Advent Of A Gunslinger

Eventually, Axel and Fleche returned to the rest of their companions in the middle of the city. The hippogriff had been carrying Zula’s dead body behind him, and eventually threw the corpse into the middle of the empty town square.

“Where’s the rest of ‘em?” Axel called out to Mio.

The tom in question had just finished tending to his wounds from the battle via wrapping gauze around one of his arms. Everyone else was making themselves busy by looking for the victims of slavery or any other survivors from Klugetown.

“The Felidae? Gone--reduced to pathetic corpses at this point,” Mio replied, “Why?”

“Fleche,” Axel turned to face his sister, “Gather up all the dead bodies of these gangsters.”

The pegasus mare opened her wings and got ready to take off. But before she did, she inquired, “No problem. But one question: Why?”

Axel opened up one of his revolvers, and emptied the cylinder bullet by bullet. “Ya’ll are gonna see why in a minute.”

With no further words, Fleche took off to carry out her brother’s wishes and gather up the corpses of all the gangsters.

Curiously, Mio stood up and approached the gunslinger. “...Just what are you planning on doing, good sir?”

“Deletin’ their bodies from existence,” Axel replied, “Don’tcha know about necromancy and all them hocus-pocus-y nonsense? I don’t want nobody gettin’ the bright idea of bringin’ these bastards back.”

Mio fell silent as he gave it some thought. “Hm…given what we’ve just experienced with Zula using black magic to resurrect Typh’s dead deer crew, I can’t blame you for having such reservations.”

“Darn tootin’,” Axel agreed, then paused to take a look around. “Seen my buckaroos anywhere?”

“Vido and the others?” Mio pointed to a bench at the end of the corner. “Resting.”

Axel tilted his head…

And over yonder, he’d see the griffon, she-cat, and monkey prince were all busy sleeping next to each other. They were clearly tired after all of the fighting they had done and were in need of rest. Something that Axel was happy to see.

“...They’re alright. Good. They deserve a break. Wouldn’t dream of draggin’ ‘em around nowhere else at this point,” he muttered under his breath as he sat down on his haunches.

“Oh don’t play like that,” Mio sat down next to Axel and offered his words of encouragement, “I’m sure they’d be more than willing to follow you to the ends of the world just to see your ideals come to fruition. You’d do the same for them, wouldn’t you?”

“Of course I would,” Axel replied, “Love ‘em all to death and back. Wouldn’t dare abandon ‘em fer anythin’.”

Mio forced a chuckle through his sore state. “Hah…exactly. You’re a noble individual, Mr. Remington. And so are the rest of your friends. You all deserve to be happy, don’t you agree?”

“Yeah…” Axel began to reflect on everything up to this point. Vido’s young life nearly came to an end multiple times and yet he still remained strong enough to continue on this journey. Kora was only involved for the sake of her sister and immediately got revenge on the killer, only to continue. Chang’s entire family situation back home led him to trust unlikely allies that had become friends for life.

Needless to say, Axel was more than willing to ensure they’d never have to suffer again.

“So long as I draw breath, they won’t hafta go through no more’a this.”

“Sounds like you know what you’re doing,” Mio replied as he looked up into the air. “...Spitha’s returning. Excuse me for a moment, hm?” The tom got up from where he sat and walked over to the red dragoness who greeted him the moment she touched down.

Moments later, Fleche would call out. “Oi! Axel, I got ‘em all rounded up for ye.”

Axel got up from where he sat, and walked over to the pile of bodies that his sister had arranged for him. “...Perfect. This one here’s for ma and pa.”

“...Just what are ye gonna do?” Fleche asked as she watched on with a curious expression on her face.

No response from the hippogriff. Instead, he simply walked into the nearest shop to grab a canister of oil. Then he flew into the air, and from above, doused Zula, Typh, and the rest of their dead bodies in the flammable substance.

“Eek!” Fleche immediately took cover behind the nearest building. “Oh, I see now. You’re gonna reduce ‘em’ta nothin’ but--”

“Cinders,” Axel replied once the bottle was empty and tossed it over the nearest cliff. Then, he struck a match in his claw, setting it alight as he stared down at the corpses. “Ma…pa…brothers…this is for you. They won’t hurt nobody else…no more!”

With a triumphant shout, he let the match go, and allowed it to fall upon the body pile…

Tick--WOOSH!

Immediately, the bodies were consumed and engulfed in a flaming tempest, crackling and popping against the head as their fur and skin were peeled off and slowly whittled away to nothing but bone.

Axel flew down to the ground where he could watch from a safe distance, satisfied as he witnessed the bones of the gangsters char to a crisp. “Hmph. A fittin’ end to ‘em…”

Fleche walked out to join him moments later, relieved at the sight as she threw a hoof around Axel’s neck. “...They’re cannae get back up from that!”

“That’s the idea, sis. At least our folks can rest easy….” He sighed and looked up at the sky. “It’s finally over.”

Or was it?