Chapter 6 - Family Reunion-part 2
Rock had just left the office with his parents and an ex-girlfriend. Revy walked bout into the office and threw herself down onto the couch.
"You know now I think understand how Rock fits so well with us" Dutch said helping him to another drink
"I know what you mean Dutch he really is warped like the rest of us" Benny said. A second later they were both laughing, even Revy was chuckling. It was true Rock certainly did fit in their dysfunctional family.
Revy knew that Rock wasn't looking for a fight just trying to get some information but she still didn't like this. Aside from the fact she didn't like that bitch one bit, but she was concerned about what he said that they might be under watch, rock's definitely got skill and instinct but he's not ready just yet, better not get your ass killed partner, she thought.
Rock was currently driving towards the Yellow Flag, that favourite bar he and his friends went to. His parents, Hideki and Sarah, were both sitting in the back seat and Shino, much to Rock's dismay, was sitting next to him.
As soon as they had left the office the biggest thing Rock had been dreading started, the family commentary. "Son what is with those clothes you are wearing you look like a damn gangster" his father said starting the show. "yes Rokuro, I much prefer you in proper business clothing we'll take care of that when we get back home" she said, her tone of voice could have been considered charming if she wasn't talking to him like he was pet.
They had met in high school; apparently she had gotten the idea into her mind that they were a couple. Rock had never really paid much attention to it and she had this annoying way of seeming totally oblivious to anything if it burst her bubble. When he had gotten out of college and into the business world he had started to really become aware how his life seemed so meaningless. Day in, day out, nothing but bowing your beat and acting like a dog hoping for a treat. He just never found the way to wake up.
It was around that time he had broken things off with Shino, he had never really seen it as a relationship in the first. That was when he realised she was something of a control freak. She felt the need to lead him around like a pet dog, and since he had broken away she felt this need to satisfy her own ego by taking him back and regaining control, Rock knew if he knocked her own a peg or two it would most likely scare her off for good and she would just get on with life.
Before he had met Revy and the others he would have had the resolve to do so, back in Japan he told Revy he went to remember his old life so he could finally forget it. However that did not mean he didn't care about some of the people in his old life. Despite the poor opinion his parents held of him he still cared about them and did not want to see them hurt, so he would put up with this shit until he found out if they were aware of anything, or at least give Balalaika a chance to catch anyone that would know anything.
"So did you enjoy meeting everyone?" he asked in a bored voice trying to change topics.
"Well that big man Dutch seems like an intelligent one from what he's told me about your shipping company" his father said, of course he would speak respectfully of another professional businessmen.
"That other young boy, Benny seems very kind, I never got the chance to ask what kind of computers he uses" his mom said. She was very adept at computers herself.
"That woman though, what was her name? Reva she certainly is quite shameless wearing such unprofessional clothes, and a tattoo how barbaric" Shino said in that tone of voice Rock knew she used for those she considered beneath her. Rock had to fight down an intense urge to slap her, he was about to correct her as politely as he could manage when he father spoke again
"Yes, very inappropriate, I forget what it is she does in your company" he said.
Rock now saw the flaw in his plan to change topics, he had enough of their bashing "Her name I Revy Shino, and you might want to keep in mind she's my partner" he said in a low tone.
Shino looked at him with surprise she never remembered Rock acting this way before. His father also seemed a little taken back. His mother however, a little bit on the eccentric side, simply smiled "so what is it she does as your partner son?" she asked. Rock forgot about his anger for a moment and thought how of how fun it would be to say, well she's our professional gunmen in the past she would normally be my bodyguard and do all the shooting on our more questionable jobs, now though she's my gunmen teacher and girlfriend, but that could wait until later the shocked faces should be enjoyed by all.
"Well in the event of in job business meeting or discussion she's our hired gun" he said grinning.
They did not quite understand the joke.
Soon enough they arrived at the Yellow Flag it was a three story building, the first being the bar, the second and third floors were the motel and 'evening rendezvous' rooms. There was a large Neon sign over the front door that displayed the name to all. The bar was said to be a neutral district, but that apparently seemed to mean it was ok for everyone to fight everyone here. Rock had lived in this city for more then a year and a half and had already lost count of how many times the place had been wrecked. He parked the car in the rear lot by the back exit, force of habit from the number of times he and the others had to slink out this door during a highly violent bar fight, and lead his 'guests' around to the front entrance.
Just down the street two figures were standing in the shadows of the entrance to an alley way. They had followed the delivery boy from his office to this bar. Despite their orders the found this to be an ideal moment to go ahead with their leader's plans, this man was just one of those who was marked for death but capturing him would be simple, they were told he carried no weapons, and would bring the woman he was with and the two others as well. They walked out of the alley and walked up the street to enter the bar
"Yellow flag, quite an interesting name for a bar" Hideki said glancing up at the neon sign.
