Advent Of A Gunslinger

Meanwhile, on a different continent entirely…

The train was chugging at a steady, comfortable pace. It wouldn’t be much longer before Axel and his group would arrive in Chang’s hometown. Most of the other passengers were fellow primates of Wukong and a few ponies that lived in the neighboring region of Neighjing. Thankfully, no one on either side recognized who the prince was--mainly due to his labcoat and opaque glasses that restricted anyone from seeing his sparkling jade eyes…

He sat next to Axel. The gunslinger hippogriff gazed outside to the beautiful, almost glistening ocean water that was below them. The train was chugging across a massive, densely made bridge that was supported by magic.

“Damn..” he muttered, “Just how does this here thing work?”

“Magic,” the princely doctor replied simply, “Various ancient magics that the ponies and monkeys have both used for their transportation for thousands of years. The train was built to aid in such movement.”

“I see...I do recall that ya’ll invented gunpowder yeah?”

Chang nodded. “Correct, sir. Why do you ask?”

“That makes ya’ll the first arms dealers, don’t it?”

The doctor crossed one of his legs over the other and looked up to the ceiling of the train as he thought about it. “I...would suppose so? But our modern weapons development is much different. Unfortunately...the you-know-who is in control of it.”

“...Is he referrin’ to them Triads?”

Indeed. The Wukong Triads controlled most of the weapon trade that went on in and out of the territory. Which was part of the problem that Chang had with them in the first place.

“...I see now,” Axel replied, “If we can take down the ringleader, then it’s easy street for us.”

Chang sat back in the train seat with his arms behind his head. “Well, it would take a lot more than just that. There’s a lot of political changes that need to be made to adapt such a country to new blood. But I think the Emperor can do it,” he explained, and went on to ask the gunslinger a question, “You have a fixation for weaponry, yes?”

“Was my pa’s life’s work,” Axel droned, “...Somethin’ I always found myself invested in. And once he disappeared, it’s what I devoted myself to.”

“...Oh…” Chang frowned, and quickly thought up a way to lift the gunslinger’s spirits. With a smile, he started to make his offer. “Oh! But there will certainly be chance to find more. There is loads of weapons to experience where we’re headed.”

Axel’s eyes grew wide. “...Really now?”

Chang decided to keep the conversation rolling in this particular direction. It wasn’t often that he got to see Axel genuinely excited by a topic, so he wanted to actively find out what his interests were. “Indeed. Yes-yes. Though, I would like to know about your family’s weaponry. What makes them so special?”

“Oh that’s easy.” He tapped his left, sheathed revolver, “My pa developed these here guns’ta be able to work under any conditions and retain their accuracy. Whether you flyin’, sailin’, or ridin’ a train like the one we on right now. They always gon’ be accurate.”

“Ooh, exquisite if I say so myself,” said the primate as he inspected the handle of Axel’s weapon. “For us back home, our weapons focus on using the natural resources the earth provides us. Have you heard of a chemical element known as tungsten?”

Axel froze in place, and blinked his eyes a few times as he processed what he had just heard. Tungsten was an extremely rare material that could be used to make the perfect bullets. “...I have. Don’t tell me that ya’ll…”

Chang reacted with a chittery-giggle. “Eeehee! You will see soon, Lord Remington. We just need to get off at the main station near my father’s home. That is where our target is probably located.”

“Makes enough sense to me…” the gunslinger nodded in response, wondering just what they’d find there. However, at the same time, it was difficult to not think about Tony and how the minotaur’s death affected Roseanne...and himself. “...Old man. I promise I’mma make sure them folks pay for what they did to ya. And then I’ll make sure yer old fishin’ spot remains untouched. I swear it….”

Eventually the open air and the bridge over the water would come to an end as the train made its way to the other end of it. Now, it was headed into a dense, thick jungle environment that rested upon its own continent. They were now officially in the region known as the ‘Far East.’

“Oh my…” Kora commented as she looked out of the window at the endless amounts of green vines and bamboo. “This place is quite the jungle isn’t it?”

