Tg War-The Bikini Arc: An Unlikely Friendship

Location: Bikini Atoll
Temporary Alliance
Date: 02/16/16
Time: 11:14 AM Central Time Zone

    As he ran through the trees, Jake Stormer never even looked behind him. He just kept running. After seeing Reena face-to-face, his nerves got the best of him. The author didn't even think about his friend, Joenomrc. After about ten minutes of constant running, Jake finally stopped. He looked around and noticed he was completely lost.

    "No, not now. Where the hell am I?" Jake called out for anyone that could hear him. Silence. He rose his hand to his ear to use the earpiece Joe gave him to communicate, only to find it gone. It had fallen out when he was running. Jake fell to his knees. For the first time since he was a kid, he felt completely helpless. Jake stared at the ground for what seemed like an hour when he finally was able to think.

    "This is not where I'm going to die. This is where I'm going to survive." Jake tried to stand back up, but he couldn't. His body seemed to refuse to move. Jake noticed how his eyes were feeling incredibly tired. The young writer wasted most, if not all, of his energy running. His eyes simply shut and he passed out.



    "Boy. Get up."

    "Urg... Wha...?"

    "For the love of- GET UP!"

    Jake's eyes suddenly opened up and he sprang up almost instantly. He looked around him and saw a very familiar cowboy with only one eye.

    "Howdy Jake. Long time no see." Silver Shot was leaning on a tree, a bottle of whiskey in his hand. Jake glared at the man with pure rage in his stare.

    "You! I've been waiting to meet you again. You think you can just shoot me and get a way with it?" Jake reached for his pocket but Silver Shot stopped him.

    "Woah there, buddy. Slow down. Look, I'm sorry I shot you, but I had no choice. Shooting you and that other fella was only so I could get back to makin' money. You can hate me all you want, but you can't change what happened. It's over and you gotta get over it. Now, tell me, why the hell are you on this pathetic excuse for land?" The cowboy took a swig from his bottle. Jake looked at the man and tried to decide what to do. He didn't want to be anywhere near Silver Shot after what happened. Then again, he didn't know what would happen if he ran into Reena without a little back up. Jake sighed at sat back down.

    "Fine. Joe and I were told to find this metal that the Coins were messing with. Not only is the metal on this island, but so are practically all the Coins. I got separated from Joe and I got lost. Why are YOU here?"

    "Simple partner, working. Ya see, your little buddy of yours hired me to zap a certain someone. I tracked him down here and I plan on getting my target." Silver wiped his mouth with his sleeve and spat on the ground.

    "Joe hired you?"

    "That's right."

    "To zap who?"

    "Well, let me put it this way. I'm takin' down that smug Richie Rich." The cowboy laughed as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette. One quick movement of his hand and a match was lit, along with his smoke.

    "Wait. Richie Rich? You don't mean Simon, do you?" Jake wanted revenge on Simon after what happened to him. He wasn't going to let another person take that from him. "I'll be the only person that's zapping that blonde-haired piece of shit!"

    "I thought you would say that, so here's my idea. We both want to zap him. What if you zap him, but I take the credit? You get your revenge, I'll get my paycheck. Plus, if things get a little too wild, you got some back up. You've nothing to lose." Silver Shot flicked his cigarette away and extended his hand. "So, whatta say? Partners?" Jake looked at the man and sighed.

    "The minute we get off this hellhole of an island, this alliance is over." Jake grabbed the man's hand and they shook. Before either could say another word, a roaring sound of a plane engine zoomed over head. Silver Shot pushed Jake into the bushes.

    "Get down!" The cowboy dove down next to Jake and held up his hand to tell Jake to stay quiet. "Looks like we aren't the only ones at this rodeo."

    "What do you mean?"

    "That sounded like a fighter plane. My guess is that the Clockwork Soldiers are either here or about to be." Silver Shot looked to the ground. "I never said this, but there's another reason I joined this war." Jake looked at Shot confused.

    "What reason?"

    "There's a certain gunman in this war that I believe is the only rival to my shootin' abilities. I know for a fact he's gonna be on this rock."

    "Who? Mason?" Silver Shot slapped Jake upside the head.