Rock walked in first leading the way. Inside the bar was somewhat similar in layout to that of a saloon in a western movie. He remembered the first time he had been him and called that famous bar at he end of the world. Inside was a large rectangular shaped room. All along the right wall there were booths and on the left was the stairs that led upstairs. The centre area was crowded with wooden tables and stools mostly used by patrons who wanted to gamble. At the other end of the room from where Rock was standing was the bar itself, it had been upgrades to bullet proof by the owner Bao and was capable of handling bullets up to .50 cal. Rock looked around an saw that the bar was not that well populated this evening, he breathed a sigh of relief.
The owner Bao was a Vietnam veteran, he's been running this bar for as long as anyone could remember. He was thin man about medium height with a short blackish grey hair that was starting to recede, and a pencil moustache. He wore black pants, a white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and a black vest.
He looked up when he saw the doors open and gave a semi-friendly wave to Rock as he walked in. Although Rock has yet to be the reason his bar has been destroyed the fact he was with Revy and the others made Bao wary of him. According to his complaining Revy has destroyed the Yellow Flag more then 15 times, though Rock knew at least a few of those he just blamed her since she was the only person in sight to blame, such as the time with Roberta they had just walked in at the wrong time.
"Evening Bao, can I get a round for four?" he asked. Normally he and the others like to sit at the bar since almost no one did. Since he had company though he was gonna take the booth that was at the corner of wall on the right, force of habit again if a fight got really nasty that both was only a few feet from the bar's cover then just a short crawl to the other end and out the back door, it was the other usual spot.
Bao gave him a coming up gesture and Rock led his parents and Shino. He let them slide inside then turned to go place his specific order of drinks. "So Rock got tourist with ya tonight?" Bao asked looking over at the booth.
Rock smiled "something like that" he said leaning onto the bar.
"So no Revy around for one of your all night drinking sessions?" he said sarcastically, as he put down a small tray with four glasses one it
Rock chuckled "nope I'm afraid not. I'll have the usual and two whiskey sours and one cognac" he said.
Bao nodded and a turned to grab the necessary bottles.
Rock looked into the mirror behind the bar and noticed the doors open and two people walk in. Nothing overly interesting about them and he was about to look away, but something in the back of his head said differently, it was like when someone blows on the back of your neck. Looking into the mirror again he looked a little closer to the two new patrons, one of them was dressed in some everyday clothes and looked like anyone else in the room, but was wearing a baseball hat and a pair of sunglasses. His drinking companion however was wearing some finer clothing; he wore black dress pants and a business suit. Most people would think it was just think it was one of the mafia collectors. , Having a drink with a local drug dealer.
It was the suit though that caught Rock's eye, he knew the store that made that kind, and it was one of the more popular tailor shops in Tokyo.
When Rock first got here he wouldn't have noticed or thought much of it, but in all his time working with Revy and the others his instincts had gotten sharper, you needed them to survive in this world, and right now his own were telling him that something was wrong. He remembered what Balalaika had said, these guys must been keeping watch, he wasn't sure though were to go from here, leaving now might looked weird since we just sat down, guess I have no choice but to sit down and wait a bit, that was his plan for now, it wasn't great but If it came down to it he did have his guns and just needed to get back to the car.
"Here ya go" Bao said filling his order.
Rock had nearly forgotten he had ordered drinks, "thanks Bao" he said reaching into his pocket for some money to pay for the drinks.
Rock picked up the tray and walked back to the booth, now I'm beginning to see why Revy thinks shooting solves all problems, he said sarcastically to himself.
He set the tray down and slide into the booth, his parents were on one side, and he was forced to sit next to Shino, as he did so she shifted a few inches closer "Thank you Rokuro, you remembered my favourite" she said helping herself to one of the whiskey sours. She tried to make the compliment sound sincere, but it still sounded like a good boy compliment for your pet dog.
How could I forget you're the one who started building my tolerance to booze back in college at all those parties you dragged me too. "So how has Obito been doing?" he asked. Obito was his older brother the one who his parents were proud of since he did well in his entrance exams and landed a job in the government. He had always been nice to Rock growing up, but just like his parents once his own scores came back on his exams he switched the kind of kind pity treatment his mother used.
At the mention of their older son, his parents both smiled "oh he is doing quite well, he is currently on a business trade to London as part of a new trade agreement being established" His father said with warmth in his voice.
Rock eye's narrowed in annoyance and he took a drink of his glass, he wished he ask for the whole bottle, hell a shot for shot contest with Revy sounds more appealing then this, he smiled at the thought.
For the next hour or so, Rock listened and got caught up with his parents. He heard about old colleagues and friends. He smiled evilly when he heard his old boss Kageyama at Asahi industries had been fired when his superiors had been pinned the fraud charges on him during their business dealings with the Japanese government, what goes around comes around so they say.
"Alright what'll you guys have" Bao's voice came from somewhere behind him.
Looking out the corner of his eye, he saw the bartender standing at the table the two newcomers were sitting at table near them. They were about 15 to 20 feet away. Rock did not hear them answer but Bao didn't look happy.
"This isn't a bus stop either order something or get the fuck out" he said.
The level of his voice seemed to get him what he wanted because he then walked away from the table and put another couple glasses on the table.
