I do not own either Read Dead Redemption nor My Hero Academia. I would say something witty yet alas I used up my arsenal in other story disclaimers. :(
Tarnished Silver
Chapter Two
(Inside the Simulation)
"Well, it looks like Sleepin' Beauty finally 'woke from 'er slumber!"
"Oh knock it off Sean. It looks like he had a rough day, not to mention doesn't look like he's used to it, unlike us."
"Hah-ha! Fine!" the first man with the accent relented. "So tell me boyo, what'cha in fer? Assault? Theft? Made a pass at a pretty lady o' privilege?"
That got the man who spoke a somewhat surprisingly audible jab from the other man, the former laughing it off in good humor. Not that the teenager saw it though. Between the arrest, the beating and the yelling, and being tossed into the cell hard enough to briefly black out from impact, Izuku found himself staring at the ceiling in shock as he tried to process what the hell just happened to little avail.
"I think 'e might be more out of it then we t'ought."
"I'm going to go check on him."
"Careful now, he might be playing dead!" the first man, whom the teenager had yet to see, laughed as the other presumably made his way to the teenager. Sure enough a dark skinned man was kneeling over him, waving his hand slowly to see if the boy was indeed conscious. He must have gotten his answer as he visibly sighed in relief. "I guess you must have had a rough day," he said.
Wordlessly the teenager nodded.
"New to the states I take it?"
He nodded again.
"Ah! A good ol' bloodying! Don't worry, it's just part of the charm 'round 'ere!"
The black man rolled his eyes and sighed in exasperation before reaching out his hand. "Here, let me help you up."
Still shocked, his mind reeling as how he felt the punches he gotten as a reprimand for 'resisting arrest' (read attempting to explain what happened as he was being hauled to jail) and the fact he (sadly) knew (from equally sad experience) that he blacked out for real, Izuku only accepted the proffered hand more as an automatic action with the stiffness it entailed. Thankfully the man helping him to his feet didn't seem to mind it in the least as he subsequently escorted him to a bench at the back of their cell where the only other occupant, a ragged man with long greasy hair and a smarmy grin on his face, sat.
"I'm Lenny by the way. Lenny Summers," the dark man spoke up as they neared the bench. As he helped the all but catatonic Japanese teen onto the bench the other man, grin still on his face offered his hand for a handshake. "And Sean MacGuire, at yer service!" the man offered in good nature. Like before Izuku's movement was stiff and robotic, but he didn't seem to pay it much mind either.
"So, if ya don't mind me asking, what are you in fer anyway? We don't have much in the way of entertainment down here as you can see."
Sure enough it was nothing but stone floor, metal bars in a series of perhaps three, maybe four cells, lanterns along the wall, particularly around what could only be presumed the exit. It brought to mind more of a dungeon than a jail or a prison actually. Especially since the only source of natural illumination came from what could be generously be called a slit of a window off to the far side, away from the cells and barred for good measure.
After a pregnant pause and a few false starts Izuku gathered enough wit to speak up at long last for ears that seemingly weren't intentionally deaf to his plight, be it coded or otherwise, he spoke up. "I-I was basically searching if there were any places I could rent and live in just after coming in today. T-then these g-guys came out of this side a-alley, slammed into me, dropped all this stuff around me and then book it when the police came storming after them! Next thing I know the police think I was with them and then...!" In a sudden surge of energy he waved his arms and hands at the very spot he was occupying not to long ago.
... which got a laugh from Sean. A gut buster too no less much to Izuku's burning embarrassment. The smack at the backside of his head, courtesy of Lenny, didn't lessen it by any degree.
"Oh! That's rich! A hellevah lot better than our crime!"
"Sean, please," Lenny sighed in exasperation.
"I mean, come on!" His smile lost, he threw up his arms in exasperation. "We were minding our own business fer fuck's sake! On a bench no less!" He then turned to Lenny with a scowl as he pointed at him. "And all you did was just answer ah lass' askin' us ah question! Harassment my Irish ass!" he groused as he slumped back against the wall. "At this point I'm thinking they're just itching for excuses to lock up the—" he threw his hands up to not only air quote but mimic what Izuku could only assume to have been a police officer, "—'the refuse of society'!"
Lenny sighed as he hung his hand, his hand raised to pinch at the bridge of his nose. "You didn't exactly help matters when you started mouthing off at that guy."
"I had a point and you know it!"
"True... but if push came to shove we could've easily outran one guy rather than that whole gang you attracted with your yelling."
Sean scoffed as he slumped against the wall once more, albeit more grumpily than before.
