Chapter 16: Outlaw Hunt: The Ashe Gang
-Key West, Florida Keys-
On the streets of Key West, a figure dressed in a sleeveless white hoodie with a beaked hood and red interior made their way through several crowds leading to what looked to be a resort community of some sort, the symbol of Abstergo being prominent on the sign.
As the figure slipped away from the crowd, they then slipped towards the door where two guards were—before two arms stuck out and shanked them with double hidden blades and dumped them in a dumpster.
As soon as the person was in, they finally removed their hood—revealing it to be Joshua.
"Okay, I'm in." He said, radioing in to his team as he went into the building.
"Atta boy, Josh." Calvin replied as he shanked a guy on a rooftop, his hoodie being a black and red one. "Hey babe, you got the location yet?" He asked.
"Yeah. They're on the top floor penthouse." Sarah replied as she hacked the surveillance system to keep the boys hidden.
"On my way. Calvin, meet me there." Joshua said as he got in the elevator and hit the button for the top floor.
"Way ahead of you." The bespectacled man nodded. "Operation Eurydice is a go." He grinned, right before everyone groaned in unison. "What?!" He questioned.
"Eurydice? Really?" Ororo questioned.
"Yeah! This place is where Project Orpheus is, right? And this is a rescue mission. And who does Orpheus try to rescue?" The brunette defended.
"Let's just get on with it." Joshua sighed as his elevator reached the top floor. "I'm on the top floor. Where's the penthouse?" He asked as he looked in both directions of the hallway he was in.
"Should be on your right." Sarah replied.
"Calvin, you have the glove?" Ororo questioned.
"If you mean the gauntlet I designed to give a person a localized dose of the bleeding effect that has the potential to render someone completely catatonic—then yes. I got it." The lancer of the group replied.
"I question how that thing works…" The second tallest in the group muttered as he reached the penthouse door right as Calvin appeared. "Ready?" He asked.
"You know it." Calvin nodded in reply. Then Joshua rapped on the door to 'shave and a haircut, two bits.' "You absolute degenerate." He chortled, getting a chuckle in return.
Seconds later, the woman they knew to be the female clone of Desmond opened the door.
"Yes?" She asked.
"Desa Miles?" Joshua asked as Calvin raised his hand, which had a sort of gauntlet that looked like it was made from various materials and Animus components.
"Hold still." The brunette said as he grabbed the woman by the face and his gauntlet started to glow red.
He kept his hand where it was for a minute or so until Desa went limp, her face having an Ahaegao expression on it as she fell to the ground in a moaning heap.
"… Remind me never to let you touch me with that thing." Joshua uttered.
"Relax, I just told her the truth—without actually telling her anything." Calvin stated as he walked inside the penthouse.
"Desa? What's–" Luca, Lucy's male clone, started to call as he rounded the corner and walked right into Calvin's glove, which he used on him too.
"Okay, we got 'em. Now what?" Joshua asked as he picked up Desa.
"Now we toss them in these." Calvin replied as he tossed down two body bags.
"Really? That's how we're getting them out?" The taller bespectacled man asked flatly before shaking his head. "Whatever. Weirder shit has happened." He sighed as he put Desa in one of the bags.
"Let's go." The bespectacled man nodded as he went to a window where a pickup truck drove under it, and Mael leaned out the window and waved them over.
The two carried the occupied bodybags down the emergency escape ladder after fastening them to their backs, the trip down being just as uneventful as when they got into the building. Then they put their passengers in the trunk (properly secured) and got in their seats.
"Alright, let's blow this joint." Joshua told the taller man.
"Way ahead of you." Mael nodded as he started driving.
"Mission accomplished." Calvin grinned.
(Timeskip)
-American Brotherhood Sanctuary-
"So, should we wake them up?" Calvin questioned as he sat down at his desk while Desa and Luca were still unconscious.
"Well they're here now, so we gotta do that at some point." Sarah shrugged.
