Chapter 8 Kidnapping

It had been morning, Leroy was watching over the group away from the fire, it turns out he was awake all night keeping watch. He turned around when he saw Mark was waking Gabe up early. "Ah...why are you waking me up, Drunken Master…" Gabe looked exhausted. "You, know some Bounty Hunters don't sleep. For instance, look at Leroy, he was awake all night just for the sake of defending us." Gabe looked at Leroy with nothing but surprise in his eyes. "HOW ARE YOU EVEN ALIVE!?" Leroy looked at Gabe with the same face as always. "With hard work, and dedication." Gabe thought Leroy had been so cool sometimes, but most of the time he is a cocky jerk. "Anyway, today I and you are gonna do some special training, just me and you." Gabe was surprised but also happy that he finally got to have his own training. Gabe got up immediately, tied his yellow bandanna around his neck, and put on a big smile. "Alright! Time for some training with me and you sir!" Mark had a serious face on, he was hesitant to talk to Gabe about those eyes he had when he killed the Lone Stranger, as it was a tough subject for him to talk about the First Sheriff. Mark only really used the First Sheriff as a goal for Gabe, but he never intended to go in-depth about him, since of course because of what the Second Sheriff said in his letter.

Weeks Ago

Mark had been sleeping in the desert, lots of empty beer bottles next to him, when all of a sudden a hawk had jumped on him in his sleep. "HEY WHO'S THE BIG SHOT WHO WOKE ME! U-" He then saw the hawk with the letter, he took it from the hawk and it flew off. 'Who this hell is this from? Who would ever write to me?' He then read the inscription, From: The Second Sheriff of Watersville to Mark Potato. This interested Mark so he opened the envelope and found a letter. It read,

Dear Mark,

Hey, it's been a while. I haven't seen you since the funeral, I'm still surprised you showed up to it to this day, but anyways. I've got some news for you. It turns out that Sam had a son with Minerva, and she used him to get a boy with a Ragna, but as you know Sam got him out of there before she could get to him, now he is a boy named Gabe who lives in our village for his safety. A bounty hunter came in the middle of the night and took the kid's picture, no doubt he probably has a bounty now and is in deep trouble. So, I wanted to ask if you would protect the kid and train him to be as strong as you or Sam once was, at least so he can defend himself. But the choice is yours, remember, if you take the job don't tell him anything about his past, for his safety. I trust you will take the job since you owe Sam for what happened years ago, I look forward to hearing back from you,

From The Second Sheriff of Watersvillie

P.S. Burn this letter after reading it and memorizing everything.

Mark did as instructed, he burned the letter in his campfire by pouring any leftover alcohol on it. He was hesitant on this, on one hand, he tried to forget everything about his past with nothing but Alcohol, on the other he did owe the First Sheriff. Mark decided that he needed to repay his debt, not anything else then that, but he knew as soon as he would meet that boy that he would get attached. He was right. As soon as Mark first laid eyes on Gabe's smile, carefree attitude, and stubbornness it would remind him of the First Sheriff and he would end up getting attached to him. He decided it would be best if Gabe knew the truth, but he wanted to protect him, so he decided to be vague about it. "Alright kid, listen up." Mark spoke like a drill sergeant now, implying he meant business. "There are some things about you that the Second Sheriff only wanted you to know when you were ready in your life, I swore I would never tell you it myself, but what I can tell you is that you weren't brought into this world without consequences. " Gabe didn't understand a single thing Mark said, it did remind him of what the Second Sheriff told him that night he left Watersville. "There are things that I wanna tell ya, but I can't right now; All I can say is that you were not brought into the world safely, and that you are now a target." Gabe wanted an answer badly, he was frustrated that everyone kept this secret from him. "No, I won't accept that answer Drunken Master! I want answers now! Do you hear me! Now!" Mark stayed silent, he looked extremely uncomfortable and unhappy that he was keeping all of this from him. This also caught the attention of Leroy, though Gabe has yelled before, he has never done it seriously like this. Gabe began to tear up as he talked. "Everyone has ever told me that I was born as a target! I want to know why!" Mark kept silent, this hurt his heart a lot. "If you knew….then it would be worse for you…" Gabe stopped sobbing and put on a serious face, he knew Mark would never give him the answers he wanted, so decided to let it go. "Fine...just start with the training. I don't care anymore." It hurt Mark hearing those words, it made him feel like he betrayed Gabe. Leroy had also been closely paying attention, though he was confused about the situation and didn't care, he still felt sympathy in this situation.