“Si….looks rough,” Vido remarked apprehensively, “We should make sure that we all stick together. I’m not too familiar with these kinds of areas, but they look like they’re begging for you to get lost in.”

“That’s right,” Chang added from his nearby seat, “Follow me once we get off, everyone. I’ll make sure nothing bad happens to us.”

About that. There was one tiny problem in the way of our band of anti-heroes. One of the monkeys that had boarded the train earlier had made her way towards the front of the train.

Eventually, it would slow to a stop with a hiss of steam at the first station. A small residential area--a village more or less where most of the passengers exited, leaving only a few civilians left with Axel and the others.

Which gave her the perfect opening. The monkey gal entered the conductor’s train car, and pointed a gun at his head. “Bùyào tíngzhǐ--keep this train going and don’t make anymore stops. Understood?”

The conductor held his hands in the air and squealed, “Ook! Agh! O-okay...j-just...Please don’t kill me!”

“Not at all, friend,” said the monkey gal, “That would defeat the purpose of our operation…”

From the roof of the open-air train’s engine car, a few more monkeys wearing leather vests would appear and enter the front car of the train.

“You made it. Hǎo de--make sure he doesn’t try anything funny while I go after our target.”

One of them held the conductor at gunpoint with a rifle, and said, “Is that really Remington?”

“No doubt about it,” she replied, “If we can get him to divulge the secrets of his own weaponry, then we can develop ours to be without parallel.”

Another one of them asked, “What do you think he could be here for anyway?”

The finer details of the situation didn’t interest this primate. She simply wanted to snap up something that was coveted by many a bounty hunter across the southern hemisphere. “Meh. Who cares why he’s here? I just want what he knows. If the rumors are true, then the Remington family has some of the best weapon handling of any arms dealer. I need that for my future work.”

From her hip, she grabbed a weapon that folded into an elongated red bo staff. “Keep an eye on the conductor.” With that, she proceeded to leave the locomotive’s front car. This one’s mine…”

The steam train continued on its way along the tracks. Through the dense jungle and right past a station that led to a city….

Which immediately caused Chang to jump out of his seat in panic. “Eek! What...how? We were supposed to...”

Axel raised a brow out of confusion. Since he wasn’t familiar with the area, he was unaware that they had missed their actual stop. “What’s wrong, doc?”

“We were supposed to stop back there,” Chang informed him as he pointed out of the window behind them, “And yet we’re still chugging. The train is always supposed to stop at Huan Wei Station.”

A speeding train that missed its stop? A train that suspiciously had only them and a few others on it? In an instant, Axel knew that there was a problem. “...We’re caught in the middle of a roundup.” He got up from his seat, and shouted to Kora and Vido who sat together nearby. “Git up, ya’ll, we’re bein’ raided!”

The griffon and she-cat immediately leapt from their seats.

“What? Who’s attacking us, hombre?”

“What are we dealing with--?”

CHK-CHK!

From behind them, they would all hear the sound of a weapon being prepped. A monkey-man with a lever-action rifle stood before them. What separated his weapon from most others, though, was the fact that his rifle was encased in a brilliant silver plating. While that alone may not have indicated much, it was still quite unfamiliar…

“Tíngzhǐ!” the gangster primate shouted, “None of you move or else!”

Axel already had his pistols drawn. “Don’t even try it, varmint…”

Thanks to his coat and glasses, the gang member had no idea who Chang was. The doctor was still a bit concerned, though. If he drew his Variable Wukong Firearm, he would expose his true identity… “...”

“Kora, Vido!” Axel shouted, “Get to the front’a the train and make sure the conductor ain’t hurt!”

“On it, boss!”

“Got it, Lord R!”

But before the two could leave the passenger car to the next one, they’d be interrupted by a female monkey with a staff in hand. She wore a pair of tight-fitting black yoga pants and a short leather jacket that barely covered her chest and didn't go past it, leaving her midsection exposed. Her head of fiery orange hair was perhaps her most defining feature along with her hazel eyes.

“I don’t think so, baby!”

The Sunny Gal