The Legend of Longshoreman X

Foreword: This is something that I wanted to do. It's a one-shot on the character of Longshoreman X, and those who had played "Dead to Rights" felt earned a cult status because of his awesome name and how out-of-place in the game he was (I suppose the same could be said about Antorcha, the boss with the flamethrower). Hell, according to the concept artists as said in the comic tie-in, one of them said that this character didn't fit in, but sort of worked.

Also, whether or not this ties into my adaptation/retelling of "Dead to Rights," that's entirely up to you. Yes, I know that I made this character into an assassin, but really, I didn't touch into his backstory much. So you could say it may tie into my version or in the original game.

With all of this being said, enjoy!


What usually goes on at Dock 765 that causes the Grant City Police Department to rarely check it out? While the docks were known for many criminal activities to occur, such as weapons and human-trafficking, along with drug deals, among other things, there had been reports of people having gone missing when checking out the place.

It was no secret that the corruption in Grant City was relatively high, with rumors circulated among the citizens that their mayor may have connections with high-profile criminals, such as getting involved in their activity and getting a cut. There had been speculation that anybody who had gone missing after going to the docks had been executed with deals having gone wrong, but according to Chief Dick Hennessey, while bodies had been recovered from the water, among other places, this was something different.

Usually by day, activity at the docks occurred like any other work day for stevedores and other dock workers. Supplies brought from overseas, as well as other cargo being shipped off. While some of the workers had suspected some criminals on the vicinity, they usually kept their distance from the work going on. If some were told to haul illicit cargo, they were told not to ask questions or tell anybody, or else they would be dealt with, and not in the kind of way that a boss would deal with incompetent employees.

But there was one person who stood out from all of the stevedores, fishermen, and other dock workers. This was a large and muscular man who kept to himself, kept himself quiet, but often did what was told. In fact, this man stood out because of his imposing physique, along with a fashion sense that showed that he was man of the sea, with wader boots, dark goggles, a skull cap, and a jacket that he wore to cover himself up because of the cold weather out by the ocean.

His fellow dock workers were impressed by his work ethic and some had tried to speak to him, but this man hardly said a word. In fact, the only person who ever got so much as one word out of him was the foreman, but the discussions were related to business and nothing else. This fisherman was one of the best workers at the docks, but for some reason didn't want anybody to get close to him. But one worker noticed something odd about this big man: every time he went on break, he would often go into the warehouse area, but what was in the warehouse that made this man go in there often?

One time, during a lunch break, a group of dock workers watched as this large man went into the warehouse.

"Something is weird about that guy," a Caucasian worker said. His name was Brad.

"So this guy is quiet, big deal," said an African-American worker. His name was Andre.

"Yeah, leave him alone," a Hispanic female dock worker said. "He likes to be by himself." Her name was Raquel.

"No," Brad said. "There is something odd about him. I see this guy go into the warehouse all the time. That's usually where they keep the fish on ice. But it's so damn cold in there. I don't know why he goes over there."

"Just let him do what he wants," Raquel said.

Brad sighed. "I guess you're right."

But Brad circle didn't want to leave this guy be. What made this guy want to know why he would go into the warehouse? Usually some people went into that area, but not during his work hours. Something was amiss about all of this.

He couldn't let it go. After his shift had ended, Brad said bye to his friends at work, but then saw the large man enter the warehouse once again.

I got you, you son of a bitch. Brad thought and walked into the warehouse. He saw the man from a distance. It turned out his intuition was right. The large fisherman walked towards the freezer area. Not a lot of other stevedores were in sight. Whether or not it was the time load up fish in that area, that did not matter. All that mattered to him was what that guy was up to.

Aside from the fans blowing from the freezer, this area was quiet. As the employee got closer to the area that the large fisherman headed, the colder it had gotten as the temperature decreased.

But something grabbed Brad's attention as he had gotten into a big area. On the frozen ground lied a red streak that led to an area where large ice blocks were. The worker looked up and saw a couple of bodies, dead and frozen, and they hung on the ice. But what kept them afloat was something irregular to Brad: They were hanging by what looked like arrows. They were the kind of arrows that were shot by a bow, maybe a crossbow. The red streak he saw had to have been blood as the trail led to one of the bodies.

