Hey everybody! I'm back, with the second part of my trilogy based on Alex the Coyote. This one is about...well, you'll just have to find out, heh, while the third story will be about...uh, you'll have to find that out too, sorry!

Meanwhile, check out my friend Chelsea, her name's whitefire22 ((or was it 55? Uh-oh!))

My computer's being a turd, so I can't preview my chapters after I upload them on my computer...I have to go to the library, which I'm at right now. Oh, yeah, I may POSSIBLY update my "Blackrain Euphony" story, since I'm currently under threat of death, but I kinda dropped it off after the second chapter, so I'll have to start on it again.

Soooo...ladies and gentleman, welcome to my newest story! Read and review, pretty please!
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Pain. Anger. Hate. Love.

In her short life, she had suffered all of these things, and many more. But all of it had combined together, to build the female outlaw wonder known as Alex the Coyote.

She sat in the back of the bus, resting her head against the warm window, and letting the motions of the vehicle lull her into a doze. In the three years since she had left the Red Hill Coyotes, Alex had become, maybe not supremely notorious, but at least a common household conversation topic. She had committed robberies and thefts, hijackings, ransoms, and the like. For most of them, she had enlisted the help of a few scrawny youngsters with similar dreams of outlaw greatness, and had given them boosts in that direction with her crimes, as well as splitting her earnings amongst them, keeping for herself only what was needed to survive.

Alex yawned, and raising her head slightly, she smoothed back her long dark brown hair from her face, then leaned her face against the window again, staring out at the surrounding desert. They were heading for the town of Falcon's Eye, where she was planning a small bank robbery to keep up the money in her pockets.

They hadn't wanted her to go, she remembered, her gang. Vann had fought the most, pleading with her to stay with them. Lucius had asked her to stay as well, but he had known what she needed to do. The rest of the gang had been sad, and though it had hurt her slightly, she knew, also, what she needed to do. There was only one person who would've been able to make her stay, and he-

Alex flinched, remembering that particularly painful memory. The gun firing; the bullet striking him, and him collapsing to the ground. Eamon. The first love of her young life, she was now certain of that.

But it wasn't good to think of the bad things, and the ever-optimistic opportunist moved on.

She had spent most of her time away from the gang knee-deep in crime sprees, but she did have a plan, and that was to eventually reach the town of Lunaras, where one of her last remaining relatives, a wealthy and retired sheriff named Gabriel Daelin, lived. But she was very easily distracted and sidetracked, and she took every opportunity for money and infamy that she could.

Something in the distance caught her attention, and, focusing, she could make out buildings up ahead. That meant they were almost to Falcon's Eye.

When they reached the town, she hopped off the bus, slinging a small bag she carried over her shoulder, and heading at a brisk pace through the town, scanning the buildings with sharp but inconspicuous eyes. Very few people were bound to suspect a young woman in a pair of tan pants, black boots, a tan trenchcoat, and a blue bandana, holding her hair back, underneath a tan cowboy hat. That wasn't unusual, especially in a desert. Even the pair of guns at her belt, both of them which she had gotten shortly after her first robbery, weren't suspicious; pretty much everyone had a gun. She easily blended in with everyone else.

"Ah," she murmered, as soon as she saw what she was looking for: a saloon. This is where she'd appear the most suspicious; because, of course, everyone in a saloon was suspicious. At least, that's what she had learned. As quietly as she could she pushed the doors opened, and stepped in, waiting a moment until her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting. As she expected, everyone was staring at her, until they quickly, or in some cases slowly, returned to their drinks, card games, and conversations. Alex smiled to herself and headed to the bar. "Whiskey, please," she said, taking a stool.

"Ain't that a bit strong, madame?" The bartender, a short, stout balding man in a dirty white shirt, cleaning a glass.

Alex pretended to think about it, then said good-naturedly, "No, not really." He shrugged, and grumbling to himself, moved to get her drink. She smiled, then let her eyes rove the room, seeming like a normal gesture, but she was really screening the saloon for the right type of people she needed for her next job.

Her eyes came across a four-person group, made up of dirty, rag-wearing children who probably weren't a day over fourteen, and were probably using the only money they had to get some of the thirst-quenching lemonade that sat at the center of their table in a large glass pitcher, and was already almost half-empty. Alex looked closer, and made little mental notes as she scanned them: three boys and a girl; ranging around ten years old; and so it continued. Finally, she had made her decision, although she had decided a while before anyways.

When she turned back, she found her whiskey was sitting in front of her. In one swift movement she gripped it in her hand, brought it to her lips, and dumped the whole thing down, swallowing the burning liquid quickly as she sat the glass back on the bar. She delicately raised a finger, and the dirty old bartender nodded slowly and went for the whiskey bottle. After her second shot, then a third, she nodded to him, then stood and went for the table with the children.

The girl noticed her first, and murmered something into the ear of the boy on her left side. The boy glanced at Alex, then nudged the other boy next to him, and the last two glanced up as one. Alex took a table between the girl and the boy on her right side, and smiled brightly at all of them.

The boy across from her frowned and said, "Whaddya want?"

Alex's smile turned into a lazy grin. "I have a proposition for you."

One of the boys muttered to his left, "What'sa proposition?"

