Atonement: Lincoln Clay
Episode 4: My darkness goes
A/N: I suffered a bit of writer's block with this but I hope you all understand.
[Ronmr: Yep ol' Lincoln's a crminal with a heart. Since they're not violent right now he could leave an impression on them with his own experience of racisim from our world.]
[Review dude: Thank you man! I hope you like this chapter!]
[Mr. ReadMore: Thank you good sir, I suffered from writer's block with this episode though but I hope you like it.]
[Wombag1786: Alrighty then, and yeah they should have no problem changing things up.]
[buzzsaw935: yep.]
[Guest: Yes, he is very far from the beginning. but he'll get there.]
[Blackdog420: Thank you, and while I would love to have Lincoln save Mercury from darkness as well I don't know enough about him to have Lincoln do it.]
[Disabled-doctor: I'll try to keep you entertained but I admit I suffered from writer's block.]
-3 DAYS LATER-
Lincoln and his three adopted kids continued their journey across mistral together in the slightly cramped nightcrawler. In one of the villages the had stopped in, Nora nearly emptied Lincoln's wallet when they stopped to eat breakfast. She'd had pancakes stacked very high much to the former mobster's surprise. Emerald and Nora were getting just fine though, except for when it came to some daddy's girl moments. Lincoln was having trouble trying to devote his attention to both of them at the same time as one or the other would plead for a piggy big ride. Being a single dad was definitely rougher than a lot of the other objectives Lincoln had ever taken on, but at least he had help from Ren. The boy was definitely proving himself to be a stable older brother figure among the three step siblings. Ren would often act to draw Nora's hyperactive attention away from Lincoln and onto time with each other. The kids had definitely worked their way into Lincoln's heart with their antics as he couldn't help but feel happy around them. It was like there was a little spark coming from them he had felt around certain people. That kind of glimmer of hope had a chance to pull him up from that dark place left from that night when Sammy's burned down. Lincoln didn't openly acknowledge it, but these children were changing him, possibly for the better. It was night and the group had stopped to make camp outside a village.
Lincoln sat in the truck bed and looked up at the night sky to see the broken moon. He remembered hearing about a movie called the wizard of OZ that reminded him of what he was now going through. He hadn't watched it, but Donovan told him a bit about it. He wondered how the company man was dealing with the fallout from their quest to rid New Bordeaux of Sal Marcano. He had no doubt that whatever Donovan was up to, he had ways of taking care of himself. The former criminal just couldn't help but let his thoughts then drift to father James and what the man would think of him now. Now Lincoln was taking care of three homeless orphans just like they were his own. He stared at the broken moon above intensely, wondering just what might've caused such a thing to occur. The three children had fallen asleep in the truck cab huddled next to each other for warmth. Lincoln felt bad for lacking a blanket to cover them. He took off his utility jacket and draped it over the three of them, causing them to unconsciously snuggle into it. Lincoln hopped into the cab and fell asleep sitting up.
-DREAMSCAPE-
The former soldier found himself in a black void with darkness all around him. Then as if like clockwork, the same traumatic nightmare played in front of him. He sat there watching again as the same dark vision that he had described to Sal before he killed him. The madness that was the war in Vietnam, that same fox hole, unable to move or scream to warn his fellow soldiers. Then his mind wandered from that nightmare to a dark memory, the death cult known as Ensanglante. Bonnie Harless the, black hearted and sadistic leader of that horrific pit of evil. Her defiling of the place Lincoln once called home and the soul breaking torture of Anna McGill. The poor girl Anna, who'd been broken by the cult and killed herself to escape the madness lest it consume her. The dark pools of black sludge that nearly consumed him that night had her soul not saved his own, it terrified him. His fears and nightmares echoed throughout his tortured soul, reminded of those he could not save as well as the river of blood on his hands. Lincoln then found himself staring at a group of tombstones, all of them bearing the names of his foster children and himself. A loud crack of thunder boomed and shocked Lincoln from his troubled sleep.
