Chapter 21 Criminal War Part 3

Billy turned his view toward Gabe who was standing next to Leroy. "Hello there." Billy said as they both stared at each other with dead silence. "You are?" Gabe smiled. "I'm Gabe Vochinch and I'm here to beat you up!" This made everyone go silent. "Beat me up huh? I see." There was an awkward silence between the two. "You were one of the Red Terror's students if I'm not mistaken." Gabe nodded. "Well then, you're here to challenge me to get revenge for your master as well?" Gabe nodded no. "Then why have you come to face me?" Gabe smiled. "Because I'm here to stop your evil doings!" This triggered Billy. "Did you just call what I do evil?" Leroy was in fear for Gabe's life, but he couldn't do anything as he was way too beat up after the fight. "Very well then I will face you, as I do think you are the most arrogant one of the three of you." Gabe didn't care what he was being called. "DO YOU NOT SEE THE PROBLEM AT HAND!?" This was it, this was the thing that turned his smile into a frown. Gabe immediately charged at Billy, who charged at Gabe and punched him in the stomach. "ARG!" Gabe yelled as he got punched. Gabe was knocked to the ground, from there he took out his throwing knives and threw them at Billy who deflected all of them with his own knife. Billy then began to get closer to Gabe who was still on the ground. He proceeded to put his palm directly over Gabe and make an explosion. Surprisingly, Gabe was still alive after this. Billy then grabbed him by the throat and punched him in the face 2 times. "GABRIEL!" Leroy screamed as he tried to do the best he could to move, but couldn't as he watched Billy beat up his best friend. "You're so arrogant!" He punches Gabe. "YOU THINK THE BEST OPTION IS TO DO NOTHING AND LET THE ENEMY HAVE THEIR WAY!?" He punches again. "YOU THINK THE BEST POSSIBLE THING IS TO KILL ME SO I COULD NOT BE AROUND TO DO ANYTHING!?" He punches again. "TELL ME! WHAT IS YOUR SENSE OF JUSTICE!? WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH ALL THE WORLD PROBLEMS!?" He held his fist in front of Gabe's already beaten face. Gabe could barely do anything at the moment, he just looked up at Billy the Kid with his beaten face, then answered. "I….don't...know…" Billy was going to punch Gabe again, but couldn't. "I've become what I've sought to destroy." He drops Gabe's body into the rubble and gets on his feet, looking away from Gabe. "Tell me…" Billy turned around when he heard Gabe speak. "What is...your...plan…" Billy was confused. "I...want...to...hear...your...reasoning…" Billy then got down on his knees and turned to Gabe. "Peace." For the first time, Billy had a normal mouth that looked normal, not sad, angry, or happy, just mutual. "I was born in this world with nobody, and all throughout my life alone, I've come to realize something." Gabe still listened. "What...is...that?" He asked. "That the enemy has ruined this land for us." Gabe still listened. "How?" Billy spoke. "Look at the world now, families live in poverty and struggle to make money, and the money they do make is used to pay the government for whatever they want. The only real line of work is to become a criminal itself." Gabe knew when he said criminal, he was referring to bounty hunting. "Not to mention that the climate has been changing in the world and could lead to the complete extinction of humanity." Gabe never knew this information, it started to change his view. "The enemy, otherwise known as the government has done nothing about any of this and has only provided for nothing but themselves." Gabe wanted to defend the government, but he couldn't. "My plan is to destroy the problem, to kill Grand Leader Swan." This shocked Gabe. "Once the enemy is gone, I will take the position of the government and provide to everyone in the west, giving a good life to those deserving of one." Gabe didn't agree with the whole murder part. "But...it's...murder…" Billy closed his eyes, showing his distaste for Gabe not agreeing with him. "I will do whatever it takes to bring peace to the West. Even if that includes doing what humans would never do." This shocked Gabe. "I'm not going to kill you though child, though you are arrogant, I do see a promising future ahead of you." Billy then began to walk away, only for Gabe to grab Billy's leg. Billy was starting to get annoyed. "You're going to let me go." Gabe didn't let go once. Billy then proceeded to try and brush him off, but he wouldn't let go. 'If I lose, then someone dies today.' He thought to himself as he held on. "Let go...Gabe…" Leroy said as he saw Gabe being pushed away and tortured. Once Billy realized he wouldn't let go, he decided to use violence. "Very well then, I'll knock you out kid and you will be stopped with force." Billy pulled back his punch and was ready to hit him. "Goodnight, Gabe Vochinch." He then thrust his fist toward Gabe's face, ready to punch him. Gabe did nothing but think to himself before he got punched. 'Is this it? Do I lose? Will Grand Leader Swan die?'

Gabe then appeared in the same world he was in before, in front of him stood Sam again. "SAM!" Gabe shouted. "You have to help me…" Sam said nothing but stared at Gabe. "I need to win this fight!" Sam still said nothing. Gabe then began to cry on his knees in front of Sam. "You're just like the Second Sheriff when he was little." Gabe looked up with curiosity. "Yeah, he was a cry baby." Gabe sighed. "What did he do when he was down?" Gabe asked. Sam looked down at Gabe. "He thought about his sadness and what made him sad, eventually he decided that it didn't make him sad anymore." Gabe tried to think of what that might mean, Sam then laughed a bit. "By the way kid, I just wanted to tell you that story." Gabe sighed. "How do I win Sam? I can't fight that well, he's too powerful, he's too smart, and I don't have control of the Ragna yet." Sam said nothing. "I thought you would have answered since you were the one before me." Sam proceeded to chuckle. "I don't have answers, neither did the first." Those words shocked Gabe. "The First!?" Sam chuckled again. "Yup, he was the one who did this job for me." Gabe was excited, he never heard anything about the first Ragna user before. "You know what he always told me?" Gabe gave a curious face. "He always told me that the best way to learn the Ragna was to remember what it felt like when you first used it and remember that moment for the rest of your life." Gabe was curious. "Where is the First Ragna user?" Sam smiled. "You'll learn kid. You'll learn." Gabe tried to think about it for a bit, but couldn't, he then remembered the flashback of Sam and Red Hercules. Gabe then got up and stood in front of Sam. "First Sir?" Gabe had Sam's attention. "I think I know what to do." Sam smiled. "Well, good luck kid." Gabe smiled back as he faded out of that world, opening his eyes to reveal a dark blue glow coming from them.

