Terminus Part I: The Journey There (Draft)

Chapter 4: Something That Matters

"You seem to know an awful lot about the Terminus, Crock," said Cameron, becoming curious.

"He's been there before. He refuses to talk on the majority of details, though," answered James.

"There are some things a crew needs to experience with their own eyes, in my opinion," said Crock.

Elsewhere, in a rather unlawful town, Bullseye and Marcus had arrived home. They were dining with their mother, who needed intensive care after an incident, and her handler.

"Who do you think you are, up and leaving all the time? You're lucky I get paid for this, I've given up so much time to do this, you don't even know," said the handler.

"You're not getting paid. This is a charity case. You've seen the guns, right? Disagree, and one of them will end you," said Marcus, slightly pissed off that yet another handler was being rude and demanding unreasonable things.

"Disagree? You'll be hearing from my lawyers!" began the handler. That was all she had a chance to say, before her brains had been splattered across the wall.

"Shit, now we need to get new wallpaper," said Marcus.

"Oh, I liked her, she was nice," said the mother.

"She was a greedy, uncharitable arse-wipe, that's what she was. Like the rest of 'em."

"Oh. Sad to see her go. So which one finished her off?"

"That was Disc Jockey here. A small guy that packs a punch."

"I always liked your names for things. You're such a clever and creative boy. Some days, I can't even remember my own name, so I don't know how you do it."

"So, mother, how is your life?" asked Bullseye.

"Oh, you know, the usual. Masquer attacking thugs down the street, I tell the handler to hide the weapons, we hide for fear of our lives, that sort of thing. How about you two, leaving for vacation and not inviting me?"

"We needed someone to watch the house. We can't afford to let Masquer find our weapons, not after all the good we've done with them," answered Bullseye.

"Oh, I know. You're both such good sons, I'm so proud of you. So what brings you back here? Bounty hunting? Masquer?"

"Masquer's head is in the right place, but his no-killing policy really sucks. But we're not here for that. We came to collect some weapons, to go after a pirate named James Baron," said Marcus, quite pleased with himself.

"Oh, I've heard about him. Asking questions, Robin Hooding, he seems like the kind of person you'd do business with."

"Yes, well, that business is forty million onits for him, and ten million onits for his millionaire friend," said Marcus.

"More than enough to fund a legitimate business. That would get Masquer off our tail, as he's dedicated to protecting this town and this town alone."

"Yes, we'll be able to get out of this dump and create a better life for ourselves," said Bullseye.

"You boys better not get ahead of yourselves. Forty million is not a number to sneeze at. They'll be tough opponents. After all, Masquer's strength and vigilantism have only given him a twenty million bounty. I don't want you to get hurt out there."

"Thanks for your concern, mother, but we are the Brothers French. We've never let our prey escape us."

Across the street, on the roof of another house, a masked man was crouched down, looking through spectral goggles, and listening through an earpiece. The man took a break and began to think about the situation. They're off bounty hunting again. Best to just leave them be. Still, it's an interesting turn of events.