-Aftermath-

Chapter Two - "The Mysterious Snyde"

When Snyde reached the top of the stairs, he wasn't that surprised that the two idiots from before attempted to ambush him. Taking a simple step to the side, however, one completely missed and fell all the way back down, while the other got a swift kick to the gut, KOing him. Of course, he made sure to push him down the stairs as well, just as a reminder. Then, making his way down a relatively short hallway, he neared the only door visible and put his ear next to it, so as to listen...

"Hm, well, looks like the old guy likes to protect whatever junk could possibly be in this thing," he heard Jackle O'Riely say, sounding bored, "Cheech, why don't you blow this sucker up for us?"

"Hee hee, sure thing, boss!" another squealed, followed by a large explosion, almost causing Snyde to fall. Then, hearing them grab various objects and whatnot, he made his entrance my taking his sword and slicing the door in two. He spotted Jackle, a small, greenish-yellow Reploid he figured was Cheech, and another one of the lackeys--A well-built, grey armored Reploid who wielded an axe, who also happened to have such a bored look on his face, he wouldn't be surprised if he fell flat on his face to get a little shut eye.

"W-what!" O'Riely sputtered out, "Just who the heck are you? Where are the rest of my men!"

"Playtime is over, Jackle," Snyde spoke quietly, barely audible. "I'm going to destroy you..."

"Heh heh heh... Hah hah hah hah hah!" he laughed manically, his eyes bloodshot, "You idiot! You can't defeat me! Cheech! Naba! Get rid of this guy!"

Cheech and Naba both got in front of their boss, not looking like as if they were just about to give up and go home. Pulling out a couple of small hand grenades, Cheech tossed some Snyde's way, as he nimbly rolled to the side, just be met with Naba's axe, barely blocking it with his own sword. Trying to build enough strength, Snyde eventually pushed Naba back, only to get assaulted by more bombs. This time, however, Snyde used his sword as a shield once again and deflected all of the explosives so the went back at Cheech. Unfortunately, he had prepared for such an occasion as ran right past the bombs, getting out right before they blew, and attempted to sucker punch Snyde, followed by another mighty swing of Naba's hammer. Not wanting to be taken for an idiot, Snyde grabbed Cheech's arm and pulled it out in front of the axe, cutting it off in one stroke. Oil splattered everywhere as Cheech reeled back, crying in pain at the loss of his limb.

"Bastard!" he yelled, "How DARE you do this to--"

He was quickly cut off as Snyde grabbed his head and threw it down, where his face met his knee. Sprawling back, Cheech slammed his back into the wall and slipped, banging his head on the ground. There was no time for a victory celebration, though, as immediately after Snyde found himself barely being able to dodge the rampage of Naba, who started chasing after him while swinging his giant axe like mad. Pressing himself on the wall behind him, he waited for Naba to swing as he jumped out of the way, watching the axe get embedded in the wall, unable to come out. However, instead of getting angrier, Naba only gave a lazy smile as he revealed to fire bullets from his gauntlets, like a machine gun. Snyde's eyes bulged as he then had to carefully dodge all of the bullets, which he did shockingly well. Then, with a giant leap, Snyde flipped himself upside down to touch down on the ceiling and then jump off again as he used his sword as a shield to block the bullets, and then rammed himself into Naba, knocking him back into the sharp handle of his axe, piercing through his armor. He stared at it for a minute it, blinking at the curious sight of why his own oil was covered in it, until he realized what had happened and then deactivated.

Snyde only put his sword back on his shoulder, as he looked at O'Riely from the corner of his eye. O'Riely, of course, wasn't taking it well. "You... you! Those were my two best men! How the heck did you beat 'em like that!" He started breathing heavily, from perhaps that he had to fight, or that he couldn't contain his own fear. Snyde only chuckled.

"This is your own funeral, friend!" Jackle screamed, not wanting to back down. Only getting more chuckling, he charged, and did a flip over him, landing on both feet with a confident grin plastered on his face. Then, pulling out a buster cannon, his smile grew as he said "You've got not no chance."

From there, he started firing non-stop. While Snyde had no problem dodging the attacks, he noticed something strange--the blasts being used were fully charged, and yet he didn't need to wait nor did he show the usually signs of someone charging an attack. Confused, he only continued to dodge the shots, trying to keep his distance away from the lunatic.

"I see you like my little ability!" Jackle sneered. "State-of-the-art buster cannon technology... Soon, it's going to leave a gaping hole through your head as a mark!"

