Corruption: Shootout At The Bazaar

"Shootout At The Bazaar" is the second animated featurette of Tales Of The Corruption.

Synopsis
A normal business day within The Bazaar goes sour for Leo and Victoria when they are confronted by a few bandits...

141 Fiction Presents...

Shootout At The Bazaar The Bazaar. A large trading market founded in the middle of the Wasteland of Untamed Lands...

The “streets” were busy and filled with the life of various people going about their normal businesses, there was no violence but the sorts of people around weren’t exactly the type you would call your friend and the blistering heat of the sun was unwavering upon the market.

Walking through the mix of various shady and legitimate businesses currently being operated, Leo felt on edge as he pushed himself through the crowds that were gathered, focusing on his business and keeping his head down under his hat rather than browsing the goods he was being offered here and there, no matter how tempting or useful what he was being offered looked.

At quick glance, nothing seemed out of place in the market but he knew there was something wrong. The traders looked more at unease than they normally were, customers looked ready to bolt at a moment’s notice and too many eyes seemed to linger on him longer than he would like.

Hovering his hand over his 6O5S revolver, Leo just kept going. He’d been in this game long enough to know that if trouble was coming-it was gonna make itself clear very soon. He just had to keep his eye and ears open and alert for any minor but notable detail that looked wrong...

Ultimately, it was at the moment he reached one of the more spacious parts of The Bazaar that he immediately brought himself to a stand still, his hairs standing up as he became fully alert.

Of course, he was quick to recognize what had to be the trap that he was expecting as all of the booths in the surrounding area of the inner part of the Bazaar were empty of both traders and customers, as if someone had cleared them out prior to Leo having arrived here now...

“Leocadio Mireles!” a voice dramatically announced from behind him which led to him cautiously turning to look over his shoulder and see three armed men, clearly part of some bandit gang named "Dead Vipers" when taking the logo he saw on all their jackets into consideration.

Not that he cared too much, bandits like these guys were all the same.

What he cared about the most was the fact they were also currently holding a young boy, one he personally recognized as Zach, hostage while he also noticed the various nearby traders and customers alike started acting as he had suspected earlier, quickly leaving the immediate area.

“Been waiting for you cowboy” the one who was at least acting like the leader said with a smirk while Leo himself kept a straight face, even as he noticed two more of their gang appearing on the other side of him just before he turned around completely. Even if he only had one eye, he could still tell that he was at a disadvantage as he finally gave this “leader” a response.

“Well, it’s your own fault for making such a show about it. I mean, you could’ve just left a message, it’s not like I would’ve left you on read” the cowboy said in response, offering a slightly sarcastic but “polite” smile as he nodded to the sack full of mail the boy was holding onto tightly.

“We wanted to make it a special occasion” the bandit replied, with a slightly more obviously sarcastic smile of his own as he kept a tight grip on Zach’s shoulder before adding “I mean, after all, can you blame us? There’s a BIG bounty on you buddy. The Queen wants you good but also alive so me and the boys didn’t want to leave you with many options of getting away...”

“Such a gentleman” was the cowboy’s response, words laced with sarcasm as he briefly looked at a sign to his side which served as a reminder to all traders and customers to keep matters peaceful as the market was currently under a peace treaty between any who visit The Bazaar.

Reminded of this, he couldn’t help but wonder if all bandits weren’t capable of reading signs.

“Indeed, a lot of preparation was done to take you in. Aren’t you flattered?”

“I’d be more flattered if you weren’t currently threatening a boy who doesn’t need to be involved in this business” Leo gritted through his teeth, always disliking it when innocents were dragged into matters like this but especially feeling guilty when they were being used to get to him.

For a moment, the bandit he was talking to looked a little uncomfortable about the idea himself but he quickly covered this up by pressing his Executioner Cannon further against the head of the already frightened boy when he replied with “measures had to be taken. As I said, the Queen wants you alive and who knows what she’ll do if we bring you in otherwise. If you promise to come with us without trouble, we’ll let your messenger boy here go and nobody will get hurt.”

Keeping his hard gaze locked on the bandits in front of him, Leo felt a soft hand grasp his shoulder and he knew exactly who it was before she even leaned up to whisper in his ear.

“There’s a sixth bandit, a sniper up in the tower overlooking this area. I didn’t see anyone other than those already in your sights otherwise” Victoria, his Ghostly companion currently in her wraith form so that one would have to be right next to her to be able to see her, reported to him in a whisper that only he could hear before he felt her presence move away from him again.

This gave him a clear indication that she had a plan and all he had to do was wait to act it out as he focused back on the bandits in front of him again while tilting his head back to how it was.

