Well, last chapter ended on a bit of a cliff hanger, eh? This one'll start out pretty tense and there will be action! Anyway, I hope you enjoy; I own nothing!

Chapter Eight: Seismic Rumblings Pt. 2

"Miss Balalaika, with all due respect, I'd appreciate it if you did not get involved with this meeting, tonight."

"ROCK!" Revy yelled; she and Dutch both hurled a few stray obscenities into the empty air and Revy's right hand twitched ever so slightly. The atmosphere in the room had done a complete 180 and now the three present members of the Lagoon Company would like nothing more than to put their heads so far up their asses that they actually disappear. To their surprise, Balalaika let out an amused chuckle while Boris cracked the slightest of smiles.

"I really do like you, Rock," she began in a pleasant enough tone; still smiling as she crushed the remaining life out of her cigar into the ashtray. It was not to last, however, as the friendly expression gradually gave way to one that Rock had seen directed at him only once before. He had anticipated having to butt heads with Balalaika again before this fiasco was over, which was why he had made sure to point out the Lagoon Company's value to the head of Hotel Moscow.

"Fuck." Rock heard Revy breathe from his side as his eyes remained locked with the Kapitan's. She was no doubt getting ready to pull her cutlass since he noticed Boris inching closer to his coat pocket in the periphery of his vision.

"But do not mistake your being valuable for being irreplaceable." Any trace of kindness was gone from her voice and her tone took on a chilling, ominous, quality. "This is our war, and Hotel Moscow will proceed as I see fit." She pulled her Stechkin on him, but did not cock it, provoking more swearing from Dutch and Revy as both of them drew their weapons along with Boris.

In spite of the intense fear he felt at once again looking down the barrel of this bloodthirsty woman's gun, Rock stood his ground. "That's exactly my point, Miss Balalaika."

"Oh?"

"When two armies go to war, the goal is to win. You, as a soldier, should know better than me that an army wins by making choices that benefit that goal the most." Rock continued to bore through the Russian as he spoke, and he could see that, just maybe, he was beginning to get through to her.

"My point is: perhaps your usual 'might makes right' approach is not in your best interest, right now; I know you want revenge, but maybe that's clouding your judgment."

Balalaika gave him a long searching look; he did make his point quite well. She wanted Shinji's blood so badly that she could taste it. Still, even as she lowered her firearm and began to laugh quite hysterically, something told her that this meeting would prove more than they could handle alone. "You're good. You're very good." She spoke in between laughs before composing herself and putting her gun away, prompting everyone else to do the same; sighs of relief accompanied this action on Lagoon's end.

"Amusing as always, Rock. I see your point" She gave him a knowing look that implied that, while she had indeed been wrong, he was actually worried about the safety of his Lagoon family. "Very well, then. You may proceed as you see fit, tonight."

Then, just as the pair of Russians reached the door to the office, Balalaika turned to address the businessman once again.

"Oh, Japonski, perhaps it would be in your best interest to find a new hobby. Hmm?" And with that, the two Russians left the Lagoon Company sitting in their places on the couch, unable to speak for the shock and fear that each of them felt for the business man.

Dutch was the first one to find his voice. He pushed his sunglasses back up his nose to cover his widened eyes and retrieved the cigarette that had fallen from his open lips in the aftermath of that tense stand-off.

"Rock, you are one crazy son of a bitch."

Revy, too shocked for words, merely muttered an "uh-huh" in agreement. Before Rock, Chang was the only person she knew of to survive a confrontation with Balalaika after she had become head of Hotel Moscow. Revy never thought that Rock, of all people, would have it in him to survive one stand-off, much less two. If she hadn't witnessed both of them, she wouldn't believe it. She still wasn't sure she believed her eyes.

'It's probably that 'twilight' bullshit Rock keeps goin' on about. Only he could get through to some of the biggest badasses in the world like that.'

"ROCK!" Revy's fist crashed hard into the side of his face once they were safely ensconced in the privacy of her bedroom, effectively sending her partner careening through the air to land roughly on her bad.

