Advent Of A Gunslinger

Once Kora had finished speaking to the captured ponies, that’s when she heard the explosion go off from her perspective.

“What the--?!” It didn’t take long for her to figure out the one behind it either. “I suppose our little signal plan fell through. Something must’ve happened.” She scampered down on all fours and started running through the building to find the source of the noise. “...Lord Remington, I hope you know what you’re doing…and maybe, just maybe, we can get some of these captives out of here.”

The knowledge the she-cat had gained from the conversation with that mare had placed a hefty burden upon her heart. As if she knew something she wasn’t supposed to…

But all of that came crashing down as soon as she turned the corner. At the end of the hall, she spotted someone else who had decided to hunt down the source of the noise…

A hyena-like diamond dog woman. The same one that was on the wanted poster they had seen back in Ornithia. Standing at a staggering seven feet tall compared to Kora’s mere four, she was an absolute beast--one that the she-cat had no chance against.

“...!” Knowing this, Kora backed off immediately, and scurried up to the ceiling.

Right as Ejei turned around. “What the--?” But since she didn’t see anything, she didn’t bother with it. “Forget it. I need to keep going…” She took a sniff of the air and promptly walked off down the hallway…

Once she was gone, Kora landed, flicking her tail. “Oogh…” she mumbled to herself, as she watched the large hyena woman walk off. Just the mere sight of her caused her skin to crawl and her fur to stand up on end. Regardless, she knew she couldn’t let her fear overtake her at a time like this. “Come on…don’t let it get to you. Now isn’t the time.”

Like a lithe panther, Kora hurried after the large hyena as quietly as she could. The deeper she went, the more she had the sensation that she was going…deeper into the building, per se.

“The air pressure is greater down here,” she thought to herself as she tailed the hyena lady who traveled down a flight of stairs, “I can’t even begin to fathom the insane size of this labyrinth. Just how big does it get…?”

Well, she was about to find out. Interestingly enough though, she didn’t come across Vido by the time she made it to the bottom floor. And yet…

“AWK!” the shrill squawk of a griffon could be heard just down the hall from where she had followed the hyena to.

“...He’s here. And so is Lord Remington. I have to--”

But her train of thought was interrupted when she heard a loud series of barks and howls which caused her to seize up, and slink back into the corner.

“AWOOOO!”

“N-no…” she hissed to herself while covering her ears with her paws, “Not again…not again…not again…I can’t let this deter me.” She removed her paws, and stood firm as she used her ears to listen in much more closely. Once she did, she could ear the hefty footsteps of the beastly hyena-dog. They were powerful but slow, meaning that it would be easy to sneak up on her if Kora maintained her stealthy nature well enough. “Okay…I know what I need to do now.”

BANG-BANG!

With Axel…

He had fired off two bullets in Kolasi’s direction. The bulldog quickly avoided each one with an impressive display of agility that no normal diamond dog could achieve.

“Here to rescue your little fan, hm?” she taunted from behind her desk.

Axel flicked the hammer of one of his pistols and said, “I don’t know what yer on about, but I ain’t here fer no games. Where’s yer slave bitch?”

“Ooh, that’s what you’re here for then?” the bulldog boss mocked him with a wheezy snicker, “And here I thought you were here for a certain someone. Does the name ‘Stratus’ ring a bell, hun?”

“Dagnabbit. Of course he’s here. Of COURSE.” While it disturbed Axel on the inside, the gunslinger didn’t allow it to faze him externally. His facemask kept the enraged gritting of his teeth hidden from the diamond dog as he was able to swiftly come up with a response.

“Not my circus, not my monkeys,” he replied coldly in order to stave off her attempts at taunting him, “All I’m worried about is the slaves here. Don’t give a shit ‘bout nothin’ else.”

“Well now…” Kolasi hopped onto her desk while holding a small scythe-like weapon in her hands. “Aren’t you a charmer? Guess I’ll hafta put forth more effort--” But upon closer inspection, she realized who she was dealing with. “...Oh my stars…it’s you,” she then chuckled to herself, “Well this is gon’ be fun ain’t it?!”

Axel raised a brow while still aiming his guns at her. “What’re you on about…”

With Vido…

The plan worked out…somewhat. In the ensuing chaos, Vido came across a room that held only one individual captive. “...Ay, chico. Why are you here?” he muttered as he entered the room. “I’m not one for scolding others--especially since we’re fairly close in age. But you’re going to get a real earful once Axel finds out you’re here, you know that?”

“Maybe…” Stratus said with a small cough in between his words as the griffon approached, “But you know how them wild west legends can overtake somebody. Make ‘em do crazy things…”

Vido glared at him with scorned eyes. “Chasing after an outlaw in an attempt to prove him wrong is muy estúpido. You could’ve been killed. Imagine making your hero feel like he caused you to lose your life--that’s what you were about to do.”

As Vido worked on freeing the finch from his restraints in the chair, he looked down at the ground in complete silence, pondering over whether the griffon had a point. “...Is that fer true? I wonder…”

With a few clicks of metal, and use of his claws to pick the locks, Stratus was freed, and Vido helped him out of the chair. “Alright. Let’s get going.”

“...Thanks, friend. Guess I should’ve been more careful, huh…”

“You’re welcome, but…” Vido shook his head and replied, “No seas idiota--you can do better than that. I know you can. But now, we have to find ourselves a way out of this diablo of a mess.”

Just then, they heard a loud, hissing noise from outside. “HHHHHH!”

“...Is that the little cat lady?” Stratus asked.

“...I’m not sure if I want it to be or not,” Vido replied. “Come on.”