Atonement: Lincoln Clay

Episode 2: street fighting man


[Wombag 1786: Thanks dude!]

[Guest 1: it's up now.]

[SilentXD7: Oh well thanks man.]

[Guest 2: Yes that is definitely a plus. The wiki doesn't mention her origins besides the fact that Cinder found her somewhere in a city. So yeah I have some creative freedom there.]

[Guest 3: I'll try to make it good.]

[Review Dude: I promise to do my best to keep you intrigued bro!]

[Guest 4: Well yeah, it doesn't help to freak the F out, plus I can't see him losing his mind over it. He was going to be hunted anyway, so this is a fresh start. I don't see why he can't, I agree that it is the best way he knows to make money.]


-MISTRAL-RIGHT AFTER THE DINER INCIDENT-

"So where are you from Lincoln?" Emerald asked as the pair walked down the street.

"Does it matter?" Lincoln replied stoically.

"I'm just curious is all." Emerald answered innocently enough.

"Then it's a long story." The girl's new caretaker refused to say.

"I'd say we have time." Emerald continued to try Lincoln's patience.

"Let's just say that I had to leave my home and a few friends behind. I don't think I'll be seeing any of them for a long time, the ones that are still alive anyway." He sighed and stopped, looking up to see the sky growing dark as night set in over the town.

"Why?" Emerald chirped.

"That's complicated." Lincoln stone walled her.

"Why?" Emerald repeated in an attempt to get a rise out of her benefactor.

"Don't play that game with me Emerald." Lincoln warned her not to keep egging him on, she was worse than Ellis used to be. "

"Aw why not?" She tilted her head.

"I may be a patient kind of guy but right now I need time to think because we have other things to worry about." Lincoln said pragmatically.

"Like what?" The minty haired girl asked as she put her hands behind her head.

"For starters, where are we going to sleep? Unless you want to stay at that old house I found you in." The former soldier/criminal said pragmatically, reminding the girl that she was homeless and her caretaker is a wanderer.

"Um no." She tapped a finger to her chin cutely and deflated.

"Then it looks like we'll have to figure something out. Is there a motel or some kind of inn around here?" Lincoln asked as he sat down on a bench.

"There's one over by the town hall." Emerald replied pointing in the direction of the town center.

"Then if we have enough cash on these cards we'll rent a room for the night." Lincoln stretched a bit in his seat as he relaxed. He pondered the whole situation of recent events that had brought him to this point. If he was really in another world it was best to avoid freaking out, he'd been trained better than that after all. Basic training in the US ARMY was rough, not as bad as the MARINES but still tough overall not to mention he'd been in one of the most decorated units of the war. His instincts told him he needed to figure out more about where the hell he is otherwise he'd be up shit creek without a paddle. He really wished his old CIA buddy Donovan was here. The man may be crazy and super patriotic, but he was one of the few people Lincoln could call a friend besides Vito Scaletta, and Nicki Burke. Now he had a kid to take care of on top of his new problems, so despite his calm demeanor, Lincoln was on a short fuse right now. He knew how to run a criminal organization since his underbosses didn't kill each other, but he had no clue whatsoever on how to start one. The war veteran was shaken from his thoughts by a loud explosion that came from the same direction as he did when entered the town. He instinctively jumped from his seat on the bench and was on alert. He pulled out his rifle and saw a large group of what appeared to be bandits rushing from the dense jungle.

"Get behind cover and Stay close to me Emerald!" Lincoln shouted to his little friend who wasted no time following his orders. He began ripping into the bandit crew with his AR-15 rifle. The ones with guns noticed his counter offensive and began shooting back at the lone soldier. Lincoln took a breath and time slowed down around him. He held down the trigger of his rifle and started blowing several heads off in a row. After that moment he took cover behind a large rock since the volume of fire was way too heavy for him. He peeked from behind his cover and saw the positions of the attacking force. With this knowledge in hand, Lincoln dove out to the other side from behind the rock taking them by surprise. He emptied his magazine into another small group of bandits that failed to realize they'd picked a fight with a dangerous man. One bandit ran at Lincoln with a pair of hatchets to try and attack him. This guy hadn't accounted for Lincoln's large size and extensive muscles from his military service.