"An offer," Alex added quickly. She leaned forward and said in a conspiratorial voice, "Do you wanna make some easy cash?" When they all seemed to make a silent agreement, leaning forward to listen closely as one group, she continued. "My name's Alex the Coyote. Can we go somewhere to talk?"

"Why us?" the girl asked. She had sharp, wary eyes, and seemed much more cautious and thinking than the boys. "Can't you find some others, adults? They'll help you better."

"I've noticed that kids help me better," Alex said. "And I know you'll wanna make some bucks, right?"

"Listen, lady, we ain't just some stupid little kiddies, y'know," the girl replied, narrowing her grey-blue eyes. She had dirty lobe-length blond hair, and wore jean pants and a short-sleeved oversized shirt, like the other boys. Alex could sense a wisdom from her, and something that gave her illogical pride. "We wanna hear the whole thing. No lies, no tricks, y'hear?"

"Yeah, I hear," Alex answered. "But we have to get outta here, first. I don't want eavesdroppers." They looked at each other, silently considering it, then came to an agreement visually, and all arose, and she hurried to the bar to pay for her drinks, then went back to them. Quickly they led Alex out of the saloon, heading down the street. They reached a slummy-looking apartment building, and the kids entered the unlocked door, scrambling up a flight of stairs, and then another, before reaching a door. This was unlocked as well, and they simply swung it open, clambering inside. The girl closed the door behind Alex.

She looked around, surveying the setting. All of the furniture, which consisted of a couch and chair in the main room and mattresses in the back, around a wall corner, was dirty, old, wrecked or broken in some way, and falling apart. Dirty clothes, trash, and all manners of other things were scattered across the floor. Everything had a dirty, sweaty sheen to it; the room was also rather warm, the only cooling means being open windows, and the air was still and heavy outside. All in all, this was a home of the poor.

"Don't like it, leave it," one of the boys growled, watching her with narrowed eyes. She looked at him, and flashed a grin.

"I used to live in worse," she answered. That silenced them. She headed for the couch and flung herself onto it, hearing the creak of old rusty springs as she did. One of the boys took the chair, and another sat on the arm of it; a third boy sat on the floor in front of the chair, and the girl sat on the other side of the couch from Alex.

"So, what's your names?" Alex asked.

One of the boys, the one on the chair arm, stiffened and started to say, "None of your-" but the boy in the chair silenced him with a wave of his hand.

"I'm Xav," he announced, then gave a light push to the boy on the chair arm. "This is Joey. And this one," he continued, lightly nudging the head of the boy sitting in front of him with his knee, "is Pepp."

"And I'm Merrick," the girl said, and smiled. "Merrick the Maverick. Or just Merri."

"Nice to meet you," Alex said, grinning back.

"So...what is your proposition?" Xav asked. "I'm truly curious."

"As you know, I'm an outlaw," Alex said. They nodded. "And I'm best at robbin' banks and stealin' weapons an' vehicles. In all my jobs, I seek help of the locals-to help me out, 'cause they'd know the town better than I do. Plus, most of them are very promising as outlaws."

"And you want us to help you," Merrick guessed quickly.

"Exactly," Alex answered.Smart one."You'd get half the profits."

All four raised an eyebrow, and leaned in eagerly.

"And what do we really have to do?" Pepp asked.

"I'll plan this out, an' you'll each have diff'rent jobs." Alex scanned them quickly, then pointed at Joey. "Are you fast?"

He gave her a crooked grin. "Lady, I'm the fastest person in town, let alone kid."

"Then you'd be good for running the money out," Alex finished, smiling. Then she pointed to Xav. "And you, you would be good as a door guard-keep everyone from entering and leaving." Xav had a very strong, muscular build, besides the fact that he was the tallest and seemed to be the oldest.

"And me?" Pepp asked. He was the shortest, smallest, and had a very skinny, tiny frame. He looked to be about half his age, which Alex placed skeptically around eight or nine.

"You'd be good to get behind the counter and get the money," Alex answered. He'd fit between the bars easily.

"And me?" Merrick asked.

"Well, we have a maverick here, right?" Alex asked her. The girl grinned. "So, you'll help me charge in and keep everyone calm. We'll have to bail pretty fast after Joey skips with the money; and I'll also need someone to help after Pepp opens the gate door, so you'll either help take out the money or keep everyone calm." She eyed them all, since none seemed to have any more questions. "So what say you?"

There was a collective silence, as the four children exchanged looks and thoughts. Then Merrick clapped her hands together, and said excitedly, "We'll do it!"

"Great!" Alex cried happily. "Let's start plannin'!"
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Sooo...how do you like so far? Originally, when I first wrote "To Be The Greatest", I didn't expect to get very far. Now look at me, I'm gonna write a trilogy! This thing has developed SO much from my original plans, I just have to carry it on.

P.S. I'M GOING TO A SYSTEM OF A DOWN CONCERT IN SEPTEMBER! IF I can come up with $75, that is...currently I have $30, but my sis is gonna pay me back some of the money she owes me, and my mom's also gonna send up some money from Florida to me. My Uncle Chad's taking me...that's so cool! He's the only person in my dad's side of the family who's ever been arrested in hot pursuit! Isn't that awesome!

Yes...I have no Quote-of-the-Chapter for this chapter, but I'll come up with TWO in my next chappie!

Much love,

-Wolf