Snyde only tsked as he leaped out of the way of another attack. He had to get away... Of course, this didn't go unnoticed, as O'Riely eventually started edging himself closer, trying to bridge the gap as he continued blasting.

"Oh, what's the matter?" he taunted, "Are you trying to run away? Are you going to be a little chicken?Bwak, bwak, bwak, bwak!"

Snyde didn't say anything as he took another small jump back, bending back to dodge another shot, and then did a small flip to the side to dodge yet another one. Then, his sword in hand, he waited for the next shot to come as he swung at it, making the plasma bounce off of the blade and fly toward the ceiling, leaving a slight burn mark where it struck. Snyde then used his sword as a shield to deflect more shots, making some head toward Jackle's way. Jackle responded to this by taking short jumps out of the way and continue with his assault.

I've gotta get passed that stupid shield... thought Jackle angerly. I guess what I'll do is try to get around him... with my superior flexibility, this should be pretty easy! Heh heh heh...

Making his move, Jackle started moving to the left, causing Snyde to follow him, and move into a better position. However, his back was no longer next to the wall, leaving him more vulnerable. Not wasting any time, Jackle broke out into a full fledged front flip and landed in back of Snyde, who had just reacted to turn around. Firing like crazy, O'Riely beat Snyde down, causing him to go to the floor, on his knees. Getting up close, Jackle pointed his buster to his head, smiling with a cigarette in his mouth. He was positive that he had won, after all...

"Well, well, how's it feel to be on the losing side?" he crowed, happy about his victory. That is, until Snyde took the flat of his blade and whacked him upside the head, making him land on the nearby desk, spilling any contents that may have remained off it. Looking up, he saw Snyde lift him by the neck and shake him violently, barely able to spit out "Just how the heck..." He wanted to know how he moved so fast, as he stared at the dark, evil-looking figure before him, but just couldn't get the words out as his mouth just hung wide open in both fear and shock.

"So tell me, idiot," Snyde snarled, "What's it like being a complete loser?"

Since he knew that he was expecting a painful death, Snyde decided to change things up by just grabbing his sword with his free hand, stare at it, then his target, before pounding his face in repeatedly with the handle. After every pound Jackle's face got slightly more black, and slightly more blue. By the time he was done, his face looked as if he had been shot by multiple paint guns, directly in the face. In disgust with the man, Snyde just dropped him on the floor, figuring he would be too dazed to think, let alone get up, and started for the door. What he didn't expect was that Cheech had immediately sprung back to life and clobbered him with his own detached arm, knocking him down.

"You bitch! Bitch, bitch, BITCH!" he screamed over and over, and stomped his foot while he cursed. "NO ONE does this to our gang! NO ONE!"

With a small push, Snyde flipped himself back up and promptly smashed the pitiful Reploid's face yet again with a headbutt, making him drop like a rock, obviously dead from the fact that his nose was now pointing inward. A couple of teeth and some oil were found, oozing out of his mouth, proving anyone who had any doubt from this fact. It wasn't over yet, however, as Snyde was clobbered yet again, this time by Jackle, who dropped the smug smile and was now wearing a nasty scowl. Tossing the broken steel chair he had used, he pointed his buster cannon directly to the side of Snyde's skull, who was on his knees, and pushed on it slightly.

"You just had to ruin everything, didn't you?" he spoke, his voice slightly quivering. "You just had to interfere with us. Well, with this, I'm going to put an end to your nonsense! Goodbye!"

Snyde actually closed his eyes, waiting for the plasma to burn through his head, ending his life in what he figured would be a matter of seconds. He wasn't certain if such a death would hurt or not, but he honestly thought just what would happen to the rest of those people down stairs. But, all he could do was wait. And wait... and wait...

"Freeze!" he heard someone yell.

Fluttering his eyes open, he looked up to see a Reploid police officer pointing his own buster directly at Jackle. Getting impatient, O'Riely pushed Snyde's head down with even more force, making it almost touch the ground, as if threatening, "Do it and he dies!" That, of course, was his first and last fatal mistake, as he started focusing more on the police. Not wanting to miss his big chance, Snyde forced himself up and knocked the buster cannon out of his way and punched O'Riely in the jaw, dazing him slightly. Right before he had a chance to recover, though, Snyde sliced the tip of the cannon off, deactivating it. Before he could even realize what had happened, the police had entered the fight and slapped handcuffs on him, and began carrying him away.

"Hey... what the heck is this!" he paled by ten different shades, as he was pushed out of the room. "I can't go to jail! I've got my rights...!"

