Chapter 13 Billy The Kid

Mark woke up, he saw Gabe standing up and looking at the sky. He wondered why he was doing this, but Gabe turned around and decided to give an answer. "I'm ready to be the greatest bounty hunter that ever lived, Master." Mark was confused by this but liked the confidence Gabe had as he said this, not to mention that Gabe called him Master for the first time instead of Drunken Master. "Alright kid, let's go get that bounty." He gave Gabe a smile and Gabe gave him a smile back.

After everyone woke up, they packed up their supplies and left. After hours of walking, Gabe didn't get impatient, he just kept walking without care of how long it took. Leroy felt as confident as ever, now that he learned his new technique, he felt one step closer to his Father even though he had miles to go. Mark really wasn't thinking about anything, just the bounty and the money from the bounty. "Master?" Gabe asked, looking as nervous as ever. "What can you tell me about the Ragna?" Mark was surprised to hear this question, but he decided that since he couldn't tell Gabe anything about him, he might as well tell him the Ragna. "I didn't know much about growing up, it's one ability that the witch granted to one of the members of Z Force, and from there it was also given to my best friend the First Sheriff." As soon as Gabe heard First Sheriff, he decided to reveal what he knew. "His name was Sam, wasn't it?" Mark was absolutely shocked from hearing that name, he tried to think of ways Gabe knew about it. 'HOW THE HELL DOES HE KNOW SAM'S NAME!? ONLY ME, THE DEPUTY, AND THE SECOND SHERIFF KNOW IT!' Mark decided to ask as soon as possible. "Kid, how the hell do you know the First Sheriff's name?" Gabe decided it was time to explain. "Master, I have to tell you something that happened last night in my dream, and a dream from 3 days ago." Gabe proceeded to explain it all, Sam's fight with Red Hercules, The talk they had about Gabe's past, and that he needed to master the Ragna.

Mark smiled after hearing this, he was relieved that Sam was still alive in some form. "So, you've gotta master the Ragna?" Gabe nodded. Leroy didn't understand a single thing that Mark just said, at first he believed that Gabe was lying since all of this happened in his dream, but as soon as he heard from Mark that the First Sheriff's name was only heard by 3 people in the world and the fact that Gabe had no other way of knowing, he decided it was a safe bet to believe him. "Well it's true what Sam said, I can't help you with it since I never actually had it." This disappointed Gabe, he thought that Mark would have at least some sort of information, but he was wrong. "But, I did know the guy that had it." Mark smiled at Gabe and Gabe smiled back, he was right, Mark did have something. Just before Mark was about to tell him, however, Mark saw a rock and a cliffside in the distance, from there Mark gave a sign to stay silent to Mark and Leroy. Mark gestured to them to crouch down over the cliff and watch the canyon below them, which they did, only to see a wagon moving with 2 horses. "Gabe, could you use your Ragna to see who is in that carriage?" Gabe nodded, implying he didn't know how to manually activate the Ragna. "Fine, we'll just have to take a chance." Mark took out 3 hunting knives and stabbed them in the ground in front of Leroy and Gabe. "Just grab one and do what I do." Mark proceeded to jump off the cliff, freaking Leroy and Gabe out. "MASTER!" Mark proceeded to take out his hunting knife and stabbed it into the cliff, he proceeded to slowly go down the cliff with the knife keeping him from falling, Eventually, Mark reached the bottom. "Come on, it's easy," Mark remarked, Leroy then proceeded to get the confidence to do it, he then grabbed the knife and did what Mark did. "Alright Gabe, it's all up to you." Gabe was shaking, he didn't feel like he could pull off something like this, he gulped. Gabe proceeded to take out the knife from the ground, stab it into the side of the cliff, he then jumped. Gabe was falling with the knife in the cliff, looking fine, until the knife came out of the wall and he started to actually fall. "AHHHHHH! HELP ME!" Mark immediately tried to rush over to where he was falling so he could catch him, but he tripped over a rock. Leroy knew he couldn't get there fast enough, but he still ran non the less. Gabe saw his life flash before his eyes just before he was about to hit the ground, then, Gabe's eyes glowed dark blue again and Leroy saw them this time. Mark also saw the eyes this time, but unlike last time, Gabe's arms actually glowed themselves. 'Wha-what the hell?!' Mark thought as he was witnessing this. Gabe's left arm proceeded to point his palm toward the ground, once he hit the ground, he managed to do a special kickflip by pushing his hand off the ground and saving Gabe safely. Once Gabe was on his feet, his eyes once again faded, but that didn't stop Mark and Leroy from being shocked, Gabe was also shocked as he didn't know how he did that. "Gabe, that was…" Just before Mark could finish his sentence, he realized that the stagecoach was still moving as they spoke, so there was no time to talk. "Nevermind, let's go, I'll tell you later or we'll miss our bounty." Mark began to run after the stagecoach as fast as he could, Leroy and Gabe stayed in the same spot however as they were both in shock. Finally, Leroy realized that Mark was right, they needed to move. "Come on Gabriel! We need to get this bounty! You heard Master!" Gabe stayed silent as he was still in shock, he began to make parallels with his dream and what he just did. 'They were the same, my arms glowed just like Sam's did when he fought Red Hercules.' Gabe decided to think about this later since they had a job to do. "Alright, let's go, Leroy!" Leroy got frustrated as Gabe started running. "Don't tell me things I already know!"

