3:04, April 11th 1996; Rouanpour, Thailand

As the morning sun rose above the horizon, the Black Lagoon crew prepared for their long journey. The boat was waiting for them at the dock, and ready to launch at a moments notice. Revy was the last to rise from her bunk, but nothing out of the ordinary for her. And if she is up early you know it's a bad sign anyway. But Dutch had a schedule, and he intended to keep to it.

"Rock, go wake Revy up. I'm not exactly sure I want to go into an arms deal with amateurs pretending to play 'army man' without her."

Dutch asked Rock, with his usual calm but impatient baritone. Rock nodded, and left Dutch to find Revy in her room. With the door wide open, Rock could see she was sprawled out across her bed. Empty bacardi bottle still in hand.

Rock sighed before trying to wake her. "C'mon Revy, we're gonna need you to make sure no one tries anything at the deal."

Revy sat up like she were rising from the grave. Eyes bloodshot and half open, hair a mess, still in yesterday's underwear and nothing else. Must have passed out while undressing for bed. Revy pulled herself to her feet slowly before slipping her signature tank-top on. Letting out quiet unhappy grunts and exaggerated yawns the entire time.

Looking to Rock without moving her head, she growls at him, "What fucking time is it? If this job was paying a goddamned penny less then I wouldn't even bother. Fucking hell."

Rock leaned on the doorframe, patiently waiting for her to get dressed. He had gotten so comfortable and so familiar with this routine it was difficult not to find it endearing. But Rock knew better than to be caught smirking at Revvy and her antics while she's waking up.

Once Revy had finally made her way downstairs and into the car with Rock, Benny hit the gas. Peeling out of the parking lot, Rock barely has time to pull the door shut.

Dutch was all business. "Alright, let's go over the details one last time. We get the shipment in Cambodia. We drop it off in vietnam. No bullshit, easy in and out. Rock, you and me make sure these deals go smoothly. Revy's with us. Just in case. Benny'll keep an eye on the radar and let us know if we have party crashers."

Debrief nearly finished, Dutch tried using the car lighter on his cigarette. Though the damn thing could only just barely get it to light.

"Everything should go smoothly, and by four thirty we'll be having a drink back in the office."

Revy was restless. As her leg bounced and she muttered under her breath, it was all too obvious her patience was running out of gas. Not that her tank was ever full to begin with. She hated not knowing. Having to sit with both her thumbs up her ass, prepared for a fight that might not happen. This was the part she hated. Not knowing how long until the guns come out; or if they will at all. But somewhere deep down, she knew it was going to get ugly. Always does.

Her thoughts drifted to the job ahead. Private military contractors, gun runners, Americans; all the criteria for trigger happy mad men. All ego, no guts. She could take them down a peg. No, should. Show them how things really get done in this line of work. Shatter that silly little illusion of theirs. Not like in the movies. The very thought of these mercs saluting each other in their shiny new uniforms. More like costumes. The way children play pretend. She could feel the bile in the back of her throat, thinking about them.

"They can't even name a gun besides a shitty M4." she muttered to herself, knowing no one is paying her any attention anyway.

She was feeling slightly more irritable than normal thanks to the hangover and tight schedule. She never was a morning person, and she intended to keep it that way. But the three hours of sleep weren't helping. She knew the boat would at least be dark enough not to make her headache worse. She might even manage a little extra sleep in one of the cabins. Not good sleep, though. What was generously called a bed was stiff and uncomfortable. A simple rigid metal cot. And worse? You could feel every lurch or heave of the boat while you slept. Even so, it was better than being awake. Revy could feel the growing heft of her eyelids, and before she could fight it off, she was out.

Rock opened the bulkhead and knocked on it. "Revy? Dutch thought you might be hungry. They don't deliver pizza this far out, so you'll have to settle for a can."

Revy groaned and sat back up, looking at Rock through blurred vision and barely hearing a sound other than a piercing ring in her ears. When her vision cleared Rock slipped a rubber rooster mask onto his head.

"You're looking pretty tired there. You should get some sleep, otherwise your mind may show you things you may not want to see." Rock's voice was muffled and uncanny behind the mask.