The larger man blocked the hatchet strikes with his rifle and began to beat the snot of his opponent. He then beat the clueless bandit upside his head with the rifle, breaking his neck. Lincoln pulled another grenade from his belt, threw it at the bandits and heard them scream in pain as they blew up. Seeing the bravery of the lone man with just his rifle, several locals rallied together joining in the fight to help Lincoln drive off the bandits. Another bandit came at Lincoln with a melee weapon only to get stabbed in the throat with a bayonet. Lincoln gritted his teeth when one found Emerald and started an attempt at kidnapping her. He was on top of the bastard in the span of a few seconds, beating him repeatedly with the butt of the rifle like it was club. The dead man's skull was turned into a bloody pulp of skull, face, and brain. Out of the corner of his eye, Lincoln spotted a glint and sidestepped a rifle shot. He drew his pistol, putting five rounds into the skull of the man, splattering bits of brain and skull everywhere.

He grabbed another melee attacker's arm and snapped it before stabbing him repeatedly. Lincoln charged a group with his rifle out again, running into one with his bayonet strapped to the barrel. He impaled his first target and began shooting through his corpse. After taking down another two bandits, Lincoln dropped the corpse and turned his attention to rest of them attackers who seemed to be fleeing after they'd had enough punishment. But in actuality, they were just regrouping and waiting for their leader. Lincoln had a bad feeling in his gut and reloaded after taking cover. He really wished he hadn't left some of his other guns in the trunk of his car in the woods, including an M60 Vito had given him.

It certainly didn't help that his enemies weren't using too many weapons with ammo he could scavenge. Emerald was next to him shaking slightly at what she'd seen Lincoln do to the man who grabbed her. It was at least a calming thought that her large protector had saved her life, for which she would be extremely grateful. She looked up to Lincoln, and he gave her a gaze that said he'd get them through this come hell or high water. In his mind Lincoln was trying to think of a way to survive this, he'd fought off entire groups of hit men, ruthless mobsters, sadistic psychopaths, and blood thirsty mercenaries, this situation was not much different. It was just like Vietnam all over again for him, back on the frontline and either watching people die around him or slaughtering his enemies in brutal fashion. He had a real reason to fight though, the kid next to him needed him and Lincoln was always loyal to the people who were close to him. So, he knew he had to face the odds despite his low ammo and decreased arsenal, he had to keep fighting.

Then the leader of the bandits revealed herself. Lincoln looked to see a feminine figure who seemed to stare straight at him as the bandits stepped aside while she walked past them. Lincoln felt his gut confirm that she was what gave him that bad feeling. She looked around to see all the bodies that Lincoln alone had dropped, and there were quite a few of them. She saw the man Lincoln had mercilessly beaten to death, laying on the ground with his head smashed to a bloody pulp and face indistinguishable from a squashed tomato. Lincoln slowly rose from his cover and looked her dead in the eye. It was time for a bold move, do or die.

"I've got one thing to say to you, are you gonna listen or I do I have to kill your ass?!" Lincoln roared at the woman who continued to stare at him, almost like she was sizing him up.

"Did you kill all of them?" She finally answered in a cold voice.

"I'm the one asking the questions." Lincoln replied intensely.

"Fine, talk." The woman put a hand to her sword and continued to look right at Lincoln.

"Your boy over there tried to take my young friend. That makes this shit personal, so I did what I had to. Since you're the one leading these assholes, I'm placing the responsibility on you. I don't kill women unless I have to, but if it means walking away from this alive with my girl then fine by me. If I can do that to him, imagine what I'll do to you. I will not hesitate to take as many of your cronies with me as I can. Besides that, we have no quarrel with each other. You walk away and I let this go, both of us forget we ever saw each other." Lincoln said with a fire in his eyes and finger on the trigger. Raven could see he was dangerous from how he fought her tribesmen and what he'd said. She had to respect his skills and tenacity for how many of them he'd slaughtered, and his apparent willingness to keep going until he dies.

"You're dangerous, I'll give you that." The woman said, while she was eyeing the bullet scar on his head. To her that meant two things, he was lucky enough to be a survivor and strong enough to kill whoever inflicted it upon him. There was a pregnant silence over the blood-soaked battlefield as the two dangerous individuals looked each other dead in the eyes. A wind blew over the street, dragging the morbid stench of blood and rusted iron along with it. The woman still had her hand on the hilt of her sword and Lincoln kept on pointing his gun at her. After a cough echoed from one of the bandits, Lincoln decided to retort.

"I was trained to be lethal, and I became a survivor, so yeah I'm dangerous. Now what's it going to be? Like I said, if I'm going down I'll take as many of you with me as possible. So, choose, drown me in blood now, or leave and don't waste any more bodies. It's all up to you because I won't back down!" Lincoln didn't waver in his speech and proudly stood his ground in defiance.