Normally someone would have pulled a gun out and they would have exchanged a few more 'pleasantries'. They however seemed to care more about not being noticed. One of them noticed Rock looking at him and quickly struck up conversation with his companion.
Rock was fairly certain at this point either they were having a bad night or these two were not overly skilled. He still needed to be careful he did have three other people to watch out for, despite not being overly fond of them he wasn't going to let them be hurt.
"Rokuro?…Rokuro are you listening to me" Shino said bringing him back to their table.
"What? I'm sorry what were you saying?" he asked, finishing off the last of his drink.
Shino frowned "I was asking you when you are planning on leaving this rather offensive city and come back home to Japan. This um job of yours must seem like fun but be realistic, and how do you think it makes you look hanging around with those people, your boss looks more like a ex-army thug, the computer man looks more like a free loaner, and that woman -" she was cut off by Rock slamming his glass down onto the table, he did so with enough force to crack it slightly.
"Shut up, I'm sick of you and your oh so high and mighty bullshit. Those people are my friends and I'd much rather be seen with them then you" he said in a low tone, he was trying to keep his anger under control he didn't want to forget about the two men watching him.
His family certainly seem shocked by his outburst, they all remembered the old Rock who had no spine and never fought back.
Rock grinned; it had felt good to get that out.
His father then scowled "you show some respect Rokuro, Shino is a highly respected and successful businesswoman and wanted to off you a place at our company despite you past mistakes" he said. It seemed for once he was actually paying attention to his son.
Rock snorted "thanks that is what I really was hoping for going back to a meaningless job of bowing my head and playing the part of a pet dog to others" he said sarcastically.
His father was at loss for words. His mother put a hand on his arm to help him settle down "please let's not fight, Rokuro we came here because we were concerned about you, your father and I just feel you were better off at your old job, we still don't even know why you quit" she said.
Rock sighed, he knew his mother was only trying to keep her husband happy but still it was hard to yell at your own mother, "well I didn't quit I was brushed aside when they sent me out on a job and things went wrong. They cut me off to protect their money and places in the big chairs. Since then my friends have looked out for me and gave me a place to work I'm much more happy with them" he explained in a calmer tone.
They didn't really know what to say to him about that. Rock knew his parents did not like these kinds of situations since they never had to deal with them before.
Rock sighed again "look why don't we call it a night, tomorrow we can talk some more and I'll explain things a bit more" he said. He did not want to upset them too much right now since this was not the time or place.
His mother nodded "alright dear our plane tickets to leave are for tomorrow evening, but we can talk more about that in the mourning" she said as she stood up and slipped out of the booth with her husband right behind her. Rock slipped out of the booth with Shino following, he noticed she looked very pissed off, probably pissed about how she can't get her pet to jump at her command, he thought grinning.
Rock originally planned on leaving using the front door, which was rare for him and the others, but after seeing one of the two men at the table look up at him and decided it would be smarter to go for the back door to get to the car faster.
"Night Bao" he called acting like he didn't realize anything was wrong. As he was walking though he quickly undid the couple buttons at the middle of his shirt, that way he could reach his guns quicker. He hoped it would not come to that but was ready for it anyway, both of his guns were loaded and he still had the two extra ones Revy had given him earlier, they were in the magazine carrier attached to his belt, so he had ammo to use but did not like the idea of a fight with his family around.
Rock led the way out the back door. The car was parked about several feet away, when they got to his he unlocked the doors for them to get in.
He then heard the sound of the back door opening. Rock had his back facing the door so he was able to slide one of his guns out of its holster and pulled back on the slide with his other hand.
Shino and his parents looked at him when he did not get in the car right away, the lights of the rear wall of the bar were shining at his back so they did not notice the gun in his hands.
He then heard someone behind him speak, "Mister Okajima, might we have a word with you?" the person spoke in a tone like he was asking for directions. At the use of his name though that was all the proof he needed.
Rock suddenly turned and raised his gun. He levelled it just between the two men standing next to each other, they were close enough so that neither of them could risk moving.
At the sight of Rock pulling out a gun the others in the car all gasped "Rokuro what the hell are you doing" Shino practically screamed in her surprise.
Rock meanwhile was not paying attention to her. He was watching the two men intently, they seemed just as shocked to see him holding his gun, and neither of them had drawn any weapon. He guessed they had hoped to take him quietly
"What the fuck, they said he didn't carry any weapons" the one wearing the street clothes said.
"Shut up" the suit wearing man warned. He then took a step forward "Mister Okajima I must say this is certainly a surprise we were under the impression you refrained from the use of firearms" he said casually.
Rock knew his earlier judgement had been wrong. This man was not an amateur, he could tell he was used to these kinds of situations. The other one appeared shaken but Rock knew she shouldn't under estimate either of them. He was thankful at least no one in the car tried to get out and demand an explanation.
"Well it looks like your information is a little outdated" Rock said in a calm tone. He would fire if they made any threatening moves.