Revy stared at him with a confused grimace. "No shit sherlock, we got up at three AM, and I have a fuckin' hangover."

It was Rock's voice, but something was off. Too monotonous. Too flat. "I'm not who you think I am. I'm here to give you a warning. To tell you something important, before it's too late."

Revy's wince turned into an enraged frown. She stood up and grabbed him by his shirt. "Whatever you're doing, Rock, I suggest you knock it off; or I'll make you shit your fucking teeth!" Even calling him 'Rock' she knew something was wrong. Who was she even talking to? Rock, or the mask? It felt like the mask itself was taunting her, using Rock as its vessel.

"Violence isn't always the answer, you know." He took the mask off, showing her his face again. "That's why you keep me around, isn't it?" Rock's voice seemed uncharacteristically distant. Cold, and twisted. Cruel. Evil. The hollow grin curling across his face made her sick. She'd seen it before. That's the same smile she makes just before the shooting starts. Only it was reflected back at her, in him.

As Rock spoke, the cold, cruel and emotionally vacant words left his lips wearing his voice like a mask. "I'm the only one who can pull you out of this cesspool."

The Rooster mask slid back over his face, Rock pulling furtively at the filthy rubber thing. "I think you both better leave, and never look back."

Revy stepped back, remembering their confrontation at the market a few years ago. Her grip tightened until her fists clenched so hard her arms shook. Fury was burning a hole through her fists, as if she were holding molten lead in her palms.

Her jaw tensed, and she spoke through gritted teeth. "Rock, you're two seconds away from a broken nose and a hole in your head. So I suggest you-"

"I told you, I'm not Rock!" He interrupted. "Now, I have a question I need to ask you, Rebbeca."

Revy lowered her fist, confused as she had finally noticed the cabin had deteriorated, and almost felt rotten, and decayed. Her head felt light, and her heart was pounding, as her anxiety grew in her chest she stepped back.

"What?" She said apathetically.

"Do you like hurting other people?" The mask asked, patiently waiting for her answer.

Revy was not a patient person. "I don't need to answer your fuckin' questions. I do what I do because it's all I've ever known, so you can shove your morality up your ass, and turn it sideways!"

She grabbed him again and raised a fist to break his nose, though unsure if who she was about to hit was actually Rock. She hesitated for a moment, her grip on his shirt tightening like a vice.

The ringing tone in Revy's ears was growing louder, more overwhelming. But The rooster kept speaking; unphased by Revy's outburst or her anger. And even through the ringing his voice was still clear as a bell. "You can hide behind your tough-guy act all you want. It won't change anything. That's all I have left to say. But we'll meet again. I'll see you soon, Rebecca."

Click.

Revy snapped back up from the bed immediately on high alert. The blurry sight of the dismal cabin was a relief, as she wiped the sleep from her eyes. Her headache hadn't gotten any better, either. Looking around the room Revy sighed and hopped out of bed. The sleep wasn't worth it. She grabbed a cantine from beside the bunk, then gulped down the entire container hoping to satisfy that lingering hangover.

Revy growled at the sunlight beaming through the cockpit window, which only irritated her further. "Fucking hangovers… Fuck sleep. Fuck water. Nothin' fucking works. Fuck me..."

Her complaints would have gone ignored if not for Rock glancing in her direction, leaning against the doorframe. But he heard Dutch speak up first, just behind him. "We're ten minutes away from our destination. You even managed to sleep through the whole ride here, Revy. So I'm going to assume you'll be awake enough to make sure this goes down smoothly." Dutch reminded her.

Revy chuckled back at him. "Yeah right, these guys probably have their vests on backwards. We're not exactly dealing with EO."

Dutch was in a particularly humorless mood, though. "You see me laughing, Revy? PMC's are all unpredictable! As rare as one's like Extra Order are, I'd rather not take that chance."

She scoffed as she leaned back against the wall behind her and crossed her arms. Back to waiting for that moment to come when she'll be needed to start shooting again. She was feeling more irritable than usual today. She didn't quite know if it was the hangover, or that fucking chicken. No, not a chicken. A Rooster? Wait, what the fuck does it matter? Fuck this. She shook her head hoping to clear her thoughts. She needed that extra cash. The last thing she needed was to let herself get distracted from the job by a fucking chicken or rooster or whatever.

