Chapter 7 He Wore a Yellow Bandanna

3 days later after the training both Leroy and Gabe had, they were now back on the road following Mark. "Drunken Master? Where are we going?" Gabe was very impatient and hated walking so much. "Be patient, master has a route and we are clearly going that direction." Mark was upfront and led the boys where he was walking, where too? "We're going to Red River." Leroy dropped his Jaw. "What the hell is Red River?" Leroy turned to Gabe with a disappointed look. "Red River Gabe is a town for the bounty hunters." Gabe still didn't know what he meant. "Ugh..It's basically a town where bounty hunters receive bounties and sometimes live." Gabe at first was happy he understood now but was upset when he heard bounty hunters lived there and received bounties. "Sometimes bounties aren't always from that town, sometimes you need to take a bounty directly where it came from, but think of this place like a bounty hunting grocery store with lots of discounts." Gabe thought of only one thing if he entered that town, money-hungry bounty hunters who wanted that sweet dough from Gabe. "Won't I be a target if we entered here?" Mark didn't think about that up to this point, he then thought of a plan. "I have an idea for that. We'll stop at a town in a clothes store and get you a new set of clothes that bounty hunters can't recognize you in." Gabe liked this idea since up to this point he had only worn a normal outfit all kids wore. A white shirt with buttons, and brown overalls, is not the best attire for a bounty hunter. "I guess I'm due for new clothes." Leroy gave an I don't care face, but Mark agreed. "Alright then, next town we see, we'll get some clothes from." Gabe cheered while Leroy kept moving and not talking.

Eventually, after 3 hours of walking, they made it. "So from the looks of the sign, this place is called Primarily." Gabe collapsed on the ground in pain. "We've been walking for like 15 hours...I need some water…" Leroy laughed. "Oh get over it, we've been walking for 4 hours." Gabe just kept laying on the ground with his body in pain, crying out for water with his weak voice, Leroy then proceeded to grab his foot and drag him into town with Mark and him.

As the group walked down the main street with lots of people, there had been a figure who was watching them from corners of buildings, this figure was revealed to the Lone Stranger. "I will have that boy, and not even the blue death could stop me from getting him." The Lone Stranger proceeded to keep following the group as they moved all through town, watching them in the shadows, and gaining intel.

"Should we rent a hotel room?" Leroy asked Mark. "Well, I don't think we should stay the night. That would make it easier for a bounty hunter to catch Gabe." Mark suggested Leroy took Mark's idea into consideration and agreed that staying wasn't a good option. "But I wanna sleep on a real bed!" Leroy sighed. "Well, let me tell ya, kid. You know that some of the greatest bounty hunters don't even sleep on a bed, some even sleep on metal or stone." Gabe's jaw dropped. He then decided he would agree to this. "Very well then! Tonight I shall sleep on dirt again!" Mark laughed and Leroy also chuckled a bit. After walking a tiny bit more, they eventually found a clothes store. "Go in, pick something out, and use this sack of money to pay for it." Mark handed the sack over to Gabe, only to reveal that it was a small bag of gold coins. "WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GET ALL THIS?!" Mark chuckled. "I'm a bounty hunter kid, I'm loaded." Gabe then went on and walked into the clothes store without a care in the world. The Lone Stranger saw this and took advantage.

As soon as Gabe walked in he looked around and saw so many clothes, it was kind of overwhelming. "Hello there little boy, how can I help you today." A man behind the counter asked. He had a striped shirt, a curly mustache, black pants, fancy shoes, and black greased back hair. "Oh, Hi I am here to try on some new clothes." The man immediately gave a devious smile. "I can help you if you have the goods…" He held out his hand like he wanted something, Gabe then took out the sack and gave it to the clerk. "Thank you very much, sir, right this way please." He then led Gabe into a changing room.