The suite wearing man nodded "indeed, but there is no need to be so hostile as I said we wished to speak with you, and you wouldn't want your hasty actions to be the cause of injury for your friends" he said in a cold tone.
Rock's eyes widened at his words "So it's not just me your after?" he asked hoping to understand what the fuck was going on.
The suite wearing man chuckled "well our leader is highly interested in you yes, but your companions are also involved. Originally we hoped you would return to Japan with those your family after we sent them that letter, then we could capture you to lure the other targets as well. However it seems plans have changed, I believe now your friends may be entertaining some other members of my charming group sent here to keep an eye on you" he said in that cold voice again.
He then looked at his watch. Rock also noticed the other man holding a phone in his hand. Rock knew this meant they had back up coming, "so is this what you would call observation?" he said. He was surprised he was able to still stay so calm right now.
The suit laughed "well played, yes it is true we were no meant to force and confrontation, however this is a good opportunity and I am certain our leader will not be displeased.
Knowing they were going against their order made Rock less worried about the situation, he's thinking he's already won he isn't even trying to lie, since he's acting on his own that means we just have to deal with a small force, he thought.
It was then Rock heard he sound of a vehicle approaching and fast, "ah right on time" the suit said.
A van suddenly came into view on the road at the far end of the parking lot, it came to a fast stop and Rock saw the side door opening and knew what was coming.
Rock turned, reacting on his instincts. Just as the door opened he levelled his gun and began firing. His first shot hit the person who had taken a step out of the van holding an Uzi, he went down face first to the ground not moving. His next two shots went right through the driver side window shattering it, and from the scream of pain he heard he must have injured or killed the driver.
He was amazed how fast he had reacted to the situation, he then heard the suit man's voice "damn, it would seem your more skilled then we thought Mister Okajima, lets hope the others are as well." he said in a displeased tone.
Rock moved again, turning to aim his gun back at them, but he and the other man were already running to get behind the van.
"Shit" Rock said. He realized what that he had been talking about Revy and the others. He quickly holstered his gun and scrambled into the car
The others inside were in a state of shock from the shooting, especially since it had Rock doing the shooting.
Rock started the car and peeled out of the park lot and getting onto the road to get back to the office.
"Rokuro what the hell is going on?!" Shino screamed as she reached over to grab his shoulder.
Rock was not in the mood to deal with this he had to get back "shut up and sit down!" he said his tone was commanding and thankfully Shino listened.
Rock was driving fast but not as fast as Benny or Dutch could, he made a hard turn and came close to losing control, at this rate I should reach the office soon if there's not a lot of traffic on the main roads, Revy..
Back at the Lagoon office
They were all mostly relaxing since there wasn't much for them all to do. Dutch had called the number Rock had given him, he spoke with one of the usual accountants of Balalaika's employ, after giving him the account number he was surprised to hear there were receiving getting 40 grand which had been twice what they were supposed to have gotten paid.
"Now that's what I call compensation" Dutch said cheerfully as he sat down to have a drink.
Revy was currently browsing through channels on the TV they had recently put into the office.
Benny was coming back from the Kitchen with a sandwich in hand.
Just as he was walking around the back of the couch he heard the sound of car pulling up, "hm, wonder if that's Rock" he said. Dutch and Revy looked up when he spoke.
Benny looked out the window through the "its a couple vans sitting right outside,, what are those guys doing,,, SHIT!" he yelled quickly diving to the floor as bullets tore through the windows.
Revy rolled off the couch in a heartbeat and reached under for her guns. In a matter of second she had the holster on and the guns were in her hands. Dutch was crouched behind the chair, "Benny you alright?" he called out.
Benny was down on the floor "ya I'm good" he said.
Just then another volley of bullets was released. Revy knew that if you couldn't see your target there was only one other reason to fire, "Dutch their covering for some other coming in" she warned.
Dutch had already moved into position and grabbed his favoured Remington shotgun, since the door and hall were narrow his weapon would prove highly effective. Revy was also crawling towards the crouch just under the window to start returning the favour.
Dutch watch the door carefully, soon enough he saw the knob starting to turn. Levelling his shot gun he fired right through the door, this would now be the 4th door they have destroyed. Dutch heard the sound of painful screams and the thump of a body hitting the floor. He immediately fire another shot to keep the enemies away so he could run to the doorway and peek out into the hall.
Revy was crouched against the wall just below the window, she knew she couldn't even try and get a look at the street because of the angle she would just make herself an easy target.
"Benny throw me one of the grenades we got in the closet" she called
Benny took a while to get over there he was not meant to be in fights, and he wasn't used to helping out even as support for them. Revy couldn't blame him but she wished Rock was here to help out, you better not be hurt Rock cause if you fucked up it's my job to set you straight.
"Revy, catch!" Benny yelled over the gun fire.
Revy turned and caught two grenades she pulled the pins off both of them "eat this fuckers" she said smiling, and throwing them out the window. Before they went off she picked up her guns to start shooting once she got her opening.
A second later she heard the sounds of alarmed yells from outside and the sound of tow loud bang that were the grenades. In a second Revy stood up and quickly scanned the outside.
