Kai had run all of Crawford’s errands and had even gotten the candies and some ladies hand lotion to use as lube, although the thought of what would happen that night was still somewhat daunting. He was so deep in thought about it that he was taking very little notice of Zen.
He didn’t understand how the cat boy could be so seemingly content to be Aya’s plaything, if that was what he was, but other than that he got on quite well with the silver-haired boy. Feeling a little guilty about his retrospection he opened his mouth to say something when he felt Zeshin tense just as he heard galloping hooves.
Zeshin noticed a trio of things the instant he saw the galloping horse. First was that the man had a woman thrown over the saddle of his horse, second was the man’s identity, and third was the fact that he knew the dress the woman was wearing which told him the woman was Aya-chan.
“Bastard!” he snarled, “Kai he’s got Aya-chan!”
"What? Oh hell! What should we do?"
And why was he standing there dumbstruck when he should be doing something? Some assassin you are!
Zeshin was already on the move, “Go back to the house, tell whoever’s there. I’m going to follow them!” the other teen shouted as he took off after the running horse.
Kai turned and ran, heading for the house as quickly as possible. He could only hope that Crawford or somebody was actually there. But if they were, how had Everette’s gunslinger got away with the abduction of Aya-chan? He ran on.
While Kai was heading for the house, Zeshin was running after the gunslinger and he was quickly gaining on the over burdened horse, much to the amazement of the bystanders on the street.
Silver ponytail whipping behind him, the boy pelted up the centre of the street.
The gunslinger didn’t notice Zeshin until he was getting close to the house, then he stared, shocked as the boy made a jump for his horse. The animal squealed and bolted forward as if he’d been jumped by a cougar. When the gunslinger looked he saw the weird kid as he tumbled in the dirt and rolled to his feet. Even more startling were the deep gouges he could see in the flank of his mount. Bloody gouges. The kind a cougar would leave.
“Jesus Christ!” he said in shock as the boy came on, running after them a second time.
He knew the kid worked for Crawford. So he drew his gun hoping to kill or at least slow the weird Chinaman down or kill him. He fired a shot but it went wide, tried to aim for a second shot but the boy wasn’t like anything the gunslinger had ever encountered before and right as he pulled the trigger the silver haired foreigner changed directions.
Aya-chan, realising that someone was trying to help her, started to struggle, effectively helping to distract the gunslinger.
Angry that his plan wasn’t working as easily as he’d wanted it too, the gunslinger cracked Aya-chan across the back of the skull with the butt of his pistol.
When he glanced behind it was to find the boy gaining on his horse at an alarming speed.
“Dammit,” the man muttered and took another shot at the boy, swearing vilely as that shot also missed.
He had one bullet left.
Snarling, Zeshin jumped for the horse.
* * * * * * *
Meanwhile Kai reached the house to find bloodshed and mayhem. Aya was crouched over a bloody and motionless Yohji whilst Schuldig was standing off to one side, eyes faraway in concentration.
"Kai! If you’re a healer do something!" Aya yelled at him. He approached and was horrified by the state that his blonde team mate was in.
"I… I’ll do what I can," he stammered.
An agitated Farfarello joined them on the porch, taking up a stance between his lover and the distraught trio of Weiss.
Schuldig found the telepath’s mind and smiled grimly, an expression far removed from his usual smirk. It was time for the amateur to find out at first hand just what a trained mind could do…
Kai knelt beside Yohji, almost pushing Aya out of his way in his haste to reach the blonde and ascertain the extent of the damage. His mind didn’t seem to belong to him anymore, instead it was as if he was seeing the critically injured man through different eyes. He concentrated…
Beside him Aya frowned as he suddenly realised something. Singapura had feelings for Yohji. Right now though it didn’t matter as long as he could save the blonde’s life. If he could…
Farfarello glanced down at what Kai was doing, seeing the barest shimmer of power on the boy’s hands.
* * * * * * *
Brad had risen to follow Aya when he’d bolted from the American’s office, but images had slammed into his mind, as if they’d somehow been delayed.
Everette’s gunman, Yohji being shot, Aya-chan screaming, a galloping horse carrying her and the gunslinger away, Aya kneeling beside Kudoh, blood running from the blond’s mouth.
When the vision had ended he found himself seated at his desk, his eyes blurry, head pounding so badly he felt nauseous.