"... so what happens now?" Izuku spoke up after an uncomfortable (for him) silence.
Lenny shrugged. "Not quite sure. Best case scenario a friend of ours will notice we're gone, come looking and eventually post our bail."
"... and if that doesn't happen?" Sadly Izuku already had an inkling as to what might happen. It wasn't helped in the least by Sean's chuckle.
"Then we do our level best to leave in a blaze o' glory if we can, boyo! Hell, feel free to come along with us! Fairly sure Dutch won't mind. Helpin' those need helpin' after all."
Before anything else could be said the sole door to their dungeon opened up with a squeak of rusted metal. "Darkie and paddy, your fine's been paid!" announced a police officer as he marched with the swiftness of someone who simply wanted it done and over with. Behind him in a more sedate and tired pace was man reminiscent of a an American cowboy, an older depiction at that with his attire of a rugged blue shirt, worn pants, scuffed boots and sun bleached leather jacket. On a second look Izuku couldn't help but notice that Lenny and Sean were not that dissimilar in terms of state when the former said "wait here a second, okay?"
Both mean promptly got up and made for the door, especially so as the sound of metal grinding and thunking on metal resonated from the cell door once unlocked and subsequently opened. Both men wasted no time in practically scurrying out of the cell save for just a moment spent for Sean to snear at the officer who matched it in kind with an ill tempered scowl. Even so Lenny was soon at the newest arrival's side and whispering into his ear.
"What?" the man drawled as he jerked away. "No!"
"Come on Arthur," Lenny calmly pleaded.
"Look," the man stated as he pointed a finger at him then Sean. Had Izuku not been looking at him he would've missed the flicking of his eyes to the guard as he began to gruffly shut the cell. "Macintosh is already upset as it is with this place and you two being in trouble isn't helping matters."
"I mean look at him. Do you think he'll even survive in this place? Especially..." He cleared his throat but didn't say anything otherwise. But apparently it was enough to get an exasperated sigh from the man and a worn but considerate gander at the teenager.
"Fiiiine," he grumbled as he made his way to the guard who turned just in time to face him. "Look," he stated as he reached into a pocket and produced a wallet. From it he produced a few bills which he handed to the man who swiftly accepted it with barely veiled greedy glee. "For all we know he happens to look like someone else. It happens. Just a poor misunderstanding from men working long and thankless hours."
The lawman glanced down to the wad of cash he was holding in one hand. With the other he made a motion of 'more'. With a scowl and a pause long enough to glare at him the other man obliged him with another bill. "Hm. Yes. It's sad to say that it does happen every now and then. Especially when all foreigners, especially Chinese folk, look alike," the man reciprocated as he stuffed the money away and once more opened the cell door. In the meantime Izuku blankly stared at the man... a part of him just wanted to quit then and there if only to have a break so he could massage his head; was this game suppose to be 'historically accurate' in that they were simply emulating the times or were the original creators just bigoted themselves? He supposed the company that adapted this game for a VR is also to blame, if to an extent. But he didn't. By the time the man made an irritated 'come on' motion with his arm the teen was up and skedaddling out the door to join the newfound group who made to leave the dungeon, punctuated both by Arthur's swing of his arm to showcase they were leaving and Sean's chuckling. "Ol' man Arthur, has a heart after all!"
"Oh shut up."
XVX
It wasn't long before they navigated themselves though the police station to the street outside where a trio of horses awaited them. It didn't take a genius to know none of them were meant for him. Especially once it was clear that with pleased expressions, well Sean was pleased whereas Lenny seemed satisfied, picked up their pace and near readily mounted the horses whilst Sean took the time to lovingly pat his own, muttering what he could only assume to be the horse' name before sitting atop the saddle. As for Arthur, with a hand gently but firmly placed on Izuku's shoulder he had the boy's complete and undivided attention. "Look, kid, I'm not going to ask why you were in there and frankly I don't want to know. But heed my advice," he said as he languidly pointed a finger at him in emphasis, "get out of this place while you still can. We've only been here for a few weeks and let me tell you, this place," he gestured to the city around them with a sweep of his arm. In its passing Izuku noticed they were in front of a park which was home to a grand angelic statue with its arms spread out to seemingly welcome travelers who gaze at it from the front or even embrace the world. "—practically embodying all that is wrong with this country."
From his horse Lenny snorted. "Like I told Dutch once, an exclusive club catering to its own."
Arthur nodded before returning his attention back to Izuku. "Point is though is that at the rate they're going it's only a matter of time before this whole place goes up in smoke if they keep thinkin' this place as their own personal kingdom. If you can, get out of town. Take a couch, get a horse, hell, get on a train and skip over to the town after the next one for good measure! You understand?"