"Do you like this one sir?" Gabe was at the moment wearing a weird tuxedo dress, he hated it. "It makes me look like a girl…" The clerk took this into account, and agreed, he too hated that outfit, but why did he pick it? "How about this?" Gabe just kept looking at the mirror and didn't speak for a moment. "It looks...dark…." He was wearing a black suit with a horse rider cape, looking like a bandit. "Very well then, next one." The next outfit was a normal boy suit that rich kids wore at his age but he didn't think it was his style, next was a bunch of rags, and he also wore a normal tuxedo but once again it wasn't his style. They went through a bunch of clothes but just couldn't find the right pick. "Sir? You must really be making your choice at some point because I'm getting tired…" Gabe got angry. "I will just need a little bit more time! Bring me some more clothes!" Meanwhile, The Lone Stranger had been on top of a building looking through the window of the clothes store stalking Gabe, he thought he was clever enough to not be spotted, but he was wrong. Little did the Lone Stranger know, Leroy had been close by watching him. It all started when they entered the town, since Leroy had trained so much alone and researched all he could about bounty hunters, he knew something was wrong when he saw the Lone Stranger stalking them and then disappeared when he looked back. 'There's no mistake, he's the Lone Stranger. I doubt he isn't watching Gabe for that bounty.' The Lone Stranger stopped watching for a second and turned around. "I know you're here kid, come out and stop hiding." Leroy panicked, how could he have seen him, there was no possible explanation for it. "I can sense you kid wearing all black.." Leroy knew instantly that he was talking about him. Leroy then showed himself and came out from the shadows. "So, who are you, and why are you stalking me brat?" Leroy was silent at first, he then decided that he shouldn't bury the bush and should just get right to the point. "I can ask you the same thing about my comrade." The Lone Stranger chuckled. "Smart kid you are, unlike the other one." Leroy didn't laugh. "I won't say you're wrong, but I still need an answer from you." The Lone Stranger didn't speak. "Let me guess, you're after his bounty? It's so obvious that a famous bounty hunter such as yourself would be out in the open like this, hell maybe the officers could arrest you since you are so vulnerable right now." The Lone Stranger didn't speak, making Leroy feel a lot more confident and smart since he saw through The Lone Stranger, but the Lone Stranger began to mysteriously laugh. Leroy caught wind of this and started to get suspicious. "You don't get it, kid...I'm not vulnerable...but you are!" Leroy then all of sudden mysteriously launched forward toward the Lone Stranger, almost like something had pushed him, an invisible force. 'What the hell did he do to me?!' Leroy then stopped himself before he could land in front of the Lone Stranger and got back on his feet. Leroy then threw 3 throwing knives at the Lone Stranger, he then took the knives straight to the chest without flinching. 'WHAT THE HELL!?' Leroy then jumped to another building in hopes of getting away, but the Lone Stranger followed. 'I can't let that kid get away alive...he defended the kid...which must mean he is with him and the Red Terror...which means that he will go and get him.' The Lone Stranger had to kill Leroy before he got to Mark in time, and so he chased after him.

