Ohhh noo It's moving slower than anticipated lmao sheiiit it's gonna be 50+ chapters. 60 even. fkkk

lmao sorry.

Rocky has ragrets

It had been four hours since the explosion, and Rock still felt cold as ice.

There was this awful sinking feeling in his chest. Cold, icy regret. He was curled up in the backseat of the car, wrapped up in his blanket like a cocoon. SouthTown's polluted sky cut the sunset with dark, grainy smog - and the dirty light filtered over a jagged skyline to cast dim shadows throughout the vehicle. The atmosphere was almost as dreary as Rock's mood.

I just wanna go home… Why did I come here… why was I so dumb...

He didn't belong here. Rock knew it. Everyone knew it. Dad knew it. Mary knew it. Iori knew it. Adam probably knew it as well. He should never have gotten involved with Kain. He never should have forced Iori to help him. There were things Rock knew in his mind from the beginning - but a stroke of passion caused him to act against his better judgement.

Now, he was regretting it…

Because he was there when it happened.

Nobody told him what the plan was. The first 'attack' was blowing up a warehouse in the dead of night when - supposingly - nobody was around. The purpose was to destroy a building - not destroy people. That's what Rock told himself... although he definitely knew there were a couple of casualties based on the snippets of conversation he picked up from the soldiers.

He could live with that. He could convince himself the casualties were worth it when he wasn't seeing innocent non-combatants getting cut in half by machine-gun fire. Screaming faces, young women secretaries - clearly out of college. A mailman, caught in the wrong place - at the wrong time. Somebody's wife delivering lunch to her lawyer husband. Sharply dressed clerks. The friendly receptionist. The tired looking bookkeeper.

They became a mound of bloodied flesh riddled with bullets and shrapnel. Not one was spared. Not one was left alive. Their empty eyes stared outwards. Their faces frozen in varied expressions of horror, shock and pain. The image made Rock want to claw his eyes out.

I can't believe I just saw that… oh god. Oh god.

He squeezed his eyes shut, but the bloody mural still remained - as if burned into his retinas.

Rock had seen people get killed before. He himself had actually killed as well! During Iori's Pacific tour, Rock found himself the target of a hostage situation - then a manhunt by the Chinese Mafia. He was forced to raise his hand in self defense, and vowed to never do so again. The blood on his hands was detestable to him and he would turn from it entirely.

That's what he said to himself…

Then… then I killed again during the Freeman Incident…

Rock blessed every deity he could bless that he was unconscious for the entirety of that nightmare. Normally Iori kept the Blood Riot under tight rein, but through some strange science - Rock had found himself swapped into his employer's unenviable situation. Under his inexperienced rule, the Blood Riot broke free and became SouthTown's most recent Serial murderer. Twelve victims slain in fits of frenzied rage, bludgeoned to nothing but meat mash on the sidewalks and walls of alleyways. It hadn't been Rock who did it… no, definitely not… In fact, Mary had been investigating Iori for those murders…

Whatever happened to that case? It's not something you drop so easily… oh, I think Iori's CIA people got the Sheriff fired… or something… ugh I forget...

But that really was it.

Rock was adamant about putting an end to this. He took drastic measures. He swore off meat (it caused him to become acidic). He adopted the most peaceful ideology he could find. He waded neck deep into greenpeace, tree-huggger spirituality, and spent his free time arguing with his (mercenary) girlfriend about how honey was indeed made of ground up bees - and thereby murder. She had gotten so annoyed, she nearly suffocated him.

I wish Seirah were here...

There was peace. Peace...

But then Adam was killed.

And here he was, Rock Howard - out for more blood. This time, revenge. Revenge against his hated biological father. He had even agreed to hold hands with the devil for a chance to bring down Geese Howard! He would make Geese feel the same pain Adam felt!

So Rock agreed to follow Kain's plan. He threw his lot in with that willowy demon who dressed like an angel of light. That gentle smile that reminded Rock of his beloved mother - was nothing but a thin veil over the malice that lay beneath. Kain was evil. Pure evil. And the events today proved it.

Because he saw Kain's face as he gazed across the dead bodies.

He was smiling.

That man relished in murder. A Sadist.

And from that moment, Rock knew this situation was far more serious than he anticipated. He wasn't even operating on the same plane as Kain Heinlein. To Rock, the explosions and the killings were an unfortunate price they needed to pay to bring down Geese's empire…

But to Kain, terror was the goal.

And Rock. Wanted. Out.

I can't work with these people… they're crazy. Crazy. Even boss isn't as crazy! Agh!

But somebody had long anticipated his escape. When Rock arrived back at the compound, he found the tires of his car slashed - making escape impossible. Shortly afterwards, the Mercenary commander took his cellphone for 'security purposes' and positioned a guard outside the car - who stooped to check on him every few minutes.

He had been a prisoner here ever since he first stepped foot in the compound and the gate was pulled closed behind him. It was only now he was realizing it. How could I be so stupid… urgh...

Rock's stomach turned. He felt sick. This whole situation. This whole trickery… he had played right into it. His own hubris made him easy pickings for Kain's trap, and now...

Now what… what is he gonna do with me? I need to get out… but how?

From beneath the thick blanket Rock, felt the beginnings of hopelessness and despair stirring in his chest. He knew he couldn't sneak his way out of here. Each of these soldiers were watching him closely. They all exerted the same cold professionalism that the IKARI soldiers emanated, and something told him even an attempt at escape meant certain death.

I… I want to go home… I bet Dad misses me...

As the sun set over the horizon, the dim shadows faded into the gloominess. Rock sighed as he watched the scuffs in the gray felted ceiling slowly meld into the darkness. The blanket was itchy against his face, and suddenly the small Volkswagen seemed that much more claustrophobic. It was his safety and his prison… and today's fight had wrung him dry.

He was tired.

He wanted to forget everything and rest.

So pretty much everyone knew Kain was using Rock except for him.

Even yag knew, and tried to mitigate by insisting Rock stay as an outside investor.

Of course, things never go as planned poor brocky

Daddy Wolf, pls help