Nothing can possibly go wrong...

[Ash]

"Pah. People like you make me want to puke all over the place. The only way you can control anything is through fear. But on the inside, you are nothing but a pathetic little piece of...-", before Ash can finish the last sentence, he stops and slaps himself.

There she was again. This d@mned rage in his heart. Sweat starts to appear on his face, while he tries to get a smile on his face.

Great work. What have I gotten us into now...? And why couldn't I just use the power of speech like I did a few minutes ago? Oh boy. Think. Think. Think!

All of a sudden, Ash bursts out into laughter, holding his belly, shaking his head like insane.

"Well. If that wasn't funny! Come on, Francis. I am laughing with you. With you.", he says, wiping away a non-existing tear. He then turns over to Urufu and Machaeus with a sad expression.

"I messed up, huh?"

[Machaeus]

"Big time," Urufu says.
"How many natural ones do you think that was? In a row?" Machaeus asks.
"Somewhere over 9000."
"For that joke, we are no longer friends."
"Aww..."

[tachyon]

"I know your type, boy. Big-talking, always shooting your mouth off, ain't afraid of no man or beast alive."
Francis kicked his fatter henchman, who was leering and making kissy faces at Katrina, as he walked by. He stopped immediately; Katrina continued looking angrilly at him before switching to Francis.
"- Probably know how to treat a lady right.
"Always stepping in to fix things, lending a hand, fighting other peoples fights. Big ideas, big dreams, big mouth but with the guts to back it up"
He stopped on the other side of the table, and looked Ash right in the eyes.
"I like you. In a way, you remind me of myself. See, thats why I'm giving you the option to walk outta here right now."
"Allright, thats it!"
The Sheriff got up, shakilly, and pointed at Francis.
"I'm with the kid. You ain't got no rights. You thinks killin everyone is gonna keep you on top? Well it aint. You're just keepin on adding to the list of people thats gonna come after you. You're times commin Francis, an itsa commin soon."
From a holster on his belt the Sheriff drew his pistol. Francis made no such move. His face changed from mocking to serious in a slow but noticeable shift.
"I believe you left one condition in your declaration. I reckon I might take you up on it." said the Sheriff.
Francis drew his own weapon. But both men then turned their guns around so the grips faced their opponent.
They exchanged guns and moved towards the exit. The bar patrons swarmed around them, Francis' henchmen battering their way to the front, cutting off Ash and the others from their on online ally.
As the crush of bodies moved more towards the exit, Katrina stepped down off the stage and moved towards them. Though her dress and stockings restricted her movements she still carried herself with the air of strength and confidence that Kei did.
"You're the first one to talk to him like that in a long time." she said in her New Orleans accent, "Who are you people?"

((Sorry guys, went away to Sydney for the weekend. Miss me? BTW Ash, bought Gundam Origin comics, english ones. They were in the bargain bin. Score!))

[Machaeus]

(I did.)
"I am...Wolf Fang of the Fist tribe," Urufu says.
TELL ME he did not just make a DBZ reference, Machaeus thinks, trying not to slap his forehead...or pound his friend. "I...am referred to by many names, among them 'Ultimo Bola'. Means 'Final Bullet'."

[Ash]

((Thank god you guys are still here. Thought you all left.
@ Tachyon: You found them in the bargain bin?The bargain bin?!
Score, but BIG TIME! I think my purchases were a little bit more... expensive.

MSG: Operation Troy - affordable.
Japanese 360 - Oh my god...
Shipping, handling & customs - expensive.
Slicing two Zakus in half and squishing a Zeon soldier - priceless.

Spent one third of my monthly income just to play one game... The ultimate fanboy. "Battlefield" was good. But this is TRULY my game. ))

Ash bows.

Ash the bash.

"Ash..."

Ash the bash!

"... the kid. At your service."

Oh man...

"Meh. Whatever.", he mutters, louring at Francis´ henchmen.