Meanwhile, in the clothes store. Gabe had eventually tried on everything in the store, making the Clerk very unhappy. "Sir...that's all we have...you'll have to go to a new clothes store…" Gabe was furious. "WHY DON'T YOU HAVE ANYTHING THAT I LIKE!?" The Clerk didn't know what to tell him as Gabe began to yell. Gabe kept at it until he saw something that caught his eye. "Um, sir? What is that on the wall?" The Clerk saw what he was pointing at and stopped talking, he walked over to it, closed his eyes, put a hand on his heart, and on the clothes on the wall. "It belonged to our beloved town deputy." Gabe was confused, he didn't know who that was. "Long ago, our town was a peaceful town that though it was poor, we were still fine." Gabe was invested in the story, so he listened. "Until one day, a crime boss came to our town and began to tax the people, and killed anyone who refused or repressed." This story started to make Gabe feel bad and sad, the Clerk also looked quite sad from this story. "Eventually, one man stepped up against their injustice. The deputy!" Gabe thought the deputy sounded cool. "He always stood up to them but never was punished for it, mostly because he took a beating. But one day, a little girl was going to be killed by the crime boss for crying during a public execution, then…" The Clerk then began to cry for real this time, showing Gabe how dark the situation was. "The Deputy stood in front of the girl and asked that he would be punished instead of her. The Crime Boss agreed, and the girl lived, but the Deputy didn't…" The Clerk then went on crying and sobbing for a bit, Gabe then walked over to him and tried to comfort him by putting his hand on his arm. "Eventually the crime boss left, calling our town weak and puny! Once we ran out of money." Gabe thought this crime boss sounded like an evil man, he hated him. "What's this man's name? This horrible man's name!" The Clerk didn't speak for a bit and just kept looking at the Deputy's outfit, he then spoke the words that made Gabe get goosebumps just by hearing it, that made Gabe think of nothing but death's inevitability itself. "Billy the Kid.." Gabe knew exactly who this man was, and didn't want to think about it. Gabe gulped in fear. "So...Billy the Kid...was here…" He was now shaking, but the clerk saw this and decided to stop talking about it. "Most men are even afraid to speak that nasty man's name...which I can't blame. But yes, he was here, and is still out there." Gabe only heard stories of one of the deadliest men in the west, Not a bounty hunter, not a part of the government, known to many as a monster among men, Billy the Kid. "So...can I have it?"

"Absolutely not! It's a piece of sacred clothing that is only made to be worn by the great deputy himself!" Gabe didn't scream, he didn't cry, he didn't get mad, all he did was put his hand on the clothing and looked at the Clerk. "This man was clearly a hero, his clothes deserve to be worn by someone who is worthy." The Clerk was surprised by this, especially from what he had seen. 'This boy had been nothing but a brat this entire time, but now he is acting sincerely?!' The Clerk looked at the boy for a minute, he saw some of the Deputy in that boy, a kind and understanding person. Just then, there were noises coming from outside that could be heard, Gabe took his opportunity and put on his old clothes. "Where are you going child? There's probably a bounty hunter fight going on!" Gabe wanted to see what was going on, thinking it may have had something to do with Mark or Leroy, which it did.

Leroy had been fighting the Lone Stranger for a while, they were in the middle of the town and Leroy had pretty much-thrown everything he could at the Lone Stranger, but he just wouldn't get hurt. "I'll give you this boy...you're skilled like a true bounty hunter..but you're not at my level yet." Leroy kept panting, extremely tired. "I...am..Leroy Suden and will not be killed by the likes of you!" This caught the attention of the Lone Stranger and everyone else in the town, with everyone realizing he is a Suden. "You're a Suden?!" The Lone Stranger was obviously surprised, he then remembered something recently involving a Suden. "You're the son of Renroy Suden, correct?" Everyone in the town gasped at that name, as he did have quite the reputation. "Yes...I am, but don't remind me of that bastard! Unless you want to be killed by me!" Leroy then lunged at the Lone Stranger with a throwing knife in his hands ready to stab, but the Lone Stranger just put his hand out and Leroy was pushed away again by that invisible force. Leroy fell back again and this time he was on the ground in pain, he didn't have much energy to keep fighting, which made the Lone Stranger's job a lot easier. "I don't know your father personally, but I know of his reputation...and it must suck to him that he has such disappointment for a son…" This made Leroy angry as hell, if he had the choice he would have definitely kicked the Lone Stranger's ass. "The Suden family was supposed to be one of the most powerful and influential families in the west! It has descendants who became War heroes, famous bounty hunters, famous bandits, farmers, even some who governed over us and you're all that's left!?" Leroy wanted the Lone Stranger dead where he stood, but couldn't do a thing about it. "I won't kill ya kid because you're not on my hit list, but I will go after your friend." The Lone Stranger then walked on toward the clothes store, just then Mark jumped down from the roof of the clothes store and stabbed the Lone Stranger in the heart with a hunting knife. The shocked Leroy, 'He just killed someone I tried to at 100% and still failed!? I'm nowhere close to Dad's level!' The Lone Stranger fell on his back looking dead, Mark got up as nothing had happened. "Hey! What's the big idea with all the noise-" Gabe came out of the clothes shop confused as hell as he saw the corpse of the Lone Stranger in front of a beaten and tired Leroy, along with Mark who was over the Lone Stranger holding a knife. "What the hell happened…"

