S2 Chapter 29 - We'll Make It Through In The End, Right?

Hunter points his metal baseball bat at Worcester, the bright orange sun shining down on the rebellious teen as he utters, "I want you dead."

THE MIRACLE CLINIC: SEASON 2

Standing there at the old baseball stadium, Worcester can't help but laugh at Hunter's comment.

"You want me dead?" Worcester laughs, "What's up with you? You're acting so feisty today, Hunter! But hey, I always love a good challe-"

Worcester stops talking as he sees Hunter's bat just mere inches away from hitting him in the face. Worcester dodges, however, Hunter anticipating this completes his swing by slamming the bat down onto Worcester's foot.

"I thought I made myself clear," Hunter utters as he goes to swing the bat again.

Shocked, Worcester tries to back up some more however the swing from Hunter's bat lands in his side. 

"Oh come on!" Worcester gasps before he grabs onto Hunter, "try swinging that bat around now!"

Hunter, without a second thought, holds the bat behind Worcester's back for slamming it into it. Worcester lets go of Hunter and slumps to the ground, using his opportunity, Hunter swings the bat at Worcester's head, and it's about to make full contact.

___________________________

"Worcester seems to be making a lot of moves now," No. 6 of The Massachusetts Boys, Frankfurt 'Fall River' Schulz remarks.

The middle aged man is chatting with The Massachusetts Boys' No. 3, Cambridge, who has his back turned to him as he's examining an abandoned warehouse.

"Boston & Salem are busy preparing for their big meeting and he thinks he's able to just run amok," Cambridge remarks, "Someone's going to have to put him in his place soon, I just don't see where he got that confidence from."

"Well Cambridge," Fall River begins to explain, "Besides the top 2 and myself, Worcester has the most experience running a gang. Before he ended up joining us, he had a gang of his own. And you want to know what people called him?"

Cambridge is silent as Fall River answers his own question, "They called White, The Devil In Red."

___________________________

Hunter's eyes are wide in shock as he sees that his swing completely missed Willy 'Worcester' White, and Worcester is now behind him.

Furthermore, there's a long deep gash on Hunter's face that goes across his nose and just barely avoids his eyes.

"Why are you so surprised?" Worcester questions as he holds a box cutter in his hands, "Did you seriously think you were the only one allowed to carry a weapon?"

As Hunter's blood begins to stain Worcester's all white clothes, The Devil In Red continues his work as he uses the knife to slash at Hunter more and more all across his body.

Every thought Hunter has as to what to do next is interrupted by the searing pain he's feeling as a new wound is added to him.

Eventually, pushing through the sharp pain spreading across his entire body, Hunter tries to slam the metal baseball bat into Worcester just one more time.

"Nice try!" Worcester remarks as he tosses the box cutter into Hunter's dominant hand, "But I've seen better."

Hunter winces in pain as the grip on his bat weakens. Using the opportunity, Worcester kicks Hunter in the chin, causing another cut to get added to Hunter's body since The Devil In Red's shoes have nails in them. 

Furthermore, Worcester pulls a proper switchblade out of his other sleeve which he proceeds to use against Hunter.

As more and more slash marks are placed on Hunter's body, Marcus realizes something as he's being restrained. At any moment Worcester could finish this off and just stab Hunter.

But he isn't.

He's toying with Hunter.

Realizing there's no real way for Hunter to win this alone, Marcus bites down on the hand of the person who is holding him in place. As they let go of Marcus, Marcus ends up rushing over to where Worcester & Hunter are.

"M-Marcus?" Hunter questions.

"Hey, get the hell away from him you fucking bastar-" Marcus tries to yell but he stops in his tracks immediately.

7 millimeters. 

That's how close Worcester's switchblade is to piercing Marcus' eye.

"Wait. Your. Turn," Worcester instructs.

As Worcester stands there however, Hunter uses the opportunity to tackle the man and take him to the ground. The bat & switchblade have fallen to the side of the two as Hunter, sitting atop Worcester, begins to bring his fists down onto the man.

"You," Hunter yells as his right fist slams into Worcester.

"Leave," Hunter yells after another swing.