-REAL WORLD-
*Gasp* Lincoln woke with a start to find himself staring at the steering wheel with the kids still sound asleep beside him. 'Just a dream, a crazy dream.' Lincoln thought to himself as he looked outside to see rain pouring down outside. Nora was snoring big time but it didn't seem to bother Ren and Emerald.
Emerald stirred next to him and opened her eyes slightly. "Lincoln, what's wrong?" She said sleepily.
"Nothing, just a bad dream." He said to the minty haired girl.
"You have those too?" Emerald tilted her head.
"Everybody does, even me. But it was nothing, I'm good." Lincoln patted her on the head.
"Okay." Emerald went back to sleep. After a few minutes of silence, sans Nora snoring, Lincoln started the engine again and resumed his drive towards the sea. The nightmare kept running through his mind, the graveyard where his children were laid to rest. As hard as he tried to forget it, the image wouldn't leave his mind. He turned on the tape deck and played it to hear the sounds of 'paint it black' running on the tape. He pulled into the village as the rain poured down around the nightcrawler. The former mob boss reached into his wallet and looked at the lien cards with a frown on his face. He knew that there was only so much left from his fight with thugs a few days ago but there wasn't much he could do. Nothing that didn't involve him getting on the wrong side of the wrong people anyway. Several minutes later all the kids woken up and were back to testing his patience.
He could see the place was full of street walking scum just like the poorer areas of New Bordeaux so there wasn't a shortage of thugs to hustle. The problem now was either finding a score or hustling and not getting the children involved. The sea wasn't too far now but he knew he'd cash for the trip. At that moment Nora tugged on his jacket and the brawny caretaker looked down at the little ginger girl.
"I want pancakes!" Nora demanded in her own cute sort of way. Lincoln tried ignoring her since he was still trying to think of how to get money to buy something to feed the kids with.
"You always want pancakes Nora." Ren said calmly shaking his head and being a voice of reason.
"Pancakes are the most important part of a person's diet! You can't have pancakes without a healthy bucket of syrup!" Nora said manically with a cute little pout.
"Nora don't bug Lincoln or he might make us eat gruel again. *stomach growl* Actually I'm hungry too Lincoln." Emerald tried to get her ginger friend to stop annoying the man taking care of them. At least until her own stomach growled loudly.
"I am hungry as well, Lincoln can we please get something to eat?" Ren looked up to big man with hungry eyes.
"I get that you all want to eat from a restaurant, but I'm kind of broke since you, little lady, ordered most of the entire stock of pancakes in the last restaurant we stopped in. So either quiet down and let me think, or it's more bird meat or gruel for breakfast." Lincoln retorted to their begging for food. Especially Nora's demand for more of her favorite meal of the day. The three children looked down at the ground in disappointment at their caretaker's refusal. But with that problem, came a solution in the forms of a local bounty board, and a few thugs walking into a bar. "perfect, now let's see what bounty work work they have around here." He said as he perused the board. Mistral was rife with wanted criminals to hunt down at the bidding of the kingdom's council, all open to any individual willing to take the challenge. Lincoln grabbed a poster from the board and smiled at the idea of an easy payday. Just as Lincoln was about to get moving again a stranger appeared from behind him.
"Are you Lincoln Clay?" the stranger asked as he revealed himself.
"Who wants to know?" Lincoln said as he reached for his knife.
"Answer the question." The stranger replied.
"Yes, I am." Lincoln replied suspiciously while clutching the sharp piece of metal that had seen him through many fights in Vietnam.
"Then come with me. Your children shall follow as well. I would advise against using your weapon mister Clay, I wouldn't want to disappoint my superior by taking unnecessary measures." The man in the hood warned Lincoln with a disturbingly calm demeanor. He and the children followed along quietly with them being slightly scared by the stranger. They proceeded into a secluded alley way that filled with a dark and foreboding atmosphere. Soon enough they reached the spot where the stranger wanted to speak. "now that we are in a more appropriate location, my goddess would like to have a word with you." The man said as he removed his hood to show the face of a slender man with mid length hair and gold eyes. A dark ominous portal then opened in front of Lincoln and the children, causing them to hide behind him in fear. The hardened veteran narrowed his eyes and scowled in preparation for whatever was to come next. A moment later a woman with white hair and ash pale skin stepped out from the portal. Her eyes were black and blood red, giving off a feeling of fear inducing malevolence in their crimson gaze.