There were two large black vans. She could see some of the enemies already some wore basic clothes, others wore uniform's, but they all wore something to cover their faces. Revy saw that here grenades had taken out a few men, but she counted about another dozen still alive, "payback time assholes" she yelled as she began firing. Most of them were already hiding behind their vehicles but the ones who were inside them were easy kills. Revy jumped from side to side now then to dodge return fire and occasionally had to duck down but they didn't have her pinned anymore.
Dutch walked out into the hall just as a couple more guys came up from the stairs. He fired twice and got them both. He then slowly walked down the hall reloading as he went. He hugged the corner just as he reached the stairs and listened for the sound of footsteps, he didn't hear anymore coming up. Judging from the sound or Revy firing he guessed they were not able to get inside, who the hell are the pricks, and where the hell is Rock, where what was going through his mind, "better go down and say hello, don't wanna seem rude" he said as he started walking down the stairs.
"fuck if it's not our car it another one there always hiding behind" she said as she skilfully reloaded her gun by reaching for another mag at her belt with one hand, holding it with her teeth to slide it in, then pressing the butt against her thigh to lock it in place and resume firing. Revy then ducked down as a couple of the fuckers fired at the same time as her other gun ran out. Just as she reloaded it she heard the Dutch's shotgun go off near the street level. She grinned now she could head down to finish the job, "Benny follow me were going to say hi to those shit heads" she said as she ran out of the office. Instead of heading down the stairs though she kept running down the hall. At the end was the fire exit. She reached then jumped over the balcony, and landed on the ground.
Since this time they were not being shot at, Benny was able to just run down the stairs.
They now stood in the alley that was between their building and the next one. Straight ahead was the street, she could still hear firing and Dutch's shotgun, better hurry he'll be running low on shells soon, she then ran to the corner and just barely poked her head out to see.
Dutch had gotten a few more of them, there were still eight standing. Revy leaned around the corner and started firing. She killed off two of them before losing the element of surprise.
She then saw one of them throw a grenade in her direction "fuck" she said before kicking in high into the air where it went of but not hitting anyone, this is taking too long were gonna run out of ammo.
**
Rock was now only a couple minutes away from the office, soon as he hit the next turn up ahead it was a straight shot. He then heard the sound of another vehicle moving fast. Looking into the rear view mirror he saw two van's less then a minute behind him, "shit backup, hold on!" he said as he punched it on the speed and make a Dutch class suicidal turn on the home stretch, the others had long since buckled up.
He could see the office now, there were two black van's sitting in front and a group of men hiding behind them and firing, the fact they were shooting meant his friends were ok, well alive at least. Rock thought about using the car to crash into them but since there was more on the way they would need to get to the boat and fast, I hope we'll all be able to fit.
Revy had just finished reloading again when she turned the corner and saw something up the road that made her smile "Dutch it's the car!" she yelled.
"About time!" was his answer as he fired off another shot.
The enemies were now down to five when they heard the yelling. Some of them turned to see the car barrelling towards them.
They began firing wildly towards the approaching vehicle
"Big fucking mistake" Revy said as she jumped from the corner and took out three of them before they realized that hit them.
Dutch then walked out from his spot just inside the door and finished off the last two.
Just then they saw the car come to a tire screeching in the middle of the street. They saw Rock behind the well.
"Quick get in, their right behind me!" he yelled.
That was all they needed to hear and they ran to get in the car. There was a few second delay due to the number of people already in the car "move the fuck over" Revy growled. The anger in her tone of voice practically made them jump at her order. Shino who was terrified of Revy at this point scramble into the back of the car as Sarah was pushed to sit on her husband's lap. Benny got into the front with Dutch right behind him, there wasn't enough room for either of them in the back, Revy got into the back. The minute the doors closed rock stomped on the accelerator and they were off. The two pursuing vans were still behind them about and behind by about 30 seconds
"Fucking A on the timing Rock, just like the cavalry" Revy said in her cheerful tone.
"Nice time at the Bar with the folks?" Dutch asked.
"Ya you could say that hold on" Rock said as he made another hard turn
The others meanwhile were in a state of various emotions, shock, fear, and excitement due to the adrenaline rush. They all looked over to the woman sitting next to them holding twin gun's in her hands that looked similar to the ones Rock had used, she was grinning and lit up a cigarette. Fortunately they were smart enough no to say anything that might piss off the people holding the guns.
"So what's the plan?" Benny asked.
"Get to the boat and get the fuck out of here, were almost at the dock. I guess now you're all our clients now we can talk about payment later though" Dutch said as he reloaded his shotgun.
They could now see the dock. Rock got close then managed to safely stop in time.
The two vans would be there in seconds.
"Benny get them to the boat and get it ready, we'll deal with the pricks" Dutch said, referring to Sarah, Hideki, and Shino.
"Right I'm on it, you three follow me" Benny said jumping out of the car and leading their clients to the Lagoon.
Rock, Revy and Dutch meanwhile waited by the corner of the boathouse and waited for their company to show up. There were some crates and boxes stacked there that they could use as cover.