Izuku nodded. He didn't need to be told twice with his experiences thus far. That and it was hard not to be passively coerced by a man who looked like he could take on All Might in a slug match if the Number One hero didn't have a super strength quirk to his name.
"Good." Arthur paused in a moment of consideration. "You know what, just to be nice," he grumbled to himself as he once again retrieved his wallet. From it he retrieved a number of bills which he handed over to the teenager. "If that don't get you a horse then sure as hell will get you a ticket out of town. As for us we've got to get going ourselves."
With that Arthur grunted to himself as he made for the last horse. In the meantime Lenny gave the teen a half hearted wave. "Try to stay out of trouble now, ya hear?"
In the meantime Sean chuckled anew as he pulled away. "Bet'cha he gets slammed into again as he walks down the street."
"Ah, let's get going before something happens," Arthur grouched as he caught up with Sean, Lenny in tow.
As for Izuku, he watched them pull away before glancing down to see his objective change: "Get out of town". He didn't need to be told twice. As such he turned down to the street most relevant to the nearest point of interest in regards to his mission, whatever it might be. Incidentally it was also the same direction the trio had headed off to. As it stood right now they were turning right into an adjacent street whereas the road itself continued on. With a deep breath he steeled himself and decided to run toward the marker. Thankfully the act didn't garner much attention from the npcs, police included including some he could confidently wager were the ones who had arrested him in the first place; to be fair while the creators seemed to have taken great care in ensuring uniqueness amongst what could be deemed as generic npcs, he seen numerous exact copies of one another in close vicinity of one another, including the police. The further he got down the street without incident the more confident he became and in turn bolder.
As such it came to his surprise when a body collided with him from his side. Once again courtesy of something practically flying out of the alley. Once the sound of things clattering onto the ground reached his ears his hand shot up, upward (or rather toward whatever direction his was sprawled toward) and as far away from his body to showcase he wasn't grabbing anything. "I'M INNOCENT! I'M NOT GRABBING ANYTHING!" he screamed as if it would ward off another arrest. Sadly given his recent experience and the warnings he had been given thus far he had reason to doubt he wasn't going back to the jail cell.
"What-uh-no-no! I'm sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going!"
It wasn't even a moment later before a young brunette woman with blue eyes was looking him over in concern. Were he not so panic stricken he would've noted her blue dress with white frills as well. "Here, let me help you up."
Still frozen in terror and fully expecting to be mobbed by policemen any minute now it made for an awkward endeavor on the woman's part, but she managed it. It was only after seeing that there were no men in uniform ready to swarm him in a heartbeat that he began to relax and, with an embarrassed blush, turned to his latest... 'assailant' for the lack of a better term, and mumbled out an apology that was equal parts nervous, embarrassed and reluctant as he expected the other shoe to drop relatively soon. At any rate now that his mind wasn't as driven by panic, he could only assume this to be yet another scripted event given the additional autonomy she was presenting with her pursed lips and her contrite expression.
"If anything I should be the one apologizing. I wasn't exactly watching where I was going..." She trailed off as she looked over her shoulder, her bottom lip being chewed upon as she let slip a look of worry. "Excuse me," she said as she ducked down and began to gather her spilled belongings back into her apparently dropped purse. Without sparring much thought to the action as he was partially to blame for it, Izuku knelt down and aided her much to her softly spoken gratitude.
"Excuse me for asking this but you wouldn't by chance happen to know where I can find either the train station or coach house would happen to be, would you?" she asked as they gathered her belongings, which included a surprising number of money clips (to which Izuku direly hoped he wasn't going to be nailed for either aiding a (potential) criminal or that he was indeed aiding one to begin with), an equally surprising number of rocks and less interestingly more mundane cosmetics that he could only guess were common to well-to-do women in the late 19th century. Oh, and jewelry. Let's not forget the suspiciously large amount of jewelry which complimented the stacks of money that all disappeared into the purse; the rocks went into a different yet near identical purse. Plus one wide brimmed hat, but that was fairly tame to note given the circumstance even as she equipped herself with it.
"N-no," he muttered before eventually pushing himself back up. "But I'm fairly certain that this," he pointed in the direction he was going in, "is the way? I think?"
The young woman, more like a teenager who was just a few years older than himself, chuckled behind friendly closed lips. Then with what he could only assume to be what she hoped was a discrete craning of her head in a quick survey of her surroundings, she smiled at him. "Ah, perhaps we can find out together?" she offered.