"Him," Hunter screams with yet another swing.

"ALONE!" Hunter roars as he delivers one final swing at Worcester's bruised body.

Hunter finally stops punching Worcester and looks down to see him not moving. Hunter rests his arms down as he breathes heavily.

He won-

SLASH!

Hunter looks to see blood pooling out from him. Confused, he looks to see that Worcester faked being unconscious and used the opportunity to grab onto the box cutter in Hunter's dominant hand before bringing the box cutter to Hunter's shoulder while it was still in him.

Finally taking the box cutter out of the teen, Worcester then kicks Hunter off of him, sending Hunter to the ground. As he lays there, Hunter loses consciousness due to the loss of blood.

"You surprised me there for a minute," Worcester begins to say as he picks Hunter's baseball bat up, "But looks like you really didn't have it in you to kill me after all."

Worcester then drags the baseball bat on the ground – and over Hunter's body – as he makes his way over to Marcus.

"But don't worry my friend," Worcester says as he lifts the baseball bat up, "I don't share such hesitation!"

Marcus tries to run away, but with a devilish smile on Worcester's face.

CRACK!

Marcus falls down to the ground, unconscious and bleeding. Worcester walks over to where Selina & Jude are being held up, Jude looks horrified while Selina is trying with all her might to escape the thugs' grasps, but she can't.

"So which one of you is next?" Worcester remarks as he raises the metal bat.

"How about me?"

Worcester, Selina, Jude, and several Massachusetts Boys' members all look confused as someone steps foot onto the field. Mister Fluffykins hops off the bleachers and makes their way to the new person who's wearing a Hawaiian shirt underneath a black blazer, black round sunglasses, white pants, and brown dress shoes. But most apparent about the tall figure is his silver 'MSA' ring. 

"How about you aim high with those swings of yours for a change?" the man who appeared, Ronald Sampson, suggests, "Or what? You're too scared?"

Worcester grits his teeth at the man, and though he's tempted too, he ultimately turns around and walks away.

"Let the others go," Worcester begins to say before threatening, "And if I ever see your face again I'll smash your head in."

"You have fun with that," Ronald remarks as he shakes his hand, however he turns to Selina & Jude.

"How did you-" Selina begins to ask.

"I placed a tracker on my cat after last time he went missing," Ronald Sampson says, as he pets Mister Fluffykins, "Thanks for keeping him safe for the time he was out, I owe you big time so here."

Ronald takes out his business card and hands it to Selina.

"Give me a call when you need some help and I'd be happy to oblige," Ronald Sampson remarks before turning to Jude, "As for you kiddo."

Sampson reaches into his blazer's pocket before pulling out a lollipop and handing it to Jude.

"Th-thanks but, what about them?" Jude questions as he looks over to Marcus & Hunter.

"Ah them," Ronald Sampson sighs as he crouches down, "I'll call them an ambulance, it shouldn't take too long."

"Why are you so helpful?" Jude questions.

"It's simple," Ronald Sampson smiles as he dials a number, "I'm just a good samaritan."

__________________________________

Beep!

Beep!

Beep!

"Urgh," a voice groans as they try to sit up, "Where am I?"

Before the person can move, they feel arms wrap around them and embrace him in a hug.

"Oh thank goodness you're alright!" Another voice sobs.

"M-mom?" The initial voice begins to ask as his blurry vision slowly starts to adjust to the room.

However, when his vision finally returns to normal, the person realizes where they are. Hunter Huntingson, with several bandages tied around him, is sitting in a hospital room, and he's currently being hugged by Illiana Lynch. The others in the room are a teary eyed Lennon Lynch, Selina Gulvonac, & a Marcus Veridan who has some bandages around his forehead.

"Mi-Misses Lynch?" Hunter says, "But why are you here- I thought you'd want to kick me out after-"

"Hunter, you don't need to worry about that," Lennon Lynch says as he places a hand on his foster kid's shoulder, "We're not going to abandon you."

Hearing those words, Hunter can't help but feel his eyes begin to water up. He goes to hug Iliana back when he realizes something.

"My bat! It's-" Hunter tries to say as Iliana finishes the hug.

