Chapter 40 - The Standoff

After bidding farewell to Tom, Yoshio and Tomoki exited the cartographer's workshop. As Yoshio walked on the street, he accidentally bumped into a stranger.

Yoshio: ''Sorry about that sir!''

Yoshio continued to keeping walking until the stranger called back to him.

Alexander James: ''HOLD IT RIGHT THERE SON!!''

Rinku: ''Oh...Fuck....Can we not just go to one town without fighting!''

Yoshio looked back to see the stranger staring directly at him. His hair, black as coal, his eyes were dark green. His right ear was bleeding. He lit a cigar in his mouth and slowly approached Yoshio.

Alexander James: ''Do you have any idea what you have done?''

Yoshio: ''Did I make your ears bleed just by bumping into you?''

Alexander James: ''Actually no, I accidentally shot myself but THAT'S NOT THE POINT! Do you have even a clue who I am?''

Yoshio: ''You are secretly a nice man who...Just wanted to say hi?''

Suddenly everyone on the streets started whispering. ''It can't be! It's Alexander James!'', ''Oh no! It's Alexander James!''

Yoshio: ''I'm guessing your name is Alexander James...''

Alexander James(sarcastically): ''Really? What gave it away?''

Yoshio: ''Well it could be the fact that everyone on the street is whispering your name or the fact that, that man behind you is holding up your wanted poster!''

Alexander James: ''That ain't a man! That's my sister!''

The woman holding the 4 star wanted poster suddenly took off her coat, revealing her amazing figure with huge breasts.

Yoshio: ''Damn...She doesn't skip chest day!''

*Alexander kicks Yoshio to the ground*

Alexander James: ''HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT MY SISTER LIKE THAT!''

Yoshio: ''Look may be we got off on the wrong foot. Let's just bury the hatchet and move on with our lives!''

Alexander James: ''NAH! I have been waiting to meet you ever since I saw your name in the newspaper! You caused a lot of trouble at Snakecliff, Runner's Up and the Westwind...I heard that Crystal Valley got destroyed recently! I'm guessing that was you?''

Yoshio: ''Nope it must have been a different Yoshio...''

Alexander James: ''Ahh...A smart-ass are we?''

Yoshio: ''Honestly Aj...I'm as dumb as a rock!''

Alexander James: ''Lying will get you no where''

Rinku: ''Actually I think that part is true..''

Alexander James: ''Where are you headed? What do you want? Why are there Indians and Africans on our land?''

Yoshio: ''What does the last part have to do with this questioning?''

Alexander James: ''Just answer the damn question!''

*Alexander pulls out a pistol and aims it at Yoshio's head*

Alexander James: ''I am not going to ask again....''

Yoshio: ''Ooo...I know this is a bad time, but could you repeat what you just said...I wasn't paying attention''

Alexander James: ''THAT'S IT! YOU AND ME ARE GOING TO HAVE A STANDOFF RIGHT NOW!''

Yoshio: ''Look Aj...I don't have time for this! I can just give you some money and we can pretend like this never happened!''

Alexander James: ''No. You are playing with fire Yoshio, I have to kill you now before you damage our world!''

Yoshio: ''I'M NOT EVEN DOING ANYTHING! I JUST WANT TO SAVE MY MOTHER!''

Alexander James: ''You are headed to Higher Palace! Do you have any idea what it could mean for all of us when you go there! I'm stopping you before you bring destruction on our country!''

Yoshio: ''...Fine! You want a standoff? Then let's do it!''

All of a sudden the streets started to clear out to make way for Yoshio and Alexander's standoff. The whole town went silent as they watched both of the cowboys stare down each other. Who will make the first move? Alexander reached for his gun, however Yoshio shot him in the chest before he could even grab his gun. Alexander fell to the ground admitting defeat. Yoshio was the winner!

Yoshio: ''T-That's...That's it???''

Just then the stars on Alexander's wanted poster his sister was holding started to peel off, revealing his true bounty of 1 star!

Yoshio: ''YOU'RE A FRAUD?!''

Alexander was still in pain to talk. His sister immediately ran away.

Yoshio: ''THE WAY YOU WAS SPEAKING! HOW EVERYBODY IN THIS TOWN WAS AFRAID OF YOU! DID YOU EVEN FIGHT ANYONE?''

*Alexander passed out due to fear*

Yoshio: ''Hey man...I didn't really shoot you in any crucial spots...Are you okay?''

Alexander James: ''...''

*Yoshio slowly approached his body and placed some cash bills in his pocket*

Yoshio: ''Sorry about that....''

Suddenly everyone in the town started screaming. Yoshio and Rinku were confused on what was going on. Tom quickly rushed out of his workshop and told Yoshio to get out of town now. Just then everybody in the town started running after Yoshio and Rinku, wanting to fight them and steal all of their money. Rinku loaded his gun but Yoshio told him to not waste his ammo on these low level bandits.

Yoshio and Rinku had no choice but to use their hands to fight all of them. Surprisingly Yoshio and Rinku were winning. They both dodged bullets that were fired at them and kept hitting harder strikes anytime somebody got closer to them. However there was no end to the towns people so Yoshio and Rinku had to still fight until there was no more of them. 

In the end, Yoshio and Rinku won! They had beaten up every criminal, bandit and thug in the town. Their hands were covered in blood. They were exhausted but they didn't want to delay any further so both of them grabbed their things and made way to Higher Palace! 

Yoshio: ''OH AND ONE MORE THING! IF ANYBODY HURTS TOM, YOU ANSWER TO ME!''

After they left, Tom hung both Yoshio and Rinku's wanted poster in front of his shop. On top in bold, he wrote BEST CUSTOMERS. Whenever any thugs wanted to rob Tom's workshop, they would instantly turn away, fearing that Yoshio and Rinku would kill them if anything happened to Tom.

Tom(laughing): ''That boy...My workshop wasn't even getting robbed but at least I got some protection now!''