Black Lagoon: Broken Hearts + Damaged Souls

Prologue: A Lad On The High Seas!

Jack woke up to the sound of a storm. As his eyes began to readjust themselves, he finally caught a glimpse of a lightning bolt outside his cabin window. It's been 8 days since he left the nothingness he had in the States and jumped aboard a cargo vessel named U.S.S. Kraken. Jack stretched his limbs and yawned loud, then climbed out of his bed. As the boat rocked violently he nearly lost his footing and fell, but the rocking stopped. As he caught his balance, he drew a sigh of sheer boredom.

Jack was only 11, and was born in the East Coast state of New York. He lived on the streets of Brooklyn, just making it by. When he was 8, he found out he had Asperger's Syndrome, a form of Autism. He definitely didn't let that stop him from stating his opinion to his parents. He was very defiant. At age 9 they got fed up with him and tossed him out on the street. All he had with him was a suitcase of his favorite clothes and his stuffed bear which he promptly named Reginald. Around the age of 10, he finally got fed up himself with his lifestyle, and headed for the docks. He stowed away on the Kraken, hoping he would find something better someday. Eventually, the Captain of the ship found Jack. They've been friends ever since and Jack lives aboard the Kraken full-time.

As he got dressed, he heard the Captain come over the intercom.

"Attention crew! This is your captain speaking. We should be out of the storm in about 25 minutes or so. Thank you for doing such a fine job of keeping the ship on course." The speaker buzzed then went silent.

Jack finished putting on his outfit: a red shirt with blue jeans, a brownish-black marshmallow vest, and a pair of Adidas track shoes. Before he left his cabin, he grabbed Reginald off of his dresser.

The U.S.S. Kraken was your standard 1,200 ft. Post Panamax, a typically large vessel that has a capacity of 10,000 TEU. The interior was a somewhat complex maze of hallways and stairwells. Jack knew the entire layout by heart, so it wasn't long before he found himself at the door to the Control Deck. As he opened it up, a young man, about 17 years old, bumped into him.

"Hey, it's Jack!" the young man exclaimed.

"Hey Mr. Jimmy", Jack returned with a grin, "how's the day been for you?"

Mr. Jimmy returned a smile. "Oh, you know... the usual course plotting and cargo checking. Nothing out of the ordinary."

As they both walked into the Control Deck, a gruff voice bellowed cheerfully. "Jack, my boy! How was your rest?"

Jack spun toward the new voice and laughed. "It was good, Captain Barney! Thanks for asking!"

Barney was the Captain of the ship they sailed on. He was a burly Arian man, about 60 years old and had a big white beard. Over the past year, he, Barney and Mr. Jimmy sailed all over the globe. Mr. Jimmy was Barney's First Mate and was like Jack's older brother. He was a lean Mexican boy, but somewhat muscular.

Mr. Jimmy turned to the windows up front. "My, it looks like the weather's finally clearing up, Cap.", he announced.

"It would appear so, Mr. Jimmy. Looks like we can rest easy for the time being." Barney responded.

"Captain Barney, where are we headed again?" Jack enquired.

"We're passing through Thailand waterways and dropping our cargo off in Southern Vietnam, refueling and restocking supplies, then heading to Japan for another batch of crates."

"We're actually near Thailand now, Cap.", Mr. Jimmy stated.

Just as they were about to continue about their day, they heard the sound of a voice on a megaphone saying
"Crew of the U.S.S Kraken, cut your engines! You are about to be boarded!"

Barney's eyes widened.

"Pirates!" he exclaimed.