"Just be gentle." Joshua warned.
"Alright." The brunette nodded as he walked over to the two—and slapped them awake. "Wake those asses up, guys!" He grinned.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!" The clone couple yelped in surprise as they jolted awake.
"Bruh…" Joshua deadpanned with a facepalm.
"For fuck's sake…" Ororo groaned.
"Should've seen that coming…" Sarah sighed.
"Classic Calvin…" Mael commented flatly.
"Who are you?!" Luca snapped.
"I'm Joshua Landers, and the loon that slapped you two awake is your wife's cousin, Calvin Praetorian." The gunslinger's descendant replied, jutting a thumb at his partner in crime.
"Up yours, Landers!" The brunette snapped.
"Wait, Des—Ah!" Desa began before clutching her head as she got another rush of Bleeding Effect that started to mess with her tampered memories.
Luca had the same experience as he clutched his own head. Both of them started having the tampering of their memories undone, and the truth showed itself to them. They were clones of two dead people.
"Ugh… Worst way to find out the truth, ever… Of all time…" Desa groaned as her head throbbed.
"Sorry about that, but we kinda needed to make sure any tracking devices Abstergo put in your heads were shorted out." Mael explained.
"I.. guess that's… fine…" Luca groaned as he nursed his head as Luna, who was watching them, came over and licked his face along with Desa's, causing them to smile a bit.
"Good dog." The female clone said gently.
"Wolf, actually. Don't worry, she's docile." Joshua corrected.
Luna, meanwhile, nudged Desa's belly.
"That's odd…" Ororo hummed.
"What?" Desa questioned as she petted the wolf.
"Luna's only done that when I was pregnant with Laura." She mused
"Wait, then that means…!" Luca gasped as his face lit up.
"THE SEED HAS BEEN PLANTED!" Calvin yelled comically, causing the others to burst out laughing.
"What the fuck?!" Joshua howled as everyone rolled around.
(Later)
"Well, time to get back to work." Joshua sighed as he got ready to enter the animus.
"So, who's your big ancestor?" Luca questioned as he sat next to Desa on a foldable chair.
"Watch, and you'll find out." The gunslinger's descendant replied as he got ready. "You'll be showing us yours soon enough…" He sighed.
Animus Active
Retrieving relevant memory data…
Synchronization in progress…
-Pallimon, Wyoming, 1860-
"So what roles do you think we should start filling today?" Shin asked Cereza and Jaren as they straightened up the Bureau.
"I'm thinking that we should try finding a taverner, innkeeper, doctor, carpenter, and a miner first." Jaren replied. "Then find a farmer who can help us get us some produce." He added.
"Quite a lot to do, isn't it?" Cereza mused. "Of course, we'll help find them. Getting them is all of you, dear." She added, pecking Shin on the lips.
"You feeling any better?" The gunslinger asked his wife to be, as the woman had been having stomach trouble for the past couple days.
"A bit, but it's persisting." The amazon replied, holding her stomach.
"Hopefully you'll feel better." The boy sighed as he got up.
The boy then went outside so that he could go to the nearest town for some more supplies with the wagon.
As he did, however, he soon noticed someone approaching him.
"Excuse me, sir!" A man called as he approached the wagon.
He was an older looking gentleman dressed in a simple suit, had hippocratic reef patterned balding and had a physician's bag in his left arm.
"Is there something I can help you with, sir?" Shin questioned as he turned to face him fully.
"Yes, actually." The man replied, before his eyes widened. "… Shin? Is that you?" He questioned.
"… Dr. Hannibal?!" The assassin exclaimed in shock as he hopped off the wagon.
Then the good doctor laughed happily as he pulled Shin into a hug, which he returned.
"I haven't seen you in years, son! Look at you, you look amazing!" The man exclaimed happily.
"I haven't seen you since the sack on Pallimon! Where've you been?" The gunslinger questioned.