“I hate to break it to you lads but there ain’t nothing that’s gonna be stopping me from getting back home” he replied, continuing to naturally act as if he was still the one in trouble here as he watched from the corner of his eye as Victoria started to work on her plan by silently rolling out a old fashioned dynamite from one of the booths behind the bandit with Zach in his grip.

Far enough to not deal damage to either of them but also close enough to provide a distraction.

“That’s... rather disappointing. After all, we need YOU alive but I’m sure the Queen doesn’t give a damn about some little boy or another” the leader replied as threatening as he could while using his pistol to push Zach’s head to the right, an indication this was Leo’s last chance, and the cowboy himself prepared to grab his own weapon as he watched a light gust blow a tumbleweed by. He knew that, unfortunately for this bandit, their plans were about to go south.

With tense glances being passed between each of those about to be participants of a good old fashioned shootout, Victoria finished pushing the dynamite into place and used a little bit of her magic to set it alight before walking away and counting the seconds in her mind as they passed.

“Kaboom.”

Right as she calculated, the dynamite exploded loud enough to briefly deafen the ears of those nearby and living while Leo used this opportunity to take his revolver and take the shot, hitting the distracted leader right in the shoulder to make him groan out in pain and let go of the boy.

“RUN Zach!” Leo yelled out as loud as he could to the boy who immediately ran for the nearest cover he could while the cowboy quickly dove for the nearest cover he himself could find just as the sniper he had been warned about took a shot at him and the other bandits of this gang started to shake off the shock and react by either finding cover opposite him or by shooting him.

The latter bandits having made a terrible choice as he quickly took his shots at them and hit both between the eyes to make them fall down to the ground dead before he ducked into cover again as the sniper shot a second shot, prompting him to state “this sniper’s pretty damn accurate.”

“Yeah and clearly he doesn’t intend to take you alive like the others were” Victoria piped up as she materialized herself beside him in cover, her comment earning a smirk out of him as he opened the revolver’s cylinder to reload his revolver and she added “so, what’s our plan here?”

“Well, four are left. One’s in the tower, two are behind the truck and one is behind the glassware booth so-” he started to reply until he found something missing in his pocket which earned a groan out of him and soon a smirk from the Ghost when she connected the dots in her head.

“Aww, did someone pickpocket your ammo?”

“Looks like it” Leo muttered, mentally cursing at himself for having not noticed earlier, as he rolled the cylinder closed again before continuing his train of thought with “doesn’t matter. We can make this work. I want you to go to the guys behind the truck and distract them.”

“Distract them?” Victoria asked with an over dramatic gasp that made Leo raise his eyebrows questionably at her as she went on said “but that sounds so dangerous! What if they see me? I’m totally not ready to be seen! Do you see how I look? I’m VERY unprepared to be seen.”

“Would you rather me get killed instead?!”

“Hmmm...” the Ghost pretended to think until she ended up laughing at her friend’s disbelief and sending him a wink to let him know she was joking around just before she disappeared into her wraith form to act on her plan while the wounded bandit leader started speaking up again.

“Alright... clearly things didn’t go as planned” the leader stated from behind the booth, one hand nursing his wounded shoulder and the other keeping a grip on his pistol before he added “but you have one last chance to come quietly. We don’t want to disappoint the Queen now, do we?”

“Eh, I think I’ve already disappointed her enough to no longer be worried about it, lads.”

Before the bandit could offer a reply, a sharp whistle split the air which caused the bandits present to turn to their right and see Victoria the Ghost having materialized herself yet again but this time in their view as she waved at them and yelled “yoo-hoo! Over here! Don’t I look good?”

With the bandits quickly having a number of questions run through their heads at the sight of this suddenly existing Ghost girl flaunting herself to them, Leo took the chance to run out of the cover of the booth and head to make it behind the back of the truck before he was hit.

It wasn’t his best plan but he had a limited time to make up ideas after all and fortunately enough he was able to slide into position just as a sniper shot passed his head. The bandits behind the truck barely had a few seconds to register that they had been distracted before he used two shots from his revolver to shut them down permanently just like he had done the others before.

“Damn it cowboy, didn’t know you had a friend!” the leader cursed while he was quick to turn his aim towards the woman standing out in the open and shot at her. However, much to the bandit’s surprise, she quickly fazed into her wraith form so that the shot would go through her.

“Wow, how rude! Did your momma not teach you any manners?!” Victoria huffed before diving to join Leo in cover again and leaving the bandit leader shocked at what he had witnessed. This is until he activated the communications device in his ear to start issuing orders for back-up.

“There’s no way I can aim for that sniper from this far” Leo told his Ghost friend as she joined him and watched him grab one of the revolvers that the bandits had on them, as well as the ammo, to reload his own weapon along with have a second one for added firepower before he looked to her and asked “fancy taking the reigns and handling what remains yourself?”

