Rated M for brutal violence
Disclaimer, I don't own anything in Red Dead Redemption.
Arthur was dreading following Dutch's orders. Micah being in jail was his own fault. Ever since Blackwater, things have gone south for the gang. Now he was about to be hanged for murder. Though Arthur didn't care about the lives of O'Driscolls, he knew that the gang needed to lay low for the time being. Dutch and Micah going after O'Driscolls wasn't helping them. Arriving at Strawberry, Arthur walks up to the jail house.
"Let me out of here, you maggots!" He hears a voice call out. Hearing it come from around the side, Arthur walks over to see Micah holding onto the iron bars of the window.
"Hello, old friend. Had a good time, did ya?" Arthur asks sarcastically.
"Arthur? You gonna get me outta here?" Micah desperately asks.
"Ain't decided that yet." Arthur replies.
"Come on now, Arthur. This ain't funny." Micah snaps.
"I don't think so, either. Given the bluster I heard come out of your mouth these past six months, I finally see a golden opportunity to shut you up." Arthur says.
""Well it doesn't matter what you want. You gotta do something." Micah states.
"Why should I do something?" Arthur asks.
"Dutch. I know damn well the only reason you moseyed out this way is because told you to do so. He needs me in the gang, just as much as he needs you, cowpoke." Micah says, and he was right. The only reason Arthur was even in Strawberry was because Dutch told him to be here. Though he didn't like it, he needed something to calm Dutch down.
"Very well. But how do the two of us escape a town that wants to see you swing?" Arthur asks.
"I have a plan, Arthur." Micah claims.
"At least some of Dutch is rubbing off on you." Arthur quips.
He then notices a hook and line mechanism and walks over to it.
"Good, see if that works." Micah says.
"What a modern disaster this is gonna be." Arthur says as he hooks the line up to the bars.
"Just pull that lever." Micah snaps back.
Pulling the lever, the bars managed to break and create a hole in the side of the jailhouse. As Micah climbed out of his jail cell, his cellmate climbed out. Micah pulled the man out only to shoot him in the knees. Putting the man's head on the stone, he stomped on the back of his head, crushing his entire skull.
"What was that?!" Arthur asks in shock as Micah curb stomps the seemingly innocent man.
"He was an O'Driscoll." Micah reasons.
As the sheriffs rush out of the office upstairs, Micah and Arthur proceed to fire at them. Arthur begins to think breaking Micah out was a bad idea. Arthur rushes to the bridge out of town to his right. He notices Micah isn't following him.
"Don't go that way! We gotta get the hell outta here!" Arthur shouts.
"I got some unfinished business to settle!" Micah shouts.
"Ah shit." Arthur heads back to Micah as he continues to slaughter the people in the town.
"We're in it now, Morgan. I'll kill this whole two of I have to!" Micah shouts as he makes his way through town.
"You've finally lost his damn mind, you goddamn lunatic." Arthur thinks to himself.
As Micah makes his way through town, slaughtering people and law enforcement alike, Arthur becomes increasingly disturbed and regretful. He should've just left Micah to hang. The last thing he needed to deal with right now was another massacre, especially since Blackwater was still fresh in everyone's minds.
"I've had enough of this." Arthur says. He then reloads his Cattleman with high velocity rounds.
"Hey, Skinny!" Micah shouts as he rushes up to a house and pulls out a knife. Before he can stab the man, he suddenly collapses as his knee gets blown apart.
"Ah! Morgan!" Micah shouts as he turns around to see Arthur pointing his gun at him.
"That's enough out of you." Arthur says.
"Always figured you'd be the one to betray me." Micah chuckles. Reaching to pick up a gun, several of his fingers are suddenly blown off. Then Arthur shoots him in the throat and he begins bleeding out.
Walking up to Skinny, Arthur looks down at Micah and shoots him directly in his right eye.
"It's about damn time." Arthur says as he looks at Micah's now lifeless body.
"Who are you?" Skinny asks, thankful that Arthur saved his life.
"That's not important. But I wanna know what he wanted from you." Arthur says.
"Maddy, get the guns!" Skinny calls. Soon a woman runs outside and gives Skinny the guns. Skinny then hands him the guns.
"They were his." Skinny says.
