Advent Of A Gunslinger

Back in the Junker Yard…

Just as the trio had anticipated. All of the Diamond Dogs had been driven out of the small canyon thanks to their little distraction. And with the wall of rocks that had been created thanks to the explosion, it would be a while before any of them would return.

“Alright, ya’ll,” Axel muttered to his crewmates, “Check every buildin’ ya see. Lemme know if ya catch a whiff of any gold. Or signs of any gangsters.”

“Wait,” Vido replied as he peered into a scrap building. “You don’t think we got them all outta there?”

“I’m expectin’ a few of ‘em’ta still be here,” Axel replied as he shifted his gaze around the environment. His nose was still hard at work, actively sniffing out whatever shred of gold he could hope for.

And wouldn’t you know it? His nose knew.

“Got it,” he called out to his group as he flew towards a building in the middle of the junkyard that was made out of boat-like pieces of scrap.

The griffon and abyssinian she-cat slowly walked up, following him there…

Then, all of a sudden--

“Remington!” Kora shouted as she scampered on all fours in his direction. “To your left!”

“...!”

BLAM!

Just as Kora had predicted, something did come in from Axel’s left. Various pieces of scrap metal that were fired off in a spread akin to shotgun pellets. Thankfully, Kora’s warning is what saved the gunslinger just in the nick of time as he was able to fly out of the way of the molten metal bullets before they could reach him.

He raised his pistols, and pointed them in the direction that the shots were fired from. “What in the hell…”

“Hmph…” The man behind the bullets stepped forward--the wolf-like diamond dog that worked for Kolasi. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’d have the reflexes of a cat to dodge those.”

Kora hissed and made her presence known by standing in front of Axel. “Who are you, heathen? Identify yourself.”

“Well…” he raised his rifle, and rested it upon his shoulder, “I suppose that would explain it. Regardless, I could ask you all the same thing. But I suppose I already know why you’re here…and I can’t exactly blame you.”

Vido raised his marksman rifle, pointing it at the wolfman. “Oh? If you can’t blame us, then why oppose us, perro?”

“Because I chose this life,” he replied, “And so did the rest of us. Even if it isn’t ideal, it’s far better than living under the kingdom’s rule…keeping us down and preventing us from living the way we want…”

While the relationship between the two sides was interesting in a vacuum, Axel refused to allow himself to get wrapped up in such a thing.

“I don’t give a right damn about what side is doin’ what’ta whoever,” he coldly responded whilst cocking his pistols, “I’m here for the sake of my folks, and deletin’ any and all who were involved in they disappearance.”

“Same here,” Kora added, “I care not for the politics of your land. All we want is justice to be served.”

Vido decided to be more direct in his approach to this conversation. “Do the names ‘Magpie’ or ‘Remington’ ring a bell, perro?”

The wolfman paused and looked away from them. “...So that’s who you are. The legendary Remington himself…”

“Ya goddamn right,” Axel continued, “Now I ain’t gon’ ask ya again. Tell me whatcha know.”

The wolfman placed his rifle on the ground and held his hands up. “You’ll want to ask a hyena-woman who works down below. Her name is Ejei and she manages the slavery business down here. That’s all I know. Honest.”

Kora looked over at Axel and asked, “Do you think we can trust him, Lord?”

Axel slowly lowered his weapons and stared coldly into the eyes of the wolfman. “...He don’t look like no killer. If he really wanted’ta kill us, he would’ve approached us from behind--not from a direction where it was easily avoidable.”

“You sure, boss?” Vido asked, “He still shot at us first.”

“I know that, but we ain’t got much time left standin’ around…” Axel looked at the wolfman, “Where would I find this ‘Ejei’?”

And the wolfman responded by pointing to the building that the trio had been eyeing up moments prior. “Down there. She had just recently returned with someone--looked like a birdman.”

“...Birdman…I wonder…” Axel thought about it to himself, but chose to not let it distract him from his objective. “Come on, ya’ll. Let’s not waste no more time.”

At his discretion, Vido and Kora would follow Axel in the direction that the wolfman had pointed them to, visibly on edge and concerned over whether or not he was telling the truth…

Meanwhile, in the vast expanse of the desert near Klugetown…

Typh had led Zula out into the desert where the smoking wreckage of her airship had fallen. Among the wreckage, loads of deer corpses could be seen strewn about within the sand and the wooden parts of the ship.

“Here we are,” said the eagle woman as they approached the mess of a broken ship. “Now what do you intend to do here with that little trinket of yours, mate?”

“Just watch…” Zula held the skull charm into the air…

…SHOOM!

The souls of the various deer-folk were pulled from the beyond, and promptly transmitted back into their bodies. Their wounds would heal, and they’d awaken as if they were never hurt to begin with.

However, there was one key difference with them now that they had been revived…

They all stood in front of Zula in a row with their heads down, dutifully awaiting orders. They weren’t exactly ‘alive’ anymore…more like undead.

“There we go. Now your crew is back in action…” Zula looked in Typh’s direction with a smug expression. “...At my command. I initially didn't want to use this, but drastic times, drastic measures...”

The eagle woman sighed as she folded her arms. Her face said it all--she had anticipated Zula taking advantage of, and using her crew for her own means instead. “You know, I saw this coming. I suppose I’ll be working for you now, hm?”

“If you want to stay alive, yes,” Zula replied as she pocketed the magical device. “Now--as to what we’ll do next…”