After a long explanation, Gabe explained that the reason he didn't join the fight was that he was too busy tying his shoes because he didn't know how to, this made Leroy laugh at him until he stopped when Gabe asked if Leroy really did protect Gabe with his life. "Shut up you nobody, I would never do such a thing, and even if I did I would have done it for Master Red Terror since he is training me." Leroy then looked away from Gabe with his I don't care face. 'You really did care, didn't you Leroy?' The Clerk then popped his head out and noticed the body of the Lone Stranger. "Wow, it really was a bounty hunter fight! Anyways, boy! Come here so I can hand you your money back. You never actually bought anything and therefore can have your money back." Gabe smiled and laughed, he had forgotten all about the clothes and not getting any. "Alright guys we'll be out of here soon I just need to get that mo-" Just then, the Lone Stranger sat up like a Zombie. He proceeded to push everyone close to him away with air as he did to Leroy, this made Mark very surprised and on guard. "You think I the Lone Stranger could be killed by the likes of you! HA HA HA HA HA!" The Lone Stranger then pulled out the revolver he used against Mark before and aimed it at Leroy. "You're too weak to dodge right now! So I think I'll just shoot you for interfering with my job!" The Lone Stranger cocked by the trigger and had a bullet in the chamber. Mark attempted to get in front of him with his knife ready to block when all of a sudden he realized his body was somehow weakened from that push by him, which didn't give him the ability to move extremely fast. Leroy began to get angry with himself. "Is this really how I'm gonna die!? Not in glorious combat with my father?! Then I truly am disappointing like you said!" the Lone Stranger laughed. "Do you really think you could have ever come close to the legend that is Renroy Suden!? HA please...your death will be meaningless and empty!" He then fired his revolver, shocking Mark, the Clerk, all the town folks, all except one. To Leroy's surprise, Gabe jumped in the way of the bullet and took the shot to his chest, knocking him back and making blood splatter from his chest. "Wha-WHAT!" With the rest of Gabe's strength, he reached for Mark's revolver in its holster, his eyes then saw the dream of him shooting the bullet right into his head and glowed dark blue, he then fired the bullet and it hit precisely, making the Lone Stranger fall to the ground again. Much like before, his skin turned into dust and revealed another dead body underneath that looked completely different.

Gabe was on the ground holding his wound with his right hand on it, and Leroy just looked at him in shock, along with Mark. "You...defended...my life...with yours...so I just...returned the favor…" Gabe smiled. Mark went over to his wound and lifted his hand off it, he looked closely and made a sigh of relief. "He's gonna be alright, the Lone Stranger missed a vital spot." Leroy just sat there in disbelief of what just happened, he wondered why it did and how it led up to this. "You...You idiot! Why would you ever throw your own life away just to save mine!" The Clerk had also been watching this entire time with disbelief. "You said it yourself…" Leroy was confused, he then remembered his own words echo through his head. 'All I want in life right now is to get revenge on him, and I can't think of anyone better to train me than the Red Terror himself.' Leroy then began to cry after hearing those words. "The day you said you would get revenge on your father was the day you made a commitment...and you must never break that commitment...no matter what…" Leroy then began to cry while getting angry at Gabe. "Listen to me you nobody loser! Don't you ever talk about me or my father again or I will kill you and I don't care about getting a high bounty!" Gabe laughed weakly. "Leroy…" Leroy stopped for a second and listened to what he had to say. "I'm gonna beat you one day...I promise…" Leroy then stopped tearing and smiled. "Like I'd ever let you actually surpass me. Dream on."

