Chapter 26 You Are My Master

This question shocked everyone, Gabe the most. "Did you...just...offer to train me?" Red Hercules nodded yes. "I see something in you Gabe Vochinch, untapped potential." Gabe was so shocked right now. "You have until tonight to make a choice, I will be waiting." Red Hercules walked back into Red River, leaving Gabe and the group. "Holy crap!" Gabe said with excitement, everyone was just as shocked as Gabe was. "Gabe, you just got asked by the strongest man in the world to go train with him," Leroy said with just surprise in his voice. "We need to talk this over since it is a big choice," Casity said, Mark on the other hand said nothing, he just looked at Gabe in a way he never has before. "You're not going," Mark said as he also walked back into town without looking back. "What?" Gabe said. The group was also surprised by this, it's true they had their opinions, but this was a shock that Mark straight up made this call immediately. "HOLD ON MASTER!" Gabe ran up to Mark in front of him and stood in his way, even though he was still hurt from Red Hercules's fight. "Stop pushing yourself, you're still too hurt." Mark said without looking at Gabe. "Why are you just flat out making this choice? Don't I have a say?" Mark looked down at Gabe. "I promised the First and Second Sheriff that I would protect you with my life and train you, doing this involves you being away from me, and I'm not taking that risk." Gabe got angry and looked at Mark directly in the eyes, Mark also did the same, something they've never done before. Leroy and Casity watched them in the background, Leroy attempted to go over and help straighten things out, but Casity blocked him. "What are you doing?" Casity looked directly at the confrontation. "Let Gabe handle it." Leroy was confused. "What do you mean?" Casity didn't answer, she just watched, Leroy decided to do that as well.

"Do my choices matter in this?" Mark didn't answer that. "Do you think that's what Sam would have wanted!? Do you think he would want me to stay with you my whole life!?" Mark still didn't answer, giving a blank look. "You said you wanted to train me into a bounty hunter, right? Well, don't real bounty hunters make choices they believe are right?" Mark thought about that question, it reminded him so much of Sam, who did make really risky choices. Mark then walked past Gabe, not even giving him a chance and going back into town. Gabe was upset by this, he really did want to go, and he believed it was the right choice to make. Casity let Leroy walk over to Gabe, she also joined him. "Hey, it's alright man. Maybe it was never meant to be." Leroy said, sounding upset. Gabe responded with nothing, he just looked mad while looking at the ground. "In any case, you're at least safe." Gabe was still looking at the ground, mad. "I don't want to be safe." He then ditched his friends and walked into town, with them following him. Gabe waited with Leroy and Casity who stood next to him, Mark was buying supplies for their next bounty trip, though as he was paying, he still felt bad for Gabe. Mark thought back to the first moment where he talked about Gabe with the Deputy of Watersville. '"He's so much like him, at least that's what Second Sir says." Mark was silent for a second and then spoke. "I actually knew him when he was alive, and let me tell ya, he is a lot like him. He's goofy, scared, brave, stubborn, tough, and has heart." The Deputy agreed to this.' Mark didn't want Gabe to leave, even if it is temporary. He was jealous that another person wanted to train him, making Mark believe he isn't a good enough teacher.

The group went out of Red River to camp out for the night, the sun was almost down and a fire had already started, with the group all sitting around it. Nobody talked because of the awkwardness, it was unbearable to sit through. Mark sat next to Gabe the entire time and they didn't speak once, just then, Mark spoke. "Gabe?" Gabe turned to Mark who wasn't looking at him at first, he looked angry at Mark, and he believed he had every right to be. "What?! What could you possibly want?" Mark still didn't look at him. "Do you think I'm a good teacher?" That question shocked Gabe, his anger turned into surprise. Leroy and Casity were also shocked by this. "Yeah...you're...you're good." Mark once again spoke. "Then why do you want to go to another teacher?" Gabe thought about it, he already did have a teacher, so why did he want to go. "That's a good question Master." Mark listened, even though he wasn't looking, as it turns out he was secretly tearing up a bit. "I'm not gonna say you're a bad teacher, because you're not. You've taught me the Lightning Shard and I even couldn't teach myself Zeus Gauntlet without your help." Mark kept silent, while the others also listened. "I'd even go as far as to say that I would probably be in who knows where right now after someone took me for my bounty." Mark began to stop tearing up after hearing this. "I just, all I want right now is to become as powerful and skilled as possible, to protect my friends." He looked at Leroy. "Uphold my promises." He looked at Casity. "To protect myself." He pointed with both hands toward himself. "And most of all." Mark wanted to hear what he had to say. "To make my master proud." Those words killed Mark on the inside, he couldn't hide it anymore. Mark turned his head toward Gabe, looked him in the eyes, and was crying, shocking Gabe. "I'm already proud of the person you've become in such a short amount of time." The two then hugged each other as hard as they could. Leroy smiled after seeing this, Casity looked as if she didn't care. "No matter who I train with, you'll always be my master." Mark responded with. "And no matter where you are or I am, you'll always be my student." The two smiled while hugging, having a moment.

