Chapter 20 Criminal War Part 2

'Damn it I forgot about this one.' David looked at Leroy with fear as he appeared next to Gabe. 'All I've ever seen in that boy is Renroy written all over.' David then convinced himself that Leroy was weaker than Renroy and that he could easily beat him no matter the odds. "So, you can fight huh?" David smiled. "Yeah, so what if I can. I've gotta keep fighting for the boss." Leroy decided to speak what he believed. "I admire you for your determination, it's admirable how much you stick to your cause." David was surprised. "Though I don't agree with it, I see no reason to believe that I shouldn't admire you for your cunning dedication." David smiled. "Thank you, but that doesn't change anything." Leroy smiled. "I never had any intention of changing anything. I just wanted to tell my opponent that I respected them." Leroy proceeded to shoot a hell flame in front of him that was blocked by Rubble. As Leroy kept shooting the hell flames he began to speak to Gabe. "I can keep this up for about 30 more seconds, do you have anything useful to tell me about him?" He asked Gabe. "Yeah, he seems to have the power to make anything and anyone he wants to appear in his palms, like a teleportation." Leroy thought about it. "Alright Gabe, now that I'm here I have an idea." Leroy dropped the hell flames and compressed his hands together. "Alright, go fight him while I do my thing." Gabe nodded as he rushed over with 2 knives. David dropped the rubble shield and saw Gabe coming at him, along with Leroy. 'He must be charging something while the other one distracts me, clever, but not clever enough.' David then got in a fighting stance and was ready for Gabe to attack him. The two began to clash in hand-to-hand combat, like two martial arts experts. Gabe had the knives in his hands, thinking he had the upper hand until David took the knives with his power and began to attack Gabe while he dodged. Meanwhile, Leroy had been charging his energy up, it was then revealed that he was holding a throwing knife made of energy and charging that up. 'Almost done Gabe, just keep him occupied.' Though David had the upper hand on Gabe, he noticed that Leroy looked to be completing his charging process. David then threw one of Gabe's knives at Leroy, who couldn't dodge. 'DAMN IT!' He was about to release his hands, but Gabe stepped between the knife and got his shoulder stabbed. "GABRIEL!" Gabe smiled with blood spewing out of the knife wound, he then pulled the knife out. "This...this is nothing…" This made David angry as he rushed toward Gabe with the other knife ready. Just then, the knife had been all charged up. "GET OUT OF THE WAY GABRIEL!" Gabe then jumped to the side holding his arm, confusing David, until he realized what was happening, the charging was done. "HERE WE GO!" Leroy threw the knife at David, but David smirked when he realized it was a knife. Like before, David used his power to make the knife come to his hand and stop running. Gabe and Leroy looked at him with panic, making David think their plan failed. "Kid, you know how my power works, right?" They didn't answer. "I can make anything or anyone come to me as I please, as long as I've seen it once." Leroy was confused. "Then why didn't you bring us to you in the first place?" David smiled. "Because I wanted to toy with you." Leroy also smiled. "What are you smiling about?" David asked, confused. "Oh, it's nothing. You weren't there for it last time so you wouldn't know." David was more confused. "Know what?" Gabe smiled when he realized what Leroy's plan was. "That the knife I threw at you is made of unstable energy and blows up after a certain amount of time." David was in shock after hearing this as the knife exploded in his hand, killing him once and for all.

Leroy put his palm on Gabe's shoulder, he then made it hot. "AWWW!" Gabe screamed in pain. "Shut up, this will help you." Gabe was confused. "How does putting fire up against a wound help heal it?" Leroy explained. "Remember that stuff I put on your shoulder before I put it on fire?" Gabe nodded. "That was gunpowder." This shocked Gabe. "ARE YOU TRYING TO BLOW UP MY ARM!?" Leroy sighed. "No, there wasn't enough for an explosion. I was trying to cauterize the wound so you wouldn't die from the infection." Gabe made a face as he understood now. "That makes a lot more sense." Leroy nodded. "We need to go help Master." Gabe nodded.

Mark and Billy had been going at it with a barrage of punches all countering each other like in an anime. Finally, Mark punched Billy in the face with a heavy blow. He then rushed behind Billy with his speed and tried to punch, only for Billy to catch his fist. The two went into hand-to-hand combat that looked like Obito vs Kakashi levels of hand-to-hand combat. Mark and Billy then backed up from each other and the two threw knives at one another, but Mark looked to have canceled out Billy, except it didn't. Mark then got slashed in the shoulder by a throwing knife, he grabbed the wound but decided to ignore it and keep fighting. "I admire your tenacity to never give up," Billy said with Mark not responding as they kept clashing. "Are you not responding because you hate me?" This angered Mark to the point where he punched him in the face again, the hardest he punched. Billy was about to fall with Mark on top of him, Mark then pulled out a knife and was about to stab him. "IT'S OVER!" Billy looked to be defeated, his forces were down, Leroy and Gabe were reinforcements, and enough time had passed to the point where many officers could have gotten up and were ready to fight. 'Will you promise to keep my dream alive?" Those words from a mysterious teenage boy echoed through his head as he looked at defeat in the eyes.