He hardly noticed that Schuldig wasn’t there, the ache behind his eyes was so bad.
His own arrogance had led to a mistake. One that could cost them Kudoh.
Unsteadily Brad got to his feet and headed for the front porch knowing that was where the others would be.
* * * * * * *
Sharp pain lanced through Aya-chan’s head as the gun cracked down on it. Angry at being so abused she reacted automatically. Spotting the gunslinger’s leg she bit it just as another shot rang out.
“You fucking whore!” the gunslinger bellowed as the girl bit him, his shot going a bit wild. It missed Zeshin’s face and hit him in the shoulder, just as he’d dug his claws into the terrified horse.
Angry the gunslinger slapped Aya-chan, “Bite me again and I’ll fucking beat the hell out of you bitch!”
Zeshin didn’t make a sound as he hit the ground, rolling a few feet before coming to a stop. He shook himself and stared at the gunslinger, seeing the man strike her brought a furious snarl to his lips. Growling he got to his feet for the second time and took off after the fleeing horse, blood spreading across the front of pale grey shirt he was wearing.
“Son of a bitch!” the gunslinger swore.
* * * * * * *
Aya glanced up as Crawford joined them. He wanted to ask why the American had not seen this coming, he wanted to yell at him and hit him for being so useless and perhaps getting Yohji killed. He did none of these things. Instead he turned away abruptly and headed in the direction the gunslinger and his sister had taken. He would have to trust Kai to do what he could for his stricken lover. He had a man to kill.
Brad motioned for Farfarello and Schuldig, the Irishman going to his leader, a questioning look on his face.
“I want that bastard telepath of Everette’s. Or rather, I want you to strip any information he has on where that bastard has taken Aya-chan and then I want you to show him why it’s bad to fuck with Schwarz,” he grated it out between clenched teeth.
"Already on it, Vater," Schuldig said, for once without any trace of mockery in his tone. "The fool is attempting to be a decoy and has headed to a cabin in the hills. However, Aya-chan has been taken towards Everette’s house. Do we need him anymore?"
“No. But find out how he managed to hide this from me, from both of us. I want to know how he did that, and if you can learn how to do it.”
The American dropped into one of the chairs on the porch and closed his eyes, trying to will the pain away, his breathing going slow and deep.
Schuldig concentrated again. He picked up the method used to throw them quickly enough and it was horribly straightforward. Their interest in Randall had been their downfall and it had been a simple matter of making them concentrate their mental energies on recruiting the man. Only Aya had been even remotely alert because the telepath had not been able to break through the redhead’s shields enough to fully snare him.
Disgusted with himself for not monitoring the lesser talent better, he finally gathered his rage and hurt together and fashioned it into a mental dart which he hurled with unerring accuracy at the other telepath.
In a simple cabin in the hills, the telepath suddenly clutched his head before collapsing to the floor, blood and brain matter oozing from ears, eyes and nose.
Farfarello caught Schuldig’s attention the instant the telepath was done with their prey and pointed at Brad. They needed to get him inside away from curious eyes. At least that was how the Irishman felt because of their long association with Essett and Rosenkruez. A show of weakness had always been dangerous to them, and old habits died hard.
Schuldig glanced at the American and then shook his head. Crawford was seething with a fury and passion rarely expressed and it would be well to leave him alone until they knew whether Kudoh would live or die and if Aya had caught up with the gunslinger and avenged both his sister and lover.
When Crawford finally looked up at the members of his team, his eyes were hard as stone, his expression cold as an Arctic wind. “I want the two of you to stay here.” He got to his feet, “I’m going to go have a little discussion with Everette.”
He glanced at Kudoh, “When Aya comes back make sure Kudoh’s in their room. Dead or alive, he’ll need some time alone with him.”
“Save him for us Kai.” He said with no trace of anything in his voice, then he stepped off the porch and headed around back to get his horse.
* * * * * * *
Aya reached the spot where Kai and Zeshin had parted company and followed Zeshin’s trail which followed the path of the gunslinger’s horse. Soon there was blood along it, although it would be useless to speculate whether it belonged to Zeshin, his sister or the gunslinger.
Further along there was a rather large patch of blood and Aya could now hear shouted curses and Zeshin’s snarls. He broke into a run.
Zeshin had caught up with the gunslinger who’d been struggling with a very angry, hurt and totally uncooperative Aya-chan
Aya broke into a run.