"What's your name? Tell me and I'm gone." The sword wielding woman asked calmly.

"My name is Lincoln Clay motherfucker." Lincoln growled as he narrowed his eyes.

"Then farewell, Lincoln. Today you have my respect, but the next time we meet, I will kill you if you stand in my way again." Raven said as she waved for her warriors to leave with what they could. She then turned away from the man but not before he had one last chance to reply.

"Same to you bitch." Lincoln said loud enough for him to be sure she could hear. Raven stopped for a moment, putting Lincoln on edge. She pulled out her sword and opened a portal, Lincoln couldn't help being surprised by that. He breathed a sigh of relief when she and her goons had disappeared like they were never there. The people who were still alive cheered at the man who'd saved them. If this was what being a hero felt like, Lincoln enjoyed it. He remembered when he fought in Tommy Marcano's Gym, the cheers were loud from when he worked the crowd but this was different. This was victory, and it felt good. He looked down at Emerald and smiled warmly. The girl was in awe, she'd heard of a tribe destroying entire villages in their raids leaving very few people alive and the rest would be eaten by the Grimm afterwards. But now here she was alive and breathing with one man who'd actually defied them and their leader. Suffice it to say, Lincoln had more than earned her loyalty.

"Come on Emerald, we're leaving this town." Lincoln said as he grabbed the minty haired girl's hand. His was like a bear paw compared to hers, and it really made her feel small.

"R-right. Uh Lincoln?" Emerald stuttered and looked to her protector. "Thanks for saving me. If you weren't here…" She said with a tear in her eye.

"Your welcome, someone's got to take care of you right? And if I don't who will? Maybe some twisted asshole who's even worse. Believe me I've known worse." Lincoln joked with a reassuring smile on his face.

"Right." Emerald said gaining her own smile back.

"Well let's hit the road. But first there's a few things I should grab from the jungle." Lincoln and Emerald started to walk away.

"What's out there besides well… them and the grimm?" Emerald pointed to the dead bodies.

"Ok what? On second thought, for now just forget I asked." Lincoln said in a relaxed tone. "I wrecked my car out there, it's far but not that far. God knows I can't leave you alone, so let's-"

"Hey mister, are you talking about this?" A mechanic pointed to a black and red pickup truck that was parked in a now open garage. The truck had a black roll cage, black bed light bar and black bumper bar. It was the same Lassiter Nightcrawler pickup Roxy had given him before she left, Lincoln hadn't seen her since that night. The truck had disappeared not too long before he left New Bordeaux, he'd had Burke and Vito's crews comb the city while Cassandra's Haitians scoured the bayou.

"How in the hell did that get here? I mean that's mine, but that's not the one I wrecked out there." Lincoln exclaimed in surprise at the sight of his ex-girlfriend's wheels being in another world.

"I found this one awhile back and another out in the jungle today." The mechanic

"Was it a shiny black sports car?" Lincoln asked hopefully.

"Yeah, I'm guessing they're both yours. I had to pull the engine out because it was out of fuel and we didn't exactly have whatever it needs to run. So, since it didn't run on dust, I did some custom work. If it's yours I'd say you can take it for saving all of us." The mechanic told Lincoln about his find and overhaul.

"Damn right they're mine. Wait, custom work? That used to belong to… someone I cared about, so what did you do with the block?" Lincoln said almost joyfully and then his tone changed to a more serios one.

"I made a few modifications so it would run on fire dust. It really hauls ass, I can promise you that! The black one though is toast, that motor that was there is done. It's not getting fixed, even if it still worked I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be able to find the weird fuel that was in the tank to run it. Not to mention the body and frame were torn up by a Grimm from what I could tell." The mechanic told Lincoln honestly.

"Did you check the trunk yet?" Lincoln asked remembering his stash in the trunk.

"No why?" The mechanic raised an eyebrow.

"Good, that means all my gear is still in there." Lincoln breathed a sigh of relief. The veteran opened the trunk of the drifter, loaded his gear into a crate, and secured it to the nightcrawler's bed. Once that was that done Lincoln received directions to a town with a port near the coast, so Lincoln could get himself and Emerald to a place called Vale and as far from that crazy bitch as possible. The two partners strapped into the seats and took off down the road with a sweet burnout.

-END CHAPTER-