Hey readers! ThatGuy here! sorry about the long wait here, I bought a PS4 the other day and got a little distracted. but I digress, Chapter 7 is up just in time o Hit 1000 Views! WOOHOO! special thanks to Snowstrike6 and Meech Macko for their help with deciphering the anime, providing suggestions, and adding input from the manga (which sadly I haven't read). Anyway without further ado, Chapter 7! have a Great day! (btw I don't own black lagoon or any characters affiliated with the show/manga. only my OCs) -Thatguyisaight
Rocks sobbing slowly died down as Revy sat by him, not knowing what else to do. She nearly jumped as Rock's tear soaked hand slid up to the one she had on his shoulder.
"Revy... thanks for being here."
Revy was taken aback, her heart fluttering slightly as the words echoed in her head. "No... no problem Rock. what got you so upset? did you remember anything?" Rock took a deep breath, his eyes still on the dirty floor. "I had a dream. It's been a bit of a recurring one. I open my eyes and im surrounded by darknesss, and suddenly these images appear out of nowhere. I think they're memories, but they're all so unclear."
Revy could only nod. 'Well does that mean he could remember soon? Could he remember what we were?' Her train of thought was interrupted as Rock continued. "Well I saw one that was clearer than the others... I saw you fighting a japanese man with a katana. You won, but his katana was thrust through your calf." Revy's leg felt a twinge of pain as she thought back to that day. "I couldn't explain it... but I felt fear and anger and worry at the same time. I ran to help you, and when I got up, I saw a schoolgirl take the katana and..."
Revy cut him off before he could continue. "Rock, you were right, that was a memory... But you dont need to think about that. It has nothing to do with you. That whole stay in Japan was a disaster anyways." She clenched his shoulder subconsciously, making him wince as her finger dug into the bullet wound. Fresh blood began to soak the bandages. "Shit! Sorry Rock!"
Rock grunted in response, lifting her hand and clasping his shoulder. "It's fine Revy, you didn't mean to." He moved his hand and stared at the wet blood on his palm. "The thing was... there was never any sound until just before... Then I heard you yell at me, yelling to turn away. When I finally did, you hugged me... and... and this feeling of peace washed over me." Revy blushed slightly, staring at the blood on his hand. "Revy... for some reason I can't help but feel safe around you. I don't know why, but maybe it had something to do with my old self, the me stuck in all these memories."
"Fuckin hell, maybe I'm the key to your memories rocky baby." She said with a chuckle. "Do you remember anything else from these dreams?" He took another breath before clasping his shoulder again. "Well the only other thing is a bright light that I ran towards, and when I finally touched it..." He stopped, thinking of wether to tell her the last part of his dream. "...Thats it, thats all i remember." Revy looked at him, studying his facial features as he stared at the floor, and couldnt help but reach out and grab his injured hand. "Rock, I know there's something your not telling me. Its ok, I wont judge you... too much." She said softly, chuckling at the end.
Rock sighed, turning to face her, his face solemn. "Well I jump back to when I... tried to shoot you in the hospital. You're always standing with your pistol pointed at me, smiling. You said 'I'll be sure to make all this up to you Rock, just get your memory back soon.' And then shot my shoulder... then I pulled the trigger and woke up." Revy stared at him, mouth slightly open, trying to process what rock just said. She shook it off and grabbed a pack of cigarettes, putting one in her mouth and lighting it up, her face calm but her mind in disarray. 'Did... I traumatize him? Shit, could I have ruined everything? Wait, he said he felt safe around me... Fuck! This makes no goddamn sense!'
She blew a cloud of smoke in the air before giving rock the cigarettes and lighter. "I honestly don't know what to think Rock. Maybe I'm the key and the only thing keeping you from remembering. A guardian angel and a fucking grim reaper rolled into one." Rock grabbed the pack, lighting up a cigarette and letting it hang from his mouth, pieces of the cig dyed red from the blood on his hand. "Fuck... I don't know either. For some reason, all the images that seem the clearest involve you. But honestly I just don't know what to do anymore."
He leaned back, blowing smoke from his nose and staring at the ceiling. Revy leaned into his good shoulder, adding to his smoke cloud and sliding her hand into his injured one. "Neither do I, Rock, but I'm gunna help you remember, I promise you that partner. Honestly the new you is a bit of a pussy anyway." She said chuckling again.
The gunslinger and the amnesiac sat in silence for a while, finishing off thier cigarettes. Revy put hers out on the wall behind her and started to get up, stopping as she felt rock squeeze her hand slightly. "No, Revy, could you just stay a bit longer?" He said, his eyes closed and a burnt out cigarette hanging from his lips. She smiled slightly, leaning back into his shoulder and returning the squeeze. "Hell, i've heard of worse pickup lines rocky baby." she said chuckling softly, taking the cigarette butt from his lips and leaning her head on his good shoulder.
She sat there, enjoying the closeness she wanted yet seldom recieved, and noticed Rocks breathing becoming slower and more rhythmic. She smiled again and slid another hand around his. "Goodnight rocky baby. I'll be here as long as you need." She snuggled up next to him and sleep soon overtook her, a look of calm over both of their faces.
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(meanwhile, in an abandoned looking warehouse in roanapur.)
The Left-tenant looked at a large map of the city, laid out on a table. Various ranking officers and soldiers moved about the room, moving pieces on the board, talking into radios or typing on laptops. One of the pieces caught his eye, a small wooden Z next to the Russian HQ.