The crew finally arrived at the shipping yard but not all the workers had arrived yet; and the ones that had didn't care enough to question their presence. As Dutch, Revy, and Rock stepped off the boat a black coat wearing a man underneath it approached and saluted them, his balaklava crooked and baggy.

"Lagoon Company?" The shabby soldier asked, noticeably putting effort into making his voice sound deeper.

Dutch nodded "Yeah. We're Lagoon company. International code one, double-O, one, three."

With his volume dial cranked up to HOORAH the soldier replied. "I am Corporal First Class Wilson of Black Lake! I'll take you to the warehouse to pick up the shipment! Follow me!"

He then turned on his heel like he was falling out of a military formation; if someone's idea of military formation had only come from watching cheesy American action movies.

"Just punkass kids playing pretend." Revy thought to herself.

Following along behind this thrift store soldier must be some new kind of torture, she wondered. The walk dragged on and on as Revy baked in the unrelenting sunlight with a worsening hangover. With her patience thin as it was being pushed to its limits, she was on the brink of an outburst. She began wondering if letting these clowns kill her would be more merciful than the hangover. Nah, that'd be too embarrassing. As if they could anyway.

The mercenary marched forward, still trying to be something he wasn't. Pretending he was some kind of warrior. Or some action movie hero. It made Revy sick. Toy soldiers would have been more impressive. When the crew arrived at the warehouse they were greeted by fourteen more mercenaries all to guard little more than two crates of guns and ammo. They all wore the same oversized black coats and sad looking balaclavas, the same ridiculous assault rifles.

"Must be some really good ammo" Revy thought to herself, silently smirking at her own sarcastic joke.

Rock stepped forward to inspect the cargo, trusty clipboard in hand. And while he didn't have any immediate objections, he took his time. His diligence was always appreciated though. He may stick out like a sore thumb next to Revy, or Dutch. But it was his eye for detail that made Rock such an invaluable member of the crew.

"Everything in the manifest is here, but the pickup location is different." He told Dutch. There was that tone in his voice.

Dutch didn't like that tone. Made him uneasy. "I was wondering the same thing." he asked as he turned to face the mercs and adjusted his sunglasses. "You got an explanation for why the pickup location changed last minute? That ain't protocol, and you know it. I'm not touching this shit until I get answers. Good answers."

One merc stepped forward with a smug smile, his confidence obvious in his posture. "We felt that we needed a better environment for our... negotiations."

Revy smiled. The man was speaking like he was some action movie villain. The hair on the back of her neck began to rise. She could feel what was coming. Like a quiet tension building in the distance. She could smell it, there was blood and bullets just around the corner.

"Negotiations?" Rock repeated back to the man, the flatness in the tone of his voice betraying his obvious disappointment.

The scruffy toy soldier sneered at Rock under his crooked balaklava. "Yeah. Negotiations, you nerd. You got us passing batons around like this, you think you're so much better than us? Me and my boys got our pride, you hear me? We're gun runners, not the fucking mail man! This courrier bullshit is beneath Black Lake, and we want our time compensated. So if you want these guns? We want a bigger cut!"

Dutch sighed.

"How much?" Revy asked casually as she looked the man over. She had this strange feeling about him, like an itch she couldn't scratch. So why not scratch it?

"Half." He smiled, as he gripped his M4.

Revy let out a dry chuckle. Dutch kept his cool which he was never far from to begin with, but he could tell Revy was up to something. That smirk, the chuckle. It was like watching a cat finding its prey, but deciding to have a little fun with it first.

Dutch was focused on the job, anyway. "No can do. That'd never work for us. We need to make some kind of profit off of this job. Splitting the take by half can't make up for our losses or other expenses. And, it's not what we agreed on. We're taking the shipment as is. There's your negotiation."

Anticipating that the mercenaries' reaction would not be a positive one, Dutch quietly drew his Model 629 and kept it close. Thanks to years of experience, no one around other than maybe Revy even noticed his hands move.