"Bouncing around in different towns, trying to find work." The doctor explained, hopping into the wagon. "It was a shame what happened to the town, to your parents. I'm so sorry you had to witness that." He sighed as Shin got moving again.
"Yeah, but I made the bastards behind that pay. I'm just glad they didn't get you." The gunslinger sighed in reply.
"I should hope so. I helped bring you into this world, I'll be damned if I'll let you go through life without my say so!" Dexter nodded.
Shin laughed at that one.
"Yeah." The boy nodded. "Well, since we last saw each other, I've joined the American Assassin Brotherhood, and I've started rebuilding Pallimon and starting an Assassin Bureau there." He added.
"Got room for a physician? I'm dry on work these days." Dexter asked, wondering if he had a window to get a clinic set up.
"I wouldn't want anyone else." The boy nodded as they entered the nearest town, a town called Valentine.
"What other work are you looking for?" The doctor asked.
"Well, with you as the doctor, that means we still need a taverner, innkeeper, carpenter, miner, a farmer and a pastor." Shin explained.
"Hm… I think I know a few people who could fill some of those roles." The doctor hummed thoughtfully.
"Which ones?" The gunslinger questioned.
"I can point you at people for the taverner, miner and farmer roles." Dexter replied. "I had people in those specialties as patients more than once, and got their names in case I saw them again." He added. "There's also Pallimon's old pastor. But I don't know where he is." He nodded.
"Yeah…" Shin sighed as he signed a slip for the packages that he had put in the wagon. "Well, I may already have a new patient for you." He explained as they started heading back to Pallimon.
"Oh? Who?" The man asked.
"My wife-to-be, Cereza Basilisk." Shin replied, much to the man's shock.
"You've gotten yourself a fiancé? My god, you've grown up so quickly." The doctor gasped before chuckling. "Funny, I too had myself a wife to be at your age." He chuckled.
"What happened?" Shin asked as they reached Buffalo Pass.
"She went from being my wife-to-be, to being my wife of sixty years." Dexter replied before he made a sign of the cross. "Lord rest her soul." He added.
"I'm sure she's happy watching you help so many people." Shin said in a comforting tone. "I know I am, and my parents were, too." He added.
They soon reached Pallimon and Dexter couldn't help but smile as he saw all of the novice Assassins working on the town with the help of the Bunyan brothers—they were even finishing up their work on a Doctor's office!
"Looks like we came back at the perfect time." The gunslinger chuckled as he looked at the nearly done office.
"Indeed." The doctor nodded as they left the wagon. "So, where's this fiancé of yours?" He asked, bag in hand.
"At my house. I think you know the way there; it hasn't changed over the years." Shin replied, pointing in the direction of his home.
"Good. I'll head there now. Take care of whatever you need to do and meet me there when you're ready." Dexter told him as he started his trek to the Malphur home.
Shin stretched a bit as he made his way back to the Bureau building, where he saw Jaren looking at their map that marked where their remaining Outlaws were last seen.
"Hm…" He hummed before noticing his student standing at the door. "Oh, hey, Shin. Just keeping track of the Outlaws." The man told him.
"Who's next on the list?" The gunslinger questioned.
"The Ashe Gang, a group of right nasty folks with a disturbing set of interests." The Marshal replied, handing him the file for his next target(s).
"That being…?" Shin questioned as he looked at the four… make that five members wanted posters.
"An obsession with fire, gelding people and treating people like wild game." Jaren replied with a disgusted look on his face.
"… gelding people?" The boy questioned, eyes blinking.
"Yeah, it's horrific." The older Assassin told him in reply. "Taking these freaks out would be a service to everyone, really." He added.
"Alright. Where're they at?" Shin asked.
"Town in the Midwest, called Blackwater, California." Jaren explained.
"That's a long trip." Shin whistled as he looked at the map of the country.
"Can't be as long as our trip across Canada." The man shrugged. "Come on." He nodded as he walked outside to the stables, where Shin saw another horse at the hitching spot.
