Atonement: Lincoln Clay
Episode 15: Trouble on the way
A/N: You would not believe how hard this chapter was to write! Sorry it took so long but I hope ya'll enjoy it!
Chapter Posted: 2/20/20
[Blaze1992: I can respect that. Fallout New Vegas would be perfect for Lincoln, Gears of War maybe it could work, Wolfenstein I'm not sure, and Star Wars not one bit.]
[Lord Demolitions: Yes he is! And he will soon enough.]
[1jesus: Thanks so much for the reviews! I don't know anything about punch out, so sorry no can do! But I absolutely love Kengan Ashura! I've seen Seis Manos but I'm just not into it.]
[wwgaming: I do, but that's going to be difficult for Lincoln to do; Bringing back Arthur from the grave.]
[Guest 1: Sorry, I don't know anything about Vikings and I've never gotten into GOT.]
[Vumanchu: I did, sorry. Thanks, I hope you enjoy this.]
[Guest 2: Sorry, that's not going to happen.]
[Wombag1786: Thanks buddy! You're welcome for the assistance! I'm cool to help out any way I can! That's not a bad idea, in fact it's brilliant! Of course I haven't seen Resevoir Dogs, I do think I have it my family's DVDs somewhere so we'll see if I can work that in.]
[Gamelover41592: Thank you!]
-SAMMY'S BAR: VALE INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT-
"Son of a bitch." Red muttered as he stared down the loaded barrel of Lincoln's 12-gauge shotgun. The soldier snorted and grinned as he pulled the trigger of the gun, a loud crack came from the weapon with searing hot led and a wave of concussive energy rushed at the face of the target. Several chairs and a table were obliterated by Red's form as he careened through the air and slammed into a wall. A second later, Lincoln stepped out from behind the bar to face the rest of the gang and chambered another round for the shotgun. The soldier fired the gun at another White Fang member and blew him clear out of a window, which shattered the glass into several large pieces and damaged the frame of the window itself.
Two more Gangsters rushed at Clay and were met with a nasty surprise from their target as he countered their two-pronged attack. He fired the scattergun blast into the stomach of one gangster while he used recoil to bash the gun's solid wood stock into the face of the other. Bits of skull and brains flew in several directions as the front of the gangster's face caved in from the sheer amount of force in the stock bash. A sneaky gang member tried to take Lincoln from behind and the soldier elbowed him with brutal smack on the nose that spattered blood all over back of the jacket sleeve.
High pitched cries of agony came from the White Fang cell leader as he rolled around on the floor clutching his face in pain. "MY FACE! FUCK, MY EYES! IT BURNS! IT BUUURRRNS!" Red screeched his misery to everyone in the building who could hear the sound of his voice and see his face searing until it blistered. "Make it stop! GAH for the love of Oum almighty, make the burning stop!" The patrons and gangsters alike were in a mix of shock and awe at the sight of the vicious gang leader writhing around like a suffocating fish.
"Boss are you alright?!" One gangsters asked as they leaned down to try and assist their leader.
"YOU FUCKING IDIOT! MY GODS DAMNED FACE IS ON FIRE!" Red howled at his subordinate in pain driven fury. "Someone put it out with water!"
"We can't! The blisters on your face will be a hundred times worse!" Another gangster said frantically.
"That was my special mix of fire and gravity dust! Any of the rest of you assholes want a piece of this?! COME ON!" Lincoln roared at the White Fang wannabe gangsters and hauled a standard fire axe off of his back. He pointed the barrel at another gang member and blasted him clear through window. A gang member with a machete rushed at Clay, only to be blocked by the long reach of the axe that Lincoln managed to wield effectively with one hand. He then dragged in the faunus gangster and delivered a punishing headbutt to his skull. With his opponent disoriented, Lincoln dropped the axe and grabbed man a choke hold with one arm while he cocked the shotgun with his other hand.