"Forget the bat, you should worry about you right now!" Selina says as she points at Hunter.

"Me? But I'm fi-" Hunter says before seeing his own reflection in the mirror.

Staring back at him is his own body…but it's different. While most of the wounds Worcester inflicted onto him have healed, what's been left behind are two noticeable scars; a horizontal scar going across his nose and one going from his shoulder all the way down to the center of his dominant hand.

"Is that, me?" Hunter says before noticing someone is missing, "Where's Jude?!"

"He's back at our home with Chao," Iliana explains, "He told us that there were some people who attacked him and your friends but you tried to stop them."

"Yeah," Hunter begins to say before getting stopped.

"You can tell us everything when you're ready to," Lennon says, "For now, just focus on your recovery and don't get into anymore fights, especially while you're still injured."

"I…," Hunter begins to say before once more getting stopped by something, this time the door to the room opening.

They all look to see a doctor enter the room, who motions for Iliana & Lennon to exit the room so they can discuss some of the finer details of Hunter's recovery once he leaves the hospital later that day.

With the adults gone, that leaves Hunter free to chat with Marcus & Selina.

"Once I'm out of here, I'm going to get that bat back from Worcester," Hunter says.

"What? Dude no, we all just saw what happened last time," Selina tries to say, "If you try to face him again, then you're just going to repeat what already happened!"

"I know but…," Hunter says with his fists shaking, "I can't lose the last thing I have left of her."

As Hunter sits there, trying to think of any way he could try to get it back…

"I can help," Marcus says.

"What?" Hunter begins to say, "No, you stay out of this! You-"

"I know how risky facing off against a gang is, and I'm willing to take that risk again," Marcus begins to say.

"Again?" Selina wonders silently.

"The Massachusetts Boys don't seem like they'll ever stop harassing you unless we bring them down," Marcus says, his conviction he found the last time he got into a fight shining through once more.

"It's impossible though," Hunter says.

"If it's impossible then why did you want to do it by yourself?!" Selina scolds Hunter, "Urgh no wonder you're such a slow reader."

"I will agree that it's seemingly impossible, and it'll take a miracle for it all to go well," Marcus starts to say before he smirks and adds, "But I know just the people who can help make miracles a reality!"

Hunter looks at Marcus stunned before asking, "Wait, you don't mean?"

"Yeah, I do," Marcus affirms, "I'm talking about…"

THE MIRACLE CLINIC: SEASON 2

Wait didn't we do that earlier in the chapter? Oh well, anyways…

"So yeah, that's how my weekend went, what do you guys think, are you in?" Marcus asks.

He is sitting at a table at the Starlight City Northern Park with Selina sitting next to him. The others at the table – Ronnie Everst, Sammy Becken, Randy Buzz, Alex Smith, & Elizabeth Moore – are all sitting there shocked. Alex & Elizabeth's now much larger bucket of popcorn is empty as well.

"Dude why is it always this park when you drop these bombshells on us?" Alex sighs.

"I know! At least it's consistent but still," Elizabeth agrees.

"Wait, this is a recurring thing?!" Ronnie questions.

"Yes!" Elizabeth & Alex yell.

"How come I've never been to these before?" Ronnie questions further.

"Well uh," Marcus begins to say but decides it's better to just talk about it later so he switches topics, "But yeah, are you guys willing to go to the west side?"

"After what happened last time we got involved with them, I'm not sure," Elizabeth laments.

"Wait, this happened before?" Randy whispers to Selina.

"That's what I'm asking!" Selina whispers back.

"I know that it's a big uncertainty, and if any of you don't want to get involved I don't blame you. But…," Ronnie says as a certain memory floods into his mind.

"I'm going to stop it, I'm going to stop all of this."

"I made a promise to try and make things right," Ronnie says, "It's about time I live up to that promise."

"If you're doing this bub, then so am I," Alex says, "You're gonna need someone strong like me to protect you & Marcus!"

"Alex," Ronnie begins to say.

"To be honest, I'm still a bit shaken up with how things went down before," Elizabeth laments before affirming, "Though I'm not gonna sit by and watch you three put yourself in harm's way alone, so count me in."