"I have brought him here as you requested mistress Salem." Tyrian said as he bowed before the being of darkness.
"Good work Tyrian." The woman now known as Salem nodded to her servant.
"Thank you, my liege." The assassin said subserviently.
"Now you must be mister Clay. I have a job for you, in fact it's an offer you can't refuse." Salem spoke with a regal and eerily unnerving voice. Lincoln's frown deepened in suspicion as he reached for his pistol. "You seem to be quite capable and that interests me. Your children could benefit from this as well if you accept my offer."
"If I do refuse?" Lincoln growled at the dark witch and was reminded of the age old evil he'd eradicated in new bordeaux. The woman's very presence seemed to reek of pure evil.
"Then it would be such a waste of talent. But there are others here who could learn their place. Think of it, they'll never be hungry again, you shall receive power as your reward. All you need to do is serve me." Salem said calmly as she eyed the three children who froze with fear. Judt as Lincoln was bout tpo discharge his weapon a figure appeared on a nearby rooftop and fired a shot.
"Sorry lady, but he isn't buying whatever bullshit you're selling!" A snarky voice replied from the nearby rooftop. THere stood a man in full combat gear bearing a loaded sniper rifle in his hands. His blonde hair was well maintained in a smooth wave amd he had a cigarette in his mouth.
"You are not invited." She spat venomously at the interloper.
"Donovan?!" Lincoln shouted in surprise at the sight of his old war-buddy who'd helped him hunt down and kill Sal Marcano.
"In the flesh buddy! Now move your ass!" The jovial agent said as he fired his sniper rifle at the evil witch. She deflected the bullet with her magic and turned her gaze to Tyrian. Lincoln had already run off with the children in tow back to the nightcrawler.
"Kill the two men and bring back the children alive. Cinder will need playmates for her objective." Salem ordered to her personal assassin as she turned to the portal and made her back to the shadow world over where she ruled supreme.
"It shall be done." Tyrian said with a feverish smile. When Salem was gone, the grim followed Tyrian as he gave chase to Lincoln and his family. They ran for the safety of the car to escape the dark creatures. Just before the could reach the pickup the man known as Tyrian smiled his blood thirsty grin at Lincoln.
"It's pointless trying to fight human but go ahead and try, this will be so much fun. It's a shame I can't kill the little ones." The sadistic psychopath grinned to the hardened criminal.
"Fuck you! As long as I'm still kicking there's no way in hell you'll get within five feet you son of a bitch! Do you hear me I will rip you apart!" Lincoln roared as he drew his AR-15 rifle and emptied the magazine at his foe. Tyrian avoided the barrage of bullets with his agility and began trying to taunt the angered warfighter.
"I knew you'd say that! Oh I will enjoy ripping your tongue uo and force feeding it to you! HAHA!" The nimble scorpion faunus scoffed, dodging Lincoln's barrage and attempted to stab him with his tail. Lincoln barely avoided the poisonous limb and grabbed hold of it. Tyrian was visibly irritated by this turn of events and tried get his target off of the appendage. Lincoln yanked on it and brutally headbutted the bastard dazing him slightly. Lincoln then door kicked hios opponent and reached into his jacket revealing a frag grenade he'd saved for things like this.
"Eat this and die motherfucker!" The warfighter tossed the grenade at his assassin's feet and jumped behind cover as the explosive detonated. Tyrian was hurled through a solid brick wall by the blast. The assassin growled as he climbed out of the rubble to find himself under fire from Lincoln's AR-15. The rounds were hitting their target and causing minor damage but no penetration was occurring. Lincoln silently cursed to himself for not grabbing the M60 again like he should've, he could it was probably getting cobwebs by now. Tyrian had risent o his feet again and glared daggers at Lincoln who quickly reloaded his rifle for another bout int heir showdown. Tyrian cracked his neck and then decided to try screwing with his opponent's mind to throw him off even more.