Bundle of nerves he already was and still winding down from the collision, plus his stubborn paranoia, Izuku gave her a hesitant answer of 'okay?' before being taken by the hand and practically dragged down the street. To only add to his discomfort however she brought him in close and looped an arm around his own as if she was making it look like they were a couple!
"I'm sorry," she softly uttered much to his confusion without any sort of prompt on her part. "But it's generally more socially acceptable if a woman is escorted by a man... and it's less eye catching for me if I was being escorted by someone."
Izuku tried to reply to her, make a sound, anything at all really only to fall flat. At his silence she continued herself. "If it helps I am willing to pay for your company—" Izuku started at that. While he didn't live in a bad neighborhood by any means sadly even he knew what a proposition sounded like, albeit more by coincidence really. "—why do—Oh! No-no! I, ah..." The look on his face must have told her what she needed to know, and that in turn caused her to fumbled both in words and her pace till they were halted and she had let go so as to properly address him with flushed cheeks. She then took a deep breath to calm herself before sparing a moment to spy on their surroundings.
"I... am trying to leave this town lest it becomes a permanent cage which robs me of both my life and freedom," she admitted slowly and lowly. "I tried leaving this place before, time and again, but I haven't had much luck on my own. That being said I have learned little by little from my mistakes and I do not wish to put you through my ordeals without financial compensation, even if it's for as simple a task of leading me to the first coach we come across." With a smile strained with discomforted she offered him her hand. At that moment however the world grayed out. Behind her two prompts in the form of text boxes made themselves known: "Accept Her Request" or "Deny Her Request" respectively.
Izuku looked to the options and in the back of his mind an inkling of what he would have to do to accept either route niggled at him. Out of curiosity, and with a nervous frown, he looked out to his surroundings to find that the rest of the world had grayed out as well, and that there was no movement whatsoever as best made evident by a relatively nearby group of people across the street travelling in opposite directions as well as an officer casually strolling in their direction. With time seeming on his side he took his time to consider his options as he cupped the bottom half of his face in thought:
What would happen if he accepted? Would they simply walk to the station, carriage, etc, he gets paid and no unpleasantness will be had? He certainly hoped so. But what was with that money and jewelry? From the way she was acting logic would dictate she was a thief trying to leave, and that he would effectively be aiding a fugitive as well as accepting payment from her. Knowingly at that, and he couldn't lie to save his life if events occur where he was linked to her!
Reason and his own nature would and should dictate that he should walk away; informing a police officer came to mind, and yet given his recent bout with the law... What would happen if he walked away? Would it be one of those cases where the player thinks they have a choice only to be railroaded into a singular path? Would it be like what happened just minutes ago where he was tossed into jail despite evidence pointing to his innocence? He wished he didn't doubt that wasn't the case, he really did.
Perhaps pros and cons can help— Accepting Pros: He gets paid. He spends time with someone who does not apparently hate his presence on principle. There stood a good chance he could learn more about this game's lore from her. He would more or less be completing his most current objective in escorting her, or at least be closer to it.
Accepting Cons: Morally speaking he was at least potentially helping a criminal. He had no real idea as to the consequences of aiding her. He could be effectively sidetracked longer than either he or the programmers running the tests had intended given his age based circumstances. He also had no idea if, despite being an npc, this was merely an act for her and she somehow gets him into a worse spot than before.
Declining Pros: He wouldn't be aiding a potential criminal. The likelihood of negative consequences befalling him would (ideally) drop. He would be able to better focus on his objective and be out of the simulation all the sooner where he can evaluate whether or not to continue acting as this game's tester.
Decline Cons: There was no guarantee the what happened to him earlier wouldn't happen again simply because he thought he was declining trouble by rejecting her offer. There was an equal lack of surety in that he wouldn't get wrapped up in this anyway against his will; if worst came to worst she would possibly have some sort of vendetta against him for refusing to initially aid her. As it stood right now he lacked any sort of funds which might come in handy later as far as he knew...
... and despite listing the pros and cons on short notice he still couldn't decide.
Alright, what if he looked at it from the basis of his intended objectives as it were as a tester: Movement, Interaction with NPCS and objects, activate missions and use a weapon. He certainly accomplished all but the last task. Would accepting her request lead to the final portion of his task all the sooner?
... now that he was thinking about it, he hadn't really stopped to consider the fact that, given the circumstances, he would be essentially ending lives in this game even for his short run, did he?
... with any luck he can certainly pull off a Snipe! Shoot weapons out of the hands of enemy npcs, or at worst shoot a limb! No killing involved!
... but conflict...
How did he overlook he put himself between a rock and a hard place?! Either of his immediate choices meant he had to get into a fight whether he liked it or not!