Red Hercules was sitting at a campfire of his very own, waiting until the sun went down. He looked at the fire, while thinking of when Gabe used the Zeus Gauntlet. 'Can it be?' Just then, the sun went down and Gabe was nowhere to be seen. "I guess the child had other priorities." He looked rather disappointed. "Very well then, back to-" He then heard footsteps, only to see Gabe walking toward Red Hercules with the group behind him. He looked at Gabe and smiled. "So, you've made your choice?" Gabe nodded. "I'm gonna come with you and train!" Red Hercules smiled. "Very well then, we'll be off in the morning. Join me for camp, I insist." Mark looked as if he didn't want to camp with Red Hercules. "Um...that's ok...we've got one over-" Just before he could finish his sentence, Red Hercules opened his bag of stuff he carried, he pulled out a table, a cooking pot to put over the fire, a bunch of utensils he put on the table like knives and forks, some food he had like vegetables, some booze that made Mark happy, and to top that off he put on a pink apron that read 'Happy Cook'. "I volunteer to cook dinner for you people! It will be an honor." Everyone had been absolutely shocked. 'Where did he get that stuff? Why does he wear an apron when he cooks? Why is it pink and says that? WHY IS ANYTHING HAPPENING!?' They had about a thousand questions about what just happened, but all they saw was free food and drinks, so they agreed. "THIS IS AMAZING SOUP RED HERCULES!" Gabe said as he slurped it down in probably one whole sip. The others seemed to like it as well, even Mark who everyone thought would be jealous of his cooking. "I suck at cooking compared to this." Gabe sighed. 'You suck at cooking in general…' Red Hercules laughed. "If you want to be strong, you must be willing to do activities you would never dream of doing." The others wondered what he meant as that was kind of a stupid statement. Regardless, the food was amazing, also Mark drank his heart out. "Hey, Red Heracles…" Red Hercules turned to Mark who was drunk after hearing that, the others were afraid expecting anger from the strongest man in the world. "Let's...have a drink...off.." Red Hercules stared him down with serious eyes, terrified with what he would do to Mark. 'HE'S DEAD!' They all thought. Red Hercules reached into his bag. 'OH NO, HE'S GONNA KILL HIM!' He slowly pulled something out, making the others freak out in anticipation. "Very Well." He then slammed a large bottle of whiskey with 4 X's. "BRING IT ON RED TERROR!"