What was puzzling about all of this was that the body was suspended above ground and against the ice block being held up by those arrows. Those arrows had to be made of some strong alloy that would hold up a body like that. If those arrows were made of wood, they would have been broken.

Also, Brad took a closer look at the corpses. The two bodies didn't look like they could have been dock workers, given how they were dressed. These men were dressed differently. One wore a suit. Another wore a green raincoat. There was something awfully familiar about the man in the raincoat. The employee was aware that Dock 765 had some criminal activity going on, but could these two men have been tortured and executed?

If that wasn't bad enough, loud shrieks caught the man's attention, along with pleas for mercy, something to the effect of "No, stop! Please don't!" It was then followed by the sounds of a blade cutting through human flesh.

Brad stood there frozen, and not because of the cold temperature from the freezer. The chills went through his veins. He trembled at what was happening from far away out of his own sight. All he could do was stand there and listen to a man get savagely murdered. But after a few seconds, he took a deep breath and quickly ran out of there.

The next day, Brad called in sick, much to the confusion of some of his fellow workers. But he felt ready to come in the following day. His friends quickly approached him.

"Brad, where were you yesterday?" Raquel said.

"I was out sick," Brad said. "But I'm fine now."

Raquel then looked at Andre.

"What's wrong? Why are you looking at Andre like that?" Brad said.

Andre said, "Brad, you didn't go into the freezing area the other day, did you?"

"I did, why?" Brad said.

"I was the last to leave and I saw you running for your life," Andre said. "I told Raquel about it yesterday."

"It can't be, can it?" Raquel said as she looked to Andre.

"What's going on?" Brad said. "You told her about me running out. Why didn't you say anything?"

"I was too far away," Andre said.

"Brad, I hope that the big guy didn't see you," Raquel said.

"What are you talking about?" Brad said.

"Have you ever heard about how some people come here and go missing?" Raquel said.

"I think, why?" Brad said.

Andre took a deep breath. "Brad, maybe you don't know this, but that big guy you seem to want to know more about, Raquel and I think it's him."

"Who?" Brad said.

Raquel said, "Longshoreman X."

"Longshoreman who?" Brad said.

Raquel was about to talk but Andre said, "Let me take this one. You see, there is this a story about a fisherman who has worked here for a long time. No one really knows about this guy, but it's been said that when something goes down here, that this guy takes some people into his inner sanctum and…" Andre paused. "He tortures them."

Somehow, things started to come back to Brad.

"We have heard stories about a killer at the docks," Raquel said. "But no one knows if it's true. For some reason when fish is brought here, they are told to bring it to another freezing area."

"Why?" Brad said.

Andre said, "Because the old freezing area is where Longshoreman X does his handy work. I have heard stories that he takes trespassers, as well as criminals back there and brutally tortures them."

"Why haven't the police done anything?" Brad said.

"Because they believe that this all a bunch of bullshit, a stupid urban legend," Raquel said. "Some have said that they believed it and that one cop went in but never came back alive. If I were you, I would leave this alone."

Brad nodded his head. He didn't disclose what he had witnessed a couple of days prior, but according to his friends, it appeared that this legend was true. But what went through his mind after that was what Longshoreman X's deal was. Was he just a murderer who killed for the sake of it? Was he a hired assassin who just had his ways of killing people? He wasn't about to find out. He never went into that freezing area after that day, but there were times when he either stayed a little longer or went by the docks hours after his shift had ended. He had witnessed some criminals being led into that particular area, as well as some people checking out themselves. Those people never made it out of there.

No one really knew who Longshoreman X was or anything about him. But Brad knew something firsthand. If his friends suspected that one particular worker was him but left it alone, it only seemed fair that they had witnessed something before but just didn't say anything, as if their lives depended keeping it a secret.

If only someone else managed to witness this figure and lived to tell about it.