Advent Of A Gunslinger

Through the explosion, Zula was flung forward as her weapon was completely destroyed. With no remnants left and no other options, the tigress found herself at a loss yet again.

“Every time…every time….why is he so persistent?!” she muttered hysterically to herself, overwhelmed by the fact that every last one of her defenses had been brought to ruin by Axel and his companions. “This is not how it went last time…nobody ever came back from last time…”

“Well guess what?” Axel called out to her from the smoke, “Yer about’ta taste some southern reality, little lady.” He snapped his clawed fingers…

And Fleche hopped out of the smoke, tackling Zula to the ground with a hoof pressed against the side of her head. “Ye be lucky my brother’s the one who decided on how he’ll deal with ye! I ain’t so merciful myself, and I’d bite yer head clean off yer face right now if I wanted to!”

Moments later, Axel landed on the ground nearby. “At ease, sis. I’m gonna settle this in a mature and dignified manner.”

“Dignified?!” Zula shouted from below, “I’ve no dignity left! You’ve taken everything from me you wretched--EEEEEK!”

The sound of a bone crunching could be heard as Fleche started twisting one of her arms. “Shut yer yap and listen to the man. This is yer final warnin’ ya gobshite.”

“As I was sayin’...” Axel leaned downwards in order to speak to her directly. “In order’ta settle this once and fer all…I’mma give ya one last chance. A simple one-on-one showdown.”

Fleche hissed at the idea. “Are ye serious, brother? After all she’s put ye through? All she’s put me through?!”

“You know our ma and pa better than anyone,” Axel replied, “They would’ve wanted use to deal with our enemies in an honorable manner. At the very least, that’s something I can do’ta honor ‘em.” He then shifted his eyes in the direction of the tigress. “Last chance. Whaddya say?”

“What do I say?” Zula muttered under her breath, then resumed laughing hysterically. “What do I say?! I have no interest in your so-called ‘southern honor’! I’m from a completely different end of the globe than you! You think you can assert your ideals onto me?!”

“Oi…” Fleche sighed while shaking her head, “This little pussy’s dun flew clean off the deep end. I reckon she’s on the last of her nine lives as well.”

Axel looked down at Zula and shook his head as well. After all of this, he finally achieved his goal--but seeing her fall to insanity from all that she had done--it caused him to feel the slightest hint of disappointment.

“And here I thought you’d pose a challenge…may as well put a varmint like you outta yer misery--”

SHING!

All the sudden, Zula’s claws unsheathed, and threatened to slash Fleche across her throat-!

BANG!

But she wasn’t fast enough. Axel had put a bullet through her skull before she could raise her claw far enough to reach his sister’s face. With her eyeball popped out of its socket, Zula was dead at long last.

“...That was a close one,” was all Fleche could say in response as she visibly shuddered--the feathers on her wings ruffled from the experience. “Is…does that mean it’s over, brother?”

“I s’pose it does…” Axel holstered his pistol and sighed. “Gotta say…now that it’s over, I feel mighty empty. Like…everythin’s just done now…from my mind, my heart, my soul…”

Fleche put a hoof on his shoulder and expressed her sentiments, “Still the same careful soul ye always were when we were little, eh? Well, there’s still more to do. Your friends are still waitin’ for ye back there.”

He turned his head, and looked at her with a somber expression in his eyes. Axel then removed his facemask, showing off a small smile. “...our friends, sis. You’re part of this here family now too. No question.”

“Are ye sure about that?” Fleche asked with a worried tone in her voice, “Would they really accept me?”

“No doubt about it…” he nodded, but took a look at the ground once more, “But I can’t shake the fact that somethin’s still out there. Somethin’ that I’m missin’...”

“Well ya know what they say--if ye forgot, then it must have been nae important, brother.” That was Fleche’s best way to reationalize their situation as they had more important things to worry about.

However, the hippogriff gunslinger was keen on not letting anything slip through his claws at this point. “Hang on a sec.” Without hesitation, he turned and grabbed Zula’s corpse, dragging it along the ground and leaving a trail of blood behind. “Gonna make sure don’t nobody try nothin’ funny ever again. C’mon, Fleecy.”

The green pegasus followed after him with an inquisitive tilt of her head as she flapped her wings. “Aye? Er, perhaps what do you intend to do with that there dead body, brother?”