"That grenade of yours actually hurt, but this'll hurt you even more! When I'm done I'll make sure those kids of yours have nightmares for the rest of their lives about how I disemboweled you in front of them!" Tyrian jumped at Lincoln, who ducked and threw him of with a roll. Lincoln ran at his foe and followed up with his fists dealing out a brutal series of punches and jabs. First up with a left cross, then aright jab, left haymaker even a kick in the side to accenuate the meaning of pain for the sick twisted bastard that threatened the lives of his loved 'd never let it happen again, he'd never let anyone break his family while he was still alive.
"Just shut your fucking mouth already you sick fucking asshole!" He finished up a combo with a heavy uppercut sending Tyrian flying for a few feet. The sadistic assassin recovered and rushed Lincoln with his wrist mounted blades. The Vietnam veteran felt time slow again and sidestepped Tyrian's stab. He then retaliated with the butt of his rifle, bashing tyrian in the face, causing it to briefly contort in pain. The Vietnam veteran slashed his enemy across the chest but was countered by the faster huntsman killer. The both of them crossed knife blades with neither side giving in. Lincoln doled out another headbutt, then gut punch, and kicked tyrian square in the balls like a boss. After screeching in severe pain, the now pissed off psychotic scorpion faunus jabbed Lincoln in the shoulder with one of his blades and twisted it with a smile. Lincoln grunted agonizingly in pain as Tyrian immobilized him.
"Aw does it hurt? That looks like it does. now what was that about ripping me apart?" The sadist grinned murderously. He then began to laugh at the injured Lincoln who could only writhe in agony. Nearby, the three children were sitting in the car watching their protector being defeated by the monster. Emerald scowled in anger and let go of her fear. She'd taken Lincoln's keys when he wasn't looking and jammed them into the ignition.
"What are you doing Emerald?" Ren asked curiously.
"Saving Lincoln! Ren grab the stick, Nora get on the pedals!"
"Okie dokie!" Nora said as she smacked her hands on the three pedals of the vehicle.
"Ren put the stick in gear while I steer, we're going in!" Emerald ordered to the boy in green. She then fired up the ignition and beeped the horn. Nora pressed the clutch and gas as per Emerald's orders while Ren shifted the gear stick into position. The nightcrawler's tires spun in a burnout before causing the truck to charge forward, straight at Tyrian. The assassin looked at the vehicle and dropped his target believing he'd be run over. But the children swerved the truck and came around again for another pass.
"Nice job you crazy kids." The sly agent said as he readied himself to take a shot. Donovan was on a nearby rooftop, aiming his rifle at the scorpion faunus. With a quick breath he steadied the high precision weapon and fired it, sending a bullet straight towards the man who'd harmed his friend. Tyrian's aura shattered as he felt the round go straight through, roaring in pain at the damage. Just then, the kids rammed into him and he was flung into a nearby store, destroying a large bin of vegetables and other assorted produce.
"Suck on that ya stupid dillweed!" Emerald shouted triumphantly at the downed Tyrian.
"I think we broke his legs!" Nora shouted with glee and high fived her step sister.
"Why do I have the feeling you're going to be saying that again later?" Ren said as he tilted his head.
"My cabbages!" The shopkeeper shouted in anguish. Tyrian was furious now and cleared himself of the vegetables covering him. He ran to stop Lincoln from escaping but the wounded warrior had climbed into the car with his children's help. The angry psycho roared in fury as his prey escaped to live another day. He then saw a bullhead fly over with a hook on its underside. The aircraft latched its hook onto the bed bar and the truck was pulled from the ground. Salem would be disappointed by his failure. Then the horrible pain set in and he finally realized his legs were broken, he then unceremoniously dropped to the ground and screamed in pain.
-END CHAPTER-
