Advent Of A Gunslinger

Meanwhile, in Klugetown…

Under his boss’s orders, Mio would approach Tony’s home. However, the tomcat was naturally hesitant. After all, he didn’t know how the minotaur would react to being told...whatever it was he needed to say.

“Dammit all. I need to figure out exactly what I’m going to say to this man. One of these days, that dragon is going to buy the farm and lose everything he had if he continues to operate this way. What to do?”

But before he could get to the minotaur’s house, he was stopped by a familiar porcupine. “H-hey! Got a minute?”

Mio flicked his tail as he looked down at the prickly rodent. “What do you want?” he asked, “Your so-called ‘boss’ is dead. You no longer have a need to be here.”

“Hey! I can’t exactly just up and leave this place. I have too many connections. And the pony horns are still valuable…” he said with a manic smile. “A-anyway. I wanted to approach you because I’d like your help.”

The tomcat casually stepped past the porcupine, and continued on his way. “Not interested. I have enough proverbial shit on my plate to deal with at the moment. I don’t need any more distractions.”

In those next few seconds, he heard a small, brisk woosh next to his paws. He looked down, and realized that he was cut on the outside of his left leg.

“...What the…?” Mio looked around, but the porcupine was nowhere to be seen. Just what could that’ve been? Hm…”

Unfortunately for him, he would be interrupted yet again.

Having lied in wait the entire time, a yellow abyssinian female with red hair, black leather pants, a vest that matched, and a white stetson on her head would approach him. “...Going somewhere, Mio?”

“You? Aren’t you one of those two weapon’s analyst scientists that went missing a few days ago?” he folded his arms, suspicious of her mere presence. “What exactly are you doing here?”

“Well first off, I needed a bit of a wardrobe change as you can see,” she gestured towards herself. “Second. You know the minotaur you’re about to go visit is innocent, correct? He’s had nothing to do with the incident that went down the other day.”

“...While that may be true,” Mio looked down at the ground, “The fact that he was probably a witness to the situation doesn’t bode well for my boss and I, Mona.”

Mona leaned against a metal wall of the building behind her. “And why is that? Do you value your position enough to actually be afraid of someone coming after your boss?”

“What’s her angle here? Just why is she bothering to question me when she could have easily left this entire region by now?” Mio’s response was delayed. He knew the answer to that question, but was hesitant about expressing himself. “That depends. My current position matters because I need it to further my own goals. Whatever happens edgewise doesn’t matter to me.”

“I knew it,” Mona thought to herself, “He doesn’t actually give a damn about following who he’s currently following. Combine that with his utter distaste for what Gatto had done the other day, sounds like he doesn’t want to be here. But based on the way Remington was speaking to Tony...I have to get Mio to acknowledge the stakes.”

“Fair enough, I suppose,” Mona replied with a sympathetic frown, “I’m simply out here doing some of my own research, independent of your bosses. It’s entirely possible to break free of what holds you back…if you try hard enough.”

The tomcat scoffed, and looked away. “Easy for you to say. You were given aid to escape. Even if I were granted a way out...those who assisted me would certainly die unnecessarily.”

Mona stood up, and took a step forward. “Really? You’re certain that if you try to leave or if someone helps you, you and that other person will end up dead?”

Mio fell silent, but his uncertain, nervous expression said it all. Despite wearing the outer shell of a tactician, he was afraid.

And Mona could tell. The way he balled his fist, the way his tail moved like a tense snake that was on alert, and the fact that his glasses were lop-sided. He practically oozed fear.

While it was risky, she decided to approach him, and adjusted his glasses so they were properly set on his face. “Listen, Mio.”

“...Eh?” he reacted with a small gasp.

“You need to make your own decisions and deal with the consequences as they come,” she backed away, “As a wise person once said, ‘I’d rather die standing than live kneeling.’ So are you going to kneel forever or stand up for yourself?”

Mio couldn’t answer that right away. But he was less tense than he was before. In fact, he was able to think more clearly about what he should do. “...She’s right. I can’t just wait around for something to change the way that I like. I need to grab a card from the winning hand, and make my own moves…at the right time, of course.”