Dutch stood leaning against the building with a large stack for his cover. Rock and Revy were crouched behind some other crates, Rock had both his gun's out now, Revy looked at Rock and saw he had that serious look in his eyes "you doing alright Rocky baby?" she asked.
Rock looked at her and smiled "ya I'm fine, thanks Revy" he said.
Just then they heard the two vans's come to a halt. The three of them pointed their guns as they enemies scrambled out and the bullets started flying.
**
Benny ran down the pier with their clients following. He jumped up onto the boat and headed for the hatch that went right into the control room.
Just as he opened it a man stood up from where he had been hiding behind the ladder a few feet away. Benny only looked up in time to see the gun butt crash into the side of his head he fell into the open hatch.
The man then pointed his gun at the three people standing on the pier "follow me or I will shoot" he said. He was wearing a mercenary style uniform but they could not see his face. They all nodded fearfully, and followed him to the end of the dock, where a small motorboat was tied at the end. He told them to get in and then climbed down when they did so. He untied the knot at the deck post and turned on the motor.
He then directed the boat out into the gulf. They could see that they were being taken another boat that was waiting about mid way out into the gulf.
**
"What that fuck is up with the guys they're just sitting there not even trying to press us back" Revy side firing one gun while reloading the other.
They had about half a dozen firing at them, but were now down to four. Just then one of the enemies shouted something to the others, they then all rushed back into their van's and drove away.
"What the fuck" Revy said confused
Dutch then realized he couldn't hear the sound of the boat "shit the boat" he said as he turned and ran to the pier. Revy and Rock were right behind him.
They saw that the boat was still there but not on. The three of them saw a boat moving out of the gulf, it had a number of bright lights turned on.
"Benny boy where are ya? Dutch called as they all jumped up onto the deck. They saw the control room hatch was open.
Looking inside they saw Benny rubbing his head "oh man that hurt" he said.
"You ok Benny? What happened?" Dutch asked as he dropped in through the hatch. Revy and Rock followed him in.
"Some guy was here waiting, when I opened the hatch ha smacked me with his gun. Last thing I heard before I hit the floor was him telling the others to go with him or he would shoot" he said rubbing the side of his head.
"Must have been that boat, the one we saw leaving" Revy said holstering her guns.
"Oh great for once I'm not the one getting kidnapped now it's my parents" Rock deadpanned as he also put his guns away.
"we'd better get after them, they'll have a head start on us once they get past the Buddha and start moving, but we'll catch 'em no problem" he said getting into his chair and firing up the engine.
"Thanks Dutch" Rock said.
"Don't mention it Rock besides we won't be getting paid if we don't mount a rescue and I'd hate to have to charge you for all this" he said grinning.
The all laughed at that.
Benny then left to get to his station; he could track the ship and hopefully find out what type it was so they could judge its strengths and weakness's.
Rock and Revy meanwhile waited in the control room. "So Dutch what's the plan?" Rock asked.
"Well we should be able to sneak up on them since were harder to spot if we keep the lights off, they'll be expecting us though. I'll keep them distracted while you and Revy use the zodiac to go get those three back. Think you can handle that Rock?" he asked, he knew Rock was getting pretty good with his guns but wasn't sure if he was ready for this.
Rocks thought for a moment, then his eyes were almost like a predator's "ya I'll be fine" he said.
Revy grinned "we'll handle those fuckers partner" she said.
Dutch then started to increase their speed now that they had cleared the gulf, he then grabbed his earpiece/mic "Benny you getting anything yet?" he said into it.
"Ya their moving southwest at a speed of 23 knots. Give me a minute here and I'll be able to tell what kind of boat they got" Benny said through the radio.
Dutch adjusted their direction, and increased their speed so they would catch up sooner
"Ok got it, there a research vessel, same class as that boat those Nazi's were using" Benny reported
"Well good for us that kind of boat isn't meant for naval combat, and their radar isn't that good we'll be able to surprise them easily. Keep an eye on them Benny let me know when we're almost on top of them" he said.
Revy then turned to the hatch "back in a minute" she said. She soon returned with carrying a two magazine carriers, each held a max of three clips, and a handful of bullets, they were the ammo that had made back at Phukhet beach "Rock reload the clips in your guns and put these on" she said passing him the ammunition. She had also re-supplied her own stock, aside them the two clips in her guns already she there mag carriers attached to her belt, she normally did not end up using that much ammo but they all knew how things can turn ugly fast and Revy preferred being well stocked on ammo.
"Thanks Revy" he said. He attached the carriers to his belt, counting the first one he had which only had two mag's he now had a total of eight plus his the two in his guns, then took our the mag in each of his guns to reload them. He and Revy were now ready for their part of the job.
**
A/N: I realise if you crunch the numbers there is does sound like a lot but keep in mind how much shooting occurs in the anime lol.
**
"Rock when we take care of this you can fill us in on what Balalaika told you earlier today" Dutch said.