5 Minutes Later

Mark had been passed out on the ground with Red Hercules sitting strong. At that point, Gabe had also fallen asleep, along with Casity. Red Hercules looks at Gabe sleeping and smiles. Leroy is awake. The two of them all look at the fire while not talking. "Hey." Leroy said to Red Hercules. "Yes?" He responded with. "How does it feel to be known as the strongest?" Red Hercules took a moment to think, he then stood up and began to put his stuff away back in his bag, which made Casity and Leroy still surprised. "Well, look at it like this." Leroy waited for an answer as he kept putting stuff away. "Most people in the West strive for that goal, many of them get far and decide not go further, many can't get far at all because they are doing something wrong, and then there are people who have made it this far." Leroy was confused. "Once you achieve a goal, you feel happy at first, like you've succeeded at life, that something you've strived so hard to do has been done." Leroy thought that it made sense. "But, later on, you'll realize that you've dedicated so much time to that goal that you find yourself confused on what to do now." Leroy looked hard into that, he began to question his own goal. "Sometimes you'll wonder why you even wanted that goal in the first place, making it pointless." Leroy thought about why he wanted to get revenge on his father in the first place, but he couldn't think of a reason, he just wanted to because he killed his family. "That boy over there does have reasons for his goal." He pointed at Gabe. "Does he not?" Leroy looked back to what Gabe said over the fire earlier. '"I just, all I want right now is to become as powerful and skilled as possible, to protect my friends." He looked at Leroy. "Uphold my promises." He looked at Casity. "To protect myself." He pointed with both hands toward himself. "And most of all; To make my master proud."' Leroy answered. "Yes, he does, and it's a noble one." Gabe did have goals that he had reasons for, and in a way, Leroy grew jealous of that. "Today, I have a singular goal to fulfil. Which is what keeps me alive." That shocked Leroy. "What could possibly be your goal?! You've gone farther than any other man has gone before!" Red Hercules responded. "I cannot tell anyone this goal, as it is a duty of mine." Leroy decided not to ask. "If you choose to become the strongest without reason, you feel pointless. If you chose to become the strongest with reason, then it is the greatest feeling in the world." Leroy took those words to heart, he nodded. "That is to answer your question-" Leroy realized he didn't know Leroy's name. "I deeply apologize, but I have been a bit rude to you. If you don't mind me asking, what is your name?" Leroy answered. "Leroy, Leroy Suden." Those words surprised Red Hercules. "A Suden?! You must be joking surely." Leroy looked at him with a serious expression. "I am quite surprised that a Suden still exists, or at least a second one." Red Hercules began to chuckle, until he saw Leroy looked angry and didn't laugh. "I deeply apologize for my unkind words." Leroy looked as if he didn't care anymore. "Your goal you have, it is to defeat Hellflame Renroy, correct?" Leroy said nothing, he just looked at the moon and didn't tell him he was right or wrong. "I see. Then I wish you nothing but good luck on that goal." Leroy didn't respond. "Goodnight Leroy Suden." He said nothing, Red Hercules then went to sleep. All Leroy did was look at the moon, thinking to himself. 'Do I have a purpose with my goal?'

Meanwhile, in a Town Far Far Away

It looked to be winter where this place was, everywhere was covered in snow and to top that off a snow storm had been going on. A man walking in the snow toward a wooden building with lights coming from inside had been wearing a brown winter coat with white sheep wool, black winter pants, black boots, red gloves, and a scarf to block his face. He went up to the door and banged 3 times, another man opened a little slot where his face shows. "Who is it?" The man with the scarf undid his scarf and showed his face to the person behind the door, but the audience couldn't see. The man then closed the slot, unlocked the locks, and opened the door. Inside had been a bar with music, people drinking in the background at tables having a good time, bar fights, card games, and just general bar stuff. The man with the brown coat walked up to the booth where the bartender had been behind, he had been wiping a glass with a cloth. "What can I do for-" The bartender saw the man's face. "I-I didn't expect you to come here." The man wearing the brown coat spoke. "I'm not here to stay, I've got business." The Bartender stopped being surprised, like he knew this man. "Alright then, what'll you have." He responded. "I want 1 Jin. That's all." The Bartender gave him what he asked for. "So, where are you headed?" The Bartender asked. "Probably to get a new bounty, I really have nothing else to do." The Bartender then remembered something. "Oh! I was meaning to tell you, something came up with the government." The man with the brown coat ignored the man at the counter. "It turns out Billy the Kid got arrested, he was defeated by a small kid who was helped by the Blue Terror and I think...your son." Immediately, the man with the brown coat crushed the bottle with his hand when he heard those words. Everyone in the bar stopped making noise when he crushed a bottle, shocked with his reaction. "Excuse me?" He asked, the Bartender started to realize his mistake. "Did I just hear you right? My son helped defeat Billy the Kid? One of the most powerful crime bosses in the West Billy the Kid? That one?" The Bartender nodded in fear for his life. The man then smiled as the audience saw his mouth. He then proceeded to start slowly laughing, until it reached psychopathic levels of laughing, terrifying everyone in the bar. "Very well then, I guess I have to do something else other than get bounties." The person kept smiling, he then proceeded to start to leave. "What are you gonna do?" The man turned around to reveal his identity to the audience as Renroy Suden. He had a short black beard, and medium length black hair. "I'm going to make sure my son turns out just the way I want him to be."