After Mark patched Gabe up by pulling out the bullet and giving him stitches, the group decided they should probably get out of town soon. "Say, Drunken Master? How did you even learn to stitch people up and do surgery?" Mark laughed. "Well, you see when I was in Purple Reaper there were no medical members, so I and the Blue Death had to patch each other up ourselves, so we learned on our own." Gabe was confused, he never heard Blue Death before. "Who's the Blue Death?" Mark answered. "It's what the First Sheriff's codename was back in the day." Gabe then thought it over, the Red Terror and the Blue Death, it all made sense now. "Oh! So that's why you're called the Purple Reaper!" Mark smiled. "It meant that red or blue was useless without the other since just one of them can't make purple, plus we took the name Reaper from the first-ever bounty hunter, which I'll tell you about later." Leroy sighed as if he didn't care. "Ugh...can we just get moving? I want to do some training!" Mark and Gabe knew Leroy only cared about training, so they agreed to leave. "Hey wait!" The group turned around, Leroy sighed again. "Now what!?" When they turned around, they realized it had been the clothes store Clerk holding a weird item. Once he finally caught up with the group he started panting. "Hold it, sir, I believe I owe you this." He held a hanger out with a cloth bag to protect it from outside, and he handed it to Gabe. "What's this?" Gabe pulled the zipper down to see, only to find the Deputy's uniform. "Wow! The Deputy's Uniform! Wait a minute, why are you giving me this? Isn't it precious to you?" The Clerk began to sob again. "Well, I was watching you and saw what you did for your friend." Leroy looked away as he did not want to show how he felt. "You put your own life at risk for somebody else, which in my eyes shows a true hero much like the Deputy of this town." The Clerk smiled at Gabe. "I want you to have it, in honor of him. Be careful with it, please." Gabe then smiled and put out a thumbs up, "You can count on me!" After changing for 5 minutes in the store, Gabe came out of the changing room looking amazing. He wore a white long sleeve shirt, brown pants with a dark brown belt, brown boots, and a brown dress shirt vest. Gabe smiled so much, he looked happy as all hell. "What do you guys think!" Mark gave a small smile. "You look kinda like the first Sheriff when he was my age." Gabe was surprised by this, but he was happy about it and began to laugh. "It looks alright.." Leroy said as he looked as if he didn't care. "What do you think, store Clerk? Huh-" The Store Clerk was crying at this development while smiling, "All I see is the deputy in you! Honor him well Gabe." Gabe then closed his eyes and made a serious face. "I promise I will."

The group was off into the west, ready for their next adventure. "Hey guys, my boots are better than those shoes I used to wear. Before I had to tie them and now I can just slide them on, plus they are better to run and jump in." Mark smiled. "That's good because they will be good for the next phase of your training that we will do tomorrow." Gabe was confused. "What training?" Mark then gave him a serious face. "A new kind of training." Mark knew he had to start now, he remembered today when Gabe fired that gun at the Lone Stranger with those eyes again. 'There's no question about it, he possesses it just like the First Sheriff did. The eyes of all-seeing, the Ach'k Ragnas…'

Back at an unknown town

"ARG!!" The man on the throne smashed his fist down on the handle. "THAT STUPID KID ESCAPED ME AGAIN! HOW THE HELL DO I CAPTURE HIM WHEN I CAN'T EVEN TOUCH HIM! Well it's ok, they probably think I'm dead because of the clone, so I won't get that high bounty." The men in the shadows stood there, not moving a muscle. "Wait a minute...that boy who was with him...he put his life on the line just to save him…" The man in the shadows on the throne then began to laugh maniacally, he then coughed into his hand, only to cough out blood. "There's not much time, I need that Bounty now…." The Man on the throne gestured his fingers toward two of the men in the shadows, they then came forward again, only to reveal 2 Lone Strangers who looked the exact same. "I will use as many clones as I have to catch this child and that's a promise!" He then smiled. "I know exactly how to get that child...I will use the other child as bait and capture him!" He then comes closer into the light to reveal that the figure in the shadows on the throne has a blue pupil and white long hair. "Then...the plan's set…"