Maybe it was best he just got this over with and never look back when the session ended. There are other jobs out there if he looked hard enough!
With newfound determination he took as deep a breath he could, held it, and let it loose in an explosive blast before putting on his best game face and saying "I'll help you!" At once the corresponding choice shown brilliantly for a few seconds before disappearing alongside its counterpart, and with their fading the world came to color once more just as the young woman smiled rather brilliantly at him. "You will? Thank you!"
She flung herself at him and hugged him in a tight embrace, smiling all the while or so Izuku inferred as he blushed up a storm during and after the hug respectively. As she drew herself away she glanced down at him almost critically before looking left and right. With a soft hum she looked him up and down once again. "Before we proceed, perhaps it would a good idea as to make a quick stop somewhere." With gentle hands she grabbed his arm and began to lead him down the route they were originally taking. "Thankfully it should be right about here actua—ah ha!"
They didn't really travel far. About two buildings were passed with them just about to overtake the edge of the second when she eagerly pulled him along to the third and last of the city block. It was quickly and readily apparent to be a clothing store between the sign depicting scissors and thread, bearing the title "Divine Garments", the mannequins adorned with clothes stationed at the windows as well as the shelves of fabric located on shelves along the wall as well as island stands set up in rows in the middle of the store. The proprietor idly eyed them with the same glassy expression Izuku often seen convenience store workers bear either out of tiredness or sheer apathy. It only stayed that way until they crossed over what would be halfway across the store. Disinterested eyes sharply turned into suspicious ones whenever they glanced in his direction, and try as he might to school his features into that of stoic professionalism the npc's lips curled into a frown whenever his attention drifted to Izuku. "How may I help you today, madam?" he said as he pointedly turned his (near) full attention to Izuku's companion... whom he just realized he hadn't even learned her name of just yet.
"Hello!" she beamed. Friendly as she was however she was a bit tense. And now that he was looking he could swear she tilted her hat forward so as to better hide her face from the man's view if not obscured it. Regardless... "I was hoping to have my companion here fitted with some new clothes for a special occasion."
"... Special occasion you say?" he drawled as he leered at the teen with doubtful eyes. "For a funeral perhaps?" he inquired as his eyes narrowed as they drifted more maliciously towards the teenager.
"For being blessed by fortune to be hired by an upstanding member of society who believes he should be better dressed," the woman corrected.
... technically speaking she wasn't wrong. If anything Izuku contested the 'upstanding' part out of suspicion. Even so it waved the unspoken hostility away in favor of professional neutralism. "Is that so? Well then," he gestured to an open changing room with a near reluctant swing of his arm, "in you go, boy."
Izuku spared himself a moment to sigh—"I don't have all day now!"
... if he chose any other city than Columbia, would things be different? Gotham sounded so much nicer at this point. Winterholme didn't sound too bad either.
Still, he his nerve well past shot at this point and now relying on the power of 'get this over with', he entered the booth which promptly closed behind him much to his confusion. Concerned, he bit his lip as he near the door and pressed his ear to it to divine what was happening. At the utter most he heard the dulled ambiance of the world outside, but nothing else. While still frowning in concern he began to explore his newfound situation, his eyes glancing at a full body mirror before resting on a book simply titled 'Clothing'. Seeing no better choice he went over to it and opened it to its first page where he found an index. From top to bottom it listed various apparel such as hats, shoes, pants, etcetera; resting at the top of the list was the term Outfits which he tapped out of curiosity.
When his fingers brushed along the ink Izuku jerked his hand back in surprise when the book suddenly, if gently, began to flutter its pages to the appropriate section. From there his eyes spied on conceptional art of people wearing certain outfits.
Eyes gleaming with understanding Izuku looked tro the mirror, then to the book, then back to the mirror again as his hand reached out to one image of a man wearing what looked to be a three-piece suit with a stove pipe hat. The moment his fingers touched the ink a corner of his vision darkened so as to highlight what he assumed to the cost of the suit which suddenly materialized on his person and made him briefly lose his balance as more period appropriate shoes replaced his sneakers; curiously the projected cost of the ensemble read zero—$0.
With the outfit in place Izuku looked himself over in person and in the mirror. He even gave the coat an experimental tug to see if it was real, for all intents and purposes it was as far as the DIVE was concerned, as well as feel out his newfound hat which unceremoniously stuffed as much as his hair into its depths. Once his short lived interest was sated for the moment he selected another outfit, this time replacing the top hat with a skimmer hat, his suit replaced with a blue waist coat over a white dress shirt over brown khakis and black dress shoes. And once he was done inspecting that he moved onto another outfit, and another, and so on and so forth till he began to search out the various items of clothing themselves out of a growing desite to learn more about this newfound system he was tinkering with. It wasn't long before he found himself fiddling with various design choices like having additional buttons, properly fastened or not, belt buckle choices in both shape and type of metal they were made from, and even the colors plus the patterns of individual clothes.
