked to the t-two murders that happened last night, witnesses say they saw a brown haired girl lighting up the streets with g-gunfire and when it was all over t-the bodies were left behind" The officer stammered but managed to explain.
*Shit...* "Gonna have to be more specific officer there's a lot of brown haired girls here, we've been in Roanapur for two weeks" Dutch explained.
"We sir?" The officer asked.
"He means me Officer, what he says is true we've just been taking a small holiday" Rock said holding two boxes.
"Well...t-thank you for your time" The officer said bowing.
He soon walked off and Rock handed Dutch one of the boxes which contained a burger in each and he sat down without saying a word he took a bite out of the burger.
"You haven't said a thing all day Rock" Dutch said taking a puff of his cigarette.
"Got nothing to talk about, nothing you'd want to hear anyway" He replied.
"I know what you're thinking and I would advise you to not pursue it further" Dutch warned.
Rock slightly glared at him until he looked over noticing a familiar woman approaching them with her signature glasses and smug grin on her face.
"Eda, its been a while" Dutch said.
"Good to see you both alive and well especially you Rocky boy" She flirted.
Rock paid her no mind as he took out a cigarette and lit it obviously to the hubris of the playful blonde.
"Did something happen?" She asked.
"We'll talk about it when we find some privacy something tells me we're being watched" Dutch said holding his gun inside his pocket.
Soon after a black car pulled up near them as a few men left the car as a tall blonde woman left the car, it was Balalaika the source of Rock's bitterness looking at them with her usual smirk as she took a puff of her cigar as her henchmen closed the door staying close to her.
"Ms Balalaika, its good to see you are doing well" Dutch said looking at Rock.
"Almost well Dutch, had a few stragglers from washimine's excursion but they were dealt with swiftly." She said taking another puff of her cigar
Rock sat in silence as he clenched his tea in his hand not unnoticed by Eda who looked at him with slight concern as she asked herself what got Rock all riled up, she put her hand on his arm as he settled realising he needed to calm down otherwise he would do something he would regret...or would he? At this point it matters not to the boy.
"I commend you for handling Ms Washimine and her samurai boyfriend Rock I'll make sure the Lagoon company get a substantial cut from this" She said looking at him with her usual grin.
"Actually Ms Balalaika neither Rock nor Revy killed her according to Rock she committed suicide after Revy killed her bodyguard" Dutch jumped in.
"It matters not what happened Dutch, they were at the scene so far as I'm concerned you lot pulled the trigger so to speak" She looked at Eda and Rock "Where is the girl anyway? I know she wouldn't want to miss an occasion like this" She asked.
"She sustained quite a number of injuries to her leg Ma'am she might be out for a while" Rock said taking a sip of his tea.
"Well...good thing you are getting a big pay day today, make sure she's in good condition in a month I will your company soon" She demanded.
Rock stood up dropping his tea on the table as he clenched his fists in anger.
"You don't give a damn about anyone but your own skin, we'll help when she's able to walk without breaking her bones!" Rock yelled.
Because of his exaggerated body motion Balalaika's guards raised their weapons in case he attempted to assault her, she looked back with a stern look which turned back to her grin as she walked towards him.
"I should cut your tongue for the way you spoke to me but considering you been through a lot of stress clearly I will let you vent all you want. Business is business Rock in this world there's no fair chances you've seen that already, you can't save everyone" She finished caressing his face.
She walked back to the car as her guards got into the same car and they drove off leaving the street a partial ghost town with the few civilians gawking at the two lagoon boys and Eda. Dutch rubbed his eyes in frustration but didn't chastise Rock if anything he probably needed to vent, at the end of the day they got paid and as such they decided to go back to the ship after picking up some food.
(Back at the ship)
Revy was up and not so about having been slumped onto the chair by Benny making sure she didn't put any weight on her leg which greatly irritated her considering she was being treated like she couldn't do anything for herself.
"Benny if you value your teeth stop babying me!" She yelled.
"Much as I would love to leave you to do your own thing the big guy gave me rules to keep you on your backside till they get back" Benny said with a bit of snark
"If I could move my leg I would kick your ass!" She growled.
"No need Revy we got you your favourite pizza" Dutch said entering the ship with the others.
"Eda? What you doing here?" She asked with some annoyance.