With a quick breath to focus, the soldier cracked his neck and booted his captive forward into the rest of the gangsters. He then fired the shotgun into the group of gangsters and took cover behind one of the bar's brick support pillars. "Don't just stand there, you morons! Shoot that fucker! KILL HIM! I want that human bastard and his whole little family dead!" Red barked rabidly at his subordinates while he held a hand over the horribly scorched half of his face. On command, the surviving members Red's crew fired their guns all at once, which pelted Lincoln's position with a shower of bullets. The soldier reached into his jacked and pulled out a flashbang grenade, a smirk crossed his face as he pulled the pin and chucked it behind the pillar into the direction of his enemies. A bright flash followed 3 seconds later; the gangsters cried out in pain as they fired randomly into the bar. Many of the remaining civilians who hadn't fled minutes ago, used the chaos from the flashbang grenade to flee the building. None of them wanted to get themselves shot in the crossfire or continue to bear witness to the shedding of so much blood.
Lincoln charged towards his enemies, and made a quick grab for the axe on the floor as he did so. He cleaved apart the first man within his reach, splitting an arm from the gangster's torso which resulted in a large spray of blood from the open wound. A quick sidestep saved Lincoln from being shot by a barrage of rounds from a thug that had managed to regain his senses. He retaliated by grabbing the thug's throat and fired the shotgun at point blank range which tore a hole straight through the man's torso. Chunks of flesh sprayed over the surviving group of gangsters as Lincoln tore through them. In his rage, Lincoln tossed away the body and smacked a man's skull with the butt of the shotgun's stock. The soldier twisted his victim's neck and whipped out the Colt .45, killing several more of Red's men in quick succession with extremely precise headshots.
"No one tries to take my turf! Tonight, I'm skinning you alive!" Red snorted and got to his feet in a furious haze of bloodlust, he was determined to put Lincoln down for scorching his face and nearly snapping his neck with the concussive blast from the dust infused shotgun shells. Conveniently for the gangster, he spotted an abandoned sub machine gun on one of his dead cronies and immediately grabbed for the weapon. Red then fired a barrage of rounds at Lincoln, and the soldier took two bullets straight through the shoulder as he hastily dove to the side in order to stay among the living.
"Shit!" The soldier cursed in pain as blood ran down his shoulder from the two bullet wounds. Bullets whizzed through the air as Red rushed at Lincoln, his finger pressing the trigger for several seconds until the gun's magazine went click. The faunus gangster pounced on Clay and the two of them began to brawl with each other in hand to hand combat. Lincoln and Red rolled across the floor, over broken shards of jagged glass, gory chunks of bloody faunus meat, and dozens of sharp splinters from the ruined furniture.
"Just fucking die already, you human wretch!" Red howled at Lincoln as he tried to choke the soldier with his bare hands. "I going to rip your head off and dump it at the feet of those little human whelps you live with!"
"Fuck you, asshole! If anyone else dies here, it's going to be you!" Lincoln struggled to force back the enraged gang leader and jabbed his thumbs into Red's eyes. Pain surged through the White Fang Gangster's head as his already wounded eyes took even more damage. That pain gave Lincoln just enough leverage to get the two of them rolling across the floor again, this time with the soldier being the one on top. He slammed the Faunus thug's face onto the ground several times, but Red continued to buck and shake desperately to get Lincoln off of his back. With a burst of pain fueled rage, Red shoved his opponent away and smacked his elbow into the side of Lincoln's head.
Lincoln landed flat on his back with a loud thud, and banged his head against one of the bar's booth seats. He shook his head and tried to get his bearings before Red could try anything else on him, though the enraged gang leader was determined not to let him do so. He tried to grab a hold of Lincoln again but the soldier stuck his legs up and kicked the gang leader in his chest mid-pounce. He sent Red flying back into a table, smashing the piece of furniture into bits of broken wood.
This setback did not deter the gang leader though, in fact it only made him even more furious. Red stood back up, snapped a leg off of the table and rushed at Lincoln yet again in an attempt to try beating him to death. The soldier instinctively got to his feet and grabbed onto the makeshift club, battling for control of it against Red. In a moment of tactical brilliance, Lincoln intentionally let go of the stick and watched Red stumble back, which provided the veteran war-fighter with ample opportunity to trip his enemy. The gang leader flopped down onto his back, leaving him wide open for an assault from the enraged bar owner. Lincoln pounced on Red and began to wail on him a series of punches to his already damaged face. "You…. *SMACK* Aren't…. *CRUNCH* EVER *SQUISH* laying a god damn hand *THWACK* on those kids!" Bone gnashing force rained down onto Red as Lincoln pounded his face into the floor of the bar.