The merc looked downright pleased underneath his goofy mask to hear that. "Heh. yeah? Thought you might say that. Was hoping you would! We're gonna make money off this job, and we can either get that money the easy way or the hard way. Your little crew of nerds and girls don't scare me or my boys! You think we're fucking pussies?! I'll give you the benefit of the doubt asshole, and assume you don't know who we are. We're fucking Black Lake, and we get what we want; or we take it. Now, Last chance: We're getting half. or I'll show you what the difference between me and the US government really is."

Revy couldn't contain herself any longer. She had to grip her sides as she leaned back, cackling like a hyena.

Still wiping the tears from her face, she flashed her iconic grin at the merc, "You're a real badass aren't you? Well then you fucking Russo-American veteran wanna be, why don't you show me the difference?" She had started slowly reaching for her guns before she even finished her sentence.

High on his own machismo, the cocky merc flashed an ugly smile back to Revvy, "Well little lady, I tried being nice, but I guess we just gotta do things the har-"

Revy shot him in his head, and before his body could even fall to the ground, she popped off two more rounds, hitting two more soldiers. This was easier than shooting targets at the carnival. Can't get too distracted with the fun, though. She grabbed Rock by the back of his shirt collar, before pulling him to safety behind a shipping crate. It's a good thing he's so scrawny, makes saving his ass that much less work. Rock ducked for cover and braced himself against the shipping container, as a cacophony of gunfire echoed all around. Once she was sure Rock was safe, Revy climbed on top of the structure and jumped off; firing three rounds into two more mercs. As the two mercs hit the floor, three more peeked out from behind cover. It was like a fucking clown car.

Frantically turning knobs on equipment he was clearly unfamiliar with, the merc holding a comically oversized radio began screaming, "Target is on the move, weapons free, shoot to-"

Dutch silenced him with a single deafening shot from his revolver.

He looked more disappointed than normal, "Amatures. All ego, and nothin' else. Had to make their own pretend army, cause they couldn't hack it in a real one" He grumbled to himself, with the faintest hint of pity.

Revy rolled into her landing, and shot the two remaining mercs in front of her before even looking up. She made this look too easy, she thought to herself. Knowing these mercs gotta be jealous only made her toothy grin grow more fierce. More ferocious. She enjoyed this feeling. The freedom. Letting out this animal she normally has to keep caged inside.

Behind cover she could hear one of the mercs sounding desperate, "Take the high ground, hit her left flank! Go! Go! Go!"

Revy chuckled again through her crooked grin. The way these toy soldiers talked all felt like it was from a bad action movie. Even left a bad taste in her mouth, like stale popcorn. The atmosphere felt electric with the familiar scent of gunpowder in the air. And she reveled in what was coming. These losers like action movies so much?

Well, she was about to give them the best damn show of their short, sad lives.

"I'll get the left. Revy, you handle those guys behind-" Dutch called out.

"Got it!" Came her reply, cutting off Dutch could finish. Three mercs climbed onto the containers in front of her, which she effortlessly shot down. One going down without firing a shot. As he fell off the structure he yelled up until his head met the concrete ground. Revy finally stood back up and ran forward, expecting to see the last few pretend soldiers hiding behind cover. She fired a few more rounds but didn't expect as many as there actually were.

"That's what I'm talkin about, baby!" she shouted, admiring her work. Thinking this is his chance to be a hero, one merc charges her from behind; his combat knife drawn. Revy casually levels her gun to his head and fires at point blank range, not bothering to look back. Judging by the charging footsteps, she could tell there were about six more.

"Easy fuckin' peasy." she growled to herself. As more mercs charged at her position, Revy turned the corner, ran alongside the wall, and lept off; springing into the air like a wildcat. As she pounced, two more shots. Landing gracefully, Revy can't help but grin as she watches two more mercs eat dust.

She heard another merc shout, "Frag out!" But Revy could see the grenade coming a mile away. More carnival games. Instinct took over, her gun whipped into position, and she shot it mid air. Ka'ching! We have a winner! The merc throwing the nade, and whoever was behind him instantly engulfed by the ensuing fireball. However all she did was just charge forward, using the smoke from the explosion's aftermath as cover. Dropping to a slide like she was stealing third base, Revy pops three more mercs as she skidded past them.