As for Tony though, he still had a hurdle to jump over. Once he came to a conclusion, he expressed his gratitude to the she-cat. “...I will make note of your point. For now, I have a job to do.” And with that, he turned and walked up the steps that led to the minotaur’s home.

Alone, Mona watched him leave with a satisfied grin on her face. “Hopefully that sets him straight. Now to hunt for other bits of info…”

Back on Milk Ranch…

Axel had left through the back door of the Madam’s building, and into the farmland to follow the demonic roar noise that he heard earlier. With his guns at the ready, he ducked behind a hay bale on the trail in the middle of the corn patch.

“Alright...the first greenhouse is up ahead. If I can just get the drop on them, I won’t have to resort’ta violence.”

He hovered a few inches above the ground over to the door of the first greenhouse. The glass on the front door was transparent, and he could see a host of plants on shelves and vegetables being grown in small patches in the middle of the long building.

With a careful claw, he pushed the door open. Unfortunately, there were no sights nor sounds of any hostile bovids.

“Psst! Down here!” a voice called out to him.

Axel looked down and found a white minotaur woman with black spots on her body hidden underneath one of the shelves that some plants were set upon. She had on overalls and a straw hat--a standard attire for farmers.

“What’s goin’ on out here?” Axel asked quietly.

“...A buncha the girls from inside went berserk and started attackin’ us,” the farmer lady explained, “We’re all hidin’ out so we don’t get smashed’ta pieces.”

Axel looked up and saw about a dozen other minotaurs all hiding underneath various shelves and boxes. They had peeked their heads out from their hiding spots to observe the conversation they heard. Among them, he also saw the three other minotaurs that had approached him alongside Clarabelle when he first entered the building. The large brown one, the gray one, and the white one.

He then looked back down at the first farmer near the door. “...Okay. How many of ‘em are there? And do ya know which way they went?”

“Th-three of ‘em,” the farmer stuttered, “And they’re prolly headed’ta Martha’s office over yonder. It’s a private room located within the last greenhouse on the right. She’ll know what’ta do in a time like this.”

While he was unsure of what he was going to be dealing with, he put on an air of confidence to keep their minds at ease. “Ya’ll just stay right here. I’ll deal with it.”

Before he could get a response, he closed the door to the greenhouse. Once again, he heard that infernal moaning roar, a bit closer this time…

“RRRRAGGGH!”

“...If they’re at the last one like she said, then I’d better get a bird’s eye view first…”

Axel would fly into the air, and use his keen eyesight to his advantage. Sure enough, at the very last greenhouse, furthest East, he would see some activity. Some crashing and hefty movement to go along with it. An almost concentrated earthquake caused the ground to rumble all around that particular greenhouse. If this ‘Martha’ really was the most powerful of all the minotaurs, then she would certainly be a prime target…

“...I’m willin’ta bet that this was perpetrated. This was that damn magic Celaeno was referrin’ to. And they likely wanna kill the boss Madam of this place. Diabolical.”

Whether or not Axel’s assessment was correct would be tested soon enough. The gunslinger needed to swoop in for himself to figure it out.

And so he did.

In a quick motion, he flew down to the last greenhouse of the row. The roars and crashing noises were clear as day once he got there. With his gun raised and eyes steeled, he reached towards the door to try and open it…

But he was stopped before he could get there.

“YAAAAGH!”

From within the nearby corn stalks, a large, blue minotaur gal leapt out and charged at Axel with her horns at the ready.

“Holy sh--!” Out of instinct, he almost fired a shot at her, but then he noticed that her eyes were entirely solid red with demonic rune shapes along her body. Instead of attacking, he simply avoided her attack with a barrel roll-esque maneuver. He flew backwards, parallel to the ground, and dove out of the way of her attack. And thankfully, it worked. She charged right past him, and in her blind rage, wasn’t able to stop until she came into contact with something.

With a loud thud, she hit a stack of haybales at the end of the trail, but immediately shook it off and stood upright, prepping to charge at Axel once more. This was an enraged cow-lady. Like something right out of a theatrical performance. Except this was quite real…

“Dammit all. How’m I gonna deal with this?” Axel stood firm on his side of the trail, prepared for the cow’s next charge. Unfortunately, he had absolutely no idea how to deal with curses...