It was a raven black shire horse that had a white stripe going down his nose, as well as a gray-black tail, and a similarly colored Mohawk styled mane.
"Who's this fine stallion?" Shin asked, noting that the horse was an amazingly beautiful non gelded horse.
"This, my deputy, is Demon." Jaren replied as he patted the horse's side. "I got him off a sheep wrestler that I pinched a couple weeks back. He tried to pull iron on me and I… well." He added.
"I get it." The young man nodded. "It's actually nice, seeing this beauty out and about." He added.
"It's good that you said that." The marshal smiled as he handed the boy Demon's reins. "Because he's yours." He continued with a warm smile. "Happy birthday, Shin." He added.
This left Shin stunned beyond words. He almost forgot that today was his birthday, and he got a magnificent horse as a present.
"Damn, what I'd give to find one of those horses myself…" Desa whistled in appreciation.
"Yeah…" Joshua nodded.
Shin was quick to hug his adoptive father as tightly as he possibly could, tears falling down his face.
"Dad… Thank you." He muttered, his voice shaky.
"No problem, son." Jaren replied warmly as he rubbed his surrogate son's back.
The two slowly separated and Shin swapped his saddle from Aztec to Demon.
"Take a rest, buddy. You've been riding me around enough times for now." The boy smiled as he gave his first horse a sugar cube as he was let into the corral.
Aztec let out a whinny of relief and happiness as he started running around to his heart's content, joining the other horses.
"Alright Demon, let's try and get along, sound good?" The Assassin smiled as he fed the shire horse a carrot as a greeting.
Demon accepted it and nudged him gently, getting a smile from the young gunslinger.
"Yeah. I think we'll get along fine." Shin smiled as he and Jaren mounted their horses and left.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, back at the Malphur house…
"Miss Basilisk?" Dr. Dexter Hannibal MD questioned as he stood on the front porch of the house where he delivered Shin into the world.
"Who wants to know?" Cereza questioned in response, her hand behind the doorframe, hidden blade ready.
"Dr. Dexter Hannibal MD, I used to be the doctor here, before the sack." The man explained. "Shin sent me to check on you." He continued.
"Oh, well, come in, then." The tall woman nodded as he beckoned for him to enter the house.
"Now, Shin mentioned you've been having stomach troubles?" The doctor questioned.
"Yes, and they've persisted for a short while now." Cereza nodded in reply.
"Alright. When did they start?" He questioned as Cereza poured him some coffee.
"It was about a couple months or so after I convinced Shin to… Enjoy a night with myself and another female friend of mine." The woman explained, blushing.
Despite her more forward personality, Cereza didn't want the doctor to make any kind of assumptions about her.
"A one time thing, I assume?" Dexter surmised.
"Yes. It was mostly a spur of the moment thing, it's not really my thing." She nodded.
"I see." The physician nodded.
"I'm just wondering what's going on with me right now. Care to shed some light on the matter?" The tall woman asked.
"Well, I don't want to make assumptions, but could you tell me any other noticeable symptoms?" He questioned.
"Well, I have been throwing up in the morning at times, and I've been having a light craving for and aversions towards certain foods." Cereza listed. "Bloated feelings, and various other things." She continued. "And I've noticed that my chest has started to slowly get ever so slightly bigger." She added.
Dexter took all this in, and due to helping many women in Cereza's position, he knew what it was.
"You're pregnant." He said simply.
"… Pardon?" The assassin dominatrix questioned with a blink.
"All of the things you've listed are associated with pregnancy, and based on the amount of time that's passed since your 'moment' with Shin, you're a month or two along." The man explained.
Cereza just gaped at the man, still processing she'd just heard, before she sat back in her chair, shocked.
"I… I… I…" She uttered, her mind partly shut down. "I'm… I'm going to be a mother…?" She finally gasped.
