An Unlikely Duo - A Way Out AU Fanfic

Monster Island: The Arena

Confused and beyond exhausted, Vincent awoke to the sound of his phone, which was ringing obnoxiously. He glanced over at the digital clock on his nightstand, seeing that it was 4:00 a.m. Tired and annoyed, Vince got up and answered the ringing device, hearing the voice of one of his co-workers "Vincent. You gotta get over here as soon as possible".

"Huh? Why? ..It's 4 in the morning.." Vincent whispered in reply, being careful not to wake up his sleeping wife.

The man sighed, sounding frustrated "The Winged we brought in yesterday escaped. I found a broken window in the infirmary".

Vincent placed his palm against his head "Dammit. Alright...I'll be right over". With that, he hung up and started to get dressed.

"Vincent? ..What's going on?" Carol mumbled softly, being woken up by the sound of him leaving the bed.

"There's an emergency at the preserve and I need to be there right away. One of the monsters escaped".

With a sigh of disappointment, Carol laid her head back down and sighed "alright... please be back soon".

"Mhm. Love you, dear" Vincent grabbed his keys and flashlight and headed out, quickly getting into his car and driving to the preserve as fast as the law would allow him to.

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"You were the last one here, Vincent. What happened?" The worker asked as they walked outside, planning to search the forest. Vincent explained what happened and why Leo was even in the infirmary at all, being embarrassed that he was the one who let the Winged escape. "Alright. Well, let's split up. We can cover more ground that way. How about we meet back here in about 15 minutes". Vincent agreed to his friend's suggestion, and they promptly parted ways, going in opposite directions.

As he trudged through wild flowers, tall trees, shrubs, ferns, and mosses, Vince intricately looked around into the depths of the woods, not wanting to miss the Winged in potential hiding. To Vincent's relief, and Leo's misfortune, it didn't take long for him to spot the Winged. Resisting the urge to laugh, Vincent quietly crept towards the ensnared monster. Leo's long ears pricked upwards and he swiftly turned around, hissing when he saw the worker. "Wow. Seems like you didn't get too far, huh?" He chuckled, pocketing his flashlight to untie the net.

"Fuck you, man!".

Vincent snickered some more and rolled his eyes as he reached his hands up to the net, planning to untie it from the sturdy tree branch it hung from.

"HEY! Stop it right there!".

A sudden, threatening voice caused both Vincent and Leo to freeze in place. A man wearing a brown jacket and dark grey jeans pointed a gun at the preserve worker's head, demanding he step away from the captured monster. It took a second, but Vincent soon realized that this was a poacher, and the Winged got himself caught in one of their traps. Without any questions, he slowly raised his hands in surrender, carefully stepping away. Leo watched anxiously, actually being terrified of poachers, but he did his best to not show it, acting tough.

"You're not going anywhere.." The strange man stated with an offensive glint in his eyes "He works at the preserve!" the poacher seemed to be talking to someone else, but before Vincent could turn around to see who it was, someone from behind him hit him in the back of the head with the butt of a gun, rendering him unconscious as he collapsed to the forest floor.

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"Uhhg..." With an aching in his skull, Vincent awoke to the sounds of a loud helicopter propeller. His eyes widened and he frantically looked around, seeing that he was sitting in a metal cage in the back of a flying helicopter. To his left was another cage, which contained the Winged, who was slamming his fists against the barred doors, doing everything he could to try to escape. The poachers must've captured the both of them... but what did they want with Vincent? Maybe they just didn't want to risk leaving any evidence?