"You fuckin' dumbass!" Almost as soon as he'd landed, the wild gunwoman was already crossing the room to jerk him back up by his collar. "It's not enough that you had to go and piss of that crazy bitch once, but you fuckin' did it twice! Fuck!" She was shaking him now, and shaking with rage. Rock could almost feel the heat radiating off of the dangerous woman before him.

"What? Do you have a fuckin' death wish, or somethin'? Is that it?" She screamed out, her tone had escalated from that same scared shitless/livid combination she'd used last time he pulled this stunt and now hovered somewhere around some combination of utterly terrified, deeply worried, and enraged that could only come with seeing someone you care about very deeply do something stupid enough to die. She was almost completely unhinged in a manner he'd not seen since he first joined. Even so, Revy was still aware that her last question left little room for her to continue arguing.

"Look, I've been in a shitload o' gunfights, fine! But, I ain't crazy enough to walk into a goddamn lion's den slathered in fuckin' meat!" She threw him roughly out of her grasp, and to her surprise, his eyes lit up like a Christmas tree as he began to reciprocate her foul mood.

"Oh really?" Rock advanced back into her face, with his will to fight stirring inside of him. "Isn't that exactly what you're so eager to do?"

Revy just scoffed at him, though her face was still contorted into her livid expression. "I don't know what the fuck you're talking about."

"You've been acting like this fight's just gonna be some walk in the park! Jesus, Revy!" Rock stopped and considered his next words carefully while Revy watched his face soften into an expression of emotion that she couldn't quite identify, yet for some reason, she found that it touched her deeply when his eyes bored into her and straight to her scarred soul.

"Don't you remember?" He asked of her in a soft voice. "Don't you remember how that fight ended?" Even without seeing his eyes briefly flicker down to her right leg, she knew that he was talking about the fight with Ginji. That was something from the trip to Japan that had haunted both of them. Revy had always thought that she wouldn't care if she was about to die; that she would just accept the end of her shitty life and that would be it. Then, she was so close she could almost feel the grim reaper's breath on her neck, and all she wanted to do was live.

"You said yourself that, if that man hadn't become distracted, you would be dead, Revy. Now, Shinji is shaping up to be a tougher opponent, and it worries me to see you treating this so casually." Rock paused for a moment, taking the sight of Revy in as if he'd never see her again and he was trying to memorize her appearance. It took all of his will power to suppress the tears that were forming at the back of his eyes as he was overwhelmed with his feelings for his partner, "I just don't want to see you get hurt again. I…" He stopped himself there before he could get ahead of himself. As much as he wanted his feelings known, he didn't want to spill his guts prematurely.

As she listened to Rock's soft words, Revy's expression had relaxed quite a bit. Looking into his gentle eyes while he was speaking, Revy had seen the truth in them. Just as she would use her guns to kill anyone who threatened him (and to a lesser extent, Dutch and Benny), he would use his words to stand up to anyone necessary to ensure her safety, no matter how big their guns or how vast the collection of them. She was also moved and confused. Rock was the only person in her life up to this point to be so open and adamant about her well-being.

She smiled, closing the already small distance between the pair and wrapping an arm around him in an awkward, yet comfortable gesture that stunned the hell out of Rock. "Sorry, partner." She spoke directly into his ear in a raspy whisper that sent shivers up his spine. For several moments, the novice Lagoon member stood with widened eyes like a deer in the head lights. Gradually, cautiously, he moved his arms around her slim waist.

"Me too." The reply sent the same shivers through Revy that had gone up Rock's spine.

They stood like that for several long moments, neither one moving or talking, just taking in the warmth and comfort of each other and making a silent amends for their respective actions. Revy was the first one to break free, to Rock's disappointment, and to his surprise, stood back with his pack of cigarettes in her hand and a cheeky smile on her face. He gave a slight smile at that action. It would be just like her to pretend to hug someone for a pack of smokes just to save her tough reputation.