"It certainly looks that way." The doctor nodded. "I'll be keeping an eye on you over the course of it, to ensure yours and the baby's health is good." He added.
"Y-Yes. Of course. Thank you Dr. Hannibal." The woman nodded.
"Dexter, my dear." The physician corrected. "Please, no need to be so formal. Anyone who's friends with Shin and Jaren are friends of mine." He smiled.
"Then thank you, Dexter." Cereza smiled back.
As the doctor left, another person walked past him into the house, it was Morgana.
"Morgana?" The Assassin uttered in surprise.
"Cereza, thank goodness." The Templar woman sighed in relief. "Thank goodness you're here I—I need your help." She explained.
"What's wrong, darling?" The taller woman asked as she ushered her friend to the couch.
"I just went to the doctor a few days ago in DC, Boris already knows, but I thought that you should know as well." The brunette told her before she took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant." She told her.
"Same here. I just found out mere moments ago." Cereza told her.
"... We got carried away with Shin, didn't we?" The Templar woman sighed.
"We did." Cereza agreed with her own sigh. "I'm sorry, I should have never gotten you into this." She sighed.
"Spur of the moment thing, Cereza. You couldn't have predicted this." The brunette sighed.
"Well, at least Shin wasn't angry afterwards. That counts for something." The taller woman mused. "Speaking of, don't tell him. We don't need this getting back to anyone." She added.
"And what do we do when our children are born?" Cereza questioned.
"Then I'll leave my child with you and Shin should something ever happen to me. It's his child, he deserves that much." The woman replied.
"They got carried away, alright." Calvin remarked.
"Looks like this kind of thing isn't a modern situation." Sarah nodded.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, Jaren and Shin were currently on their way to Blackwater to look for the Ashe gang, Shin thumbing through the posters to see the names of the gang members.
"Colm O'Devon, Leviticus Pitcan, Buch McCree, Bob Sourel, and their Leader, Ashe Hardy. Quite the colorful bunch." The gunslinger mused.
"And a violent one. It was actually another Marshal that caught them back in the day, but that's a nasty topic to talk about." Jaren told him with a small shiver.
"What happened?" The gunslinger asked.
"Ended in a bridge being destroyed, a train nearly careening off said blown bridge, and a town wide shootout with a body count in the twenties." The marshal explained.
"... Wow." Was all Shin could say with a blink.
"What Shin said." Joshua commented in agreement with his ancestor.
"Needless to say, it was either life in prison or hanging and they were able to choose the Latter—and I can tell you that the judge should have gone with the latter." Jaren nodded.
"Given the list of crimes they committed, I gotta agree with that." The young man nodded in agreement.
"That said, how do you wanna do this?" His mentor asked.
"I think what we should do is canvas Blackwater and see where they are, pass ourselves off as guys with information for a good score, and then use that opportunity to get them all in one place…" Shin replied before deploying a hidden blade. "And cut them down all at once." He added.
"I like it. Two for each of us, and then we take out the last one standing together." Jaren nodded in approval.
"Yeah." Shin replied.
Outlaw Hunt - Ashe Gang
Memory: Ashes to Ashes
Synchronize?
[Yes]
-Blackwater, California, 1860-
Upon arriving at their destination, the sun was setting as the two Assassins took note of some Ashe thugs walking around, either chatting or shaking people down.
The town of Blackwater was a pretty well built town that reminded the two of DC or New York, but on a much more compact scale, and was surrounded by bridges and docks to the rivers that flanked it at all sides.
"We need to get these guys out of here." Shin stated.
"Agreed. Let's start having a look around and see what we can learn from the locals." Jaren nodded.
"Not before getting the lay of the land." The young man amended as he looked at a synch point atop a church.
"Right." The man nodded.
Shin hitched Demon on a stand and made his way towards the church, parkouring his way up to the top before synchronizing, and soon came across two yellow highlighted figures as he activated his eagle vision.