Arthur sighs before whistling for his horse. As his horse approaches, Arthur picks up Micah's body and loads it on the back.
"Best you not tell anyone about this." Arthur says as Skinny and Maddy nod in agreement.
Making his way out of town, he kills a few more sheriffs riding in before he stops at a cliff on Diablo Ridge. He takes a moment to breathe and comprehend what had just happened.
"All of that? Over these?" Arthur says, staring at Micah's revolvers. "Vengeance is hereby mine." He reads on the grip.
Placing the bed roll over Micah's body, he makes his way back to Horseshoe Overlook.
Several hours later, and certain that he wasn't followed, Arthur spots Javier at the camp entrance.
"Who goes… oh it's you, Arthur." Javier says upon recognizing Arthur. "How did everything go in Strawberry?" He asks.
"Why don't you take a look." Arthur lifts up the bedroll to show him Micah's corpse. At this point, flies are surrounding the bullet wounds.
"Oh man, Dutch isn't gonna like this." Javier says, unsure of how to feel. "What happened?"
"Well it wasn't exactly quiet. After I got him out of that cell, he done shot up half the town." Arthur explains, much to Javier's dismay.
"Who got him?" Javier asks.
"Bunch of lawmen surrounded him when he was in the town center." Arthur lies.
"Let's take him to Dutch." Javier says.
The two enter the camp and are greeted by Dutch and Hosea.
"Ah, Arthur. How did everything go in Strawberry?" Dutch asks, expecting good news.
"Things went south, Dutch. And they went south quick." Arthur answers.
"Where's Micah, Arthur?" Hosea asks.
Arthur points to the horse and Javier pulls Micah's rotting body off the horse, much to Dutch's shock.
"What happened to him?" Hosea asks.
"After I busted him out that cell, he went crazy and started shootin' up the town." Arthur explains. "Lawmen got him eventually." He lies.
"Mr. Pearson! Ms. Grimshaw!" Dutch calls.
Simon and Susan rush over to see what is going on.
"Take Micah's body and bury it." Dutch orders and the two carry him off.
"We was better off just lettin' him swing, Dutch." Arthur says, much to Dutch's agitation.
"How can you say that, Arthur?" Dutch asks.
"He was gonna die anyway, and we wouldn't have had to worry about another town full of bodies." Arthur explains.
"Son, in a few months, none of this is gonna matter. We'll be outta here, and those bodies in Strawberry… and in Blackwater won't be a problem for us." Dutch says.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You just keep thinking of your plans, Dutch." Arthur says as Dutch walks off to gather his thoughts.
"Arthur, you did the right thing." Hosea says once he is sure that Dutch is out of ear shot.
"Well I knew I couldn't just leave…"
"Not what I mean." Hosea interrupts. Arthur then gathers that Hosea deep down knows the truth.
"You think Dutch knows?" Arthur asks.
"I don't think so. And like Dutch said, it won't matter in a few months." Hosea says.
"Thank you." Arthur sighs in relief.
A few days later
The only member of the gang to truly mourn over Micah was Dutch. Everyone else didn't say anything to either Dutch or Arthur about it. They also kept the information about what happened away from Jack, as the young boy didn't need to know. Everyone just went about their business as usual.
Arthur was writing in his journal, when John walked up to him.
"Arthur." John calls.
"What is it?" Arthur asks.
"Just wanted to say that I think it was smart what you did." John says. Arthur gathers that John knows as well.
"Who told you?" Arthur asks.
"Hosea." John answers.
"Should have just left him to hang. We couldn't lie low for two weeks with him starting something new." Arthur says.
"I don't know what Dutch ever saw in him. We should've shot him after Blackwater." John says.
"Shot up a town, all because of these." Arthur hands Micah's revolver over to John.
"Vengeance is hereby mine." John reads.
He then looks out to Dutch at his tent, reading a book and smoking a cigar.
"What do you think his plan is?" John asks.
"I don't know. But whatever it is, it needs to happen fast. We can't hang around here much longer after the train and that massacre." Arthur says. He then gets up to leave.
"Where ya going?" John asks.
"Got some business to attend to." Arthur says as he mounts his horse and exits the camp.
The End
I hope you all enjoyed this alternate version of what happened. It's always fun to write stories where Arthur kills Micah. If you have any requests for other similar stories, feel free to PM me.