Never Hurts To Help

Chapter Two: Capture

Disclaimer: I don't own Wander Over Yonder. 'Tis but a pleasant dream.

Welcome to chapter two!

Sylvia has run into her target completely by accident. What will she do next?

Thank you to all those reading and enjoying.

See you at the bottom!

It was getting later in the day, the shadows outside starting to grow long, and the inn's great room was filling up. It was getting harder to keep her eye on the little orange traveler as he slipped from table to table in the crowded room.

Upon Maurine's return from her nap, Sylvia had been all set to follow her target discretely out the door, but he had immediately offered to wait tables instead, and had been doing so ever since with seemingly endless energy. His eagerness to stay put made Sylvia wonder whether he was aware of all the attention he'd gathered, from herself as well as several other patrons, but if so, he showed no sign of it. He still seemed happily oblivious as he carried trays and stacks of plates to and from the kitchen.

Sylvia herself had been obliged to order the cheapest supper on the short menu so that she was able to stay put without looking too suspicious, or getting tossed out by Maurine, from the look she'd received. She'd noticed several other customers lingering over their meals and drinks, and had managed to pinpoint who else in the inn was after her bounty. There were three others she was pretty sure of. None were colleagues she was familiar with, and only one looked like he could give her a run for her money, a big thontar, tufts of pink fur hiding what she knew were truly formidable muscles.

It was while she was sizing up her competition that she noticed her target was taking a long time to come back from the kitchen. He'd carried a stack of dirty plates in as usual, then nothing. It had been several minutes already since he'd disappeared.

Sylvia swore under her breath. She was such flarfing idiot! While she and the other bounty hunters were waiting for him to come out, the little guy was making a break for it through the back door. She'd seen it a million times, but the thought hadn't occurred to her once today. She supposed she must have actually fallen for his 'friendly and foolish' act a little.

Trying to appear casual, as though she was just heading for the washroom, Sylvia made her way to the corridor behind the bar. Once she was out of sight of the main room, she ducked left and into the small kitchen, then sped through it, ignoring the startled yell from the cook.

The backdoor was open a crack to let the smoke out, and sylvia slowed down a little once she was through it, though she did push the door to behind her to give her warning if anyone followed her. The sour scents of old garbage greeted. her. She took a deep breath anyway, willing herself to calm down and do this quietly. She didn't want to alert her target that she was onto him. With any luck, he thought she was still back in the dining room with the rest of the saps and wasn't making his getaway too quickly. She paused in the dirty alleyway she was standing in, listening for a noise and looking for other signs as to which direction he'd gone.

She heard a few twangy chords and turned to find the little guy not fifteen feet away, sitting on an overturned crate and strumming a banjo.

Well, she hadn't expected him to be that relaxed.

He smiled when he noticed her.

"Well, hi there!" He greeted, pausing in his music to give a little wave. "If yer waitin' for an order I should be back in a few. Jus' takin' a little break to enjoy the air, ya know?"

No, Sylvia didn't know. This didn't make any sense, unless the little furry alien really was an idiot. She refused to believe he didn't know how high a price his head carried. Still, she squared her shoulders. Whatever the reason, this was her chance to secure her target and get out of here without attracting any attention. She took one step towards the orange traveler, then paused as a new figure emerged from the other end of the alley.

Black metal gleamed in the late afternoon light, and a red laser sight swept across the alley to land on Sylvia's target, sitting at its feet. The little alien turned, grin lighting up his face again, directed at the tall, black robot that now confronted him.

"Howdy friend!" he started, friendly as could be. "What can I do fer – Woah!" His greeting was cut off abruptly as a clawed metal hand shot out, snatching him up by the scruff of his neck and stuffing him roughly into a sack, banjo and all.

Sylvia had started forward as soon as her brain registered what had happened.

"Hey you!" She yelled. The robot didn't acknowledge her, just turned slightly. Missiles slid smoothly out of its left arm and launched towards the zbornak and Sylvia dove to the side to avoid them. She sprang back up, fighting through smoke that smelled of burning garbage. Too late. The robot, and her quarry, were gone.

Well not for long.

Sylvia tore out of the alley and into the busy thoroughfares of the town proper. She was going to find them and get the little guy back.

She was a little wary. That was a Killbot. They were notorious bounty hunters. If one was defeated, the next would be strengthened accordingly so each installment was deadlier than the one before it. She was pretty sure the current Killbot was number eighty-five, which meant it was stronger than the eighty-four previous models. She would have to attack hard and fast when she found them. There was no way she was letting this bounty go, not after her fruitless search had finally paid off. She was pretty sure the Killbot would be heading out of town. It would be too risky to remain around so many other potential bounty hunters with a valuable captive in toe. No, the smartest thing would be to get somewhere isolated, make sure the target was thoroughly restrained and then work on contacting the client.