"Nice to see you too, I was gonna talk about a small job to pass the time before Scarface gave you another big job" Eda gave a grin shining her teeth at Revy.
Rock said nothing as he entered his sleeping quarters closing the door behind him leaving an awkward silence in his wake.
"I guess he's not hungry" Benny said taking a box off Dutch.
"Benny..." Dutch said sternly as Benny raised his arms slightly laying off the joke.
Revy kept her eye on the door as his face plagued her mind the moment that he almost cracked and she stood up with great pain but used her crutch to make her way to the bedroom as the silence remained at the remaining three ate pizza. Revy looked at Rock who collapsed onto the bed completely exhausted from the long day and for once threw a blanket over him as she left the bedroom.
"What's the job Eda?" Revy asked.
"Nothing too big like I said just a small smuggling round for the Sister that went tits up, so I was thinking are you good at a sniper since you can do your fancy movie flips?" She smirked obviously taking a jab at Revy.
"Nothing I can't handle all I got was a sword through the knee nothing I can't handle" She grimaced in pain.
"If you say so hehe, anyway we'll need a sniper because we will need to take out some of the smugglers who sold off the merch that we planned to sell to Hotel Moscow so figured I'd come ask you lot for help until I get the call that the sisters church got lit up like a Christmas tree" Eda explained.
"Sounds like these clowns are more than just smugglers for hire is Sister Yolanda alright then?" Dutch asked.
"Yeah she's fine took a few of the scumbags down which is where she gave me this" She took out a wallet with a military insignia on it.
"Pela Liberdade e Liberdade?" Benny asked.
"It means for freedom and liberty" A voice said.
"Oh Rock! You're awake" Benny said in surprise.
Rock gave a small smile and sat down taking a box of pizza and taking a slice out wolfing it down like he never ate in his life.
"I think I just needed to sleep I'm sorry for before I guess I was just...worn out and stressed from that day" Rock sighed.
"Its fine Rock long as you are feeling better we might need your help with some negotiations, you seem to understand this?" Dutch asked passing over the wallet.
"I only know a small bit of Portuguese from my work but yeah sounds like something liberators would say, could have used Yolanda to get easy access to weapons" Rock suspected.
Dutch nodded as he walked over to the ship and started it up much to the surprise of everyone when the boat rumbled.
"Eda point us in the right direction if they have the guns then no one here is safe" Dutch said sternly.
"What's got your dick in a twist?" Revy asked.
"Eda!" Dutch said louder.
"Right right! They should be at the cargo docks or warehouse I can't confirm the information we got was all over the place" She replied.
"Better than nothing" He finished.
The boat drove out of harbour while they were being watched by three people on the dock.
"I think they spotted us" One said.
"Probably cause all you do is show off and pose like some model!" Another yelled.
These three were the uncanny would've been unlikely trio of Shenhua, Lotton and Sawyer who recently started crashing at Shenhua's place after a botched assassination mission on Greenback Jane.
"They seem to be approaching the warehouse across the river" Sawyer said as she walked down the dock.
"Then lets get in the car and get the hell after them!" Lotten yelled.
The three of them ran to their car and sped off in hot pursuit of the lagoon company, back with said company they made a landing a rough one at that a bit far from the warehouse so Revy could mount a sniper on the hillside where she saw a few unidentified armed people walking into the warehouse.
"I think Dutch got the right place I see a few men with assault rifles, no watch towers or anything only guards out front" She said into a walkie.
"Then should be easy pickings for us, Eda put a silencer on your pistol and Benny keep an eye out for any reinforcements just in case things go south" Dutch replied.
"You got it boss" Benny replied.
Rock looked through his binoculars as his saw the guards remain in their spots and nodded at Dutch which he replied with the same nod as they snuck closer to the warehouse Benny raised his hands and signalled both Eda and Revy to shoot, they did and the bodies dropped to the floor. Dutch and Rock ran over quickly to hide the bodies away and were followed by Eda.
"Revy keep an eye out for any more guys" Dutch ordered.
"You got it...not like I got anything better to do" She groaned holding her bandaged knee.
They entered through the roof of the warehouse and looked down upon numerous men pushing crates and some of them taking weapons out of the crates laughing while they were speaking and cracking jokes.