Seeing as there was neither cost involved nor some sort of time limit, he decided to relax and explore as well as indulge himself. The end result by the time he left the changing room left him with a brown fedora hat with a red and green striped band, a white dress shirt, a brown waist coat with gold buttons, slacks in a similar shade held up by a black belt with a silver square buckle and red wing tipped shoes.
"I trust you were paid in advance for this?" the man drawled as he lazily glared at Izuku.
"Indeed he has been. And I have been entrusted with it. Here you go."
The clerk's attention quickly switched to the woman as she handed him the stack of bills. With a raised eye he took it and after a quick thumbing through it the man nodded. "Very well. I hope you enjoy your day then."
Both promptly left the establishment, both sighing in relief, her more so than Izuku as the tension bled away from her shoulders. Izuku eyed her as discretely as he could only to be noticed after awhile. As curious eyes met his own he chuckled and scratched his cheek as they walked down the street to their original destination. "I, uh, don't think I got your name earlier."
Blue eyes blinked in confusion only to widen upon realization. "Oh! My apologies!" she exclaimed with a soft if embarrassed laugh. "I'm..." She hesitated both in speech and in step before affirming herself. "Annabelle," she gave out. "Annabelle DeWitt."
"I'm Izuku Midoriya," he offered without much conscious thought on his part. Upon realizing it he stuttered in an unintelligible manner whereas his companion tittered in a pleasant fashion.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mister Midoriya. Shall we then?"
"Uh... sure!"
She tittered again as they made their way down the street. As they did so Izuku considered asking her to shed light on the questions he wanted to ask: why was she carrying so much money? Why was she trying to run away? Why the dress change? Why the secrecy? In the end he reluctantly discarded them.
After all, his session was going to end soon at any rate.
XVX
Much to Izuku's guarded relief there was nothing truly heart stopping in their journey to what was indeed the train station. It wasn't without its own apparent peril however: what would've been what was evidently a three block trip turned closer to seven when Elizabeth had them make one detour after another the minute she spotted and pointed out some individuals dressed in black, both those who wore more traditional government agent style clothing and some wearing both more religious robes as well as wearing face concealing hoods on their heads, all of whom barely discreet in an apparent hunt for some one... They ended up ducking through alleys, backstreets and having to duck into the occasional store before wheedling out a path through patience, luck and geographical knowledge provided by his partner.
Aside from one close call where they had to... improvise... at her discretion... Actually yes, it was a rather heart stopping journey as opposed to jack hammering. One he could only stop thinking about under the threat of being jailed again if caught! Carrying on!
... he just wished Annabelle would stop giggling about it the second his thoughts were known! Let him die of embarrassment in peace! Tragically that only made her amusement all the more palpable during the less serious moments.
Regardless... After checking what he hoped would be the last street he would have to cross within the city for their would be pursuers, crossing it, Izuku would have practically bolted to the ticket booth for the train if Elizabeth hadn't yanked his arm back. At his bewildered by unspoken question she pressed a finger to her lips before pointing down the path of a platform where a train stood idle. It was then he finally turly noticed the inexplicably large crowd about the train station which rivaled Japan's standards. Even so from the masses there was a clear divide between the platform and the train where there, talking to some of the policemen whom were forming a line to act as a living barrier, were some more 'agents' as Izuku had been calling them in his head as they were intently peering into the windows of the train cars. Some of them even split off to board the train to presumably check the interior more thoroughly. There were also some 'monks' off to the side who were searching the crowds with the aid of more officers who corralled them into smaller gatherings so as to more easily identify who was or wasn't among them.
With a tug on his arm Annabelle guided him away to a thankfully less guarded section of the depot where a series of coaches awaited for would be customers. Only some of them were manned as a number of the drivers were busied by officers. "Excuse me sir!"
With a loud hum the driver of the carriage she hailed craned his head toward them. As he did so Izuku couldn't help but take in his more ragged appearance compared to the rest of the town outside of the more... affluent areas. "Are you for hire at the moment?"
"Be odd for me to be here if I wasn't," the man replied. He wriggled his face and mustache the second he finished as he glanced to his surroundings. "Was kind of wondering if I was going to get any business to be honest."
