Advent Of A Gunslinger

“What the--?!” Zula turned around and, to her horror, she saw her eagle companion held at gunpoint by a black and white osprey. “You? Are you really willing to bring harm to your own sister?”

With Typh in a chokehold--to the point where she couldn’t breathe--Monocrow held his pistol against her head with intent to fire. “Don’t have one,” he said coldly, “You might wanna watch your own tail talkin’ to me like that.”

Click.

The next thing she knew, the trio of minotaurs behind Zula were completely covered in a thick layer of metal armor and holding rifles up to her head.

“You might wanna take yourself a knee, missy,” the first minotaur’s voice echoed from within the helmet that covered her face. “You’re a few pints short of a gallon today.”

“Ghhh….!” Zula had no choice but to surrender herself…or at least, make it appear as though she had willingly given herself up. “What they don’t know is that this little town runs on my rules.”

That much was certain. No matter how much they planned for it, nobody could predict everything that Zula had up her furry little tigress sleeves.

“Awk!” she made a small chirping noise akin to that of a bird--it was so subtle that nobody realized that it had come from her.

BANG!

At her command, several deer folk appeared from within nearby buildings and fired off their weapons, forcing the minotaurs evade their attack.

“Gah!” they all shouted in unison.

It was narrow though. The energy weapons they used fired beams of plasma that warped through the air at almost light-speeds. Far faster than any conventional rifle utilized by the common bounty hunter. Zula made use of the chaos in order to flee from the situation and dive into the heart of Klugetown.

But what they weren’t prepared for was another strike from above.

“Alright. We’re closing in,” Vido spoke to Kora and Chang whom the griffon carried upon his arms. “I’m gonna fling you both down where you’ll fight off as many as possible.”

“Understood,” Chang replied as he readied his rifle. “They’re likely already engaging the gals on the ground level, but I’m not sure how long they’ll last.”

Interestingly enough, Kora was the only one who opted not to make use of the armor that everyone else was using. Instead, all she prepared herself with was professional sports tape wrapped tightly around her paws.

“Perfection. Our plan is going swimmingly.”

Vido took a second to ask, “Gata, are you sure you don’t want to put on any protection? These weapons will cut through you like a knife through manteca.”

Kora flexed one of her paw-hands and replied, “The difference between butter and myself is that I’m always moving. You have nothing to worry about. All I want is to take back my home and protect my students.”

“Speaking of which, where do you think they may be?” Chang asked with a tentative tone.

“If you’re looking to assist me, then they should be underground. I suspect that they’ll be utilized as hostages if their location is compromised, so we have to be swift,” the she-cat muttered as she took out the Abyssinian tome. “Just need to find the right spell to use in this situation…”

“Hǎo de, I’m right with you,” Chang confirmed, “If children are in danger, then that shall be my priority as well.”

Kora hesitated for a moment, shutting her eyes as she mulled over Chang’s words.

Given how close they had gotten to the entrance to Klugetown, there was little time for debate. Something Vido was quick to point out. “Guys, there’s no time to dawdle over who’s going where. Tell me where to drop you off so I can make the call!”

Once she had her eyes locked onto the various buildings made of scrap metal… “Now!” Kora shouted.

With all his might, Vido flung both the she-cat and monkey prince downwards, sending them hurtling towards the earth like living meteors.

“Godspeed, muchachos…” he muttered once they were out of sight.

Nearby, Celaeno would speak out to him as she hovered in the air alongside him. “...Hey. I never got the chance to tell you until now, but you’re quite the man, you know that?”

“Man? Me?” Vido chuckled and shook his head at the notion, “I’m just doing what I can for mi amigos. Not much else to it than that.”

“Still…when this is all over, I wish I could be there for you…” The parrot woman thought to herself in an absentminded fashion as she looked downwards with a sympathetic frown on her beak.

“...Celaeno! Señorita!” Vido called out as he snapped his fingers.

“Hm? What? Oh right…sorry--I was caught up in my own thoughts for a moment.” Without hesitation, she retrieved a flintlock pistol from a holster on her leg and asked, “What’s next, Vido?”

Meanwhile, down below…

The Diamond Dogs from Caninia had dug beneath Klugetown, cutting a path for Mio, Axel, Fleche, and Roseanne to access. At the moment, they were all currently traversing the underground passage that was created, fully armored up with their weapons at the ready.

“You really did think ahead, didn’tcha?” Axel commented as the group walked along, “I’m impressed…if only the old man could see us now.”

Mio responded with a half-hearted chuckle, “Haha…he’d probably lecture us about the dangers of enacting a war upon this city. But given its history, there’s no telling what he was led to believe about this place….” he finished his statement with a sigh.

“You right…” Axel replied, “Least we can do is honor his rest. Same thing I’m doin’ fer my folks.”

“This way, ya’ll,” Roseanne called out to them.

“...I smell a keg ‘er two,” Fleche commented as she sniffed the air, “I reckon we could use that to our advantage.”

Mio raised a brow. “Excuse me?”