"I think we found your stock" Rock whispered.
"Jesus Christ Eda, why does Yolanda have this much stock?" Dutch whispered.
"This isn't all of it, those assault rifles are our but the rest, they must've went on a worldwide mission to hoard these weapons" Eda whispered gritting her teeth in annoyance.
They shuffled across to create as little noise as possible until the sound of an explosion shook the entire area which alerted all of the armed men to get their weapons and survey the entire area.
"Revy! What the hell?" Dutch yelled.
"Revy ain't here boyo" The voice of Lotton said with bravado.
"What the hell have you done with her?" Rock growled.
"Ah there's the voice of our target glad to see you're still kicking after our fireworks display, those men are running around like chickens" Shenhua said.
"Its them Dutch, when we stopped them from killing Jane" Rock said in panic.
"Yeah which means that creepy girl should be with them now" Dutch said.
Right on cue Sawyer pulled the chain on her chainsaw and started swinging it at them, they all managed to dodge the oncoming slashes but the weight of all four of them caused the platform to come crashing down with most of them taking a heavy fall. Eda took the worst of it as she fell onto a box with a blood curdling as it broke her shoulder blade, this alerted the men as they turned their guns to the debris.
"Sawyer goddammit she's gonna ruin the plan!" Lotton yelled.
"Sawyer find the boy and get him out of there before it becomes a bloodbath" Shenhua said with concern.
Sawyer cracked her arm which was dislocated as she looked around while the dust cloud remained and came across Rock, unconscious and picked him up until she stopped when hearing a gun click. Dutch stood up like the fall did nothing to him and looked at Sawyer with a deadly stare with his glasses broken she could see the eyes of someone who would kill her if she took a step.
"Target was found but I think he's dead, going to retreat while I have cover" She said dropping Rock.
"Dead?! Fuck he was meant to be alive!" Lotton yelled dramatically.
"Lets go, the boss isn't going to like this" Shenhua sighed.
They dropped the walkie on Revy's body which she reacted to, she was never knocked out merely listening into who is the bitch that's gonna pay for hitting her without a fair fight. Dutch found an opening and carried Rock out with Eda just barely managing to stumble out gritting her lip so hard she was drawing blood.
"Benny get the boat...We're getting the hell out of here this job is not worth it" Dutch growled as he turned round seeing a box of grenades, using it as a distraction he shot at it when collapsed half of the warehouse as the armed men all ducked out of the way, some were killed whilst others were severely injured. Benny shot round almost splashing them with water and opening up the hatch, he grabbed Rock while Dutch ran to the hillside and helped Revy down while a chain explosion happened which caught the attention of many on the other side of the island.
"Benny punch it!" Dutch yelled.
Benny nodded and the boat shot off while the remaining men who ran out started shooting at them, but the group managed to escape. Revy stumbled over to Rock who was bleeding from the head as Benny grabbed a medical kit and got a wet towel to put against his head. Dutch went over to Eda helping her put her arm back in place again screaming in pain as he did but was happy to gain the feeling in her arm again as she sat back taking deep breaths.
"Rock! Wake up you asshole!" Revy yelled.
"That's not gonna help Revy he took a heavy fall" Dutch grunted.
"What the hell is Chingrish and those fucks doing here?" She continued yelling.
"I don't know Revy! All I know is that Rock is a target!" Dutch raised his voice.
Dutch sat down on the chair and rubbed his eyes in exhaustion as Revy glared at him and punched the table.
"You knew who they were didn't you?" She growled.
"I did know who they were, much different than they are today then back then" He said.
"You mean back in the war?" Eda asked.
"You know?" Dutch asked.
"Yeah, more I thought about it those lines and that insignia was what some of the soldiers did to raise morale for the people in dire situations...you would know" She looked at Dutch.
"Yeah...that's right, from the looks of things I think they're not smugglers but a militia, whatever caused their approach means someone here fucked with their country I think we need to have a talk with Ms Balalaika about this we can't have them taking over the world if I know these guys they'll keep coming and they're smart" Dutch said standing up and taking command of the ship.
"How's Rock?" Eda asked Revy.
"Luckily no broken bones just a big bump to the head he'll survive but Jesus Christ cutting it close" She grunted.
"That's...good. I better call Sister Yolanda about this" She sighed.