She was growling now, "Fucking pathetic! These losers get off to some shitty war flick one time, then suddenly they're playing pretend and talking in imaginary military code to jerk each other off!"

Revy jumped onto the container next to her, climbing from container to container until finding her way up to the rafters. The chaos below had started to die down, based on the noise. But the smoke was still thick. Could be some left, trying to hide. She crept along the rafters, keeping her eyes peeled for any remaining mercs. It wasn't long before she found them. Or difficult. She heard them first. They actually looked like they almost knew what they were doing. Taking their time, and checking each corner like a SWAT team. Revy found it a little cute. But without their gear tied down, the rattle of their equipment made them easy to track.

Revy pounced at the mercs and fired three shots, before using the only survivor as a landing pad. Grinding her foot against the shoulder of the wounded man she'd landed on, Revy raised her weapon and finished him off. The sound of the definitive final round echoing through the smoke, followed by an uneasy moment of silent tension.

Revy hated silence. She cracked her neck and looked to her left, peering through the smoke for her Captain. Dutch had managed four kills of his own, and was already making his way towards her.

She was nearly beaming when she saw him, "Anyone left you think, Dutchy boy?" Revy asked, with her usual swagger.

Dutch looked at her with half a smirk, then down at the corpse of the man beneath Revy's foot. As he listened to the mercs radio, his smile faded fast. Not that Dutch ever smiled for long, anyway.

They waited in silence, listening as a voice cracked through the radio interference "Squad two, report… What's going on? Respond!"

A new voice piped up in response to the first, "Communications with warehouse Five E have ceased! D squad, check it out!" As she listened, Revy's twisted grin returned and she began reloading her mags.

Revy spoke without looking up from her preparations, "Dutch, I need you to take Rock, and get back to the ship... These guys are mine."

Dutch nodded, heading to where they had left Rock and only looking back to say, "Don't take too long."

"Gonna have to ask for compensation on this one." Revy walked forward and made herself known to the 'backup unit' as they entered the warehouse.

"Put the guns down and put your hands on your head!" one shouted. Revy replied with condescending laughter.

"That's a first, you guys really are pathetic! At least you brought body armor this time, very good!" She didn't point her guns at them quite yet, wanting to see how many times they warn her before just shooting her.

"Second warning!" Revy couldn't help but laugh again.

"Final warning! Put down your guns now!" Revy stepped forward and pulled back the hammers on her pistols.

"Weapons free! Shoot to ki-" Revy shot the man in the head, then jumped behind a shipping crate again.

"Body armor, but no helmets. How sad." Revy just waited for the last two to approach her. They slowly inched toward her position in a single file line. They moved so slow that she just jumped out from behind the crate and shot one in the head, and shoved the corpse onto the man behind him.

"I gotta say, you guys are the sorriest excuse for a PMC I have ever had the displeasure of fighting. But I gotta hand it to ya too, you helped me fix my hangover." Struggling under the corps the last merc reached for his radio

"Commander General! Fall back! Leave the guns behind!" Revy pressed ger gun against the man's head

"And just like that your little circle jerk is no more. Oink, oink." She pulled the trigger and killed the merc with her signature twisted grin. She stood up and released the magazines in her guns, then picked them up to keep for later. Bullets cost money and the remaining rounds were worth keeping. She took a deep satisfying breath and walked back toward the entrance. Her adrenaline was starting to wind down as she finally saw the bright blue sky without it burning her eyes. She looked to her left to see a dead soldier laying next to where Rock hid during the fight. Dutch Was standing there, and Rock next to him.

"Let me guess. He used Rock to Bargen his way out of this?" Dutch nodded.

"Yeah, but he didn't hide behind him just stood by him and held a gun to his head. Hell, Rock was the one to knock him over." Revy scoffed as she walked to Rock and gave him a swift smack on the head.

"Now you have Dutch saving you, dumbass! How is it that the only thing you're any good at is talking and getting kidnapped? Fuck, at this point you're just like a little kid I need to babysit!" Rock looked down, then back to Revy, and replied with a warm smile. Then she remembered what he said before in her dream. She paused for a second, then scoffed again.

"Well, I guess I'm getting used to it at this point. C'mon, lets get these guns delivered and head for the Yellowflag, I'm fuckin parched."