Just as Mark was about to finally kill Billy and fulfill something he had suppressed for far too long, just then, a blast of wind came from Billy that was strong enough to knock Mark 2 yards away from Billy. 'What the hell?!' Billy got up from the ground and looked at Mark who was confused. "I apologize, foe, I've been holding back in this fight up until now." Mark was shocked by this revelation. Billy proceeded to aim his palm toward Mark, only for an explosive blast to come out of it. Mark dodged just in time but saw that the trail of the explosion blew all the rubble in its path away. 'What the hell did this guy do to get this power?' Mark noticed Billy was still smiling as his smile never went away. 'Guess I'm gonna have to go all out.' Mark then made a reaper scythe battle-ready. "So, you're the red terror. I should have known." Mark then held the scythe, ready for combat. Billy proceeded to make 2 explosive blasts towards Mark, who tried to counter it by swinging the scythe and creating the same cutting blast he used against the Lone Stranger. The two blasts countered Mark's, leaving Mark no other option but to dodge. 'Damn, I can't use all my energy on these types of attacks.' He tried to think of a plan. Meanwhile, Billy kept conclusively firing blasts at Mark, who kept dodging. Mark then dashed toward Billy after he already fired a blast, only for Billy to catch him in mid-air and grab his throat. "You're strong, I will commend you for getting this far." Billy then got his palm ready as he held Mark's neck, he then slammed Mark to the ground with an explosion. Mark was now on the ground, extremely damaged and not looking so well. "Once again you have my respects, but this fight is over." Billy began to walk away, but Mark grabbed Billy's foot as he began to walk. "Why... won't...you...just...kill...me…" Billy looked down at Mark. "Because I do not have to." This statement angered Mark. "What...about...my...family…" Billy took a moment to think of an answer. "Your family was arrogant even though they were admirable, though I do regret taking them out of this world." Mark was shocked. "You...regret...it?" Billy nodded. "It's true I did it and I will never deny it as a true monster would. Back then, I felt that I should kill all who oppose me. But now I've grown to realize that by doing so I am becoming the problem." Billy was confused. "So...why...kill...the...officers…" Billy answered. "Because they were tainted by the enemy." Mark didn't know what to think about this, Billy felt sorry for killing his family, and he actually had reasonable motives. Mark then slowly released his hand from Billy's foot. "Thank you for releasing me." Mark didn't say a thing, he just stared off into space, wondering what the point was to all this. As Billy walked off, he just about dodged a hell flame and turned toward where it came from, only to see Gabe and Leroy standing together.

"Who are these two foes?" Mark didn't speak as he had such a change of heart that he didn't know what to say. "We're his students," Leroy said. "And we're here to defeat and stop you." Billy looked at Leroy and instantly recognized him from the meeting. 'He's the Suden, the son of Renroy.' Billy looked at Gabe. 'And I don't know who he is.' Billy thought that he should tell them the truth so they would stop fighting. "Boys, I told your master the truth. I am sorry for killing his family, it was a bad time in my life and I shouldn't have done it." Leroy was angered by this. "So what you're saying is, I should forgive my father if he tells me he is sorry for murdering my entire family?" Billy was silent. "I will not change my mind based on anything you say to me right now, you made your choices and now it's time to answer for them." Billy was surprised to hear that. "I suppose you're right, I never thought of it like that. Very well, then we shall battle the son of Renroy and student of Red Terror."

Gabe got ready to fight, but Leroy put his arm in front of Gabe, implying for him to stop. "I'll handle this all by myself." Gabe was shocked and afraid. 'Leroy's strong! But even he couldn't match Billy the Kid if the stories about him are true!' Leroy then got into a fighting stance, along with Billy.

Leroy and Billy were standing 7 feet away from each other in fighting stances. Mark was on the ground hurt by Billy, Gabe immediately noticed this and walked up to Mark. Billy was shocked by this. "Boy? Aren't you worried about just yourself?" Gabe looked at Billy and the two locked eyes. "I wouldn't be anywhere without my master, without my hero." Those words shocked Mark. 'Hero? I'm his hero?' Gabe dragged Mark away and away from the battlefield, leaving Leroy and Billy alone. 'His hero?' Billy thought to himself. "You're forgetting the fight in front of you." Billy then turned back to Leroy and the two got ready to fight.

