Chapter 23: Ye Mighty

Like most nights in recent memory, sleep was eluding the Japanese businessman despite his best efforts to feel its embrace again. On the best of nights, Rock found himself offensively drunk and falling into an alcohol-induced stupor shortly after crawling into bed. On the worst, he would lay there for hours staring at the ceiling and drag himself out of bed the next morning with not so much as half an hour's rest. Tonight was shaping up to be one of those nights. Since heading out to deal with the 216, his efforts to sleep hadn't been interrupted much but he did find his thoughts now replaced with the vivid memory of that day and the implications of what he had put in motion. Rock rested both hands behind his head as his musings overtook him and his mind went into overdrive analysing every detail he could remember about the plan he had executed. At least when he was using his brain, he wasn't bored or annoyed by his restlessness. The day he met with Mister Chang, he devised a solution to Roanapur's problem that would both keep the peace and also shift the balance of power in a way that might yet prove to be the city's undoing if left unchecked. This was of course due to how the Triad's position had been strengthened, effectively drawing more attention from the other gang leaders and cartel bosses. While Rock did not believe Hotel Moscow would ever trifle with Chang, the same could not so confidently be said of the others who ruled in this city. Balalaika and Chang once found themselves at odds with one another when the Russian organisation had first come to Roanapur, but those days were in the past and Balalaika now held a deep admiration and respect for Chang after everything they had been through. There would be no hostilities between their two empires. But, when all was said and done, Chang still found himself much better off as a result of Rock's plan.

The 216 were alive and reported in to Chang directly. A once ferocious Task Force who could have fought dirty and toppled most if not all of the city's most dangerous criminal conglomerates had been brought to heel and Chang had them in his pocket. That put him in a nefariously powerful position. As promised, both the Triad and Hotel Moscow now owed their continued existence to Rock. He would have to make a point of calling in those favours one of these days to see how far he could push them. What interested the Japanese man most, though, was where Chang stood in the grand scheme of things now that he had the 216 at his command. After all, Rock did suggest that the plan he devised be shared with the relevant people to make sure it could be put into motion without any hiccups. Presumably, Chang had seen to that without needing it spelled out for him. Otherwise, there would only be a very brief period of peace before Interpol came to investigate. No, Chang had done well indeed, and it was safe to say he was willing to overlook the fact that Rock knew much more than he had openly revealed before. He knew that Chang was not the one at the top of the food chain, how there was another working from the shadows who pulled his strings to manipulate what happened in Roanapur. A brief image suddenly flashed into Rock's mind, like a barrier against what his mind had been working towards.

I'm looking for the person who controls Chang. The one behind the curtain. The real master of Roanapur. That's the-!

I wouldn't, Rock. It's never wise to dive down to where the leviathan waits in the dark.

He had to admit, she was right. It was a wonder he had been let away with knowing so much already. He supposed such thoughts could wait a while longer. But he would dive down eventually, dragged by curiosity into the leviathan's jaws. Of that, he was certain. One day.

For now he was happy with the knowledge that the ruling factions were very much in his debt, and that he would come to collect when the time was right. Speaking of which, the 216 also owed their survival to Rock, as they would most definitely have come to harm in the care of anyone else. It was almost as if he had saved them. His eyes slowly widened for a moment, so brief it may as well have never come to pass. He then placed one hand on his forehead and growled like a dog, sitting up into a crouching position in the bed. His gaze wandered over to the wall beside his door, where a map of the city had been pinned by its corners. Several scribblings had been written on it in marker earlier today. Rock ran some fingers over the bruises on his face. They were finally beginning to subside. The night he had sustained them was very fresh in his memory, despite the large amount of alcohol in his system at the time. That could not happen again. It was him, after all, and he had no room for half-measures. Not anymore.

He reached over to his bedside locker and opened the drawer, sticking his hand inside and rooting around for something. He felt his fingers clasp the cold metal and he removed the bullet, holding it up and examining its surface in the dim light seeping through the blinds.

Remember when we were in Japan? You said you were my gun. If you're the gun, then that means I'm the bullet. But as a bullet, I'm nothing more than a chunk of lead.

Revy hadn't been there to protect him the night he was beaten. She promised him if he chose to walk down this road, she wouldn't be there for him. Now, she no longer was. Just as he intended. But that did not mean he couldn't take measures to protect himself. If there was one common enemy amongst the criminals here, one fly in the ointment, it was Alejandro. He was coming for Revy, sooner or later, and knowing her she would jump headlong into a firefight with him without any concern for her own wellbeing. And as long as he remained in the city under cover of darkness, the ruling factions would never truly settle. They had enough trouble with Hawke and the FARC runaways without letting another operate in their city fearlessly. There would need to be swift action to root him out and make sure he was eliminated to preserve the peace. Rock had been scanning the streets of Roanapur on the map for hours a day trying to figure this out. It would be another debt from the city's leaders. If Rock kept this up, they would never be able to repay him. But he felt compelled to stop Alejandro and make sure he was crushed along with what remained of the New Order. He looked at the bullet again.

Come on baby, light my…fire.