The scene unfolding before him was like something out of a strange fantasy. Zeshin’s claws were buried in the gunslinger’s frightened horse’s flanks and his sister was fighting like a virago to free herself from a fist buried in her long hair. There was blood spreading across Zeshin’s shirt and Aya’s eyes narrowed. Another lover and his sister hurt by the man on the horse. He strode forward, just as the sound of another horse approaching at a gallop reached his ears.
The gunslinger slammed his pistol into Aya-chan’s back just as Zeshin got himself onto the horse, the boy snarling in his ear.
The horse screamed and started to buck, at the end of it’s ability to handle the pain of it’s injured rump and too many strange and frightening things happening on it’s back.
Aya ran forward on silent feet, his hand on the gun strapped to his thigh rather than the katana. A wide sweep with that might well kill both Zeshin and his sister. He pulled the gun free in a single fluid motion just as the other rider reached them.
It was one of Everette’s men, but not one that had ever faced off against any of Crawford’s band of foreigners, so he didn’t have any respect for what they could do and approached the situation with contempt. He was used to picking on the immigrant bastards and didn’t expect trouble from the ones he was facing now.
There was a gunshot, the bullet whizzing past Aya’s head accompanied by a shout of, “Dirty Chinaman!” from behind Aya.
Aya spun and fired taking the interloper cleanly through the chest and knocking him backwards off his horse.
The horse finally threw Zeshin from his precarious perch, the boy went flying off the back of the animal. He twisted mid-air and landed in a crouch on his feet and his good hand, holding the wounded arm close to his body.
He snarled, ready to leap for the wildly thrashing horse.
"Zeshin!" Aya warned. "He’s mine!"
The boy’s head snapped around to regard Aya, then he bowed his head, submitting to the will of his master.
The gunslinger had his hands full with Aya-chan and the horse, unable to control either one.
Aya-chan finally managed to slid off one side of the wildly plunging horse. She went straight to Zeshin’s side to check on his wounded shoulder.
The horse bolted, the gunslinger unable to regain control of the terrified animal. It gave a few more hard bucks and the gunslinger was unseated, to land hard in the middle of the street.
He got up and ran for cover around the corner of the bank where he stopped to reload the gun he still had in his right hand from the bullets shoved in the loops on his gun belt.
"Afraid to face me man to man?" Aya taunted. "Very well, if you want to play hide and seek I’m willing. The end result will be the same." He found his own cover, replaced the spent bullet and waited to see what the gunslinger’s answer would be.
He calmly reloaded his revolver, ignoring the taunting until he had the gun loaded. Then he did some taunting of his own, “Seems to me I shot that blond gunslinger Crawford was so proud of, Chinaman. I suspect you ain’t even close to bein’ his equal.”
Aya chuckled without humour. "He might disagree with you. Besides, it’s really easy to shoot an unarmed man, isn’t it." He knew Yohji had gone for his wire by the strand hanging from his watch and he also knew that he’d done that after being shot the first time. Had he been unharmed this gunslinger would already be dead.
“Well I suspect we’re going to find out who the better gun is pretty soon,” the gunslinger replied. Done talking he moved around the bank heading for the back. His intention was to cut down the alleyway and go around behind the lady’s dress shop. From there he could come up behind the red-haired Chinaman and gun him down like the dog he was.
The thought made him smile.
Aya had not cut down 'dark beasts' on Tokyo’s darkened streets for years without developing good hearing. The gunman’s retreating movements gave him the clue he needed and he made his own way towards the back of the dress shop.
He was through playing with this bastard and used his talent to get him there seconds before his prey.
Everette’s pet gunman saw the Chinaman appear as if out of nowhere. The gun in his hand wasn’t really aimed, but it was pointed in the right direction so he pulled the trigger.
* * * * * * *
Aya-chan was busily tearing strips off her petticoat with which to bind Zeshin’s bleeding shoulder.
Zeshin watched Aya head down the side of the dress shop, and frowned. Aya-chan was exposed here on the street, and that made her vulnerable. If something happened to her now, Aya would never forgive him.
He stood, pulling her to her feet. “Later. I need to get you somewhere safe.”
* * * * * * *
"Save him for us, Kai."
Crawford’s words had sounded like they’d come from the bottom of a well. It was the last external thing Kai either heard or saw for some considerable time as he concentrated his energies on the blood-soaked blonde on the porch.