Rock suddenly remembered he had not told them about what was going on "oh right sorry Dutch" he said suddenly feeling embarrassed
"Don't worry about it, been kind of a cluster fuck day" he said.
Each of them then light up a smoke and waited for when they caught up to the research boat.
About half and hour later they heard Benny over the radio "Dutch were closing in on them if we can slow down now and we shouldn't show up on their radar, at least until were within 500 yards of them" he said.
"Alright Benny come on up and take the controls, and bring the Remington and some ammo" he said.
A few minutes later Benny showed up carrying their Remington Sniper Rifle, and a few extra magazine clips.
Soon enough they could see the enemy boat ahead of them. They still had a number of spotlights on,
"Alright Benny you take the wheel. Revy, Rock you two go get the Zodiac ready. I'll go up top and take out some of those lights and let you know when to make your move" he said. He then went to get set on the top hatch.
Rock and Revy then got the Zodiac out of the hold. They then went up top and tossed in into after tying it to the main deck and waited for Dutch's signal.
"Alright Dutch ready when you are" Revy said into her mic.
"Then lets say hi to the fuckers" they heard Dutch say.
Just then they heard the shots from the rifle. The three spotlights at the rear of the boat were shattered. They could now hear alarmed yells coming from the boat. The boat then came to stop a few minutes later
"Alright lets go" Revy said
Rock turned the motor on and they made there way to the boat to begin the rescue.
Revy looked behind her to see Rock looked very tense, she knew he wasn't afraid though, he's worried about fucking up when we get there, "Hey Rock, you don't need to get yourself so tense, if you worry to much about fucking up you will fuck up, just relax and follow your instincts" she said
Rock looked up at her, smiled and took a deep breath "Thanks Revy"
"Watch my back, and I'll watch yours, partner" she said winking over her shoulder.
They could hear the sound of Dutch still shooting, he must he firing at the enemy numbers to make it easier for them to slip aboard.
Soon enough they got along side the boat where it was dark and they couldn't hear anyone moving. Revy then threw the grappling hook and caught the railing. Revy climbed up first, when she got on the deck she drew her cutlasses and looked around, but did not see anyone. She then leaned over to wave to Rock so he could climb up. He drew his own guns when he got up
"Dutch were aboard, were gonna head below an start looking" Rock said into the mic
"Roger, I'll deal with the ones that are running around up top, good luck" Revy and Rock head him say.
Before the moved Revy held her gun up and looked at Rock. He grinned and butted his gun against hers.
They then found a stair well and headed down. The most likely location that Shino and his parents were at was the hold, so that would be where be there they headed. Since this ship was similar in design to that one the Nazi's has used so Revy knew he way around fairly well. They were moving slowly since they did not want to get ambushed. They could hear people moving most on the upper decks but were still on alert.
They moved down to the end of this hall and heard voices around the corner. Revy held up her hand to signal Rock to wait. She then looked around the corner and saw two men heading towards them, they were talking in low voices and did not notice her.
Revy then looked back to him and held up two fingers. Rock nodded, but before she could move Rock stopped her. He leaned in close and whispered "don't kill, interrogate" he said.
Revy realised he wanted to not kill them right way and find out exactly where the hold was located. Once the voices got closer Revy and Rock jumped in front of them they both fired a couple times. They aimed for the legs and arms so that they would go down but not die right away. They walked forward to the two moaning men.
"Where is the hold?" Rock asked one of them.
"Fuck you" he spat and pulled a gun. Due to his wound though, he was too slow.
Rock reacted at his movement and shot him again, killing him.
Revy then turned to the other one "Alright listen you piece of shit, if you don't tell us where the fucking hold is or I'll leave you hear to bleed to death. If you do we'll just leave" she said menacingly.
Rock knew she was lying, if they left him he would just call for help or try to shoot them himself.
The man wasn't as brave as his friend "No no please don't I'll tell you" he said clearly terrified. "You go down that this hall and make a left and follow that until you get to a stairwell, the hold is on the bottom deck" he said.
Revy then stood up, levelled her gun, and pulled then trigger.
"We better move they'll know were on the boat now" she said.
Rock nodded. They could already hear the sound of footsteps.
The headed down the hallway just as more merc's showed up, three rounded the corner behind them while two others came around the corner up ahead. Rock and Revy moved in almost perfect sync. Revy spun and put her back to Rock's to fire at the ones behind them, while he fired at the two ahead of them. Since their enemies rushed in they were caught off-guard. Rock pointed one of his guns a fired twice, he put the two ahead down as they were drawing. Revy finished the three behind them at the same firing twice with one gun, and once with the other.
Rock was not yet skilled enough to fire both guns at the same time, he just switched from one to another, and it was just as effective.
They continued moving make the left turn then moving faster down this hall. Walls were lined with door ways but they only encountered a few more enemies. Rock fired at those who ran out of the hall ahead of them while Revy shot those on their flanks as they passed them.
They then reached the stairwell. When they got through the doorway Revy aimed up in case there were any of them coming down, Rock aimed down for any coming up. The stairwell was deserted. They then made their way down, it was only one set of stairs, and rounding one corner midway.