Just as they each lit up a cigarette, there was a knock on Revy's door. "Hey Rock, you alive in there?" They heard Benny's voice call through the door; both figured he must've gotten back sometime during the argument.

"Yeah," Rock smiled at Revy's annoyed expression, "I'm alive."

"Good. Dutch called for you two; company meeting."

A few moments later, everyone was assembled in the main office, once again. Rock shrunk when the boss look directly at him and demanded, "You. Sit." Rock felt like a child about to be reprimanded by his father for some wildly inappropriate misbehavior, and he was, sort of. Dutch was the closest thing he had to a real father since his own had never cared much for him and had tossed him aside when he didn't get into college the first year out of school.

"Rock." Dutch spoke, heaving a deep sigh once the white collar had sat down across from him. Benny and Revy just remained quiet and did their best to give the pair privacy. "What you did took a lot o' guts, kid. But, frankly, it was also one of the stupidest stunts I've ever seen."

"I know…" Rock offered, only to be cut off by Dutch.

"Oh, I wasn't finished, and please, don't patronize me, Rock. That just hurts." A humorless grin crossed the older man's face. "If you 'know' it's stupid, you wouldn't have done it twice. You are not a stupid man. Anyway, if you wanna go get yourself shot all to hell, be my guest, but I will say this once and only once." Dutch maintained his calm manner as he reached up and removed his sunglasses so that he could look his employee directly in the eye to emphasize his point, "Don't ever put me in a position to draw a weapon on Balalaika, again. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good, "The boss slipped his favored sunglasses back on, and continued to speak, this time praising Rock. "And I don't mean to undermine that whole lecture, but, good job."

"Now, about this meeting; does anyone have a plan?"

After several moments of silence, three pairs of eyes fell on Rock. "What's everyone looking at me for?"

Dutch just smiled as he reached into his flak jacket for a pack of cigarettes, "Oh, I'm sorry, Rock. 'I'd appreciate if you didn't get involved with this meeting.' As foolish as goin' into this fight may be, something is better than nothing. You've been with us long enough to know that. Regardless of why you opened your crazy-ass mouth, you wouldn'ta said anything if you had nothin'."

The businessman nodded and thought over the limited information they had on their enemy while his co-workers waited patiently for him to say something. They all knew that this meeting was likely a trap, but Rock wasn't certain which members of Lagoon it was meant to be a trap for.

"Well, can we all agree that this is some kind of ploy?"

"No shit, dumbass." Revy snorted, while Dutch just narrowed his eyes in curiosity and took a drag of his cigarette.

"Just hear me out. We know it's a setup, but we don't know who for. It could be a trick to lure Revy and me away and try to kill us. It could be an attempt to lure us away so that they can dispose of the two of you more easily as payback for Ginji. It could also be a combination of the two." Rock's eyes lit up with the devious sparkle of midnight that Roanapur had brought out in him. "That's where my plan comes in."

"What the hell do you have up those fancy sleeves o' yours, boy?"

"First off, Benny, do you think you can find something a little bit more discreet than our headsets to communicate with?"

The mechanic raised an eyebrow with piqued curiosity, "It's a little short notice, but I think I can dig something up."

Rock nodded, "Good, we'll need five sets."

"Five?"

Rock smirked, knowing Revy would likely bitch at his answer, "Yes. I think we should bring Sister Eda along."

"What? That limp-wristed whore doesn't even have two working arms, right now!" Revy hollered, baffled as to why the fuck Rock would need Eda in his plan.

"So? That doesn't stop you in a gunfight, besides; she's only going to be there as back up." Rock countered, turning his attention, now, to Dutch. "Which brings me to weapons."

"Benny will help you and Eda will carry a case with three of our heaviest weapons of your choice up to a safe vantage point after you drop Revy and me off."

Each member of the Lagoon Company was smiling now as they caught on to Rock's plan.

"We should assume that they'll have eyes on us when we get to the meeting point, so we should take caution not to be seen with each other. I'm sure you know the rest, Dutch."