There had been no time to question himself, for the doubts to set in. He had to do this, there was no other choice.
Farfarello put an arm around Schuldig and leaned into his lover, *I don’t think Aya will take it well if Kudoh dies.*
Schuldig rested against the Irishman, tired to what little soul he had left. *He’s not the only one. Yohji’s imperative to us. He’s the battery Aya must use to get us back to our own time.*
Farfarello gave a quick kiss to his lover, *We’ll survive either way. Schwarz always does.*
Perhaps it was tiredness, perhaps it was worry but Schuldig’s voice sounded almost petulant when he replied, "But I don’t want to survive here, Farf. I hate this time and place."
*I know you don’t want to be here. Neither does Crawford. I think he hates even more than we do.* Farfarello chuckled, *No stocks, no mutual funds, no gourmet coffee and he hates the food.*
Kai finally came back to a sense of himself and immediately checked Yohji to see if he’d done any good at all. His brows rose in surprise when he realised that the terrible wounds in Yohji’s body had not only stopped bleeding but had closed up as if they’d never been.
He attempted to climb to his feet but staggered and would have fallen if Farfarello and Schuldig hadn’t caught him. He was exhausted but if it meant that Yohji was going to live it was worth it.
*No wonder Crawford wanted to keep him,* Farfarello commented to Schuldig as they steadied the boy. *He’s a top grade biokinetic, or will be once he’s trained.*
Schuldig’s brows rose. *So it would seem and thank whatever demon watches over us for it. Without him, Kudoh would be dead by now.* The thought made him take a closer look at Yohji. Yes, still alive but pale from loss of blood.
Farfarello grinned at his lover, *This demon loves to watch over you.*
He helped Schuldig get the boy into a seat then stood looking down at the blonde. “I think we should get him off the porch and into a bed.” He motioned to Kai, “Him too for that matter.”
Schuldig nodded. If they didn’t look after Yohji and Kai both Crawford and Aya would have their hides. *Kudoh first, I think. Is Nagi about anywhere? It would probably be better if we didn’t have to jolt him.*
“I have no idea where he or his pet are,” Farfarello replied. “I thought they were upstairs, but,” he shrugged, “Nagi would have come downstairs when he heard the gunshot if he was here. Siberian would have too for that matter.”
"Damn! I really don’t want to have to carry Kudoh and risk opening those wounds again. No matter how good Kai is, the skin will still be thin and easy to tear."
As if in answer to an unvoiced prayer, Nagi and Ken chose that moment to return home from wherever they had been. When they saw Yohji lying on the porch and all the blood surrounding him, they broke into a run.
"What happened?" Nagi demanded.
“Shit,” Ken said as he jumped onto the porch and knelt down beside the unconscious blond. “Who is Aya off killing for this?”
“Everette’s gunslinger. He shot Kudoh and made off with Aya-chan.”
“Oh, shit that guy is so dead. When Aya catches up with him, he’s going to regret doing this, and taking Aya-chan.” Ken stated as he touched Yohji’s throat to check for a pulse. There was so much blood he didn’t see how Yohji could survive. They didn’t have the means to do a transfusion, and with no way to type anyone’s blood it wouldn’t work even if they’d had the means.
Nagi frowned slightly as he realised that there were no visible wounds anywhere on Yohji’s body. He glanced up and his gaze fell on Kai, slumped in a chair. Putting two and two together, he realised that Kai didn’t just heal in his sleep anymore.
"If you and Schuldig can get Kai to bed, I’ll deal with Yohji," he said. Concentrating his power, he lifted Yohji into the air and floated him into the house and to the bedroom the blonde shared with Aya. Once there he gently lowered him onto the bed.
But it was Ken who scooped an exhausted Kai into his arms, “Go find Aya and help him if he needs it. Everette’s men still outnumber us.” He headed for the stairs, but saw Cole standing in the living room and frowned. He turned to look out the front door, “Hey, who’s this guy?”
He figured that Schuldig would know who the man was, and that if he wasn’t supposed to be in the house Farfarello would have already torn him into bite sized pieces.
"He’s one of us, Ken-ken. Crawford was welcoming him to the fold just as all hell broke loose outside," Schuldig told him.
“That’s all I wanted to know,” the brunet said as he started up the stairs.
Schuldig smirked at Cole as he followed Ken inside. "Not quite the welcome we’d planned, of course. Sorry about that."
