Advent Of A Gunslinger

Axel entered the minotaur’s home, and removed his hat and mask so that he could speak clearly. They both sat down on the couch in the living room and started up a conversation.

“A lot’s happened since we last spoke, Tony,” Axel started off.

The minotaur chuckled, and gave Axel a friendly pat on the back. “No kidding, son.” Tony wasn’t the kind of guy to go on about himself, though. In fact, he wanted the gunslinger to speak more about his experiences so as to not bog him down. “Tell me. What’s been going on with ya?”

“Well, it’s kind of a long story…”

Axel would go on to explain, in detail, what had happened since the day they went fishing together. Everything from Mynx’s death, all the way up to the situation at the bordello and where they currently were.

“...I watched someone close to an acquaintance of mine die,” he muttered in a grim tone, “It was horrid and she lost her mind when it happened. Thankfully the bastard that shot the lady got what was comin’ to him. But still...it ain’t enough. This endless cycle of loss and bloody murder needs’ta stop. I lost my folks to them same damn piss-eyed...” He stopped himself with a huff. “...Sorry. Got a bit heated there.”

Tony leaned forward with his arms folded. “Hmmm...I know exactly how you and your friend feels. You all have suffered a great deal because of someone else, so I can’t blame ya for wanting some sort of redemption.”

“No kiddin’,” Axel scoffed, “I just wanna get some closure and end all’a this so I can rest easy knowin’ I made a difference in this world and that nobody else gotta suffer through what I did.”

“And you’ve met my daughter too, huh?” Tony asked, “She okay?”

“That she is, sir,” he replied with a nod, “Wonderful little lady you’ve raised. Matter’a’fact, despite the fact that I’ve only known her for a little while, I wouldn’t mind workin’ with her more often.”

The minotaur smiled. “Well that’s great’ta hear. Is she still nearby?”

“Yes...well, actually--that is exactly why I’m here,” Axel continued, “...We’re here to get ya outta here, sir. Rose got yer letter, and we’re here’ta save ya.”

“You are?” Tony weighed the options out in his head, wondering if it would be better to leave now instead of wait until tomorrow. “...Hm…”

“What’s wrong, sir?” Axel asked with a concerned tilt of his head.

“That dragon’s got eyes up the wazoo,” he replied, “Tryin’ta leave now would be too risky. Wouldn’t wanna put my daughter in no more extra danger.”

While Axel did want to debate the issue, he had to think critically. This dragon had a rather pricey bounty on his head. And because of that, it was easy to infer that he was a dangerous individual--whoever he was. With that in mind, would it be better to listen to what the minotaur meant by that?

“Hang on. Leave ‘now’? Whatcha mean by that?”

“I mean that I’m going to leave tomorrow when that dragon is busy with some other business,” Tony explained.

That was some new information that helped shift Axel’s perspective. Still, there was something that he didn’t quite understand. “...How didja find that out?”

“...That cat-man in the blue suit gave me some info from the inside,” Tony said as he recalled what happened on that day. “If I remember correctly, he didn’t want the feline lady to die at all.”

Correct indeed. However, Axel wasn’t sure how to process this. After all, Mio was still a yellow-eyed abyssinian--part of the very same group that stole his family from him. Could someone part of that same classification truly be trusted?

“I see…” was all Axel could respond with. “You trust his word, Tony?”

After a moment of silence, Tony got up from the couch. “Follow me, son. There’s something I wanna show ya.” And he walked onwards through the hallway that led to the rest of his home.

Axel would follow silently, patiently waiting to see what the minotaur had to show him.

Soon enough, Tony had taken him into a small walk-in closet. From it, he would grab a long suitcase, and open it to show Axel its contents. “Take a look.”

“Hm?” The gunslinger peered into the case, and saw a brown lever-action rifle with the letter ‘W’ engraved into the metal on the stock. “Wait a sec,” Axel realized just what that letter represented, “...Is this here a Winchester?”

“Yes indeed. See---my wife was a Winchester. Anne-Marie Winchester to be exact,” he explained with a fondness in his eyes, “Loved her. Caring, kind, wonderful chef. But...she died in a fight against Sleighbell Starr.”

His eyes went wide. Sleighbell Starr was a legendary lady outlaw who had instilled fear into everyone with her name alone. Known highly for carriage theft, she was practically unstoppable until her death--in which the circumstances are unknown to this very day.

“...She fought the legendary Slieghbell Starr??” Axel questioned with a sense of dumbfoundedness, and started to spiral as he stared at the rifle. “How’d she manage that? Who did she provoke? What--what--?!”

“...Calm yourself, kiddo.” Tony shut the case, and continued, “From what we know, Anne must’a provoked some dingo named Skim Reed after she refused his service at the hotel where she worked.”

The cogs turned in Axel’s head. That must have been where the two of them had met. “...You’d known her for a while before it all went down, yeah?”

“Yeah,” he replied with a pained break in his voice, “Roseanne had turned about ten or so before that day…”

Axel wasn’t sure how to react. Out of instinct, he hovered off of the ground, and put an arm on the minotaur’s shoulder. “...No need to go any further, sir. I’m sure that hurts ya. But tell me--what prompted you to show me this in the first place?”

After taking a breath, Tony would continue to speak normally. “That’s right. I wanted to show you this in order to ease your concerns. If anyone tries to hurt me, they’ll have another thing coming, son.”

On one end, that did ease a few of Axel’s concerns. The man knew how to shoot, and was clearly physically capable of defending himself. On the other end, he wasn’t sure if Mio’s words could be trusted.

“Worst case scenario if we try and get him out today: We end up ambushed in another pointless fight and hafta kill again. Worst case if we wait until tomorrow: We might be trapped here. Blech. It’s like we’re rats caught in a pit of sleepin’ pythons.”

Simply put: Axel had no idea what to do.

“...Gah,” he turned, and took a step back with a huff, “I ain’t no good at this ‘strateegy’ like most folks.”

Tony could already sense what was wrong. “I see...you’re trying’ta figure out if we should go now or wait, huh?”

Axel turned his head back to look at the minotaur, then turned his head away without a word.

“...Maybe him, Rose, and everyone else can pull it off.” After a moment of silence, Tony finally came to a conclusion. “Tell ya what. Go get yer friends and have ‘em all head out this way. They’re gon’ be less likely’ta attack if there’s more of ya.”

“...That makes sense, sir,” Axel replied after giving it some thought of his own.

“But you’ll hafta be fast son,” the minotaur advised, “Think you can get my daughter and everyone else down here before they notice?”

“Just watch me,” Axel said with a bit more confidence, “Wait right here.”

With that established, the gunslinger would don his mask and hat once more and take flight. Off into the distance and near the entrance to Klugetown…

About five minutes later…

Kora sniffled, and noticed an altered presence within the air. “...Lord Remington is returning.”

Everyone on the deck looked to the sky. Sure enough, the hippogriff in question could be seen flying back to the airborne vessel. And he didn’t wait for anyone to acknowledge it either--he went right into the details.

“Alright ya’ll,” he said as he landed upon the wooden deck with a thud, “We got ourselves a situation.”

“What happened to your signal?” Celaeno asked.

“Screw the signal,” Axel ordered, “Change of plans.”