Advent Of A Gunslinger

With Axel and co…

As soon as the freight elevator stopped, they would arrive down in a hospital-esque facility with white walls every which way.

Axel and Kora would immediately recognize where they were.

“...We’re down where I was hogtied,” Axel muttered.

“Indeed,” Kora replied, “I shudder to think about what your bovine friend could be enduring right about now. But...” She sniffed the air, but unfortunately caught no scent of bull. “All I can smell is fresh hospital tools and gauze.”

Vido looked around, and took note of just how many doors and rooms there were. “Mierda. If we’re going to find our guy, we need to search this place from top to bottom.”

“Ughh--that’s gon’ take too damn long!” Rose protested, “But whatever. Ain’t like we got no other choice.”

Axel reached for one of his weapons. “We’ll all search around and meet back here in five minutes. I got a hunch, but I need’ta be sure.” He then looked at each of the members of the group. “...Will ya’ll be okay splittin’ up?”

“Not a problem at all, amigo,” Vido said, “I think it’s a good idea. I’ll handle this hallway right here.”

“We mustn’t falter,” Kora added, and started to round the left corner, “Let’s go, everyone. No time to waste.”

Roseanne readied her shotgun, and took the right corner. “I’m goin’ this way.”

Which left Axel to take the hallway that was straight ahead. “...Fair enough. Stay safe, ya’ll.”

And so, we follow the gunslinger forward.

Axel flew through the hallways, checking every room with one of his guns raised. So far, no one was present in any of them--leading him to a cold trail once again. That is, until a theory popped its way into his head.

“...It’s possible that he’s in the exact same shitfest I was in when I was here. Lord please don’t let that be the case.”

While he’d never state it outright, this was one of the few times where he was genuinely afraid down to his soul. Possibilities of the worst outcomes started to invade his mind and he desperately pushed them away in order to stay focused. It was easier said than done, though.

Fortunately, he wouldn’t have to wonder for much longer. The truth would be revealed to him as soon as he reached the end of the hall, and found a set of double doors.

“...This has’ta be it. I swear…”

With no further hesitation, he pushed the doors in…

But as soon as he did, he watched as a playing card whizzed past his head, narrowly avoiding it with a dodge. “Dammit! What the--?”

Mio stepped forward and out of the shadows. “...My apologies. I thought you were one of them.”

Axel aimed his gun directly at the tom’s head. “Who’s this ‘them’ you referrin’ to? Why should I believe ya?”

The tom flicked his tail to the left. “Look around you.”

From the corner of the hippogriff’s eye, he could see loads of feline nurses knocked out cold on the stone floor.

“...You did this?” he asked.

“That’s right,” Mio replied, and took a few steps ahead. “As soon as I stepped in here, I was ambushed by these ladies. It’s as if they could sense what I was preparing to do.”

Now irritated, Axel would ask yet another question. “Which was…?”

“Check to see if Tony had been taken here. And...it looks like my suspicions were correct.” Mio pointed--and near the opposite end of the operating room, they would see the minotaur restrained to a chair. “Son of a…”

“Sumbitch,” Axel swore under his breath.

The two of them raced down to the other end of the room to check on the minotaur. Mio stepped up towards him, and checked for his pulse. “Mr. Giovanni? Are you with us?”

“Feel anythin’?” Axel observed the sleeping bull man carefully.

“He’s alive. But barely. It would appear...that he’s been castrated.”

“Ughhg…” As if provoked by the presence of the two, Tony would begin to stir, and slowly regain his senses. “...Wh...who…?”

Both the hippogriff and tomcat looked up to the minotaur with bated anxiety, silently waiting for him to come back to them.

“...Boys? You both came’ta see me, huh?” the minotaur spoke weakly, “Listen...I ain’t got much time left here…”

“What do ya mean by that, Tony? What’s goin’ on?” Axel asked, desperately seeking an answer.

Mio placed a paw on Tony’s forehead. “...His vitals are dropping. The nurses must have poisoned him….disgusting rabble…attacking an innocent older gentleman like this...”

At last, Axel would finally be able to see for himself that Mio was not in support of his gang’s operations. Part of him didn’t know how to process it, so for the time being, he didn’t dwell upon it.

“...Ain’t nothin’ we can do at all?” Axel pressed for a response from Mio.

“....No, I’m afraid,” said the tom. “That poison has no known cure. Even I don’t know what its contents are.”

“...Boys,” the minotaur called to them both as he coughed, “...Listen’ta me…”

Meanwhile…

While this had been happening, Vido, Kora, and Rose had all met up back in the middle of the hallway as they had originally intended. The only problem was…

Axel was not present.

“...Nothing mah way,” Rose said as she met up with the two.

“Nada. Nothing that way either,” Vido said.

Kora was about to state the same thing, but she immediately noticed the lack of hippogriff cowboy in the vicinity. “...Lord Remington hasn’t returned. We must make haste in the direction he took off in. He could be in trouble.”

Roseanne readied her shotgun. “Ain’t gotta tell me twice...let’s git goin’...”

“...Are you serious, sir?” Mio asked.

“I am...ya’ll both are the only ones left that I can reasonably depend on’ta make it--agh!--happen…” he said in between a cough.

Axel did have his doubts, but if Tony could trust this particular yellow-eye, then he had no reason to doubt the man. “...Understood.”

A few moments later, the rest of Axel’s group would enter the room, and Roseanne...would find her father strapped to the chair.

At first, she called out to him in disbeliefi, “Pa…?” But that quickly changed when she saw what he had been put through, “PAPA!!” Rose ran over, and pushed both the tom and hippogriff out of the way. “...Pa...pa, don’t worry! I-I’m here!”

“...St--...Rosie…?” Tony could barely open his eyes at this point, but he would always be able to recognize his daughter’s voice no matter what. “...I’m so glad you’re...I got to see you one last time…”

“Pa...what did they do to ya?!” she frantically tried to look for a way to rescue her father from the chair, peeking around the arms, then the back, then the base of the seat. “C’mon--there’s gotta be a...a...something!”

“...Ain’t...no good, child…” Tony sputtered with his voice getting weaker by the second. “Listen...I want ya to promise me something…”

The minotaur gal was unable to process the fact that her father was slowly dying, and could barely listen to him. “N-no...pa...I…I can save ya...”

“Estelle Roseanne Giovanni…” he mumbled her full name to get her attention, “Listen to yer old man for a sec, will ya?”

That caused her to go silent on a dime so that she could listen. “...Y-yeah…?”

“Make sure ya make a good livin’ for yourself...find a good partner...and make sure the Ranch don’t suffer...I love ya…”

Rose would place a quick kiss on her father’s forehead. “...I understand, pa. I love you too.”

“...And thank you boys…” Tony addressed the hippogriff and tomcat, “For spendin’ time with this old bull through his final moments...don’t forget what I told ya, alright?”

Axel and Mio shared a quick glance with each other before nodding.

“...I promise, sir,” said the tom.

“I promise, Tony,” said the gunslinger.

But just then, as soon as everyone thought they had a break…

“So he isn’t dead yet? What a resilient bull....”

Mio turned his head first. “You...but I thought you were going to go see your wife!”