The Watcher: Adaptability Of A Bounty Hunter

Chapter 17) Last Stop In Tafabid

With a loud bang, the front door swung open. Paving the way for two people who completely slipped Roman’s mind, to enter. Mari and Cliff, though when Roman caught a look at them, he was shocked. Their clothes were torn and split at seemingly random areas. Blotches of fabric, skin as well, were burnt to a crisp. And those injuries were only worth a mention should you ignore the plethora of cuts, gashes, and bruises the pair had. They looked like they had just been put through hell, and yet their attitudes suggested the complete opposite.

“Yo country bumpkin,” Mari said, twirling a dirty sack around her finger, “And the tinman, good to see you haven’t died just yet.”

The fact that Cliff’s stupid nickname had caught on between the two of them caused Roman pain so deep that common language could not describe the suffering.

Cliff snorted as he settled in place next to Mari, “You should buy a lotto ticket with all that luck you’ve got, man.”

“That’s a lot of confidence for two people in the same boat as me,” Roman replied. Out from the corner of his eye, he saw the last bits of red fade away from Elizabeth’s cheeks. Roman felt a twinge of sadness, knowing that the tender moment between them had come to an end.

“Well, actually I think they got you beat here sweetie,” Elizabeth said.

“What?”

Mari sneered, “Should I tell him?”

“And let you have all the fun gloating? Not a chance,” Cliff said while dusting off his shoulder.

“Tie breaker! I’ll do it,” Elizabeth clapped her hands together twice, creating a commotion from the second floor. Trinkets knocked onto the ground, the dry crunch of wood as something light smacks into it. Roman, Cliff, and Mari shared the same curiosity, or bewilderment, they all turned towards the stairs for answers. A tiny machine, a blinker bot, zoomed down the hardwood staircase. Moving as fast as it’s tiny anti-grav generator would output. The little drone didn’t even mind that Mari was standing in the way of it’s flight path.

“Ah!” She ducked her head, narrowly avoiding a head on collision with the small bot.

The reconnaissance drone came to a rest next to its master, “Everyone, may I introduce y'all to BB-1!”

BB-1 was a fairly standard Blinker Bot unit, save for the rushed light blue paintwork and thin metal stems with pinchers on the ends affixed to both sides of its rectangular figure. BB used these ‘arms’ to wave at its audience.

“Does BB stand for Blinker Bot,” Cliff said.

“....Shut it.”

Roman sipped at the potion, “Did you use the number one because it’s your first time reprogramming a Blinker Bot?”

“That’s not completely true--”

“Light blue is gross,” Mari added.

“I don’t wanna hear nothing from you blondie!”

Mari sighed, “Blonde is better than blue.”

“She’s right,” Cliff nodded, “Completely agree.”

Roman stretched his back out, the muscle relaxation chemicals in the potion were in full swing now. He felt more comfortable in his own skin than ever before, if that was even possible. Though his eyelids were heavy, the man had to make an effort to keep them open as the group bickered. Bickering, he wasn’t about to be left out of it, “Your vote doesn’t count, Cliff. You guys are partners.”

“Yeah tough guy? Blue is a basic color, yellow is much more vibrant.”

“Are you trying to threaten me after calling yellow vibrant?”

“No threats here. Just a guy who appreciates the color yellow.”

Weird. Roman couldn’t explain why that was weird, but that whole back and forth between himself and Cliff was weird. Yet, in a strange way, it was relaxing. Anything resembling a pleasant, non-violent confrontation between the Dulvian Brawler and the bounty hunter was something to behold. In retrospect, Mari’s insufferable nature seemed toned down tonight. Maybe the calming quiet outside the Trashed Whale was having an effect on them. Personally, he found the atmosphere of a silent night quite pleasing. Mari and Cliff, two members of an underground terrorist group, were sure to share that fondness for evening hours.

Mari sneered, “I’m so glad you and the Tinny man are getting along tonight, Cliff. You even told him what your favorite color was. What’s next, gonna slip him your number?”

“Actually Elizabeth, I think Blue’s better,” Cliff switched allegiances without even looking Mari in her eyes.

Though she didn’t seem to mind. In fact, she was grinning from ear to ear, “Traitor.”

Elizabeth turned to her personal drone, BB-1 and shrugged. An action the machine tried it’s best to replicate. The result was passable. It had trouble getting the angle of the bent joints exactly correct. When the laughter died down, she brought the conversation back towards the topic which spurred it.

Clap, clap, clap.

“Alrighty lady and gents. I know y'all are having fun but let’s get this conversation back on track,” Elizabeth gave the floating robot an affirmative nod, BB-1’s lens opened up, the aperture utterly exposed, the machine clicked, and the inverse took form. Instead of allowing light to pass through the opening, BB-1’s eye projected a video feed, “This look familiar to any of ya?”