"Alright, so one thing I can tell you about is that you were born with a special power that you may have noticed recently." Gabe was confused but realized what he was talking about. That time when he perfectly threw the knife at Leroy's foot and successfully tripped him, also that time he got a perfect shot when shooting the Lone Stranger in the head. "Yeah, I have. I used it against the Lone Stranger right?" Mark nodded. "That power of yours is very unique and I know of only 2 people in this world who wielded it." Gabe wondered who they were. "The Leader of a bounty hunting group known as Z Force, and the first Sheriff." Gabe was shocked, the First Sheriff!? "What! The First Sheriff had it!?" Mark nodded. "It's unknown where this power comes from, but only a few people have been born with it. Luckily, I happened to have known the guy who fully mastered it." Gabe suddenly got excited and decided to put that fight they had earlier to rest, he needed to get stronger above all else and his past could wait. "So, what is the power called?" Mark spoke the words that made Gabe extremely excited. "It was given the name by the leader of Z force but carried on later. It is known as the Ach'k Ragna." Gabe immediately wanted to begin training as soon as possible. "So, what does the Ragna do exactly?" Mark explained. "The Ragna is a visual power that gives the user the ability to see beyond the limits of the world. It's a very powerful ability and when fully trained, the user could potentially reach the top 5 when it comes to best bounty hunters of the world." This shocked Gabe. 'So this is why the First Sheriff grew such a reputation.' Mark kept speaking. "But, it's not some easy thing that comes right away. Hell, it even took the First Sheriff 15 years to partially master it." Gabe then looked serious as ever. "That means you have to try your hardest and train at your best." Gabe nodded. "Now, to best help you train with it, What exactly happened those 2 times you activated it? And what did you see when it happened?" Gabe thought about this, at first he didn't see anything consistent with the first 2 times he used it, but it hit him. "The first time I was with Leroy, he was charging at me in the dust cloud, when it just activated. It felt like I was dreaming, I saw myself throw the knife at the ground and him tripping on it, then when I actually did it, it happened." Mark thought about it. "The next time was when I got shot, I immediately reached for the gun without thinking and the same thing happened, I saw myself shooting in a direction, and it happened." Mark then made a conclusion. "It seems the only times it has activated is when you were in danger, and it acts as a sort of defense mechanism." Gabe began to slowly understand it. "Alright, first things first the main thing you need to work on is control. You need to learn how to turn it off and on as you want because if you did that you could be on the same level as The First Sheriff." Gabe wondered. "Was that how he was able to be known as untouchable?" Mark looked a bit hesitant. "We'll get to that part later, for now just try and work on control." Gabe nodded as if he understood, he then ran off on his own and began training, all while Mark watched him with a smile on his face. 'One day Gabe, I will tell you the truth. I promise.'

Meanwhile, Leroy had also begun training himself, his entire body had been sweating from the type of training he was doing. It turns out he had been activating his Hell Flames and tried to shoot fire out of the palm of his hand. He once again held out his palm in front of him, he thought of nothing but his father's words echoing through his head. 'I am going to kill the rest of the Suden family, all except me and you.' Leroy started to get angry. 'You? Well, if you really feel that strongly of our family's weak ideals, then face me one day.' Leroy's blood began to boil as small flames started to come out of his palm. 'One day, when you get strong enough, come face me at full power. Only the strongest Sudens shall rule the family name.' Leroy then screamed in anger as a massive blast of fire came out of his palm and blasted a nearby cactus into dust. Leroy panted from the concentration and energy it took to do it. 'I will defeat you father, that's a promise!' Mark was watching Gabe, but noticed Leroy training so intensely, he then walked over to him to maybe help him out. "You know, you wanted to train so badly to get stronger and now that you are, you look upset and angry." Leroy ignored him and continued with his training by making large flame blasts, he then created a giant one right in front of Mark, but he was unfazed. "Ah, that's right. Some of the best Sudens have the Hellflame power. Like your father does." Leroy was starting to get pissed at Mark's talking. "Are you here to annoy me or help me out with my training?" Mark sighed. "Well, from the looks of it, you look angry whenever you use your flames." Leroy had always thought that in order to activate his fire was anger. "Are you sure that anger is the best way to use it?" "Yeah, the day my Dad killed my family, I first unlocked it and used it against him. Since then, I have used nothing but anger and rage." Mark thought it over. "Have you ever tried to use something else other than rage?" Leroy stopped getting angry when he heard Mark ask that, he then decided he should bury this discussion to the ground. "Tell me this Master, do you think I want to think about the moment where I watched my family who I loved dearly be killed right in front of my eyes? The moment where my father said they meant nothing to him? Do you really think I wouldn't have tried something else? Trust me, I have and that's not how it works." Leroy then continued with training like Mark wasn't even there, thinking he had stopped Mark from saying anything else. Mark understood Leroy's pain more than Leroy knew. "There's always another way." Leroy looked back up at Mark. "Then how does it feel when your entire family is killed right in front of you?" Mark then smiled. "It feels like, for your entire life you knew these people the most, and that you can't imagine a world without them." Leroy was shocked after hearing this, he wondered how Mark felt the exact way Leroy did. "Even though you know that you will die one day as a kid, you still believe that you're ready for any death when in reality you aren't." Leroy then began to cry, he felt the exact thing Mark was saying. "How did it happen for you?" Leroy asked while sobbing. "Tortured, right in front of me. They used every last bit of their strength to get me out so I could live on. Which I did." Leroy wondered more about Mark. "Did you ever find the killer?" Mark stopped smiling. "Yeah, I knew exactly who was behind it. But I never went after him." Leroy still wondered who did it. "Who did it then?" Mark closed his eyes before he spoke, as the name was still hard to say. "Billy the Kid." Much like Gabe's reaction at the clothes store, Leroy was again shocked beyond any imagination. "I now see why you didn't go after him." Mark didn't say he was right. "I didn't go after him because it was my choice." Leroy was confused. "You are one of the top 30 most powerful bounty hunters! Why not go out there and stop him! Who cares what he's capable of!" Mark again didn't speak, he just looked at the ground. "I never felt the need to do it." Leroy wondered why. "I always saw my parents dying and me surviving as a sign, something for me to overcome in my life." Leroy for the first time in years questioned himself and his life goal. "My father always said that everyone who is brought to this world is not perfect from the start, they are created with one thing in their lives that will forever impact them, a challenge. If you fail that challenge, you abandon the good life you could have always had, if you succeed then you will have that life you were destined to have." Leroy kept listening. "To me, my parents dying was my hindrance, and I needed to now grow up on my own, keep myself alive, and succeed at life with my own two hands." Leroy again began to have tears run down his face. "Look, you're father killing your family isn't the end of the world for you, think about what your family would have wanted for you?" After hearing this, Leroy wiped away his tears. He got up and looked at the sky. "My family would want to be alive right now! I need to show that bastard that he can't take things this dear to me without consequence!" In anger, Leroy punched the air with his Palm, only to create a massive fire blast that obliterated all plants for miles. 'He's still set in stone. Well, I guess I've done all I could.' Mark got up and started walking back to Gabe. "If you need any help with those hell flames of yours, I'm here as your master, ready to help you." He then went back to Gabe for training, leaving Leroy to train by himself again.