Ronnie looks over at Sammy, Selina, and Randy before saying, "You guys don't have to come with if you don't want to, None of us will blame you."

"I've been waiting to blow off some steam for a while," Sammy replies, "This seems like just the opportunity to do so!"

"Those guys aren't gonna get away with messing with the best DM I've ever met!" Selina remarks, "Also someone's gotta make sure you all don't get lost, and what better person to help with that than the girl who just finished reading last year's Starlight City's Complete Tour Guide book at the store?"

"This is stupid," Randy sighs, "But if the buzzing brawler isn't there, you guys would be done for."

"Okay, since all of us plus Hunter that makes eight of us against all of them-" Marcus begins to say but gets cut off by someone else.

"Make it nine."

The group look to see that walking to them is…

"Christopher?!" Alex & Ronnie shout confused.

"How did you get here? And how much did you hear?" Marcus questions.

"I was on a jog through the park when I ran into you guys, and I heard enough to know that you're going to visit a lot of bad people who want to harm you," Christopher says before he makes a fist, "So I'll make sure to protect you all when we go there."

"Well if you're absolutely certain you can tag along," Ronnie sighs.

"Alright I'll let Hunter know that when the next weekend hits," Marcus begins to say, "We'll all be heading to the west side."

________________________

Back in the west side of town, Hunter is sitting atop the rooftop of the foster home he's in as he stares off into the setting sun.

"I didn't know you knew about this place!" a voice calls out to him.

Hunter looks to see that from the nearby window leading into their shared bedroom is the young Jude Jackson. Jude steps out from the open window and onto the roof where he sits next to Hunter.

"Woah, you think that cloud looks like an angel?" Jude asks as he points to a cloud in the sky.

Hunter looks up and doesn't see a cloud like that at all, Hunter's still silent and Jude picks up on his sulking.

"It wasn't your fault," Jude tries to say.

"I know you're trying to cheer me up, but it was my fault," Hunter vents, "If I was there with you at the park from the start then you wouldn't have gotten in that situation. If I was stronger then Worcester wouldn't have had the chance to hurt you. I'm supposed to protect people, not put them in harm's way."

"Hey look on the bright side," Jude begins to say, "You didn't know that was going to happen, unlike me who's alway been a good-for-nothing kid."

"What? No you aren't," Hunter says.

"Yes, I am," Jude stresses, "I tore apart my mom & my dad, and now I'm tearing apart Mr & Mrs Lynch. Everytime I get something good in my life, I'm always the one to ruin it!"

As Jude begins to cry, Hunter places a hand on his shoulder.

"What ever happened with your parents was because of their actions, you aren't at fault for what they did," Hunter begins to say as Jude wipes away his tears, "And if anything, you're bringing Mr & Mrs Lynch closer together than ever, do you know how much I hear them praise you and care for you? You aren't at fault for the problems those adults may have."

"Well in that case, you aren't at fault either," Jude remarks with a soft smile.

Hunter at first brushes aside Jude's remark but Jude continues.

"If anything, now you know how that Worcester guy works, he showed you all the tricks he had, so now if you ever face him again, you'll know what to expect. You just made it easier for yourself in the future," Jude affirms with a proud smile on his face.

Hunter actually stands puzzled, letting those words Jude just spouted sink in. All this time he's been trying to be perfect, to flawlessly make up for everything wrong he ever did, but he can't do it perfectly. 

He's only human.

No different from his mother.

No different from Marcus.

No different from Jude.

Jude goes and gives Hunter a hug as the two watch the sunset.

"Y'know, I thought you were pretty mean and scary when we first met. But now I know you're lost and confused about all this stuff, like me," Jude remarks, "But we'll be able to get through it all together, right? You'll keep busting bad guys' heads and I'll keep busting up some dungeons. We'll make it through in the end, right?"

Hunter stops and contemplates for a moment, as he does so he looks up at the cloud Jude pointed to before and realizes maybe Jude was right about what that cloud looks like.

As the two sit together watching the sunset, Hunter affirms, "Right."

See You Next Chapter!~