Not to Roman, the recording being presented showcased a violent brawl. From the look of things, inside a cramped, dirt-covered, empty apartment. A crowd of men, six or eight at the very least, were circling around someone. Context told him all he needed to know, the two magic users he sat next to must have been at the center. They weren’t visible from this angle. However, BB-1 caught this footage from outside the building, peering in through a damaged window.

“Your pals right here paid our dear friend, Max Yelena a visit right after you split off from em. Don’t know exactly what happened, but a few hours later, the drunk’s posse of bigots showed up at the abandoned apartment. Only to meet two, very mean, amber-eyed debt collectors.”

“Hold up,” Mari smacked the counter, “You were filming us the whole time!”

Elizabeth smiled wryly, “Oh honey I got eyes everywhere.”

“I don’t think I’m okay with that.”

Roman and Cliff pitched in at the same time, “That won’t change anything.”

Befuddled, the two men turned towards one another, not uttering a single word, only hoping for this uncomfortable memory to subside into the deepest portion of their memory. Mari was lost, completely. She looked at Elizabeth for an explanation… she found none. The Toymaker was evidently lost as well.

“Ahem,” Elizabeth cleared her throat, pulling the men back from their staring competition, “Annyway… Mari and Cliff here took on the group, beat the daylights outta them, and brought me enough cash to cover Yelena’s debt twice over. If that ain’t a job well done, I don’t know what is.”

Mari spoke up again, “Okay now how did you know THAT? I didn’t even give you the credits yet.”

Elizabeth pointed at BB-1. Mari grumbled, “Okay yeah I guess that explains that…”

“On that note,” Elizabeth held out her hand, “Payment, if you’d be so kind.”

With the attitude of an angry teenager, Mari stuffed her hand into her pocket, and came back out with a small sack, which she tossed to Elizebeth. Who snatched the brown bag out from the air, josseled it around a bit to confirm its contents, then promptly shoved the last payment into her own pocket. Two out of three, there was only one target left unaccounted for. “What about the restaurant owner?”

“We took care of him,” Cliff said.

“After the fight with Yelena’s group?”

“During actually,” Cliff scratched his chin, “Turns out the guy didn’t like the majority of his customers.”

“He was the one giving Max’s hate group money,” Mari clarified.

Cliff agreed, “Apparently they were looking to meet an underground weapons dealer. Cause some real havoc in retaliation for their factory closing down.”

That would explain it. The people populating the slums, Dulvian or otherwise, depend on these production powerhouses to make a living. Shut down one of them, and you’ve put hundreds of impoverished people out of work. Thinking back, Roman recognized which factory they were referring to. He scaled the structure when he discovered the district lockdown. Word on the street was that a Dulvian machine operator snapped, and murdered his supervisor. Corporations don’t react positively towards these kinds of incidents. Bad for business, they paid out the people who witnessed the event, and shuttered the factory. For all the good that ended up doing, disgruntled workers talk, especially when they’re being paid under the cost of living.

“Did the weapons dealer show up?” Roman asked.

“Nah,” Cliff said, “Not our style.”

Mari spun around on her barstool, “Shadow’s Requiem is this town’s underground. We don’t exactly do business with alcoholics.”

“Speaking of which, got any booze?” Cliff replied, as smooth as ever.

“If I had any energy left I’d smack you,” Mari collapsed onto the bar, letting out a low whine.

“Hmmm… well--,” with the speed of a thief, Elizabeth snatched the bottomless potion bottle from Roman, “Got something better for ya.”

She clinked three different shot glasses onto the smooth wood, and tipped the open bottle into each one. Without skipping a beat, she glugged a full pour into each of the pint-sized cups. Emptied the bottle too, not all that much left after Roman’s thirst took precedent after the pain subsided. Still, he took the shot, for what’s supposedly made from mashing herbs and magically infused substances together, this juice was delicious. Mari did the same without much fuss. Cliff, on the other hand…

“This isn’t liquor.”

“And the sun is bright, duh.”

Cliff motioned towards the display case behind Elizabeth, “Lemme get one of those.”

“That’s for paying customers, boy,” she replied.

“We just added well over 100,000 credits to your bank account,” Cliff grumbled, “Cut me some slack, I just want a drink.”

“I appreciate all y’all hard work. But that’s business, sweetie. Besides, you need to heal up after all that fighting.”

“The body heals on its own. Some potion ain’t gonna do anything I can’t already do myself.”

“Like putting on a shirt?”

Funny because it’s true. Roman and Mari couldn’t stop themselves from giggling. The burly man gawked at them both, his face contorted with pent-up embarrassment. Stammering, stumbling over his words like a child outsmarted during a playground insult contest. Once he restored enough confidence to quip back, he looked her dead in the eyes and said, “... it was hot outside.”