"Good then! If you would be so kind would you take us to the nearest town out of here?" Annabelle reached into her money purse and retrieved a rather handsome sum of money from it. She was quick to close the gap between them and offer him the cash as he almost blankly reached over to it in wonder. As soon as he was close enough she whispered loudly enough for both men to hear her. "Preferably one with a train station and on a road away from prying eyes if you can?"
With raised brows the man looked at the money for just a quick second before eagerly stuffing his gains into his pocket. "Hop in!" he declared. "I hear San Alvedo is lovely this time of year!"
"Indeed it does!" Annabelle laughed as she ushered both herself and the Japanese teen aboard the coach. Once they were inside and the door shut the driver snapped the reigns, prompting the pair of horses fastened to the buggy into acting. Soon enough they were pulling away onto the road proper to what could only be deemed to be the path to "San Alvedo"; a part of Izuku couldn't help but idly wonder if such a place existed in real life or not. Perhaps he'll check later on. Even so he was more than happy to plop himself against a seat opposite from Annabelle who practically did the same. However a minute later with a concerned frown she almost dove for the privacy curtains on both sides of the carriage, one at a time, and drew them to a close. Yet as she drew the last set more relevant to the town to a close she sharply took in a breath as she made a good attempt to outright slam the curtains shut. Just as Izuku was about to ask what was wrong when shouting occured.
Familiar shouting.
"Not again," Izuku whimpered.
"Driver!"
"You got it! You're paying extra though! HYA!"
The sudden jolt of acceleration sent Annabelle tumbling into Izuku who in turn became breathless when she accidentally elbowed him in the stomach hard enough to double over. It wasn't the end of it however.
With the curtains closed neither of them were able to see outside and yet what telltale signs and sounds associated with cobblestone streets quickly gave way to rural countryside as the sound of hooves pounding dirt, the crashing and destruction of low hanging branches and clipped bushes, plus the mild if barely audible cursing of the driver. "What the hell did you two do back there anyway?"
"It's more me than anyone!" Annabelle answered. "Suffice it to say that my father and I do not have any understanding!"
"Well who the hell is your father then to have Comstock's creepy goons out in force then?" the driver shot back as he ushered the horses as fast as he could through the apparent wilderness. When he had his wits about him Izuku moved a curtain aside to indeed reveal they were what appeared to be a forest seemingly spacious enough to let the coach driver to recklessly force his way through. "I mean I can't remotely think of anyone with that kind of pull short of—"
BANG!
A crack of thunder. A pained gurgle. Izuku stuck his head out to investigate just in time to witness the driver slump over the side and drop onto the ground with a cry before being rapidly left behind by his own coach as the horses continued to plow forth. From behind him and quickly overtaking his prone form a man on a black horse drove his horse to the side of the carriage and in a moment of daring managed to stand atop his galloping steed and launch himself onto the coach. The man, dirtied and rough, shimmied himself onto the driver's seat. From there he brought the runaway carriage to a swift but rough stop, marked especially by a rough and gravelly laugh.
"Well, well, ain't this an unfortunate day for the both of you."
His voice rough, oily, venomous, the man dressed in a dark leath duster and a white hat hopped down and slowly approached the door with a revolver pointedly drawn, the hammer clicked as he pointed it at Izuku as he gaped at both the man and weapon. "Now, let's make it easy on one another and step out of there. You hand me all your valuables and you two get a lucky break and head back into town. How does that sound?" the man offered with an insincere smile almost hidden by his thick mustache which ran down the sides of his face.
... a smile he unfortunately seen Kacchan in his more 'personable' moods.
The man made no effort in hiding the fact he was drinking in the moment and savoring it. Izuku's stare was only when Annabelle grabbed his hand. Without thinking snapped his head toward her, almost unheeding of both the tightened grip and similar newfound tautness of the arm aiming at his head as well as the "easy now, china man" as the blue eyed woman looked him in the eye with a concerned frown. "It'll be okay," she softly murmured. She glanced at the side in where she presumed the gunman was before turning her attention back to him with a solemn smile. "For what it's worth I'm sorry for dragging you into my troubles, both within and without." She gave his hand a squeeze. "Thank you though, for helping me anyway." She then took a deep breath to steel herself. "We're coming out!"
"Now that's more like it!"
She made to open the door when another crack of gunfire roared out followed by another and another in a steadily growing cascade of thunder and lead. The horse the man rode on which followed them bolted with a whiny. The bandit himself cursed aloud as he shot back at the rapidly approaching riders, 'agents' and 'monks' armed with pistols and rifles. "Damn it all! I thought they were focused on whatever the hell they were on back in town!"