"Give me a status on Zeta squadron!" He ordered to no one in particular. A thin gangly man with a small black circle on his chest hustled up to him, rendering a salute. " First cadet Rolli reporting sir! Squadron Zeta has prepared all explosives in their sector, none have been found as of yet. They are ready to begin Operation Titanfall at any time." The Left-Tenant smiled, making the cadet uneasy. "Good, good. Soon we'll make good on our contract with that smug bastard Chang. The russians will soon fall, hearing the report of our rifles and blasts from our explosives. I can hardly wait to put a bullet in that Ivan bitch's skull." The cadet chuckled nervously before scurrying back to his duties.
The Left-tenant turned away from the table, walking over to a radio operator. "Have the scout units found our Japanese friend and his red haired bitch yet?" The radioman nearly jumped, hearing words other than what was coming through his headphones. He stood quickly and rendered his salute, placing his headset on the table next to the radio. "Left-tenant sir! We've located the two hiding out in a cabin about five kliks from the city limits. Closer examination has been impossible as the land around it is flat and devoid of cover!" The Left-Tenant pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, taking two out and offering one to the operator. He lit the other and took a long puff of it, watching the operator nervously take and light it. "Have the scout units fall back to their designated Evac points and call Coyote and his squadron. We have some prey they need to hunt. They have orders to move out tomorrow evening." The radio operator raised another salute before sitting down and dawning his headset. "As you command, we'll have the choppers fueled and ready for take off."
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Chang was sitting in his usual chair, looking out over the city, his city. Lights flickered from the streets as people went about their daily lives, unaware that the city of the damned would soon become a battlefield. He smirked as he pictured it, smoke billowing from the streets, the sound of gunfire echoing through the alleys, and the smell of blood on the wind. A man with sunglasses and a suit opened the door behind him, walking up and dropping an envelope on the coffee table in front of him. "We found out what that mercenary company was doing on the docks this afternoon." Chang reached down and grabbed the envelope, opening it to reveal pictures inside. "So, it seems the lagoon crew somehow got involved. where are they now?"
The man lit up a cigarette and walked over to the minibar in the corner. "Dutch and Benny have been last seen headed down the coast. Probably steering clear of their office for the time being. No word on where two hands or Rock are." Chang put out his cigarette, lighting a new one and taking a long drag. "Well its a shame they got caught up in all of this, but its a little too late to do anything about it now. Let me know when the Crimson dragoons make their move, and have hit squads on standby to clean up the wreckage." The man stood up, turning to the door. "gotcha, ill have em' ready and waiting."
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(Meanwhile, on the torpedo boat.)
"Still nothing on radar!" Benny yelled from the lower deck. Dutch downed another beer, keeping his eyes glued to the view port. The torpedo boat had hidden itself in a small cave carved into a cliff face, about a mile from Roanapur's gulf. "Thanks Benny! keep me updated."
"Roger that boss!" He heard Benny reply from below. It had been a couple hours since they escaped the ambush at their own building, and Dutch was still paranoid about followers. 'Whoever attacked us wanted us dead, and they had the same patches as those guys from our last job. Fuck, maybe benny's found something.' He lit up a cigarette as he turned to yell down the hatch. "Hey Benny boy, you find anything on that patch yet?" There was a long pause before he heard an answer. "... Well thats interesting." Dutch sighed and climbed down the hatch, seeing Benny typing away at his computer. "Whats so fucking interesting man?"
Benny turned to look at Dutch from his seat. "Well the patch has shown up in a number of places, mainly large operations in other cities. I still cant find a roster of forces or even a name. Whoever they are, they're making sure they don't leave any traces." Dutch raised an eyebrow, thinking deeply. "Well that might explain why they were after us... Didn't rock snag something from that computer before he got shot?"
Benny's eyes widened. "Well fuck man, do you know what happened to it?" Dutch started pacing the room, scratching his chin. "I wonder, has anyone cleaned the forward cabin since then?" Benny shrugged, turning back toward his monitor to check the radar. "I sure didn't. Revy'd put a bullet between my eyes if she found me in there, and she hasn't left Rock's side since then, so probably not." Dutch didn't respond, instead heading toward the ladder to the forward cabin.
He opened the door and was hit with a dry, metallic smell of blood. The place was a mess, blood covered the bed and drops of the stuff covered the floor. 'Damn,' Dutch thought, ' How he didn't bleed out I'll never know.' He shrugged and began searching through the blood-stained sheets. Suddenly something caught his eye. Rock's blood covered business shirt was crumpled up toward the back of the room.
Dutch walked over and picked it up, examining the large hole in the shoulder. his eyes slowly moved over to the front pocket. 'Well I'll be damned, he did swipe that fucking disk' He thought, pulling out a floppy disk from the bloody shirt pocket. He dropped the shirt and hurried back over to Benny. "Toss this in, see whats on it." He said, tossing the disk to the technician.
Benny tossed it in his computer and saw a jumble of letters and numbers appear on screen. "Hmmm... encrypted, well that's not a problem." He typed a command into the computer and four windows popped up, the random script scrolling through the tiny text boxes inside. "Well I pulled up four different cyphers to decrypt it at the same time. We should get a hit at any time now." No sooner had he finished his statement, one of the windows pinged. "Ahhh, there we go. Now lets see what these guys are hiding." A new screen popped up, and the cigarettes dropped from both of their mouths. "Holy shit, Roanapur's about to go down in flames."