Cole shrugged. “I gather that Everette’s boys came calling. Anything I can do?” He didn’t mention that while everyone else was occupied he’d taken a little time to examine a few papers on Crawford’s desk.
While he’d witnessed what had happened to Crawford, he wasn’t exactly sure what had happened to the man, other than the fact that he’d left.
And while he’d agreed to work with Crawford’s gang, nothing had been firmly decided, so he was staying out of this particular patch of cactus between the opposing groups.
"Yeah, they came calling but, like thieves in the night, they decided that Aya-chan was theirs for the taking and nearly killed one of our team while doing it. Bastards!" His blue eyes narrowed in anger as he thought about the gunslinger but he soon brightened again. "They’ll regret it though as both Crawford and Aya have finally lost patience with them and their fat boss."
He studied Cole as he spoke, wondering just how much more he should tell the newcomer.
“I can see how they’d be a might angry with Everette’s boys all things taken into account. Fact is, Everette told me today that he was fixing to get ready for a show down with Crawford, though what he likely meant was one between his boys and you folks.”
"He’ll lose," Schuldig said with disdainful conviction. "We’re too good for any of his pitiful minions." He turned away, ready to see how Yohji was before remembering something and looking back over his shoulder at Cole. "So feel free to amuse yourself with Crawford’s papers till we’re done."
Cole only smiled, “You’re good, I’ll give you that.”
"No, I’m not merely good. I’m the best." And, at that moment Schuldig finally began to believe it.
“Crawford seems to have the same opinion. He has a diary. Very interesting reading, but some of it makes no sense really.”
"When you know us better, it might make more sense to you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I want to see how Yohji is."
“Sure thing. Take your time. I think I’ll go put on a fresh pot of coffee and maybe make some dinner for everyone. If that’s okay.”
* * * * * * *
Crawford dismounted in front of the saloon where he knew Everette had his headquarters. There were a few men lounging in chairs on the front porch and they eyed him warily. Lookouts for the man inside.
Brad didn’t give them a chance to wonder why he was there. He didn’t give them a chance to do more than tense in their seats. He drew his .45 from it’s shoulder holster and blew their faces off, not even pausing as he stepped onto the porch.
The doors swung open and he strode inside, heading directly for Everette.
Two more of the man’s goons rose, hands dropping for their guns.
Neither of them made it, the modern gun making short work of their heads. Crawford hadn’t even seemed to take aim on either of them, his hand simply moving just enough to make the shots.
Everette went ashen and started to stand.
“Sit down!”
The man did as he was told, hoping some of his boys would come in off the street, or hear the commotion upstairs and come down to save him.
The business end of the strange looking pistol was aimed dead centre on his chest.
He saw three of his boys coming in the front door. There wasn’t any possibility the man confronting him could turn and take all three of them down in time.
Crawford spun, taking a step to the left as he did so, one bullet going past him to hit the bar.
The automatic in his hand barked three times.
Three more corpses hit the wooden floor with muted thumps.
He turned to face Everette, who had chosen to make good his escape and was fleeing toward the back of the saloon.
The smile on Brad’s face would have turned a devil’s blood cold as the man took aim through the wall, saying loudly, “You’ve worn out your welcome. Give my regards to Lucifer,” then he pulled the trigger.
The high-powered bullet punched through the wall and Crawford turned to leave before he heard the man gasp and collapse dying to the floor.
* * * * * * *
The bullet kept going to bury itself in the back of the dress shop, while Aya was three paces to the left of where he’d been only a split second before. He shook his head. "You’ll have to do better than that."
The gunslinger stared. He should have killed the red-haired man. He knew there was no way he could have missed, and yet...
He fired again, two rapid shots, using his left hand to re-cock the gun quickly.
This time Aya was behind him. There was a sharp pain in the region of his left elbow and then his left hand and forearm were lying on the ground.
He stared, dumbstruck at the appendage lying in the dirt, too shocked to completely connect the fact that his arm was gone. Blood pumped from his stump as he turned to try and find Crawford’s man.
All he saw was the bright flash of metal before his gun and the hand holding it joined his left arm on the ground. Aya smiled at him, the expression totally devoid of either warmth or humour. "Time to die," he said. There was that bright flash again only this time it was the last thing the gunslinger saw.