    "No, you moron! Mason might be a guy with a gun, but he's insane. He wishes he was as good as me. No, the only other person that can even come close to being as good as me is the sniper from the Clockwork Soldiers. Jay Arthur Skye." The man stood up and dusted off his pants. "That man is a good shot, I'll admit that. But I'm the best there is. If I can put a bullet in his hide, I'll prove it." Jake got up, rubbing the back of his head where Silver Shot slapped him.

    "Okay, so what now?"Jake looked around the trees to see if there was anything of interest.

    "We start walkin'. The way you came from ain't where we need to be, that's for sure. Let's see, the plane was flyin' west, so most likely that's where Jay is headin'. The Clockwork Soldiers are probably only here for that orange-haired dough roller, so they would want to fly towards where they are. Simon and the Coins have the baker, so if the plane is goin' west...." The cowboy grinned. "A cowboy goin' west. Sounds fittin'." Silver Shot started to grab the things around them, including another bottle of whiskey, extra ammo, a length of rope, and even a guitar. Jake looked at the cowboy, confused as ever.

    "How are you going to carry all that stuff?" Jake watched as Silver Shot laid his guitar on the ground.

    "I do like music, but this set of strings got one more use." He flipped a latch on the side of the guitar and it opened up. Inside was a felt compartment with yet another bottle of whiskey and ammo. Silver Shot put away the whiskey he had in his hand next to the other bottle and closed the guitar again. He picked it up, surprising the extra bottle didn't make it heavier. Jake just stared on in shock.

    "How?"

    "One of my first jobs was to help a witch out with a certain man who had a spell shield from her magic. But, after the zap, his shield was gone and the witch used mind control on him. Now, the witch has a female servant that has no free will. In return for my work, she paid me and put a little spell on my guitar. Now it weighs the same, no matter what I put in it." The man laughed as he played a couple cords. "Also, I never have to tune it or replace the strings. I still talk to that witch on the occasion." Silver Shot started playing an old country song. "Well, my daddy left home when I was three, and he didn't leave much for Ma 'n' me. Just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze...." Jake groaned under his breath. Silver Shot was a good singer and definitely could play the guitar, but Jake hated country music. The cowboy started walking west, still singing and playing. Jake begrudgingly followed.

    The two unlikely allies continued walking for a few hours. Silver Shot stopped playing after a while and simply kept the guitar on his back by the strap. They trudged through most of it staying completely silent. Silver Shot finally broke the silence.

    "So, how did you and that fedora boy end up losin' each other?" Silver Shot dropped his now empty bottle to the ground.

    "The short of it? I got scared. I....I....I ran. I acted like a coward and ran. I don't know what happened to Joe, but the last thing I remember hearing him say was something like ' You're done, Reena'. I'm guessing he had to fight her."

    "Well, I do feel bad for him. That girl might be too powerful for him to beat." Jake turned and looked at the man.

    "Her powers won't be the reason he loses, IF he loses. The only thing that might keep him from winning is one fact. Reena's a girl." Jake saw the cowboy's expression change to confusion.

    "Why does that matter?"

    "It matters because Joe will NEVER disrespect a woman. In fact, if this wasn't a war, he'd probably LET Reena zap him. Not to be nice, but because he couldn't look himself in the mirror if something happened to a girl with him around. Whether he knew her or not, it doesn't matter. If he felt it was his fault or he could have stopped it, it would crush him. His morality might be his downfall. It also doesn't help that if he thinks he can help a girl out, he'll try. The reason Samantha was able to zapped Joe was because he thought he was helping her feel loved. Of course, it does seem like reverse sexism to some people. Maybe it is, but Joe's heart is in the right place. I only hope he remembers the fact that Reena is also Wade. That will keep him from screwing himself over. He's trying to do what he thinks is right. Sometimes he can't see the big picture because of it." Jake sighed. "I guess I can see why he gets so mad when someone insults Kisa. To Joe, Kisa is a girl. God damn it, why did I have to run off? I should be helping him. Like he helped me." Jake picked up a random rock and threw it. Before Silver Shot could say anything, a sound came from the foliage.

    "Shit! Someone's trailin' us!" Silver Shot drew his gun, while Jake had his pen and some paper ready. Neither of them knew who was behind them, but there was someone. A battle was about to start.