Advent Of A Gunslinger

Vido escorted Axel back up to Martha’s room where her weapon’s cache was stored.

“Holy hot-diggity-damn…” Axel mumbled, marveling at the sheer number of weapons available. “To think that she was storin’ all this under my nose. Wonder how many dealers she’s bought it all from over the years…”

“Well she told me what we do with it is entirely up to you, amigo,” Vido replied as he turned to Axel, “There’s loads of different weapons here that I haven’t seen before myself.” He pointed to a weapon that looked similar to that of Celaeno’s blunderbuss weaponry--albeit with multiple barrels--four to be precise. “Like that…I wonder what that is….”

Axel tilted his head. This was also something that he had never seen before--which was quite the shock to him, as his father was a firearms expert. “That there’s a helluva sight…wonder how it works.”

“Looks like something Lady Celaeno would use,” Vido explained as he grabbed it off the wall, and checked to make sure it wasn’t loaded. “Except with four times as many barrels. Looks sick. Check it out, Axel,” he said while offering it to the hippogriff.

Axel took it within his claws, aimed down the barrel, and got a feel for the old, yet sturdy wood of the stock. “...Hell yeah. I’m stakin’ my claim on this one,” he said as he split it open--it was a break-action weapon that needed to be fed ammo manually. “Yup…I think I’ll be doin’ just fine with this.”

“But if you get caught without ammo, you’ll be in a pinch,” Vido rightfully pointed out as he looked at the wall of weapons once more. “Ah, here’s an idea. Think you’ll like this one.”

“I ain’t usin’ nothin’ but my pa’s--” Axel’s words were interrupted when he was met with a pair of shotgun pistols that were also manufactured by his father in the past. “...What in the goddamn…? This ain’t nothin’ like the Taurus…”

They were a pair of silver--no, nickel-platyed buckshot revolvers with short barrels.

“I remember this. This here’s the L-Mat. Knew I recognized it somewhere. But this other stuff…”

“I think Celaeno would know about this Blunderbuss-ish thing,” Vido suggested, “Why don’t we take it to her? Maybe she’ll give you some proper advice on how to use it.”

Axel nodded. “Not a bad idea, friend.”

A few minutes later…

Both Axel and Vido grabbed a few weapons and bagged them. They returned downstairs and allowed Celaeno to inspect the weapon that they had found. Her reaction was…rather unexpected.

“Oh. This…” she mumbled while staring at the multi-barreled blunderbuss. “Yeah, this was created by my father. It was a prototype that never really saw the light of day. Thought it was lost forever…”

“What is it supposed to be?” Vido asked with a tilt of his head, “What kind of ammo does it take?”

Celaeno inspected the weapon, split it apart, and even scratched one of her claws along the wood of the stock. “Yup…this is it alright. Long story short, when I was little, my dad used to design weapons for pirates, but his work was stolen from him by his business partner. And he killed him. Somehow, the prototype must’ve ended up here…” She sighed, and put the firearm back together and set it down on the table. “Needless to say…I’d rather you use this, Axel.”

The hippogriff nearly squawked in response to what he had just heard. “What the--is everyone’s pappy’s just gettin’ killed ‘round here?!” Ultimately, he didn’t want to press the issue any further. If she wanted him to use it, then he’d use it. “Alrighty, missy. I’ll put it to use for ya.”

“Thanks…it’s called the blundëgat by the way,” Celaeno replied as she looked over at Chang. “What do you think, buddy? Up for helping them out?”

“I have to admit, I’m rather curious in regards to what else the madam has for us,” said the monkey prince, “If she doesn’t mind that is.”

The old woman’s voice suddenly stole the attention from the room. “Of course not.”

“AGH!” Chang leapt into the air, and hung from a lighting fixture in the ceiling with his tail--only calming down once he realized that Martha had appeared once more. “Oh my…how do you do that?”

“Trade secret, boy,” she replied, “Anyhow. The gals outside are willin’ta join ya’ll whenever you’re ready’ta head out.” She shot a snide grin in Axel’s direction. “Turns out they love you in particular, little man.”

“...Is that so?” Axel replied under his breath.

“Well that’s good news indeed,” Mio spoke up from where he was seated, “It means we won’t have any trouble invading Klugetown. I’ll be ready to join in when the fighting starts, so please let me know when--”

“Hang on, boy,” Martha interrupted him, “You’re gonna wanna see what I have for ya.”

Confused, Mio looked behind himself, then pointed at himself. “Hold on…me? You want to offer me some of your weapons?”

“Why not?” Martha asked, “Got a problem with that?”

“No, no--I’m simply…curious.”

Martha turned her head and shouted. “Rosie--come on in here, girl!”

Moments later, the young minotaur woman stepped out to them, clad in bronze-colored bulletproof armor from head to hoof. “How do I look, ya’ll?” she asked, her voice metallic from the armor covering her face. “Don’t laugh--please.”

“Huh…” Mio muttered under his breath, “I’m surprised. I wonder…” he looked over at Spitha. “...Nah. You don’t need that.”

“Oh, no…my scales will protect me. But you…” the dragoness gave a concerned trill, “I don’t want you getting hurt out there, darling.”

“Then I suppose I have no choice…armor it is.”