Gabe and Leroy caught up with Mark who was directly behind the stagecoach. "Alright Master, what's the plan?" Mark thought about this scenario, if they stopped then they would surely lose the carriage, which means he had to do it fast, he then thought of something. "Leroy, do what you created yesterday to all the tires." Leroy got excited, he had been wanting a reason to try it. "What did Leroy create?" Mark smiled. "Something I never thought of that was genius." Leroy proceeded to close his eyes as he was running, he then compressed his hands together and waited. "Watch closely Gabe and maybe you'll learn it." Gabe watched as Leroy began to pull apart his hands and create what looked to be 4 throwing knives made of violet energy. 'WOAH!' Gabe thought. "It's genius, instead of carrying throwing knives all the time and taking them out in difficult situations, you could just do this." Gabe wondered though. "What about the energy? Doesn't it cost a lot of energy?" Leroy nodded no. "Bigger objects require a bigger amount of energy, which is why small throwing knives are not too much." Leroy proceeded to grab them from thin air and throw them at all the tires perfectly, which made the stagecoach start to shake. This grabbed the attention of David who was suspicious of why they were shaking, he then looked out his window to see Leroy, Mark, Gabe. "MOVE IT! WE'VE GOT BOUNTY HUNTERS!" He screamed at the driver. "What are you talking abou-" Just before he could finish his sentence, Mark rushed to the front at extreme speed and knocked the driver out. With no driver, the horses went crazy and the stagecoach fell on its side with the 2 horses falling as well.

David broke a hole in the ceiling of the stagecoach from inside, he thought that he could get on one of the horses and escape before they could catch him, but alas he was wrong as the very next thing that happened as soon as he left the stagecoach was Mark once again punching him and knocking him out. Mark managed to tie David up in some ropes, he decided to untie one of the horses on the ground and have the horse carry him with them back to Red River, but just before they left Mark saw something that caught his eye inside the carriage hole. "What is it, Master?" As soon as Leroy noticed him. Mark proceeded to take out an envelope, it looked somewhat normal, but the wax seal on the envelope had a logo that Mark recognized immediately. Gabe and Leroy saw that Mark was terrified by the letter seal, they decided they should ask. "Master? What's that lett-" Mark immediately cut them off by ignoring them and walking to the now tied up David. Mark proceeded to take out his drinking water for the trip and dumped some of it on top of David. "WHO THE HELL! WHAT! YOU BOUNTY HUNTER SCUM!" David started struggling in the ropes, until Mark slapped him, the face looking angrier than ever. This caught the attention of David who was now shocked by the slap. "What was that for?!" Mark shoved the envelope into David's face. "WHO DO YOU WORK FOR!?" David was confused, Bounty Hunters were never supposed to dabble in matters like this. "What? You are a bounty hunter am I correct?" Mark slapped him again. "I may be, or I may be the one who kills you right here and now! SO TELL ME WHO YOU WORK FOR!" Mark and Leroy were terrified by the sight of this, they never seen Mark so serious in his life, Gabe and Leroy decided to stay out of this since it would only make matters worse. "Do you really want to know?" David said, looking as upset as ever. Mark didn't nod, he just looked at him with the most serious expression he has ever had in his life, which was enough to give the indication to Gabe that he would probably stop at nothing to get that Answer. "You may know him as the most powerful crime boss in the west, the one who was entirely responsible for killing 50 bounty hunters before you, and the one who is even feared by the government themselves." As soon as David said those words, they were enough to give the picture to everyone on who he was talking about, even before he said the name, the name that struck fear into everyone every time it had been said by anyone in the west. "Billy the Kid…"

Mark was a little boy, he was running through a town with everyone waving at him. "Hello, Marky!" One woman waved as she was putting laundry from the clothing line into a basket. "Hi, Mrs. Satenik!" He ran by 3 horses until he eventually got to one. He ran inside to see a man, a woman, and 3 other kids that looked to be his age all sitting in a corner wearing rags. "Mommy! I brought dinner for tonight!" Mark took out the bread from a sack. "Oh, that's wonderful Marky!" The man smiled as well. "How did you manage to get that bread?" Mark smiled while sweating. "I may have um...stole it…" This made Mark's mom look angry. "YOU IDIOT! I THOUGHT WE RAISED YOU BETTER!" She smashed his head. "AWWW! I was just trying to get some food!" After hearing that, her angry face looked to be calmed down, she then gestured to Mark to come to sit in her lab, which he did. "I'm sorry for hitting you, honey." She kissed his head. "It's just, I never want you to steal anything, alright Marky?" Mark looked up at his mother who was smiling. "I'm sorry Mom...I promise never to do it again." She smiled. "It's good that you want to give to the family, especially since your father doesn't have a job, but you shouldn't rely on stealing. Even at your lowest point in life, don't resort to things you would never dream of doing, because if you do that, then you will lose yourself." Mark took those words to heart from now on but later found that those words are meaningless.