Red frantically reached around for anything to smack the soldier away from him, desperate for any chance to live. Constant cries of agony came from the two-bit gangster as Lincoln brutally reshaped the man's face with his own bare hands. For a brief second Lincoln stopped to breathe, and held down Red's throat with one hand while he brought up the other and looked at the blood splattered all over it. "You came into my home, and threatened everyone in the building, including my family. I should nail your coffin shut right here, right now." The Vietnam veteran whispered in a terrifyingly calm voice.
"Lincoln?" A small voice said from the stairs. The soldier turned his head towards the sound and spotted the three children clustered together in the doorway that led upstairs. Nora was holding a teddy bear in her right arm while Ren and Emerald hugged her tightly. A chord was struck within the soldier as he stared at the three youngsters he'd taken under his care; their frightened expressions sent a very clear message to him. He glanced at a smashed piece of glass from one of the windows and examined the man in the reflection. Lincoln's free hand shook slightly as took in the sight of what he had become. He inhaled a breath of fresh air to steady himself, and then looked down at the life he held in his hands.
Lincoln narrowed his eyes and rammed his free fist into the thoroughly beaten man's gut, forcing Red to cough up some blood and vomit. "They just saved your worthless life. Get your ass the fuck out of my house, and never come back. God as my witness, I will floss my teeth with your spine the next time I see you." He told the two-bit White Fang gangster.
"You won't. *Cough* You'll never see me again." Red rasped out as he struggled to stay conscious in spite of being beaten to within an inch of his life.
"How far are you going?" Lincoln asked the man in a cold tone as he pressed down on the man's neck with even more crushing force.
"Anima." Red replied quietly.
"I didn't hear you." Lincoln said coldly and forced his arm down like a heavy piston. The gangster gagged and gasped for air, even going as far to slap his hands against Lincoln's arm repeatedly. A few seconds passed as Lincoln nearly squeezed the life out of his prey, waiting until the faunus gangster's face began to turn blue from the lack of oxygen. Just before Red could pass out, Lincoln eased up on the throat crushing and allowed the man a moment to catch his breath. "Now say it again, louder this time so that you and I both know it."
"ANIMA!" Red wheezed desperately.
"That works." Lincoln said as he picked the man up by his throat. The small giant walked towards the front door while carried the scumbag through the dining room and over the dead bodies with one outstretched hand. With a mighty heave from Lincoln's anvil of an arm, he tossed the gangster out of the door and onto the cold pavement of the street. The soldier went a step further beyond the front door and ceremoniously cracked his knuckles. "Now get running before I change my mind, motherfucker! Never come back!" He roared at Red loud enough for anyone still nearby to hear.
The defeated gangster hobbled away as the police closed in the location and sirens from their cars wailed in the distance. Lincoln watched as the gangster disappeared into the cold night, paying close attention to the small trail of blood that followed his mortal enemy. Clouds rolled in overhead and the rain began to pour down on the neighborhood, washing away the blood of the corpses into the nearby sewer drains on the street. The soldier sighed as the air took on a frigid chill and relaxed his shoulders as he calmed down from the adrenaline high. He turned back to the children and met their gaze with his own. Lincoln stoically walked back through carnage he'd caused, over the corpses he'd made and the blood he'd spilled. As he did so, he collected the all of the weapons he'd dropped on the floor, stowed them on his back and in his holster. Lincoln turned to look at the glass again and kneeled down over his reflection, the image of the man in front him not shocking him in the slightest. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a rag to wipe the blood from his face and hands, the rag turned a dark crimson as a result. When his face was clean, the soldier stood back up and walked over to the children.
When he reached the stairs Nora and Ren turned their heads away, shivering as he stood in front of them. Lincoln said nothing, the words couldn't leave his mouth as he stared down at the trio of children. Emerald took a deep breath and looked her stepfather in the eyes, her red orbs piercing straight into his own brown ones. She then shut her eyes and ran straight to Lincoln as though her life depended on it. The minty haired child began to squeeze his leg with a heartfelt embrace, a fountain of tears ran down her cheeks. A moment later Ren and Nora did the same, embracing their protector with all the strength in their little bodies. A smile graced Lincoln's face and nearly brought a tear to his eye as he began to stroke the heads of the children. He turned his gaze up to see Donovan giving a nod down to their level, a smile on the sober enough ex-spy's face. That night had changed something in the home of the Clay family, and it was only the beginning.
-END CHAPTER-