"D@mn. I told him to believe in himself, not to kill himself. As much as I hate to say it... I doubt that he will win that duel. He couldn´t even drink that beer I gave him. How does he want to aim? We have to stop them.", Ash says.
At the same time he wonders why he even cares about the Sheriff anymore. They found Kei. Their mission was as good as over.

[Machaeus]

"Well, who said we have to just stand by and watch?" Machaeus smirks. "They probably won't fight fair assuming he does die."
"Indeed. Those men won't fight fair," Urufu says. "They're weak separately - those that fight fair are often stronger than those that don't. It's why the weak ones don't fight fair. They can't win otherwise," he grins. "It's an old principle."

[tachyon]

"Francis doesn't need to fight unfairly," said Katrina, "he's just...unbeatable. The other two, Colechester and Guido (she said that with audiable disgust), maybe someone could take them, but not Francis."
She turned and headed out, calling out behind her, "C'mon. We gotta stop him."

Out on the street the citizens had lined the verandas of the buildinds. 20 feet apart were Francis and the Sheriff, both checking their weapons. Francis had his two henchmen either side, the fat one, Guido, was talking about something excitedly, smiling with yellow teeth. The other, Colechester, stood silent, and was the only one to look as the newcommers exited the bar and went to the Sheriff's side.
"Sheriff please," Katrina begged, "you can't do this!"
The Sheriff continued to check his pistol.
"Nope. I can't. You're right. I aint got no chance of winning. But I gotta do it."

[Ash]

Ash steps in front of the Sheriff and grabs his shoulders, starting to shake him.

"Are you insane? What good is that gonna do? Why don't you get dry first? This city needs you. I am serious. ", he says, releasing him. Then he turns over to Francis, spreading his arms.

"Hey. Can we postpone the duel? You know that this isn't fair!", Ash complains.

"Come on, help me here! We can not let this happen!", he shouts, looking at Urufu and Machaeus.

[tachyon]

"He's right!" Katrina ran out, as fast as she could manage with her skirt hitched up, and grabbed the old NPC by the shoulders.
"You can't beat him. You ain't even sober yet! Just back down, run away, leave town. Anything!"
"Listen to me girl. All of you, too. What I'm about ta tell ya won't make sense right now, but it will soon. Everything thats happenin, is a-happenin for a reason. We've all got a part to play in a-makin things right, even if we don't understand it."
He turned to look down the street. It was just Francis now, his companions had moved to either side of the street.
Katrina reluctantly let go. She pulled the others back to the side of the street, leaving the two men to face each other.
Seconds passed. Then a shot. It took a moment to realize neither man had moved before another shot came. However, neither Francis nor the Sheriff had drawn their weapons.
Then came a blood-curdling war cry from the far end of the town. And on a painted horse, wielding a rifle, was a Indian adorned in battledress.
"Get to cover!" yelled the Sheriff who fired a shot into the air. Everyone dispersed. Francis and his men drew weapons and moved out inbetween the buildings as more shots and war cries came from all around.

[Machaeus]

"Uh, well," Machaeus says, "Wolf Fang, why don't you talk to them?"
Urufu scowls. "I don't even know if they're the same tribe. If they are, I'm good. If not, well, we might be screwed due to alliances. Might as well try, though..." He runs out and waves his arms, shouting, "Wait, wait! We need to talk!" in his "native" language.

[Ash]

"Uh. I didnt expect this to happen.", Ash mutters, taking cover behind some barrels near the saloon.

Please tell this guy to shoot only Francis.

"Hope he knows what he is doing.", Ash grumbles, grabbing his revolver.

[tachyon]

Meanwhile, the Sheriff and Katrina take cover on the opposite side of the street. They both notice Urufu running towards the Indian.
"He'll be killed!" said Katrina, horrified.
The Sheriff shook his head.
"I don't think so... look."
The warrior had now seen the strangely dressed Indian running towards him. He rears his horse, but keeps his rifle in the air. He looks at Urufu strangely; not in the way that the other NPCs had, but as though he was looking through him at something unseen.
"You-" he began in english, but a crack from a rifle silenced him. His horse reared again, throwing his lifeless body to the ground as it ran off.
On a balcony above the street, Colechester reloaded his rifle. He looked down at the figures in the street, then moved off across the rooftop.