All while Sylvia's mind worked her legs continued pumping. She darted through the thoroughfare until she spotted the road out of town. She was banking on the killbot using this exit. It was the way she had chosen, as it led to an isolated stretch of wasteland studded with strange rock formations gnawed by wind and time. It was a good place if you didn't want anyone to see what you were doing.

Sure enough, Sylvia spotted the killbot nearing the exit gate, satchel slung over one metal shoulder. The cloth sack wiggled a little and the killbot gave it a jostle in response to quiet it down.

Sylvia ducked down a little, confident she hadn't been seen. She didn't want to confront the robot here. She was going to follow it until they were nice and isolated, just like it wanted. Then she was getting her bounty back, one way or another.

Fortunately, the Killbot wasn't doing a lot to hide itself. It was probably counting on its reputation to keep off competition. It might have even worked if there wasn't quite so much money on the line. Sylvia followed well back, even so. She didn't want it to spot her too soon.

Gradually, they moved further away from the city and into the haunting barrens. The wind was whistling through the gouged rock formations and Sylvia was able to close the distance between them easily, using the rocks and wind as cover. The sun was very low now, painting the sky in pale pinks and sweeps of orange, and she knew she had to make her move. She didn't want to be fighting in the dark.

The Killbot was starting to climb one of the tall, twisted rock formations, perhaps to get more visibility or height for a launch. Sylvia decided to climb the one nearby. She didn't want her enemy to have the higher ground in the confrontation. She braced herself for a moment, before pulling herself to the top of the craggy rock and facing her adversary head on.

"Back off, Killbot Eighty-Five," she demanded. "This is my bounty!" She didn't say it was any expectation that the bounty hunter would drop the little alien, but she wanted it to know she knew who it was and wasn't intimidated.

The Killbot's response was immediate, as she'd figured it would be. Weapons sprang out of where it's left arm used to be and lasers rained around her. Sylvia launched herself from her perch towards the bot. She needed to close the distance before her adversary could get started charging up anything too devastating. A rotating circular saw on a wire shot out of the robot's arm next and Sylvia just managed to avoid the spinning blade. She gave it a kick in passing, spinning it out and away from her.

Then she was on top of the Killbot, her momentum sending them both flying from the high rock and towards the hard ground below. Sylvia held on and laid in as the ground rose to meet them. The lady and the douches were very busy as she pummeled the robot's cylindrical head over and over, cracking the casing until each blow sent gears and springs flying. She could hear an alarmed beeping from inside the robot and took that as encouragement.

They landed hard on the ground with the Killbot underneath, taking the brunt of the falling damage. Sylvia wasn't done yet. Without giving her opponent any breathing space, she flipped them both over with enough force that the sack with her bounty in it went flying out of the clawed hand. Sylvia used her wind-up to throw the bot, just like one of the caber tosses from zborna. It hit one of the tall rock formations and exploded on impact, blowing up dust and showering the surroundings with metallic parts.

Sylvia landed again, bracing herself on three legs. Adrenalin rushed through her. Oh yes, that was the best feeling. That was a big part of why she always seemed to go back to bounty hunting. The rush that meant she was better than whatever glagmuncher had been after her life. She turned to the sack, wiggling on the dusty ground. Just to make sure, she untied the rope around its neck and let it fall open.

The green hat emerged first, followed by that familiar face. Large eyes swept over her, taking in Sylvia's disheveled appearance. Then came the smile of recognition.

"Never hurts to help," Sylvia said, quoting her target. "Yourself," she finished then, smirking at the confused look that crossed his face. He opened his mouth, one finger raised as he took a breath, but Sylvia cut him off, not interested in whatever the goofball had to say. "Come on, you wandering weirdo." She slung the bag over her shoulder, not bothering to tie it shut again at the moment.

She started off, wanting to get some distance between them and the very loud battle she'd just had. The little alien muttered something, but Sylvia wasn't listening. She just jostled the bag a little as a warning to keep quiet. She had to find a likely camping spot where she could figure out her next move, and find a better way of securing her target for transport. At least the little guy wasn't struggling. He didn't seem that hard to manage, which meant that her biggest threat was other bounty hunters finding them before she could get off planet.

The hard part still wasn't over, and wouldn't be until she handed her captive over and was actually touching the money.

Still, a smile of triumph crossed her face as she headed further into the wastelands. She was still the best, and she could beat up any more competition that came her way, as well as handle the friendly little alien on her back.

How hard could it be?

Hope you enjoyed!

I'm having a lot of fun with Sylvia's character in this story. "The Waste Of Time" absolutely blew my mind when I first saw it, and I really tried to do justice to the tiny slivers of this story we got to see.

If you feel like giving me some encouragement I won't say 'no'.

Next chapter Wander and Sylvia should start getting to know one another. And Sylvia might be surprised.

See you next time!