Leroy then made the floor beneath his foot crack as he dashed toward Billy with a punch ready, Leroy then slammed Billy with that fist, only for it to be caught by Billy. 'He's fast.' Leroy thought to himself, only for the palm Billy caught his fist in to blow him back with winds strong like a hurricane. 'What the heck?' Leroy was confused. "Do you give up already?" Leroy gave an angry face as he charged at Billy again and began to consecutively punch Billy, only for all of his hits to miss. 'He's so fast and reactive! How could I possibly beat him!?' Leroy then began to kick it up a notch and use his hell flames, he backed off and shot a blast of hell flame at Billy, only for him to put his palm out and look to have absorbed the blast. 'He's absorbing it!?' Leroy stopped shooting his hell flames for a second and waited for Billy to attack back. "Child, you have lots of potential." Leroy didn't listen to his words. "You may one day be even stronger than your father." Leroy was shocked to hear this. "My father? Did you ever know him?" Billy answered back. "We've fought many times before, every time we come at a draw." Leroy was scared all of a sudden, fighting someone of the same strength as his father. "Though when I say we come at a draw, that doesn't necessarily mean we are even." Leroy was confused. "What do you mean by that?" Billy answered. "Well, in the West you must know that even though someone is stronger than someone else in physical strength, that doesn't make them more powerful than everyone." Billy proceeded to explain to make it seem similar. "Take it like this young Suden, everyone in the west has their own strengths and weaknesses." Leroy nodded, he then decided that he now had a better reason to fight. "Well then, I guess this is all the more reason to fight you." Billy was confused. "So I can gauge my strength with my father." Billy kept smiling.

Meanwhile, Gabe successfully laid Mark down away from the battlefield where many hurt soldiers were currently. Gabe then began to run back into battle. "Gabe...stop…" Gabe looked behind him to see Mark was barely conscious. "You can't fight him...because you can't beat him…" Gabe didn't say a thing, he just listened. "He's right…I shouldn't get...revenge...if...he...regrets...it…" Gabe then knelt down to Mark and held his head up, only to slap it. "ARE YOU AN IDIOT!?" Mark was in shock from the slap. "THIS MAN KILLED YOUR FATHER AND YOU ARE ESSENTIALLY LETTING HIM GET A PASS BECAUSE HE SAID SORRY!?" Gabe then got up and dropped Mark's head. "If you think that way then you're not my hero. You're supposed to be above all of this!" Mark was still in shock and hearing everything Gabe said. "You need to confront this pain you have or it will never go away and eat you alive." Gabe turned toward where Leroy was fighting Billy. "I'm going out there not because of you now, I'm going because of all the families that this man has taken, like yours. I'm going because if I don't then I could never look at myself in the mirror again for leaving my friend to die. I'm going out there because it's my choice." Mark was still in shock. "But...you...can't...win…" Gabe then turned his head directly at Mark. "Then you don't have trust in your comrades." Those words echoed through Mark's head once again. They were the same words that Sam once said to Mark. Gabe then ran as fast as he could toward the battle, it was now too late for Mark to tell him to give up, so he decided to tell himself. 'Good luck kid.' Mark then passed out.

Leroy was still fighting Billy, or should I say that Billy was toying with him. Leroy then summoned 3 throwing knives with his energy and threw them all directly toward Billy, who deflected them with his own knife. Billy then proceeded to shoot a hell flame blast at Leroy, shocking him. 'It must have been when I shot that blast at him and it looked like he absorbed it!' Leroy tried to dodge, but his arm didn't get out of the way in time. "AHHHHHHHHH!" Leroy's left arm had been totaled, 3rd degree burns like before. 'Not again.' Leroy saw his arm and was upset over it. "Have you given up yet Suden?" Leroy tried to think of a way to beat him, but couldn't with only one arm. "Very well then, if you won't answer and are still conscious, then I guess I'm going to answer for you." Billy then dashed toward Leroy, he was so fast that Leroy didn't have time to react. Billy then elbowed Leroy's back, damaging it severely. "AGH!!" Leroy fell on his face, only for Billy to pick him up by the hair. "You're not as strong or skilled as your father, and I have no reason to kill you, so do you yield?" Leroy spits blood in Billy's face. Only for Billy to knee him in the stomach. He proceeds to use Leroy like a punching bag by punching his face repeatedly. "I'll decide for you, for your sake. You're done." Billy then placed Leroy on the ground. "I'm...gonna...kill...you…" Leroy said very weakly. "No you're not, you lost this fight because my cause is more important than your vengence, and the world sees that," Leroy said nothing as he was too weak to even move his lips. 'I'm done, all hope is lost. I guess we've lost.' Billy began to walk away from Leroy and tried to look for Grand Leader Swan. "Your cause! Is evil!" Billy turned, along with Leroy who slightly turned his beaten head, only to see Gabe standing there next to him.