Following them a little after, Snyde was saluted by a fairly small, mustacheod Reploid outside. "We here, as both the police and the citizens of Vurious, would like thank you in helping us finally capture the notorius O'Riely Gang. We are forever in your debt."

"Hmph, I didn't do anything..." he mumbled. "I just killed some people."

"Well, I'll have to report that, unfortunately... but still, I think I can let you off if you promise to just leave the city," he suggested, his mustache lifting to show that he was smiling.

Looking at him for a quick second, Snyde wondered why he was being let off easy, but decided not to press on it. "Fine by me. But, how did you know--?"

"Hey!" Starfighter ran into the room and panted slightly, trying to catch his breath. "Man, I had to run EVERYWHERE... I didn't think I'd ever stop... Sure glad I made it on time though... Are they all right?"

"Mm," the officer gave a small nod, "Of course, we wouldn't have succeeded hadn't it been for mister...?"

"Snyde," he decided to reveal himself freely, just this once. "Snyde the Shadow..."

"Yes, Mr. Snyde saved everyone, despite the amount of damage done..." he trailed off, before realizing that both he and Starfighter had vanished. Straightening his belt buckel, he sighed. "People today... they just don't know how to give any proper respect!"

Starfighter had followed Snyde as he slipped in the backways, behind the pub. He saw him put his sword on his back again, and he had his old rags, rapped around his body, concealing pretty much everything that was already concealed again. To him, it looked as if he was going to make his leave, so he decided to pop the question that had burned into his mind the moment he first laid eyes upon him.

"...You're leaving," he pointed out obviously. "If it wouldn;t be a big deal, could I possibly tag along?"

He got the usualy, empty gleam of Snyde's eye. "No. I like to travel alone..."

"Oh, come on! I can be useful!" Starfighter almost pleaded. Then, crossing his chest, he added, "Besides, from what I heard, if I hadn't gotten the police, that Oriely guy would've blown a whole straight through your head."

"Heh, true. I probably deserved that hole as well..." he said, sounding a tad sad. "Still, my answer is final. A kid like you would only get hurt..."

"Man, you don't know what I'm capable of," Starfighter walked off, upset. He was really hoping that by following Snyde, he could somehow reveal his navigation skills. It was then he figured that the only way that was going to become possible was if he worked even harder for it. Once the owner got better, he planned to confess his feelings on what he really wanted...

Snyde only watched as Starfighter stormed off, definitely not looking all that pleased. He didn't really know any better way of driving him away, though. But, it was enough of that. He wished then that he hadn't given his name, since word of the damage he had just done would reach the ears of the ones he hated and despised most. It seemed that no matter where he went afterwards, they would be there anyways, so trying to hide was out of the question. Deciding to just head on to the next town, as if he had done nothing different, Snyde gave one last look in the direction of where Starfighter had went, before walking away...

"The grim reaper... is always after me..."

Back at the pub, Jackle was thrown into a police car. Taking a quick look around, he noticed two of his lackeys, looking not only quite startled at what just happened, but also looking just like how he looked--a mess. They were all covered with bruises, cuts and blood... Of course, it really wasn't all that surprising. They had just gotten their butts handed to them by some completely random stranger, over half the guys they hung out with were dead, AND they were going to jail. Life wasn't exactly looking good for them.

"Boss, what're we gonna do!" one whined.

"Relax!" Jackle clenched his fist and smiled broadly once again. "That guy... Snyde, I think they called him... He's just askin' for it... But Jackle O'Riely XIII never gives up! His days are numbered, just you wait!"

"But... how are we gonna get outta jail...?" the other blubbered, on the verge of tears. "And since when were you the thirteenth?"

There was a small silence between the three of them. The officer, who had finally found out where Starfighter and Snyde went off to, jumped in and turned the motor on, almost seemingly acting like a switch for a lightbulb, as Jackle at that same exact moment got an idea.

"I've gotta plan..." he spoke quietly, ignoring the last question, "One that shall go down in Reploid history!"

To be continued...

Author's Notes: Woo, got another chapter up! All that aside, I have to comment on some things, just to give a small insight on what lies ahead. This story... isn't going to be short. I plan on making it VERY long. But, for the sake of actually making it longer, I decided to throw in some random chapters after this, and then get the main plot a little later (this was partly styled after Trigun, after all). Not like it's that bad, really, as the next few chapters all have a golden moment when you finally are able to read 'em. Hopefully, I'll get around to putting it up soon.

Also, thanksfor the(one) reviews! I really appreciate it. ; I was taking another look at the rating system though, and I might bump it up to 'M,' considering that this isn't just making references to violence and some slight swearing.