There was no one stationed at the door when they got to the bottom. Rock holstered his guns so he could unlock and open the door. Inside they found their scared clients
"Are you all alright?" Rock asked as he drew his guns again.
They all nodded. None of them looked injured jut shaken.
"Ok listen just follow us if any shooting starts get down, got it" he said in a commanding tone.
"Rokuro.." his mother started.
"Listen we don't have time for any bullshit it's up to you to keep up or die" Revy said. She knew this would get them moving if she gave them a kick in the ass.
Just then they head gunshots from the stairwell. Rock and Revy both turned to see a couple men standing and firing at them. However they were standing to high to get a decent shot.
"Rock aim low!" Revy said over the shots.
Rock crouched low and fired both his guns this time aiming for their exposed legs. His shots made their mark, as they both went down Revy fired two shots that finished them both.
"Lets go" Revy said.
They moved back into the stairwell, they decided to just go to the main deck from here and get the hell of this boat
"Dutch we got them were moving up to the main deck, watch your shots" Revy said into her mic.
"Roger that, there's a shit load of them up top, what yourselves" they heard him say.
They were one deck below the main according to the signs. They now slowed down to be ready for the gun play.
Revy went around the last corner first, there was no one at the door. To their left was hallway. "Rock were now on the opposite side of where we started, well go out through this door and make out way around the stern to get back to the Zodiac" Revy said. Rock nodded. The other all waited on the stairs behind them
As soon as she pushed the door open bullets began to tear it up.
"Fuck" she said as she jumped back. She then fired some blind shots with her left gun. Once they stopped she poked her head out just enough to see. There were about three of them hiding behind a barricade each, they all had sub-machine guns.
"Shit I can't get a clean shot at those fuckers" Revy said pulling her head back as they resumed firing.
Rock noticed the hallway to the left ran parallel to them. "Revy keep em distracted for a few seconds" he said. She looked at him and nodded.
Rock then moved down the hall and a fast pace. At the other end of the path went right and left. He heard foot steps running from around the corner to the right. He waited until they were almost at him then he jumped out, and started firing. There were five of them, they had their weapons drawn but since they have been running Rock got the first shot, he emptied what was left in his right gun and took out the first three, then the two behind raised their own weapons, a handgun and an Uzi, but they only got off a couple wild shots before Rock fired with his left gun and killed them both.
He hit the mag release and shook his gun, much the same way as Revy did, and slipped a new mag in. He then turned around so he could head for the open door ahead of him, poking his head out a few inches he saw he was behind the 3 who were still behind the barricade.
"Revy stop shooting" he said.
When heard the sound of her cutlass stop. He came out of the doorway just as they spotted him. They turned to fire but were too late.
"Nice work Rock" Revy said running along the deck and climbing over the barricade. Shino and the others were right behind her.
"Alright we just keep going this way and circle around till we reach the Zodiac and get the fuck off this boat" Revy said as she reloaded both her guns.
They then ran down and soon reached the rear of the boat. The Zodiac was hooked near the middle of this side of the boat. They saw a number of bodies along the way, and could hear the remaining enemies at the wider area up ahead.
They moved slowly and soon found the hook still stuck in the railing.
"Alright Shino you go first climb over the railing and slide down the rope to our motorboat, Mom you go next then Dad" Rock said.
Shino hesitated "but the water" she said.
"We don't have time for that now they could be coming already, get down there now!" he said.
She jumped at his sharp tone, then climbed over the railing, and slid slowly down the rope to he little raft below. Sarah went next after giving rock a weary smile, she was soon down in the raft as well, and Hideki then went down with no trouble
"Go ahead Revy" Rock said.
She nodded and holstered her, and was over the railing in a flash.
Rock looked to see she was safely down when a bullet whizzed past his head, he turned and brought his guns up to see a three of them standing at where the deck got wider. Rock fired right away and brought them down, their own shots not accurate since he was in the part of the deck where the spotlights had been shot. The spotlights where they had been standing were working so he had the advantage.
"Rock, what's wrong" he heard Revy say through his earpiece.
Before he could answer more of the remaining merc's rounded the corner ahead of him. He counted six. He aimed both his guns straight ahead and started firing. He took four of them down right away but two stayed standing and needed to be shot a second time. He knew more would be coming, it was not or never.
He then saw the Lagoon come around to his side and heard shots coming from Dutch's rifle "Rock go ahead I got you covered" he head him say. Rock holstered his guns and jumped over the railing and sliding quickly down the rope. He almost crashed into Revy when he reached the bottom.
Revy then shot through the thick rope that was attacked to the hook.
Some more men started firing over the railing, but between Revy, Rock, and Dutch they picked them off easily.
Rock then got the motor started and soon enough they were out of sight in the dark, from anyone still left alive.
"Dutch were on our way" Revy said.
"Roger that" he replied.
Rock looked at Shino and his parents who were looking at him in a kind of awe, "so when do you think you'll be visiting again?" he asked trying to keep a straight face as Revy burst out laughing.