The World that Always was
(A continuation of Kingdom Hearts 2)
PhantomBPR
Introduction:
Barret Wallace walked into the tavern. The smell of cheap alcohol filled the air, almost intoxicating him upon inhaling it. Trying to keep himself to together, he then proceeded towards the bar. Several rugged bar flies sat drunk at the counter, spilt drinks by their sides. They had a running theme about themselves; clad in torn armor, scars all over their faces, weapons by their sides, the all around "Mercenary" look.
Barret then used his good hand to pull the poster out of his pocket. It was torn in a few places and was covered in desert sand but it was still legible. It was a wanted poster that held a picture of a man with a red cape and long black hair. The poster read: "Wanted. Vincent Valentine. Wanted for crimes against the nation. Dead or Alive: 2000 Munny. Barret scanned the bar a few times before his eyes caught something; they began to burn, for they had focused on something red.
He approached the red figure and noticed that this man also had an arm defect. This man's arm had been completely dismembered and was forced to replace it with a false golden arm. Barret had lost his hand when a crucial blood vein had been shot; he had been forced to have it amputated. Because of his line of work, Barret often needed to carry a gun with him so he had a "gun hand" grafted in its place. Barret sat down next to, supposedly, Vincent. Vincent began to mutter something.
"It must be difficult not having a hand." Vincent began. "I wouldn't know, I replaced mine long ago." Barret stood up on this and charged his gun. "Cut the crap!" He shouted. At this, several of the patrons dove under tables and the bartender reached for his shotgun. "Don't move!" Barret shouted at the bartender, taking his eyes of Vincent. When they returned, he found that Vincent had a gun of his own staring Barret in the face. "Let's not be hasty, sir." Vincent said. "Tell me, what is it you desire?" "Your head." Barret replied coldly. "Oh ho." Vincent stated cockily. "So I have a bounty on my head. Tell me sir, how much are they willing to pay?" Barret thought for a moment and wondered if he may be able to get more Munny out of sparing Vincent in return for pay.
"5000 Munny." Barret claimed. Vincent chuckled. "Bull shit, at the most they'd put 3500 on me, and that's only if they were sure they had hired someone who could do the job right. So tell me, how much were they willing to pay you?" Barret hung his head in shame and meekly said: "2000." Vincent was on the verge of hysteria. He finally said: "Well, I suppose one could always use the munny for a good gun arm bayonet."
Barret pulled his arm up to Vincent's face. "Give me one reason I shouldn't blow your damn head off right now!" Vincent's look remained unchanged. "Because I could pay you 5000 munny right here…that is, if you are willing to do something for me." Barret put his gun arm down and turned the charge off. "What do you want?" he asked. Vincent smiled, "I want nothing more than for you to listen to a tale I have to tell and become enlightened upon hearing it. After which, I want you to go out with this knowledge and share it with this world so that all may know that I am not the criminal you all seem to want to think I am."
Barret was not in the mood for heroic drama. "All I gotta do, is listen to you rant about your life, and you'll pay me 5000 munny?" "Precisely." Vincent replied. "Shit, that's good enough for me." Barret opened a trap door located at the bottom of his gun arm and allowed the ammunition to spill out. This relieved the bar patrons, they all returned to their original business. Barret ordered himself a drink and sat down.
Vincent returned his Peacemaker to its holster and began his tale. "This is a story of a man unjustly accused of a crime, all for trying to help humanity. This is a story that begins with the very beginning of our universe and quite possibly ends with its apocalypse. This is a story about the world that always was." Barret stared at Vincent for a while and finally asked: "What are you saying." Vincent then replied: "I'm saying it's a long-ass story, so if you need to piss you'd best do it now."