* * * * * * *
Crawford exited the saloon to find a crowd of bystanders outside, peering into the large windows.
“Did you kill him mister?” a young boy asked, pointing inside.
“Yes. Everette’s dead,” he replied. A vision of Schuldig speaking with Cole slid into his mind, and Brad smiled, the look genuine as the telepath finally realized his own worth.
“The whole town owes you a debt, mister. Them guys was meaner than polecats,” an elderly man said.
“Well you’re free of them now.”
“Thanks to you, Mr. Crawford,” a shopkeeper said. “You and your boys want anything, you come by and get it, and be welcome.”
“Ja, you come by and get a new suit, Mister Crawford,” the tailor said.
“Thanks but my boys and I will be leaving soon. Our work here is just about done.”
Yes, all we need to do is wait for Yohji to regain his strength and then I think it’s time for us to head back to Tokyo.
It’s time we faced our own devils.
* * * * * * *
Aya went back to where he’d left Zeshin and Aya-chan. He found them under cover of a horse trough with his sister doing her best to bind Zeshin’s wounded shoulder. She looked up at his approach, her expression concerned.
“The bullet’s still in there,” she said. “We need to get him back to the house and get it out.”
Zeshin raised his gaze to Aya, “I didn’t let him take her, Fujimiya-san.” His words were a bit slurred, and his golden eyes were half-lidded, the pain of his injuries and the blood loss taking their toll on the boy.
Still, considering he’d been thrown from the back of a galloping horse twice, and shot in the bargain, he was surprisingly lucid.
“No, you didn’t,” Aya agreed with real gratitude. “Thank you, Zen. Can you stand?”
“Hai.” The boy stood, swaying slightly, but he was on his feet.
Aya-chan also rose to her feet and moved closer to Zeshin so she could support him if necessary. Aya nodded his approval. He would need both hands free just in case any of Everette’s goons were dumb enough to try attacking them.
Zeshin shook his head, “I can walk,” he told Aya-chan softly in Japanese.
“Stop trying to be a fucking hero,” Aya snapped, overhearing him. “You’ve lost enough blood and you don’t want that bullet to move.”
The boy looked up at the taller man, then bowed his head. “I’m sorry, Fujimiya-san. I just thought that Aya-san might be hurting too. He was beating her with his gun. I didn’t want to do anything that might cause her pain.”
“I’ll manage, Zeshin-kun,” Aya said with a smile. “You’re in much more pain than I am, I think.”
She placed an arm around his waist and together they headed back towards the house.
They were hadn't gone more than a few steps when four armed men stepped into the street.
“I suppose you three think you’re goin’ home. But you’re wrong,” the oldest of the four said as he waved his gun at them. “You’re goin’ somewhere all right, but it ain’t home.”
He had hardly finished his sentence before Aya’s gun was out of its holster and had barked a reply. The man was dead before he hit the ground. “You talk too much,” Aya told the corpse.
The other three took cover and started shooting and Aya dived for the side of the street taking Zeshin and his sister down with him as he hit the ground.
The sound of rapidly approaching hoof beats and the boom of a gun marked the arrival of Crawford on the big black horse he’d chosen to ride. Another of the gunmen who’d thought the door of a saloon would protect him found out he’d made a mistake.
He came stumbling out of the saloon, and fell dying to the street.
A hail of bullets sang around Crawford, but none of them hit him, the big man dismounting from the back of his still galloping horse and landing on his feet, running for cover near the former Weiss killers and Aya-chan.
“Two down, but more are on their way.” He looked at Aya-chan, “You wanted out of the house, are you having fun?”
Aya’s cold eyes stared back at him, anger in their violet depths. “There was no call for that,” he said mildly.
Brad only smirked, “So touchy. You’re going to have a stroke if you don’t lighten up Fujimiya.”
*Schuldig, we could use some help here. If you please. Bring Farfarello too. I’m sure he’ll have a lot of fun with this.*
*On our way, Vater.*
*Quickly if you please. Their support team is about half a block away.*
The sound of more horses approaching from the south could now be heard. “Their cavalry is on the way. Strangely I’ve never considered that the bad guys had cavalry, but I suppose it’s all in your point of view, isn’t it?” Brad actually smiled at Aya-chan, “I mean, weren’t we the bad guys too at one time?”
The girl shrugged slightly. “Not to me,” she said, “but then I was… asleep.”