"If we run into any scouts, kill 'em. If we're seen, kill 'em. Other than that, just sit back and watch the show unless you two need some firepower." Dutch confirmed

"Fuckin' A, Rock. The boss man's strategy guides have been good for ya!" Revy exclaimed, clapping Rock on the shoulder.

Later that night, in the industrial end of Roanapur, two figures stood inside an abandoned warehouse near the docks. The shorter of the two appeared to be a young Japanese male somewhere in his late twenties. He was a man of broad stature that continued into his facial structure. He had long black hair that was pulled back into a low ponytail, though his face remained devoid of any facial hair. The man wore a black pin-stripe suit with dress shoes to match and a katana on his back.

Beside this man stood his boss, Shinji Matsuzaki. In contrast to his cohort, Shinji was slightly taller than the average Japanese male at 5'10, though he was still shorter than his deceases brother. He also bore a strong resemblance to Ginji, save for the fact that his hair was slicked back and the major features of his face seemed to be more defined with a single scar running diagonally across his left eye. The clothes he wore were similar in style to his subordinates, except he wore a lengthened dress coat with a shirt reminiscent of an informal kimono top in the place of a normal dress shirt. This shirt showed off a rather ornate mosaic tattoo that covered hise chest and crawled up his neck. He also had a pair of swords in his belt as well as a custom stainless steel Glock 19 hidden underneath his coat.

"Master?" The younger man asked, checking his watch and noting that their guest should be arriving soon, though they weren't given a specific time.

"Yes, Shimi?"

"You said you don't want to kill these people tonight, why not?" Shimi was genuinely confused as to why his mentor and boss would come all this way to exact revenge and not take it at the first chance.

Shinji appeared to contemplate this question for a moment before he came up with a suitable explanation to address both the asked question and the underlying question.

"Everyone is expendable, Shimi." The shorter man was taken aback at the statement and he felt his eyes widen involuntarily as he watch a coy smile splay itself across his master's face.

"Life is one long game of chess. Some of us are pawns; others kings, queens, and knights. We're all just playing in one big sadistic game for the amusement of a so called "God". Pawns get used and thrown away, but it takes kings and queens to rule the board."

Shimi was only more confused as he didn't really see what any of this had to do with his question, so he cautiously asked, "Master Shinji?"

"I want to test them to see if my brother was killed by a pawn or a queen. If they are mere pawns, then my brother deserved his fate and I don't have to worry about bloodying my hands to kill them. If they survive, and prove their worth, then I will avenge him myself. Either way, Hotel Moscow will be in ruins for their injustice to the Tokyo yakuza."

"I see." Shimi uttered rather pensively. He was a violent man, but he didn't share the same bleak, even egotistical, outlook of life that his boss had come to know.

"Shimi."

"Yes?"

"It's time; send group three out."

"Aren't they our least trained?"

"Exactly." Shinji's lips curled into a knowing smile and Shimi could only guess at whatever twisted thought was going through his mind.

Revy and Rock continued to walk through an open square in the dock's freight yard. They'd been here for fifteen minutes and so far there was no sign of the enemy; however, they really hadn't expected it yet, the pair was simply stalling to give the rest of their group time to set up on top of the freight. In the end, Dutch had chosen one each of three different weapons: one rocket launcher, a minigun, and a grenade launcher. If the CIA wasn't already interested in Shinji Matsuzaki, the minigun would've been enough to convince her to come along. She had drooled involuntarily upon seeing it and forbade anyone else to use it.

"Rock, Revy, you there?" The sound of Dutch's voice was heard over the earpieces that Benny had managed to get his hands on.

"We're here, Bossman."

"Everything's set up here, now it's all you."

"Hey, Romeo." Eda chimed in, "don't get hurt too badly out there, okay? I'd be lonely without you." Her sultry tone caused Rock's expression to deadpan as his cheeks reddened and Revy muttered, "Step off, you crippled bitch" into her earpiece.

"Hey Revy?" Rock asked; his eyes wondered from warehouse to the next, scanning for any sign of a threat. "Do you feel that?"