Hearing this suggestion, the Ghost smirked which was an expression that grew even more once both she and the cowboy had noticed several more gang bandits running into the area.

“I think I will...” was Victoria’s verbal response before she suddenly fazed into him. From here, the Ghost was quick to possess the cowboy and take over his body for herself while muttering a spell that would provide the cowboy’s body from any damage with magical protection, all things they had done numerous times in the past and Leo had become used too as signs of her hold over him showed in the form of his eye changing to red in color and his body slightly glowing.

With her all ready to fight, it was time for her to finish their little shootout.

As Victoria took control, his body moved like a flash as she brought it out of cover and wielded the two revolvers and took the bandit reinforcements by surprise when she started shooting them with both weapons at pinpoint accuracy. One by one the bandits fell like dominos and the few who got shots off found their bullets having no effect against the magical protection on Leo.

To the bandit leader who was watching, it was almost like the Ghost was dancing with Leo’s body as she shot every opposition down without trouble, without missing. Leocadio Mireles IV the El Sheriff was already a fearsome foe and with this Ghost possessing his body and using it for her own purposes, it was an unstoppable combo which the bandits stood no chance against.

It wasn’t long before this routine of hers was all soon finished off by aiming at the sniper’s head, just as he was aiming at Leo’s, and winked at him before sending a bullet between his eyes.

The last remaining bandit couldn’t believe his eyes as his mind wondered about what he had witnessed but it also recognized that all this didn’t matter and he just had to get out of here now!

Unfortunately for him, he didn’t manage to run far before the cowboy, as his Ghostly companion released her grip on him, dropped the second weapon he had retrieved and grabbed one of his net grenades to then throw it out in the bandit’s direction. On contact with the ground, the grenade quickly exploded and enclosed him in a net that left him trapped and at their mercy.

“I get it! I get it! You won! Please just let me go!” the bandit started pleading, completing fearing for his life now as he desperately tried to escape from the net he was entangled within but was left helpless to watch as both cowboy and Ghost approached him in a rather menacing fashion.

“Here’s how this is gonna go...” Leo said, sharing a smirk with Victoria before holstering his weapon and crouching down as he explained “we’re gonna let you live and you’re going to deliver a message to the Queen. You’re going to tell her to stop sending bandits like you my way or else she’s just going to find her rule over the Outcasts in even more trouble... understood?”

The bandit had wide eyes, knowing how much trouble he would get from the Queen if he was to tell her such but also clearly recognizing he didn’t have much of a choice which led to him ultimately nodding in agreement as Leo gave him a smile and a pat on the shoulder after.

“Good lad. Sorry about your mates” he told him with half-sincerity before standing up and walking away from the still entrapped bandit with his companion, the two of them tuning out the sounds of protest coming from their defeated enemy as they were approached by the boy who ran out of the cover he had taken and met them, a big smile on his face as he looked to them.

“Thank you so much for saving me sir!”

“It’s no problem Zach, I’m just glad you're safe. I’m sorry you got dragged into this mess” was Leo’s response as he casually reached up to use his hand and ruffle the young boy’s hair which made Zach himself chuckle during his half-hearted attempts to resist against the cowboy he had come to know as a friend as Victoria watched as people in the Bazaar gathered in crowds again.

“It’s not your fault sir, they were bad people!” Zach was saying as the cowboy finally pulled his hand back before he then had a sudden realization and started sorting through his bag before he said “Oh and before I forget sir, you got a letter!” just as he produced it and handed it over.

“Well thank you” Leo told him as he took the letter and gave it a brief look over before looking back to the young boy and saying “now, you best go home and warn your mama about all this.”

“I will! Thanks again sir!” was his last exchanged words before he zipped up his bag again and started running off, no doubt doing as he was told, as both Leo and Victoria turned back down to look at the letter as he turned it over so that they saw it had the logo of the planet Earth itself and some of its regions all underneath the letter V, which he didn’t recognize ever seeing before.

“Think it’s our next job offer?”

Suddenly, getting the feeling that he was being watched, Leo looked up towards the more populated part of the market, an act that Victoria soon followed, which led to him noticing a person he had known of before. The famous bounty hunter of the Untamed Lands, Iria Reyes.

“I think this is going to be a little more than just a simple job offer...” was what Leo replied with as his faithful Ghost companion curiously looked between the letter and Iria herself... Tales Of The Corruption

Featured Characters

 * Leocadio Mireles IV
 * Victoria The Ghost
 * Zach Garcia
 * Fleek (Referred To As Bandit Leader)

Trivia

 * Despite the fact that it is the second animated featurette to be released, Shootout At The Bazaar was actually the first official form of media to be written for Tales Of The Corruption due to it being a test of writing capability.