One of the three men who had taken cover chose that moment to attempt to get closer. He got two feet before Aya fired and got him in the chest. “One left plus however many are arriving.”
“Fifteen. Should be interesting.” He reached out and touched Zeshin’s face, forcing the boy to look at him. “You stay close to Aya-chan.”
Zeshin nodded and shifted position, putting himself between Aya and the remaining men.
Brad ruffled his hair, “Good boy,”
Golden eyes narrowed, but the boy remained silent.
Aya ignored the conversation, watching for any movement the sole surviving original goon might make. The arrival of fifteen fresh opponents did no more than make his eyes narrow very slightly.
“Oh look it’s a party!” Never had Schuldig’s nasal drawl sounded more musical than at this moment. He wanted to ask about Yohji but now was neither the time nor the place. They had some men to kill.
Farfarello was taking care of the last gunman if the shriek of pain was any indication of his location to the rest of Schwarz.
Brad stood up, “They’ve got rifles so this might be just about an even fight.”
Farfarello stepped out from behind a stack of barrels, the forearm long knife he was carrying dripping a trail of crimson, his white shirt spattered with the remains of his victim.
“Fun,” he said, eye lit with excitement.
Schuldig chuckled at Aya’s sigh of resignation before agreeing with his lover. All amusement was gone, however when the first of the reinforcements came into view. Suddenly the man screamed and fell off his horse. “Oh whoops!” the telepath said with a snigger.
Sometimes Aya wondered which of the two was the biggest psycho but, then again, hadn’t he enjoyed chopping bits off Aya-chan’s kidnapper?
“YAIYAIYAI!” Farfarello’s battle cry rang out, shrill as breaking glass, the Berserker running at the oncoming horsemen.
Gunshots peppered the ground, and blew chips of wood off the building that Brad, Aya and the two younger teens were standing near.
“Showtime,” Brad said as he calmly walked into the hail of gunfire, his own pistol shouting death at the men.
Another of the riders fell.
Zeshin picked Aya-chan up and bolted for the nearest doorway, intending to keep her out of harms way even if it killed him.
Having no time to worry about Zeshin or his sister right now, Aya too stepped into the street and took out one of the oncoming riders. Schuldig pulled his own gun free of its holster and fired, catching one of the riders in the shoulder and rendering his gun arm useless. “Damn! My aim’s off.” He fired again and this time there was no mistake.
Farfarello jumped to the roof of a porch just as two of the gunmen opened fire on the place he’d been an instant before. He jumped from there to the back of a horse, cutting the rider’s throat and painting the startled horse a bright red.
Grinning like a devil from hell, he jumped off the back of the horse and turned to face another rider, unconcerned by the revolver in the man’s hand.
Bullets sang around the Schwarz team, but, amazingly, none found their mark.
Crawford targeted his next victim and removed the man’s face with one shot.
“You might try killing them on the first shot, Schuldig. Bullets cost money,” Crawford told the German.
“I told you my aim was off,” Schuldig retorted, taking out another target.
Aya’s gun fired again and another man fell with a short scream. His leg was tangled in reins and stirrup strap and his body was dragged down the street by his terrified mount.
Seeing their numbers reduced so quickly the remaining gunmen tried to retreat.
Brad took aim and shot one of them between the shoulder blades.
Farfarello ran a few steps and grabbed the reins of a horse, his knife tearing into the man’s thigh, releasing a spray of blood from the severed artery.
The American turned abruptly and fired three shots. The first killed a woman who’d just stooped to picked up a dropped rifle. The second shot killed a horse that had been ridden by another of the gunmen. The last shot hit a man who’d been in the window of the brothel across the street tumbled out of the shattered window to fall into the street.
Aya fired again and the man who had been trying to ride Farfarello down and who was now running for cover fell flat on his face a crimson stain spreading across the back of his shirt.
Schuldig nodded approvingly. “Nice shot,” he said as he took out another rider.
Aya wasn’t listening, instead he was seeing a gun aimed straight at Crawford’s head and was shooting its owner.
Crawford smiled, knowing that Aya would protect him. Yes it was working well, and this little dust up was proving they were a team indeed.
The American fired one last time and watched the last of their would be murderers die in his saddle.
Brad saw Farfarello take the last man, the knife hilt deep in the man’s spine.
He pulled out his pocket watch, nodded. “Seventeen dead in under a minute. Nice work gentlemen.”