“Stick to being the cute muscle sweetie,” Elizabeth winked, “Now drink up before I get mad.”

Red as a tomato, the brawny man complied. Slamming the shot in one go. The others followed suit, Roman sighing once the smooth concoction slithered its way down his throat and into his stomach. He checked in on Mari and Cliff. They seemed relaxed enough, and not nearly as damaged as Roman was after his battle. Still only a single shot of a slow acting healing potion, he figured they were gonna need a bit more. Roman was going to bring this up when Cliff nudged him.

“Even after taking the hardest prey. You’re still alive, huh?”

Expecting yet another play on the name Tinman, Roman couldn’t have been bothered to look the man in the eye, “Yep.”

“Not bad kid,” Cliff slapped the man’s back, “You bit off more than you could chew, and still came out on top.”

Roman was at a loss for words. Was this… a compliment, from Cliff of all people? From the moment they were all put on this mission together, Roman received nothing but insults and belittling comments from his partners. Mari, at least, softened up when it was just the two of them. Cliff, though, never once wavered in making his hatred for the bounty hunter clear as crystal. And now he decides to say something that wasn’t overly hateful? As if this night couldn’t get any more weird…

“Don’t patronize me,” Roman said.

“I’m not. Meant every word of it.”

“Forgive me if I’m not completely sold. Weren’t you the one who tried to pick a fight with me when I said I was going after Travis?”

“You caught me. Mari and I would’ve been the better choice. It was obvious, and you know it.”

“Mhm…” Roman glanced down at his empty glass, not saying a word.

“You were stubborn. Trying to prove to yourself that you aren’t a useless s**t without that suit of armor. So instead of making life easier for everyone, you decided to save your pride.”

Mari tapped Cliff on the shoulder, “Hey… come on now, is it really the time for this?”

“Already started so I’m gonna finish,” he brushed Mari’s hand away, “And what have you to show for all that? The money, let’s hope it was worth nearly dying over.”

He was right. Roman knew it, Cliff knew it, honestly you’d have to be a fool not to know.. There was ample time to reconsider, understand that without any advanced tools, it wasn’t a fight for him. He was accompanied by two Mages after all, utilizing their talents should have been the obvious choice here. Magic user against magic user, an obvious combat equation that leaves both sides with relatively equal changes at coming out on top. Striving to prove yourself in a world pitted against you doesn’t lead to anything worthwhile. Roman became the most infamous bounty hunter in Tafabid, drawing the attention of an organization he hoped to avoid. He took on Travis Talon to demonstrate his strength, narrowly scraping by with a win. But most of all, trying to justify his own personal beliefs dug up memories that should’ve stayed hidden till the end of time. That was his biggest regret. If he let Mari and Cliff traumatize that family, instead this grizzly recollection would never have resurfaced.

Cliff held out his hand, “But in the end you were the winner.”

Roman looked Cliff up and down, “What?”

“Just shake my hand before I change my mind,” Cliff responded, slightly annoyed, “You won’t hear this from me often.”

They grabbed each other's hand, shook, and then pulled back.

“I don’t understand…”

“I respect strength. And you took out a swordsman class mage without any help. No technology, obviously no magic, just your own power. It was a stupid idea, and you barely got away with your life. But not I, or anyone else, can take away your victory. If I can’t show respect when I see it, I wouldn’t be a real man.”

For the second time in this conversation Roman was left at loss. But that was okay, nothing more needed to be said. From untrusting teammates, to respectable warriors fighting side by side, Roman felt this unseen bond form between the two of them. Frankly, it was a nice improvement. There was no way to tell if this would actually change anything about their relationship down the line. But at the very least, Cliff did not call Roman the Tinman once during the conversation. Surely that counts for something.

“And here I was thinking I’d need to zap some sense into you boys,” Elizabeth made finger guns, mimicking the shots with the smack of her lips, “Ahaha~ but seriously y'all, I appreciate the work you did for me.”

“Just business, right?” Cliff chimed in with a bit of sass.

“Pffft!” sleepy Mari rejoined the discussion with a sudden fit of laughter, “Look at that overalls. You’ve made an impression on him.”

“Oh wow, did you guys hear that? Sounds like the blonde’s sleeping outside tonight.”

Mari gasped, “You wouldn’t.”

“Call me Overalls again and I might.”

The guys started cracking up. To Mari’s absolute disdain.

“Cliff, stop laughing!” she puffed out her chest, “God none of you can take a joke, hmph!”

Despite how much fun everyone was having at Mari’s expense. Roman included, there were still a few things that needed to be settled before they could really afford to kick back and relax. And if no one else was going to bring it up, Roman would, “Hey Elizabeth?”

