Advent Of A Gunslinger

And down below within the train…

Vido and the monkey gal had been locked in a fierce series of dodges, whiffs, near-misses--the works. Neither could really land a hit on each other because both of them knew that a single strike from the other could be devastating.

So much so, that the primate lady found time to make idle chatter with the griffon as they fought.

“You’re...much more skilled than you look,” she said while blocking one of his jabs with her staff, “Who--ergh--taught you these techniques?”

And as soon as she blocked his first strike, he pulled back and jumped above a sweeping kick she performed with her long limbs. “Self-taught, simia,” was all he said in response to the question. Vido would then charge directly at her, forcing his claws onto her staff and putting pressure on her limbs. “But why are you all doing this? What is there to gain?”

“Rrggh!” she growled from the force. Her back was now against the wall of the train, leaving her with little options. “You wouldn’t understand! Our desires go beyond what you filthy westerners think of the world.”

“What?!” he squawked, “How could you say something like that? You don’t even know who I am!”

“Maybe not personally,” she said with a small grin forming on her face, “But I know you griffons. All you care about is material possession. You don’t care about each other or even yourselves! You’re all the same...filthy creatures who don’t deserve to be who you are. Accept your place beneath me, pìgu,” she said while spitting in his face.

“...” Her words cut deep, and served as a distraction for a moment. In that split-second, Vido lost his sense of worth, and couldn’t focus on what he should do or say--his eyes darting all over the place.

SMACK!

Naturally, the primate woman took advantage of this, and smacked him with the staff hard enough to force him onto the floor of the train.

“Argh! Oof--!”

She stomped on his chest--her hand-like foot was powerful enough to keep him pinned to the ground with little effort. To add emphasis, she pointed her staff at his neck, forcing him to listen “As I said...you griffons are disgusting. Half-lion, half-eagle, but one-hundred percent wastes of time.”

“And...how do you even know that?” Vido asked weakly as he gazed back at Kora who was still knocked out.

“Because, fool, I have been to Griffonstone,” said the monkey lady, “And it was a terrible experience. But I managed to find my prey. Silly old fool…”

Out of morbid curiosity mixed with fear, Vido asked, “...What was his name?”

“Since you are defeated, I may as well indulge you: Magpie if I recall correctly. Now…” she pointed the end of her staff at his neck, “Yield and submit to your superior.”

Soon enough, Vido could feel his claws twitch, able to move them ever so slightly. “...I need to be careful.” He glared at her with a fiery defiance in his eyes. “Vete a la mierda…”

The monkey was confused since she had no clue what he had just said. She raised a brow. “Eh? Speak the universal language, fool.”

SHINK!

Before she could blink, the griffon had slashed his claws against her left inner thigh.

“ACK!” she screeched. The pain was so intense that she had to back off, allowing Vido to get free.

The griffon recovered quickly, and followed up with a violent choke slam while flying and dragging her against the train’s floor until he reached the very end and forcefully held her against the wall, causing her to drop her weapon.

She tried to push his claw off, but wasn’t strong enough. She was bested at this point with no way out. “...D...damn...you...aren’t bad…”

“I submit to no one,” he snarled in her face.

Just then, both Axel and Chang entered the train car. Much to their surprise. Kora was knocked out and they could see Vido having apprehended their opponent.

Chang set down Kai’s unconscious body. “I’ll check on her,” he said as he knelt down to the abyssinian to ensure her safety. “You go.”

Axel stepped forward with his right pistol drawn. “Alright, alright,” he said to calm the griffon down. “That’s enough. Ain’t no need’ta murk her. She surrenders,” he then glared at the monkey gal, “Don’t she?’

With no other option, she was forced into submission to avoid being choked to death. “...Y...yes!”

Vido let her go, causing her body to hit the floor with a thud. He then turned, and walked away, leaving Axel to talk to her by himself.

“Alright now...with that bein’ said: The name Remington ring a bell for ya?” he asked while sitting in one of the train’s seats.

“...Yes. You’re the one we’re supposed to take in to our boss,” she explained with an annoyed roll of her eyes, “Something about the fact that your family’s weapon secrets could benefit us all. Whatever it is, I knew I wanted it.”

Axel sighed as he placed the side of his head in the palm of his right claw. “...Looks like it’s true. Everyone and their cotton-pickin’ mee-maw is after my ass for one reason or another.”

“...You cannot blame them,” she replied with a scoff, “Remington’s weapons always controlled and handled the best under pressure and in the toughest conditions. You can see why your knowledge is valuable.”

“Blech. Don’t give a mule’s ass about that,” Axel grumbled, “I just need’ta know why them damn catfolk took my pa and family away from me.”

“Māo rén...abyssinians.”

Axel leaned forward. “You know ‘em?”

“Maybe,” she folded her arms and turned up her chin in a defiant manner, “But you’ll get nothing from me. I have endured all forms of torture. You may as well kill me. Unless you’re too soft to do so…”

Whether or not she knew anything, it would be a waste of time to question her if they couldn’t get any answers. However, Axel wasn’t simply going to let her go either.

“Fair enough. Guess you’ll both be our prisoners then,” said the gunslinger.

The monkey gal’s eyelid twitched as she mumbled a response. “...Excuse me?”

“We gon’ take you in and make sure we get what we want from yer folks. Simple exchange, really.”

“No…” she grit her teeth and stood up, “I will never be the prisoner of a gang with a gross, slimy griffon involved!”

Axel aimed his gun at her once more. “Easy, little lady. You ain’t gon’ suffer for too long.”

“I refuse! Kill me instead!” she protested at the top of her lungs, shouting like a banshee. “I will not admit defeat to some lowly mongrel such as him!”

On the other end of the train car, Vido visibly shivered with his tail flicking about. But he said nothing.

“Alright, that’s enough,” Axel looked over at Chang, “You know what’ta do, friend.”

But before the doctor could reach for his tranquilizer…

POOF!

A massive smokescreen appeared, with a set of overlapping monkey screeches and chitters that caused enough noise to keep anyone from figuring out what was happening.

When the smoke cleared, and the noise finally stopped, the female monkey was gone. Oddly enough though, Kai’s body was left behind. Was he merely overlooked out of negligence of his comrades or was he left intentionally?

Whatever the case, everyone was stunned by the direction that the situation had gone in.

Thankfully, Kora wasn’t too terribly injured. She woke up soon after while rubbing her head. “...Argh. My cranium is killing me…”

Chang put a stethoscope over her chest. “Are you well, Lady Kora?”

“I am...thank you, doc.”

Vido flew over to Axel’s position, and took a look around. “She got away, didn’t she?”

“Would appear so,” Axel muttered as he sheathed his revolver and shut his eyes. “It’s like Tony said: Stay focused, stay alive. Don’t let nothin’ get in my way.” Once he had finished thinking about what to do next, he addressed the rest of the group. “Alright, ya’ll. We need’ta get to the front of the train and make sure the driver ain’t been merked. Chang and Kora--go around and make sure no other passengers got swept up in all’a this here mess.”

The doctor had pulled Kora off the floor of the train car and responded. “No problem. Are you well, Kora?”

The she-cat flicked her tail. “I’m fine. We have to ensure the safety of the rest of those on board.”

“I’ll join you, Axel,” Vido stepped up to the gunslinger, “We need to get back on track--no pun intended. And I think I’ve calculated how far away we are from where we need to be. Let’s go.”

With that, the group spread out under Axel’s command. You could say he was officially in control of this here posse...