Leroy kept making large flames, he eventually got too tired to the point where needed a break. As Leroy went to go sit down and take a break, he saw something in the distance, it looked like a figure appearing from thin air. Leroy decided that it was probably because of his lack of water for so long, so he chugged the water he brought, only to still see not one of the figures but two of them, and as they got closer it was revealed that they were both the Lone Stranger. "MASTER! GABE!" The two stopped training once they heard Leroy's cry, and once they turned, they were horrified to see Leroy floating in mid-air looking weakened and restrained. He had been floating next to the Two Lone Strangers. "What the hell?!" One of the Lone Strangers walked forward toward Gabe and Mark, he then spoke. "Hello Red Terror, and hello brat!" Gabe gave an angry look toward the Lone Stranger, mainly because he was pissed and surprised to see him alive. "I didn't question it the first time since I didn't have time to worry about you, but then I slowly realized that every time you showed up, you never actually died.." The Lone Stranger gave a devious smile under his Bandanna. "Let's just say I have a gift, and what you saw was part of that gift, along with this." He pointed at the other Lone Stranger and Leroy floating. "GIVE BACK LEROY RIGHT NOW OR I'LL KILL YOU!" Gabe didn't think, he just shouted, but worried afterward about what he had said. "You can't kill me, boy...I just want your bounty." Mark knew he had some sort of plan, he then decided to just ask. "You clearly have Leroy for a reason, so speak up." The Lone Stranger smiled under his mask. "Very well then...as you can see I have captured your friend, and I will only be giving him back to you if you turned that boy over to me." Gabe got angry, there wasn't really a way out of it, it was very good thinking. "He's coming with me for now, and you have until sunrise tomorrow to make your choice..." Mark wondered about something. "What happens if we don't decide?" The Lone Stranger then explained. "Then I'll kill him." Shocking Gabe and Mark both. "Well then...I best be on my way…" All three of them turned into black energy that disappeared in an instant. Shocking both Gabe and Mark. "What do we do, Drunken Master?" Mark was silent and in shock.

Meanwhile in an unknown town

Leroy and the two Lone Strangers appeared back in the building with the many people. Leroy stopped floating in the air and was set down on the floor, he began to cough from being in so much panic. Leroy then looked around for the Two Lone Strangers but saw nothing but a group of people behind him, only he couldn't see their faces in the shadows. "Who are you, people? His pawns that keep dying?" No answer. "Well then, I'm going to your boss to go kill him myself." Leroy then looked in front of him to see a man on the throne in the shadows. "You're going to kill me, are you?" The man on the throne said, he then began to laugh very creepily, until he started to cough and stop. "So? You're the real Lone Stranger?" Leroy put his guard up. "I used to be." The Man then got up from his throne and came out of the shadows, what Leroy saw was absolutely terrifying and freaked him out. 'WHAT THE HELL IS HE!?'