Advent Of A Gunslinger

It wasn’t long before Axel’s companions had realized what was going on and gave chase, following him back to the valley to make sure that he and the minotaurs were okay. They’d arrive on the scene not long after the fighting had already started…

“No no no…” Kora mewled to herself as they approached the valley, “Why did Lord Remington choose to do this by himself…?”

“...He probably wanted to deal with this personally, Kora,” Vido added, “I can’t blame him for it at all.”

“Shhh!” Fleche tried to quiet them as they all observed from afar. “That’s my brother. I think he can handle this himself.”

And handle it he did.

Over yonder, Axel and Alade were now both haggard and nearly out of breath, raggedly punching at each other with whatever they had left in them. Each time Alade’s fist connected with Axel’s face, Axel would return with a punch that was even stronger, clocking the tom against his face as well.

With that last punch, Alade staggered for a moment, stepping backwards and nearly falling onto his behind. One of his eyes had been blackened shut, three of his ribs were cracked, he was bleeding both internally and externally with drops of red leaving his body and trailing into the withered, cracked desert earth.

Axel had paused to give himself a moment’s breath. His wings were shredded into, he was bleeding from his mouth, his abdomen was bruised and cut open, and he was barely able to stand--teetering on the edge of falling over and passing out. But somehow, some way, the gunslinger forced himself to remain.

As Alade clutched his chest, he could be seen smiling ever so slightly--seemingly satisfied with what had become of this battle. What he truly wanted to gain from this experience was anyone’s guess, but it was clear that something Axel had done had finally caused him to accept himself as well as the world around him.

“...”

Axel stood firm with his claws clenched, prepared to strike back at a moment’s notice…

The tom flicked his tail…and out of nowhere, he lunged at the gunslinger in a blur of spinning black for one final attack…

And almost instantly, Axel retaliated with a quick spin and flip of his body, jumping up and throwing his hooves forward for a swift dropkick that sent the tom flying when Axel’s legs connected with his body.

CRASH!

Alade was sent flying into the wall of the manor, and eventually slid down until he reached the ground. The tom’s abdomen could still be seen rising and falling with each passing breath.

Without hesitation, Axel retrieved one of his pistols, and walked over to the tom, staring down at his one good eye.

The two stared at each other--a sense of visual, mutual understanding between the two could be seen as Alade shut his eye, fully accepting of his fate--one might even say…grateful?

“Hm…” Axel flicked the chamber of his gun and…

BANG!

Alade’s head hit the dirt as a result of the bullet that went through it--blood spattering and fanning out behind him.

At that point, Axel was prepared to collapse, until…

“It’s done, yes?” Topaz spoke up out of nowhere, walking out from behind one of the destroyed buildings and into Axel’s vision.

“...!” Since speech would only put more strain on his body, Axel didn’t say a word.

“Relax, gunslinger--I’m here to turn myzelf in,” Topaz trotted forward as she explained herself. “All he wanted was to find someone that could best him in a fight. He felt zat…his life had no meaning otherwize.” She looked down at the sandy ground beneath her hooves. “Started to make me wonder what I waz doing with mine. Sitting alone in some beachside manor, being waited on by animal servants and aiding a slave trade…only to want a kingdom for…well I don’t even know at zis point.” With a sigh, she looked up at him with a neutral face of acceptance, “Execute me if you wish. I have nothing left to live for.”

“...”

Axel was out of breath and on the verge of collapsing. The poor hippogriff couldn’t think straight and properly process what he had just been told. So he made a decision that would temporarily alleviate him of this problem.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

With a quick fan of his gun’s hammer, he fired three shots in succession. Two at both of her foreleg’s kneecaps, and one at her horn, shooting off a chunk of its side and permanently rupturing her nerve endings so that she could no longer cast magic.

And with that, he fell to the ground…

Which is the precise moment everyone watching decided to rush over.

“We need to get him to the infirmary in that building immediately,” Mona commented from afar as the entire group rushed in, “Leona. Get me as many sterilization pads as you can find.”

“Yes ma’am,” her white nurse companion replied.