"There you are." He said as he whistled and Liberty flew to him. "Alright, girl, I need you to do me a favor and keep an eye on those guys while I follow them. Think you can do that?" He asked his beloved pet.
Liberty chirped and nuzzled her dad in reply.
"That's my girl." The boy smiled as he gave her a kiss on her beak as he flew away. He then performed a leap of faith into a hay wagon right as the men walked past, hopping out and pulling his hat down to avoid any thugs seeing his face.
As he tailed his targets, he soon found himself at a warehouse that was decently guarded. This made him wonder if he'd been led to the gang's hideout.
Moving through the crowd, he saw a gap in the fence that a guard was leaning against, so he walked over to the man rather casually.
"Howdy sir." The boy smiled disarmingly.
"Need somethin'? The guard asked with a grunt.
"Yes, actually could you…?" Shin nodded, right before he shanked the man in the throat, causing him to fall dead. "Thank you." He hummed as he slipped through the fence and walked past some more guards, tipping his hat to them before throwing two throwing knives at them in a move he saw diagrammed by Nicholo Machiavelli's book on Renaissance era assassins.
There wasn't much after that, but he did find his targets interrogating someone that was tied to a tree. Upon closer inspection, Shin saw that it was an initiate Assassin!
'Shit, gotta help our boy out before he spills the beans on us!' He cursed, quickly taking stock of what to do to save the poor kid. "I don't want this kid to die because he broke one of the tenants…" He cursed.
"You got some speaking of your own to do, about that 'group' of yours." One of his targets, Buch McCree, said as he approached the boy.
Buch was a fairly stout man with a thick beard and was dressed in rather simple clothes common among outlaws, with a hat that wasn't too different from Shin's but his had a rope around it.
"I told you, I'm not part of any gang. I wouldn't tell you even if I was." The initiate retorted.
"That's what I thought." Buch sighed, oblivious to Shin sneaking about.
"Whoa, hold your horses, there!" A new voice interjected.
This new man was obviously someone who seemed to take care of himself. He looked like he was in his thirties, with slicked back black hair and a mustache. He was dressed in a black coat, a red shirt over a white undershirt, black pants with a belt and black business shoes.
With him was a man also probably in his thirties with brown hair under a gallon hat, a plaid shirt under a brown leather coat, khaki colored pants with a belt and black leather boots.
"Leviticus, Colm." Buch nodded.
"It seems the cat has got our friend here's tongue." Leviticus nodded. "Mr. O'Devon would like a word with him." He added.
'Great. I gotta either scatter 'em or kill 'em to get the kid out of this mess.' Shin thought as he got closer and stayed hidden.
"It's time you talked, boy." Colm growled, only for the initiate to spit in his face.
"I told you, I'm not saying anything." He hissed.
"So that's how it's gonna be… Geld him." Leviticus ordered, causing Colm to let out a whoop as he went to grab a pair of gelding tongs.
"These sick bastards!" Shin hissed as he ran across the rafters and reached where Colm was—before he leapt off the beam down to the man.
Before he could say anything, Shin's hidden blade found its way to his neck, silencing him permanently.
"What the-?!" The other two goons gasped as Shin drew his revolvers and gunned them down in their confusion.
"What are you doing out here, kid?" Shin questioned as he walked up to the initiate and cut him loose. "You're nowhere near ready for a mission against these pricks." He added.
"I was shadowing my mentor, but we got separated when these degenerates attacked our ferry." The boy explained.
He was an African American boy who was dressed in a truly patriotic looking Assassin outfit. An American flag poncho over a set a brown over shirt, blue shirt, a blue and white starred neckerchief, American flag boots, blue jeans, and white eagle tipped hat with a flag band and an eagle feather in it.
"You certainly look patriotic." Shin smiled. "What's your name, kid?" He asked.
"David, David Washington Carpenter, sir." The boy replied.