[Machaeus]

Machaeus is already aiming, then fires. Assuming he missed, he fires his entire gun and then pulls out his other one to unload. Urufu is trying anything he "knows" as a medicine man to heal the wounded man (if he isn't already dead).

[Ash]

"Holy son of a...-", Ash shouts, jumping over the barrels to take cover on their other side.

Might as well take the opportunity to take out the bad guys.
They are just a bunch of programs. Cant be that difficult.

He aims at Colechester and fires all bullets in his direction.
Not a single hit.

Oh come on! You have to be kidding me!

He kneels down behind the barrels and unloads the chamber.

My accuracy isnt as good as the other classes? Understatement!
Ash begins to load the chamber of his weapon, the whole time trying to keep track of Colechesters movement.
With his Revolver loaded again, he leans over to one side of his cover and tries to get a better look at Colechester´s position. Unfortunately, he lost sight of him.

"Where is he?", he mutters, running for one of the buildings near him, his eyes pointed toward the roofs.

((Spell Check doesnt work. Again. For me at least.))

[tachyon]

On the street, the Indian grabs Urufu's hand and moves it away from himself. He looks into his eyes, but not with anger or fear or even any pain, but a visual command; watch.
The fallen warrior's outline begins to fade quickly, blurring with the ground and air. Then, like a cloud of dust, he disappears into the wind.
Any moment to ponder this is lost when from a nearby building Guido, the fat hairy henchman, kicks open the door.
"Hola muchachos!" he yells before opening fire with his lever-action rifle.
From behind a pile of railway sleepers on the opposite side of the street, the Sheriff returns fire, forcing the fat man's shots to go wide and sending him running (waddling) into cover.
Still, from the streets around, more shots and warcries sound as the town goes to battle.

**********************************************************************************************

"Listen buddy, I'm running this show, just like my Daddy before me, just like my Grandma before him, and just like my Great-Granddaddy who wrote the first line of code!"
Livid did not even come close to describing how enraged Dinnmore was now, as he pounded his desk and yelled at this horrible, pale, overly-cologned man before him.
"Perhaps that might've been true at one time, but Westworld is a publicly traded company now. You must answer to your shareholders like anyone else."
"The hell I do! They ain't never said nothing before now, so why are they taking an interest at this point?"
"Perhaps because, despite what I have seen thus far, you are a competent business man who's decisions prior to this incident have been for the betterment of the company. But I must warn you; this so called 'rescue attempt' is extremely risky to your portfolio. Many investors are likely to pull out if you proceed any longer-"
Dinnmore went purple.
"So what if they do? What the hell kinda person would make that sort of distinction?! I don't care if it cost me my fortune, I ain't never gonna let those kids die for something as, as... worthless as stock!"
The lawyer was about to enter into another rebuttal, but before he could the President's phone rang. He pushed the speaker button with a chubby finger.
"I hope this is good news..." he said to the person on the other end. It was the D&D shirt guy, hovering in the air above the phone as a miniature 3-D hologram.
"We...don't know. It could be, or it could be things getting worse."
"What that mean? Give it to me straight boy."
"Punch up your admin stat screen and see for yourself."
Dinnmore did that. On the wall behind him came up numbers and words in patterns that only someone who devotes their lives to understanding and manipulating them could comprehend.
"What the- is that the..."
"What?" asked the lawyer, who seemed slightly concerned, though Dinnmore did not catch onto it, "What's happening
"It's the maintenance system. It's coming back online, trying to anyway... This could be our best chance yet!"
With surprising speed Dinnmore pushed past the other man and back out into the main office.
Behind him, slow to rise, the lawyer followed, pausing to reach inside his suit jacket. He moved the object, something small and made of black plastic, into his outer pocket and moved off.
And unknown to him, the phone on the desk -it's holoprojector set to 'broadcast' but not to 'receive'- let the tech see his every move.

**********************************************************************************************