He had to be stopped. It couldn't all be for nothing. The nature of the walking dead was proving to be an obstacle in and of itself. But Rock had to surmount it, he had to overcome the challenges before him so that everything he had done would be worth it…or it would all be for nothing. He stood up from the bed and strolled across the room in only his boxer shorts, flicking on the light and sitting down on the chair by the map with the backrest against his chest. He fidgeted with the bullet as he took in the streets of the city and evaluated the situation as best he could. He had his reasons for going down this road, however unclear even to himself and others, and his motivations for trying to find Alejandro in this city were powerful. But he also needed the people to remember who he was and how he was not someone to be trifled with. He needed to reinstate his reputation. It had been a long time since he used his intellect to pull the strings from the shadows and make the others in Roanapur dance to his tune. Something about setting the plan for the 216 in motion must have reawakened that hunger inside him. And it felt damn good.

(***)

"I don't know why you dragged me out here," Revy groaned crankily. "You know I fucking hate this place." Her stool was currently turned sideways against the bar so that she could both drink and speak with the Trinity in the booth across from her.

"Don't let Four-Leaf hear you saying that," Wolf warned. "He'll shillelagh you all the way back to the Yellowflag."

"I wouldn't be so lucky," Revy rebuked, snatching up the glass of nondescript rum from the bar and guzzling down a generous helping of it. Despite the fact that the taste was most certainly not much different from the Bacardi the Chinese woman usually drank, she made a point of pulling a face every time she took a drink. That hadn't stopped her from downing the first one, though. "So, what is this? You guys are just fucking buddies now, is that it?"

"Something like that," Andromeda said. She currently had her legs up across the seat on her side of the booth while Wolf and Ashur were, rather uncomfortably, sitting right beside each other on the other side, with Ashur on the inside by the wall. He had his arms crossed on the table with his head resting on them like a sulking child, though there was a beer in front of him that he would occasionally sip on.

"Oh, come on," Revy croaked. "You three came out there armed for a goddamn war. You can't tell me you were just looking for a quiet spot to trade embarrassing stories like a bunch of schoolgirls."

"You know how it is," Andromeda began, "boys will be boys. These two decided to put their little feud on hold until the 216 were dealt with. Wolf called me in to help. I don't have to tell you how much of a waste of time that was."

"So what?! The 216 ain't a problem anymore. Shouldn't you two," she pointed at the two men as she spoke, "have started trying to kill each other again? Don't tell me you got cold feet." That was clearly a much more complicated line of inquiry. The men looked at one another, seeming to come to some kind of silent agreement to not bother explaining it all. "Pfft," Revy exhaled, realising they weren't in a sharing mood regarding their sudden docility towards one another. "Everyone is losing their fucking nerve in this shithole."

The door of the bar opened and several people stepped inside, clearly ready to drink the bar dry. Wolf glanced over his shoulder at them and rolled his eyes.

"Jesus Christ. Everyone and their fucking mother wants to drink here these days."

"Alright, gentlemen," the energetic and boisterous Lexi exclaimed at the head of a group of suited men. "Let's get fucked the fuck up, shall we?" Presumably, they were Major Landis's men and they had come from the Triad's headquarters.

"Ah, fuck!" Revy screeched in annoyance. "What the hell is this tramp doing here?!" The men all pushed passed Lexi and went to find a booth in the back somewhere. Lexi herself just placed her hands on her hips and smirked. She elicited far too much joy from ruining Revy's day.

"Always a warm welcome with you, Twinkie," the American woman joked. Revy looked about ready to blow.

"What brings you around to this neck of the woods?" Wolf asked, just in time to avoid what would have turned into a violent outburst from Lagoon's gunslinger.

"You kidding me?" Lexi asked, raising her arms and looking around the room. "An Irish bar at the ass end of nowhere? Feels like home to me." Her eyes quickly darted over to Ashur for just a second before returning to Wolf as she started walking further into the bar. Then, she leaned on the bar beside Revy. It was like she was intentionally invading Revy's personal space just to irritate her. "Hope there ain't no hard feelings about that business with the Cat Lady."

"Jesus." Wolf almost laughed the word out of his mouth. "That's ancient history at this point. We've got thicker skin than that, anyway."

"How about you do us all a favour," Revy began, "and take your navy issue ass somewhere else?"

"Guess your skin ain't so thick, after all," Lexi joked, turning to face Revy. Amusingly, all three of the assassins in the booth appeared to be trying to verify the truth of Revy's comment. "Don't worry, I'm off duty so this is my time to party. Catch you guys later." She followed her companions to the back of the bar while the Trinity collectively ogled her behind.

"I'd advise against sniffing that dog's ass," Revy said loudly, snapping them all out of it and forcing them to try and look nonchalant. Clearly, it didn't work and Lexi looked back over her shoulder with a grin on her face as she walked. "Fucking morons."

She lifted the glass of rum from the bar and faced forward, towards the door. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust and focus on the man standing there. He must have entered while Lexi was speaking. It was Rock. Revy froze in the stool and just stared at him, completely blindsided by his appearance and clueless about how to proceed. She almost would have preferred a brawl with Lexi.