“Hm? Yes dear~”

Roman cleared his throat, loudly. Her friendly flirting was entertaining but he wasn’t trying to show that side of himself to his Shadow’s Requiem friends, “We’ve held up our end of the bargain. Think it’s about time you delivered.”

“Right you are mister!” Elizabeth snapped and BB-1’s lens narrowed, swapped lenses, and opened up again. Projecting a new, and more in depth hologram than what was shown before. No two dimensional video here. This was a complex 3D simulation. Impressive since it was being shown via a robot the size of a small child’s head.

“The stingray?” Roman asked.

“Yes sir,” she swiped her finger across the hologram, reorienting the image around it’s left side. Painted onto the chrome metal was the unmistakable likeness of the shapely underwater creature, “The Toymaker is pretty buddy buddy with the crew of this particular bullet train. Since you guys were so kind as to help me out, I’ve arranged your passage on this vessel.”

“I thought no one was allowed outside of the city during a lockdown”, Cliff questioned.

“That’s true, but there's an exception to every rule. Since the Stingray isn’t made to ferry humans across long distances, it’s allowed to run. The shops in the city still need their goods shipped in from outside the city limits, so the Stingray gets a pass on lockdown procedure,” Elizabeth pinched the image at the train’s furthest compartment, amplifying the hologram, switching it from exterior to an interior display, “Unfortunately, since it’s not meant to deliver folks. You lovely bunch are gonna have to ride out the trip in storage.”

“Huuh!” Mari cried out.

“That sounds…” Roman started.

And Cliff finished, “Awful!”

“Now, now, don’t get your panties in a twist, fellas. You’ll have food and water, and blankets too.”

Mari shouted, “That is far from comfortable!”

“Listen, this is the best I can do. I mean yall are wanted criminals after all. What did ya expect? A luxury car all to yourself with a four-course meal?” She points at Mari and then Cliff, “Not my fault that you two decided to cause trouble without covering up your faces!”

“I don’t like masks! And besides, we got you all that damn cash! You can at least try and get us a better ride!”

“Oh sorry princess, ya want a fluffy pillow to rest your head on?”

“You’re damn right I do! I’m beautiful!”

Not exactly sure what that has to do with anything.

“Come on guys, simmer down,” Roman tapped his glass against the table, releasing a noisy chime, “This really is the best case scenario. Besides, it’ll get us into Acropolis without being detected.”

“You’re just saying that cause you wanna fuc-- ouh!” Cliff wacked Mari on the top of her head. She whined softly while rubbing the newly formed bump, “Oww… what was that for!”

“Someone’s cranky from lack of sleep,” Cliff determined.

“That’s not true!”

Elizabeth, Cliff, and Roman spoke as one, “It’s true.”

“I’m gonna call it a night, come on Mari,” Cliff hopped off his seat, and Mari did the same, making their way towards the stairs. With puffed cheeks and watery eyes, Mari accepted her fate. Cliff peered over his shoulder, “There guest rooms upstairs?”

“One,” Elizabeth replied, “Two beds though.”

“Aight, goodnight love birds,” Cliff chuckled as he and Mari went to bed.

Roman was tired of being teased for the night, “Ha ha ha.”

“Is he wrong though?”

“Please don’t start…”

“Alright fineee, just having a little bit of fun,” Elizabeth giggles while she collects the dirty shot glasses, moving them into a small container underneath the counter, “...You know I still don’t like you working with Shadow’s Requiem.”

The bluntness with which she spoke stunned him for a second, “I know… I don’t like it either.”

She rolls her eyes, “Once a trouble maker, always a trouble maker.”

“Going out past bedtime and navigating the politics of massive criminal empires aren’t exactly comparable.”

“Why not? They both have you sulking around like a dope.”

Roman cracked a smile, “And somehow you keep getting wrapped into my misadventures.”

“Not this time sweetie,” Elizabeth crossed her arms, “Messing with the Nishi-Family isn’t exactly high on my to-do list.”

“Mine too, and yet, here I am… it’s a goddamn mess.”

Elizabeth maneuvered around the bar, finally leaving that little corner she hid behind for a while. She walked up to Roman, leaving him with a tender kiss on the forehead. He felt his face warm up, but there was actually nothing he could possibly do about it. When she pulled away, the sensation lingered, Roman tried to talk but she beat him to the punch.

“You’re a mess,” Elizabeth smiled, “But you’re also clever. Make sure you make it outta this one alive, okay?”

Roman nodded, somehow managing to react too fast and too slow. Awkwardly fumbling his way towards the action's end. Elizabeth giggled, clearly he did something right, even if he wasn’t sure what it was. Neither party made a sound following that interaction. Elizabeth went up the stairs and presumably to her bedroom. He heard the door shut in the distance, and once again was left to his own devices. The Trashed Whale was bathed in complete silence.

“I am a mess… aren’t I?” he declared without anyone else present, “Guess even messes have uses…”