As the man ascended the carriage once more and whipped the horses into a frenzy to get away, Annabelle yanked the boy's head back into the relatively safety of the vehicle even as it was starting to get chewed up. Particularly the top, where the hijacker was. Even so the both of them ended up having to duck and practically curled up into each other. Whether it helped or not was severely in debate now that the man who effectively kidnapped them had no care for the carriage in comparison, even with the justification of fleeing for his life. Rocks were hit, wood splintered but miraculously held, trees were clipped in turns so sharp that again it was miraculous that the carriage hadn't either been destroyed or else tipped. All the while the sound of gunfire from both sides at most abated for just brief moments at a time before it resumed, and in the aftermath those pauses it sounded like their pursuers were only getting closer as made evident by both the ominous cascading rumble of hooves by the dozens and the slowly but surely legible shouts of the men in black.
"Stop him! STOP HIM!"
"He won't get away!"
"Make sure you don't hit the carriage itself you dumbasses!"
"String the both of them up! We'll feed them to the crows!"
More gunshots thundered, more cursing, and more tossing about in the cabin was to be had until another burst of gunfire and shouting occurred. The only reason this one held any special note was the fact that the latest speaker was a familiar rough voice that he had met not long ago.
"MICAH! What the hell are you doing?! It's bad enough I had to bust these two out but we definitely do not need this kind of god damn attention!"
"Ain't my damn fault, Morgan! I just happened across this coach out here! Hell, for all I know I just got unlucky and just caught the attention of some sort of patrol!"
"God Damn It!"
It was by this time Izuku poked his head up to peer out the window of the coach to indeed confirm it was the man, Arthur, from before. Not only that but it appeared that both Lenny and Sean were with him as well, both of whom happened to have been looking right back at that time. "Oh look who it is!"
"Kid, you have got to have the worst luck I have ever seen! And I've been saddled with Sean for awhile now!"
"Hey now! You know I'm jus' a magnet for luck!"
"Good and bad!"
Sean, rather than be insulted, laughed just as Annabelle copied Izuku in looking out the window, more out of curiosity in comparison to Izuku. "Wait... ain't that the lass who was askin' t'ose questions back at the park before we got cuffed?"
"What the... You're right! Huh, fancy meeting you here too!"
Sean began to laugh again. "Looks like the boy's ah magnet as well!"
"Sean! Lenny! Be on the look out! We're going to find a place to ditch this wagon if we can before we had back to camp!"
"What about those two?"
"Rob 'em and leave them, that's what I say!"
"Shut it, Micah!" Arthur turned to practically glare at the pair inside the coach. Even if it was more stress than ill will, Izuku at least shrank a good enough portion so half his vision was covered by wood. "We'll take them back to the camp with us."
"I do hope you mean as hostages, Morgan," the driver growled over the pounding hooves.
"No I do not," Arthur growled back.
"Pah! You're getting soft! Soft men don't last long in our line of work and you know it!"
"Yeah, well if you don' like it then be my guest and leave already! Or is the Two Hand Killer that afraid of going it alone?"
The sneer, though unseen from his spot in the carriage, was palpable on the driver's, Micah's face, as they thundered down the forest path. Even so, when Annabelle's hand touched his own Izuku turned to look at her only to behold a worn but gentle warm smile. Though strained by the events of the day, he smiled back before returning his sights to the gunmen escorting their transport to parts unknown and the forest which whizzed by in their passing.
His smile grew a little wider as he knew that deep down his session was about to end, one way or another.
A/N: Like the other roles Foreigner would be varied from one another depending on where they chose to start. But like the other roles, all roads lead to [the Van der Linde Gang]. Admittedly it was kind of an excuse on my part to include cameos for the funsies of it.
That being said, at the time of the previous chapter I actually kind of forgot about Bioshock Infinite's Colombia until I realized I at least semi-boxed myself into it, at least from my point of view. Namely what sort of (fictional) American city would try to build what is functionally a wall at their main point of immigration? And while Colombia is not unique in that they disdain anything with more character than the moon, I doubt even corrupt institutions like that of Stillwater (Saints Row) dialed back to the 19th century are so brazen as to arrest someone who was clearly knocked down as opposed to aiding in a theft/escape.
Granted neither are particularly great reasons or even excuses but at any rate I was pretty much dead set on my little quest as it were.
Also admittedly I was aiming to have the chapter have a different ending... but as of the writing of this notes it's pretty much midnight just before December. I am not going to go two months without updating something! for what it's worth I apologize if this chapter is disappointing in terms of quality in my rush.
Monkeybandit2, making off with your attention! No refunds.