The gunslinger grinned, baring her canines as she unholstered her guns. "We're being watched." She inhaled deeply, picking up on a unique scent that a person like Rock could not detect or even understand. "And that's the stench of gutter filth all around us. We're surrounded" Her partner merely gave her a questioning glance before turning his eyes back to the front. He didn't think he would ever understand her ability to pinpoint her opponents without being able to lay eyes on them or even hear them. Then again, maybe he was the one who couldn't hear.

"Does anyone have a visual?" Rock asked into his headset, hoping that one of the others would be able to confirm a position so he wouldn't be totally blindsided by an attack.

It was Benny who responded; though he didn't have the answer Rock was hoping for. "Negative, Rock."

Moments later, Rock had to fight to keep his balance when Revy stopped short in front of him.

"There's no need for that." Her tone was free of all emotion, indicating that she'd already passed into battle mode. "They're here."

"What?" Rock's eyes darted everywhere and then back to Revy, "What do you…?" He realized that she was just staring straight ahead, so he followed her empty gaze to the warehouse that sat on the water's edge. There was no one there yet, but Rock did take notice of an unmarked freight ship that he did not recognize sitting just beyond the warehouse. The majority of Roanapur's sea traffic consisted of regular visitors, so it was quite a coincidence that this new ship would be here in the same spot.

"Hey, Dutch." Revy spoke in that chillingly hollow tone into her headset, "Don't interfere unless we ask."

The boss wasn't given a chance to respond, however, as a bullet whizzed past Revy's head. In an instant, her pupils dilated and her face came to life again as more bullets began to rain down from the group of about thirty soldiers who were making themselves known. Rock did his best to tuck and roll out of the way, receiving a mild graze to his arm from a stray bullet. He figured if he just stayed as invisible as possible then they would focus on Revy.

While Revy was preoccupied with the gunmen, though, a smaller group of swordsmen broke from the group and ran towards their position. Revy growled as she fired a round at one of them, in an attempt to keep them from reaching her partner, but what happened next surprised the entire Lagoon Company.

"Shit!" The pair cursed simultaneously, watching as the man that Revy shot at cut cleanly through a bullet. "Don't tell me these assholes are gonna be just like Jumbo!"

In the meantime, Eda had taken it upon herself to kill a few of the swordsmen who were about to get to Rock and he had picked up one of their swords. He was managing to use it quite effectively against the remaining swordsman, but he knew that he would lose if this fight were to be dragged out too long.

For her part, Revy had already successfully managed to cut down half of their number, but at a price. The layout of the open freight yard provided little cover for Revy, and so, she had taken multiple grazes. She also had to admit that these guys were some of the toughest fuckers she'd ever shot. Some of the tougher men would take two or three bullets to the torso and still get up, shooting right up until they were too weak to stand and ultimately died from blood loss.

A good ten minutes later, Revy had successfully wiped out the entire group except for one sword man. Then she realized that she had lost track of Rock somewhere in the conflict and had a momentary panic attack until a metallic clang met her ears. Her eyes went wide when she turned and took in the sight of Rock with sword in hand and a brand of fire in his eyes that she'd never seen. He was sweaty, and his tie was ruined, no doubt due to a swipe from the other man's sword. In addition, he had several minor cuts on his face and arms that were seeping blood, as well as a shallow bullet graze on his left arm.

The other man, however, was better conditioned than Rock was, and clearly more skilled. He didn't appear to be any worse for wear at all, and he showed no signs of exhaustion.

Revy knew that Rock would lose this fight once Rock's fatigue overcame his motivation, so she pulled her cutlass out and shot the man in the side of the head. Rock breathed a sigh of relief and threw away the sword. He knew that even if he had been good enough to win, he could not have brought himself to kill.

The partners looked up when they heard a slow clap emanating from the entrance of the warehouse.

Well, well. Things are heating up. Next chapter things get even more interesting. Stay tuned! Also, as I side note, I'd like to say that I'm aware that the chess metaphor I used in this chapter is not entirely accurate. There is a point to that.