She stood up walking over to the phone dialling the number, suddenly rock woke up in shock and pain as he held his head.
"Take it easy you're safe...for now" Dutch said.
"What the hell happened? All I remember is Sawyer then falling" Rock said seething in pain.
"Let me explain" Dutch said.
They would recall what happened previously as they began to dock with Dutch realising a familiar car was waiting for them and he began to make his way outside and the car door opened as the woman he wanted to talk to stood there with a small smile Ms Balalaika herself.
"Hello Dutch I see you were responsible for those fireworks" She said.
"I helped but that's actually what I wanted to talk to you about I knew those men back there and its trouble" Dutch replied.
"Hmm well we can't have that now can we. Mr Chang is waiting for us about what happened here" Balalaika finished getting in the car.
"You lot will need to get in the car over there" A guard said.
"Problem is we can't have Revy or Rock join us they aren't in any good condition to fight" Dutch replied.
"Who said we would be fighting?" The guard asked.
"Its Hotel Moscow its what you do everyday cause people want to kill your boss" Dutch sighed.
"Fair enough, bring who you can and fill in the rest of your team when you get back" The guard finished getting in the car and driving off.
Dutch nodded and went back to the ship telling the crew what's going on and left with Eda and Benny leaving Rock and Revy on the ship. Rock looked down at his hand as his head felt fuzzy from his fall and put it down as he relaxed back.
"Don't feel so bad least you didn't get a sword in your knee?" Revy joked.
"I suppose, how's it feeling?" He asked.
"Getting better by the day guess I heal fast" She replied.
"That's good...Revy did we do the right thing?" He asked.
"If you mean about Yukio then no Rock there was no right thing about it but she was long gone so stop thinking about it, its over there's nothing you could've done in that moment" Revy said sighing in annoyance.
Rock just nodded and looked up to the roof and closed his eyes as sleep just overtook him.
A hotel somewhere deep in Roanapur had been a temporary hideout for Hotel Moscow as they gathered in a room. Dutch along with Eda and Benny looked outside to see if the men they encountered earlier followed them thankfully not the case.
"So new company?" A voice asked.
"You could say that Mr Chang" Dutch replied.
"Well along as she don't cause any issues for us I wanted to let you in on some information regarding our new threat" Chang explained.
"I won't need it Mr Chang I'm already familiar with these guys and how they tick so save us the trouble and just tell us why you needed us here instead of just telling me when I met you all outside" Dutch said with exasperation.
"Fair enough, its about the sudden bounty on your teammate Rock. Its causing problems not only did we also plan to reach those guerrillas but then we got told that chainsaw girl was seen leaving with two others from the island too. I'm not gonna ask why your friend is being targeted but something is telling me that he was spotted and that's causing problems for Ms Balalaika" Chang explained taking puffs from his cigarette.
"If you're telling me to relinquish him into your custody with all due respect he doesn't want anything to do with any of you" Dutch grunted.
"Oh whys that?" Chang asked.
"Do I even need to answer that? Our last job didn't exactly do well for him mentally" Dutch replied.
Chang took a puff of his cigarette "Bring him here when he's recovered its up to him and not someone else" He finished as he stood up leaving the room.
"You must understand Dutch, its not good for business for anyone. We will forge documents to confirm his death he will just work for us for some time" Balalaika responded.
"I'll bring him in, but I think I already know the answer" Dutch finished.
Balalaika shrugged as they all left. Dutch shook his head in annoyance knowing that these men that he knew and the sudden decision to hand Rock over to Hotel Moscow something is eating away at him and its not good. Back at the ship Rock woke up suddenly realising he passed out he saw Revy was also sleeping on the couch and he stood up and went outside to have a smoke.
"...Not right huh"
That's that for the prologue, I hope many of you enjoyed what I'm setting up I was going to have the guerrillas play more of a role in this chapter but to make sure Roberta's blood trail remained the same as the original manga release kind of had to side line them for this chapter but that won't happen now. I didn't want to alter the blood trail because its a really good storyline and I feel I would butcher it trying to mix in my own words with that but like I said next chapter will be set not too long after it and will explore the spiral that is Rock's fractured mind. Thank you for reading this chapter ladies and gentlemen stay tuned for more.
(Chapter 2 - A Changed Man)