"Well, David, let's get you out of here." Shin beckoned as he turned to leave. "With three members of the Ashe Gang dead, the others are gonna scurry around like headless chickens. We gotta meet up with my mentor before we suddenly get killed." He added.
"Your mentor?" David questioned.
"Marshal and Master Assassin Jaren Ward." The gunslinger nodded.
"Good. I can tell you both what I managed to learn at once." David nodded as they left the area.
(Later)
The two soon managed to meet Jaren at the docks where he was looking at something through his binoculars.
"Hey, Jaren. What's up?" Shin asked as he stood next to his surrogate father.
"I'm looking at our two main targets, Bob and Ashe herself." The man replied, handing him the binoculars. "Take a look." He instructed.
Taking a look through the binoculars, he caught sight of the targets in question.
Bob was a rather large and bald man with a mustache that wrapped around his face and had on a simple vest, shirt, pants, boots and a durby hat—and a rather large sledgehammer on his shoulder.
The other one was a woman.
She had fair skin, red eyes and white hair, despite being in her late twenties or early thirties. Her figure was just as generous to suit her age, coming close to rivaling Cereza's and Morgana's, even.
She had a black ten gallon hat on her head, a white undershirt with a red tie, a black coat with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows and a belt around her abdomen, black pants that hugged her legs and black boots.
"Alright. Plans?" The Deputy questioned.
"We'll need to split up. One of us'll cause a ruckus while the other goes for the kill." The Marshal replied before noticing David. "Who's the kid?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"David. Poor kid was about to be gelded by three members of the gang." The young man replied.
"Fuck me." Jaren sighed. "Well, we should probably get you back to the sanctuary as soon as things are settled." He added.
"Right." Shin nodded before looking at David. "Whatever you do, don't get involved. This is way beyond your level." He told him firmly.
"Understood." The boy nodded as he rested next to a crate.
"Come on." Jaren told his protégé as the ferry their targets were on came to dock. "You handle Ashe, I'll deal with Bob." He added.
"Right." Shin nodded as they split up to do their parts.
Ashe was actually on her own, having walked away from Bob to take care of something else. This made her easy pickings for the gunslinging Assassin.
The boy walked towards the woman, his hat down to avoid being seen as he moved between the crowds that were between them—before he stabbed her in the stomach.
"Gah!" She gasped before shoving him away and putting pressure on the wound.
Animus Corridor…
Animus Corridor disrupted!
This target did not die. Consult records.
"Later, bitch." Shin scoffed as he turned away, fading into the crowd.
Meanwhile, Jaren leapt down from the roof of the ferry and stabbed Bob, and as he got up, a golden puzzle piece-like object dropped from his satchel.
"Would ya look at that. Another map piece." The Marshal smirked as he picked the object up. "This was easier than expected." He added.
Memory: Ashes to Ashes
Synched.
Resuming…
(Timeskip)
-Pallimon, Wyoming, 1860-
Shin and Jaren soon put their horses back up once they arrived in Pallimon sometime later, and Shin was quick to go back home, letting Liberty hop onto her perch, and Fenrir laid down on his lap as he crashed on the couch.
"Ugh… Man, what a trip…" He groaned tiredly.
He couldn't help but lean back, seeing Raven playing with Genetrix and the other wolf pups, until a familiar voluptuous shape came into his view.
"Rough trip?" Cereza asked as she sat next to him.
"Yeah…" The boy sighed as he laid on her lap, nuzzling into her stomach… and noticed that it seemed… bigger. "… Why does your stomach seem bigger?" He muttered, still tired.
"That's because… Well… You remember that spur of the moment night you had with me and Morgana before?" She asked awkwardly.
"What about it?" The tired young man asked.
"Well… This is the result." The woman replied, causing the boy to go rigid.
"I.. I… I'm gonna…" He uttered before his tired mind decided it was in his best interest to faint from fatigue and now mental overload.
So he did exactly that.
"Oh dear…" Cereza sighed as she stroked his hair, letting him sleep in her lap.