As soon as Gabe opened his eyes, a repelling wind came from his body that knocked Billy off him. Gabe remembered one thing he did every time his Ragna activated. When he fought Leroy he was trying to defend himself, when he shot the Lone Stranger he defended Leroy, When he killed the lone stranger he was defending his comrades. 'These eyes were meant to protect, so that is the key to opening them!' Gabe then stood up in front of Billy with his eyes still Dark Blue. "WHAT THE HELL!?" Billy saw the eyes and immediately realized what they were. 'The Ragna...there is no way this kid has the same eyes as the Samuel D Waine…" Billy decided he didn't care about the eyes, he then rushed to Gabe for a punch, only for Gabe's right arm to also glow dark blue and block the punch. This shocked Billy, he thought he was extremely fast and there was no way he could reach that speed. Gabe's left arm also turned dark blue, he then prepared another punch, only for him to hit Billy in the stomach. "ARG!" Billy jumped away for a second. 'He just hit me and it hurt, I haven't felt a hit like that since…' This angered Billy. "WHO CARES ABOUT YOUR ARROGANT EYES!? THEY ARE NOTHING COMPARED TO ME!" Billy then began to punch as fast as he could, creating a barrage, only for Gabe to block every last punch. Billy then backed up again and decided to use every gunpowder barrel he absorbed. "YOU WILL FALL! YOU AND YOUR FALSE IDEALS!" He shot a blast at Gabe, only for Gabe to dodge it by moving to the right, while both his legs glowed dark blue. Billy kept firing blasts, trying to hit Gabe, but every last blast missed him. Billy then stopped firing blasts, Gabe then jolted right in front of Billy and just stood there like a statue. Billy released all the punches he absorbed and Gabe blocked and dodged every single one of them. 'No good, he's too defensive, nothing could possibly hit him.' Billy was thinking as he kept trying to hit Gabe. Billy tried to think of an idea, but couldn't, he then decided to go all out. "FINE THEN! IF YOU WON'T LISTEN TO MY IDEAS! THEN I WILL SEND YOU TO HELL!" Billy backed up the farthest he had ever backed up and prepared a blast with every single thing he has absorbed. "THIS IS A BLAST WITH EVERYTHING I HAVE EVER ABSORBED!!!!!" The energy could be seen at the tip of his palms, just then the blast was fired out of his palms and out at Gabe who just stood where he was without moving. Just before the blast hit Gabe however, his entire body was briefly seen able to glow. The explosion caused Billy to fall to his knee in tiredness. 'There's no possible way he could have survived that.' Just then, Billy saw the dark blue glow coming from the smoke of the explosion in the shape of a figure, only for the glow to fade away into the smoke. Billy then smiled. 'Very well then, I've wo-' Just as the smoke fully cleared, Billy saw Gabe was on his knees completely unharmed by the explosion. 'No...No...NO!!!!!' Billy attempted to get up, but he was too tired to do anything after throwing everything at Gabe. Now on his own knees, Gabe looked at his arms and legs with confusion. 'Why are my Ragna's not activated?' Gabe then came to the realization that he doesn't know as much about the Ragna as he thought he did. "You arrogant brat!" Billy was on his knees panting, looking extremely angry. 'I DIDN'T BEAT HIM!?' Gabe was in shock, he thought that he had no energy left after what he had just done, only to realize that he could move. It turns out, Gabe didn't lose any energy from the battle whatsoever. 'I still have some energy left?!' Billy tried to get up, but he couldn't. Gabe stood up and looked at Billy. 'It looks like he can't move because of him using too much energy to make that big explosion, so he's not a moving target!' This gave Gabe an idea. "So what if I can't move a kid? You're weak. It's just a fact. You can't hurt me with your puny fists." Gabe gave an angry face. "Want a bet?!" Billy was confused. 'What does he mean?' Gabe proceeded to clap his hands and create a static, but instead of putting it to his finger, he made his entire hand a fist and the electricity surged the fist. "ALRIGHT! TIME TO TEST MY ULTIMATE ATTACK!" Billy was a bit frightened by the sight of his hand. 'He's channeling his energy in his hand.' Gabe proceeded to grab the wrist of the hand that was electrical, he then charged full speed for Billy. "YOU'RE GOING DOWN BILLY THE KID!" Billy was shocked after hearing that. 'I can't absorb anything because I'm too weak at the moment, so I can't do anything.' Gabe then got closer and finally punched Billy in the stomach. "ZEUS GAUNTLET!!!!!!!!!!" Gabe slammed Billy to the ground with his fist, causing Billy to shake in pain from the electricity running through his body. "ARG!!!!!" Gabe kept pushing his fist in Billy until the electricity finally went away. Gabe had officially won.