Mark got up after hearing this, he looked to be fine as he stood over David, only to throw a punch at David's face but not hit him. Gabe and Leroy saw this, they were shocked at Mark's behavior. "Leroy, I think it's clear that I lied to you that day…" Leroy thought about it and wondered what he meant, then it hit him. '"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."' Mark put down his fist. "It's also clear that I lied to myself…and I'm sorry for that, Leroy. Now I am a hypocrite who judged you for wanting revenge when I myself was about to take the chance." David was confused. "What the hell are you talking about?" Gabe got angry from hearing David speak in a time like this. "SHUT UP!" David was shocked after being yelled at, he then stayed silent. Mark walked away from David and from his two students, he then sat on the ground and just looked at the ground, with nothing but emptiness in his eyes. "Ok, Ok! I know you're bounty hunters! But I can explain!" Leroy held a knife up to David's neck. "Choose your next words carefully, or I will cut." David was sweating and panicking. "It is said that people with the weakest will are prone to telling the truth when in a near-death situation." Leroy made the knife get closer, scaring David more and more, he gulped. "That's enough Leroy!" But he didn't listen, he just kept moving the knife closer to his neck. "What is it that you wanted to tell us?" David closed his eyes, he decided he should talk, since, of course, he had no choice. "I DON'T WANT TO WORK FOR MY BOSS!!!!" Leroy was confused, he dropped the knife, catching the attention of Mark and Gabe. "What do you mean you don't want to work for him?" Leroy asked for answers, David gulped. "As you could tell I'm a pretty nervous man, I'm no criminal material." They all noticed that and sighed, basically agreeing with him. 'I didn't know he would flat out admit it.' Gabe thought. "Basically, my plan was to join Billy the Kid's crew, and from there, I would gain intel and take that intel to the government who would do something about him." Mark looked to be not listening and looking at the ground when in reality he was listening, but he didn't acknowledge it. "Why should we care about this? We are bounty hunters, all we want is the money on your head." David looked up still sweating. "You didn't think working for Billy the Kid would be a lousy job right? Or else everyone else would have betrayed him by now." Gabe and Leroy were confused. "What are you implying?" Gabe asked. "I have a simple mission." All three bounty hunters listened. "I am going to a meeting with Billy the Kid, in the meeting he told all of his closest workers that he is going to be talking about something big he is planning. The plan would be that you guys would pretend to be my bodyguards so you can watch me since you don't trust me, from there you wait till the meeting is over, then we will take this information to the government, and I will pay you double of my bounty." Leroy, Gabe, and Mark were all shocked by this offer. "How do we know we can trust you?" Leroy asked, very suspicious of David. "As I explained, you would watch me the whole time, so if I were to not give you the money, then you could just capture me and take me to Red River." Leroy didn't trust this man one bit, he believed the offer was too good to be true. "We'll do it." Mark said, making Gabe and Leroy shocked. "Why do you wanna do it, Master? We're bounty hunters, you said it yourself, we don't do shit like this." Mark got up and turned around. "Because, like Leroy, this will be my closure to getting Billy the Kid back." Leroy looked at Mark as he stood tall, he immediately nodded, implying he agreed. "I will go with you master, and make sure you get your closure before me." This made Mark smile, he looked at Leroy with proudness. "I will too, Master! Of course, I'm coming!" Gabe yelled happily. Mark smiled at his boys thinking to himself. 'I promise I'll get closure, mother, for you, for father, and everyone."

Meanwhile, in an undisclosed location

A random building that looked to be an old Police Station for the Sheriff, there was a large table with many chairs, against the wall was a girl smoking a cigarette, she had pretty white hair, a black trench coat, a black shirt, black gloves, black boots, and black pants. "When are the rest gonna get here? I'm starting to get bored. Not to mention I'm running out of cigs." This girl looked to be talking to a man who sat at the head of the table, he couldn't be seen by anyone since he was in the shadows, all that was seen was an evil-looking smile. "Soon Casity." The girl who was smoking named Caisity was still impatient. "So? What is this plan of yours? How will it affect the Sindikat?" The man in the shadows looked up with that grin, revealing his red pupils. "Let's just say, it will give you anything you could possibly want when it comes to money and power, and as a bonus, it will better the world by making it a better place, and do what the higher-ups couldn't."