Cross Memory Detected
User Ejection will occur upon synchronization to avoid bleeding effect overload.
Synchronizing…
"You're saying that the entire gang was taken out, in just an hour?" Tweed questioned as Yor sat on his couch.
"That's what my people are telling me. And guess who was involved in the whole thing." The former Assassin replied, causing the Senator to curse.
"Of course Jaren would be involved." He sighed. "That man is becoming a serious thorn in my side, along with that deputy of his." He added.
"I've been keeping tabs on the kid, he's been gathering people and information—can't say for what, though." Yor stated. "Though one thing I've heard is that he's engaged to a fellow assassin. But who is something I have no clue on." He nodded.
"Hmmm." The portly man hummed. "See what you can find from his efforts. Who he's engaged to is honestly not that important of a concern." He instructed.
"Right." The Sage nodded as someone else entered the house, that being Boris. "Boris the Animal." He nodded with a chuckle.
"It's just Boris." The man snapped, turning to Tweed. "Sorry to bother you sir, but I have news from Morgana." He explained.
"What is it?" Tweed questioned.
"She's requesting to take a leave of absence." Boris explained. "Because she's discovered that she's pregnant. A rather wild night drinking brandy with a few colleagues went a bit… Sideways." He elaborated.
"I see. Let her have it." Tweed nodded. "I'm not one to make pregnant women do strenuous work." He added.
"I'll be sure to pass that along." Boris nodded as he walked away.
"One thing, Boris." Tweed said, causing the man to stop. "Do you happen to know who the child's father is?" He questioned.
"I asked her that question myself. Apparently she drank too much, enough to make it so she can't remember the face of whoever she was with that night." Boris lied in reply, and luckily for him, it was a convincing lie he told too.
"Unfortunate. I would've had him brought in to pay her restitution." The grandmaster nodded. "Very well. You may go." He told his fellow Templar.
"Yes sir." Boris nodded as he left.
Desynchronization in Progress…
Recommended period of rest: two weeks.
-American Brotherhood Sanctuary, Present Day-
"… Why do I get the feeling that things are going to get rough for Morgana?" Joshua groaned as he sat up.
"They more than likely will." Sarah told him in reply.
"One thing has me confused though." Ororo frowned slightly. "The animus said Ashe never died that day. If she lived after that, what happened to her?" She wondered.
"I was wondering about that." Calvin nodded with his own frown.
"I'll check and see what I can find." Mael told them.
"I can't muster the brain cells to think about it." Joshua sighed, rubbing his temples. "Honestly, I just want to go home and see Laura and go to bed." He added.
"Agreed." His lover yawned in agreement.
"Me and Luca will crash with my cousin." Desa spoke up.
"You can stay in our guest room." Sarah nodded as she and Calvin got up.
"Yeah. Let's go home." The bespectacled man nodded, joining the others in leaving their hideout.
Another day, another memory.
Dragon Emperor0: Sorry about the inactivity, guys. We were busy with other stories and trying to decide on what to do next for this story specifically.
ThermalsniperN7: Yeah, and it isn't easy, either. Writer's block and too many stories make that a thing. Anyway, keep in mind what happened to Ashe in this chapter. It'll hold some relevance later. Also, yes, we looked at Ashe from Overwatch for her design.
Dragon Emperor0: We'd be lying if that didn't play a role in our decision to spare her—she's really hot, not gonna lie.
ThermalsniperN7: Yeah she is, and if Shin was still single (and if Ashe wasn't an outlaw), he'd go for her. She definitely has enough of an exotic appearance to rival Cereza. But enough of that; at the time of this posting, it's post 2:30 in the morning on my end, and I'd like a good night's sleep.
Dragon Emperor0: Me too, I had some coffee earlier this evening and I'm starting to feel the caffeine wearing off—that means the crash is likely to start setting in. I'll probably be out like a log in about fifteen minutes… Anyway, see you guys next time.