Advent Of A Gunslinger

While everyone was distracted, Axel had swiped one of the rifles from the diamond dog guards and shot Ejei. Then, he turned and slammed the stock of the rifle into the abdomen of the guard he had stolen it from, dropping him instantly followed by a quick shot in the face to the one holding Kora hostage--

BANG!

“RRRR!”

And as soon as she got free, Kora had her claws out and pounced at the scruffy bulldog woman. Her timing was impeccable because she managed to sink her claws into the dog lady’s neck before she could even think about pulling that trigger.

Simultaneously, once Axel had finished off the three guards on his side of the room, he swiftly turned his attention to his sister. “Fleche!”

The guards on that side of the room prepared to take aim at the defenseless pegasus mare as all bets were off at this point. However, the claw was quicker than the eye. Axel moved so fast that it was a complete blur in real time.

As soon as he spread his wings, he took off in her direction. Then, he spread his wings wide to force himself to slow down as he landed on his hooves in an upright position, skidding across the floor towards them…

From his left claw, he tossed a solid gold coin into the air…then extended that claw to grab ahold of the mare and abruptly turn her away from the attackers. Then, with his right claw holding onto the rifle, he fired off a shot--

BANG! PWANG!

The scrap metal bullet bounced off of the coin, and at the same time the three dog guards fired their weapons as well!

CHING!

B-B-BANG!

“HRRK!” Axel grunted as he spread his wings wide to defend his sister from the barrage of bullets. Normally, his gear kept him mostly bulletproof. But the scrap metal that those guns fired penetrated his leather armor enough to go through it--and his wings as well, leaving holes in his feathery limbs that started to bleed.

Thankfully…his coin trick paid off. As soon as those dogs shot at him, the bullet spread that ricocheted off the coin had traveled straight through each of their heads, killing and dropping them instantly.

Axel didn’t even need to look back--he already knew that his shots had hit their mark. All he was focused on was the safety of his sister. His voice was quiet as the empty air around them as he removed his facemask once more. “...Fleche…open yer eyes…please.”

Slowly but surely, the mare opened her eyes. “...So it’s you…Axel…” She let out a weak chuckle. “Ha…ha…what a massive turnaround. I remember protecting you all the time when we were younger. But now…”

“Sh-sh-sh--hey, relax,” he urged her to keep calm as he placed a claw on her forehead. “You ain’t gonna suffer no more. Just let me getcha outta here…”

“W-wait…there’s more…” she mumbled under her breath between a cough, “We have to get them out of here…”

“Huh? Whatcha mean?” Axel asked as he helped her up…

“They got loads of ponies and domestic diamond dogs from the kingdom,” she explained, “They’re tryin’a use ‘em to breed more…grotesque, rabid dogs…”

The gunslinger looked down at the ground and huffed. “God…dammit…”

Meanwhile, nearby…

Kora was covered in blood from the absolute massacre she had dealt to Kolasi, having ripped her throat out, killing her instantly.

“Die you ingrate!” she wailed as she mangled the corpse of the canine, “I hope you burn in hell for what you’ve done!”

“Ease up, tiger!” Axel called out to her with his sister resting upon his back, “We need’ta get movin’. Don’t mess around. Grab the birdman. I’ll get Vido.”

Axel’s voice managed to snap Kora out of her violent stupor. “H-huh? Wh--oh, y-yes! We must make haste and--” She paused and looked down at herself. At how much blood was on her paws. “...What have I…have I become…?”

“Now, Kora!” Axel shouted as he pried the corpse of the hyena woman off of the griffon. “C’mon, buddy. I gotcha…”

“He…” Fleche muttered as she watched her brother rescue the griffon, “He went through all of that…to save us…”

Axel looked at the unconscious griffon and nodded. “Yeah…he’s quite the man. But fer now, we gotta make a report to the castle. If what you said is true, then this is grounds for the entire Canine Army to come down here. But we gotta go now.”

Kora had grabbed Stratus up and placed him over her shoulder--the finch man had also passed out from succumbing to his prior injuries. “I’m ready. Let’s get going, Lord Remington.”

With their mission completed, the group ran and flew out of the labyrinth, fleeing the complex and escaping the valley across the desert. Yes. Even with Axel’s numerous bullet hole injuries across his wings, he still forced himself to fly, risking nerve damage in the process but it would all be worth it for his older sister.

“...Hang on, Fleche. We gonna get you back safe.”

Meanwhile…down in that labyrinth…

While Kora did say she hoped Kolasi burned, she would’ve been surprised to find how literal her words would become. Why? The corpse of the bulldog started to char with flaming ash surrounding her body. Her half-clawed face was slowly burned away for a more…bony look with embers flying off her fur and tail.

“Interesting…”

The hellhound rose from her ashes.

Back at the Queen’s Castle in Caninia…

It was a messy process, but everyone was admitted to the infirmary within the castle. Stratus, Vido, and Fleche were placed into urgent care while Axel needed some bandaging around his wings and Kora just needed ointment for a few scratches.

Nevertheless, the gunslinger requested an audience with the queens…and only managed to get one. Luckily, it was the same queen that they had spoken to before all of the insanity went on down below the surface.

“Mr. Remington? I’m here!” the scruffy golden lab--Fiona Floppyears--ran down the steps to greet him. “You’ll never guess what we found out.”

“Lemme guess,” the gunslinger mused--no longer wearing his gear for the moment as his wings needed room to breathe. “Someone from the inside, hm?”

“...Yes,” the golden lab replied, “How did you guess?”

Axel walked over to one of the nearby windows and lit up a cigarette in his claws. “Seen my fair share of robberies.”