Chapter 2: Sting
Veronica walked through the campsite while the others slept and felt the cool breeze of the desert night air rustle her red fur. She stared up at the bright moon. The lunar giant stared down at her amidst the twinkling stars that dotted the sky like twinkling freckles. "Something wrong?" Diz the snake slithered up beside her, enormous compared to the petit and elegant fox. He lowered his head next to her, his head the size of her torso. "What's the matter ma'am?"
"Nothing," Veronica said kissing the snake's eyebrow. "You should be sleeping Dizzy. We have a long road ahead of us."
"Do I usually sleep?" Diz replied with a sly flick of his forked tongue. "'Sides what about yerself? Shouldn't you be a-sleepin yerself?"
"When have you ever seen me sleep?" She replied with a wink. Diz thought about it.
"Oh yeah, hell even I get some sleep every now and again, what's yer deal?" He asked with a smirk.
"Never had a means to, simple as that," she said simply.
"I 'spose it is."
"'Sides from that," Diz added. "We'd be getting up at the crack'a dawn, and that's about an hour from now." Veronica looked to the west at the horizon and saw the peeking sunrise and nodded.
"We should go ahead and wake up Bruno and Sykes, we need to find our next target before he moves on again."
"We killin this one too?" Diz asked with a flick of the tongue.
"No, hopefully not, hopefully we can convince this one to join our cause."
"And if not?"
"Then we put a bullet in between his eyes."
"That seems to be the only method nowadays. No one seems to wanna join a group of marauding gunslingers. Not even gunslingers."
"Not true, we got Bruno and Sykes."
"Yeah, but Sykes joined for money and Bruno was just bored."
"Maybe this one will be bored too," Veronica giggled.
Diz chuckled. "One can only hope."
"Now, go and wake up the boys."
"You wake up Sykes," Diz retorted with a face. "Last time I woke him up he almost stung me."
"You're five times his size," Veronica replied with a laugh. "You could swallow him whole."
"That's a bad idea, he'd sting me all over my damn insides."
"Go!" She laughed.
The gun-slinging foursome made their way down the mighty dunes of the desert. Veronica rode atop the back of her enormous spider, Salvador, with Diz making thin trails behind him, Bruno walked on the opposite side of her with a large cloth draped over his head and shoulders, and Sykes traveled under them beneath the sand, out of sight in case of an ambush.
The four of them were on an important mission that was started by the common businessman. Gunslingers were nearly a thing of the past and if they were to keep them around, they were gonna have to remove the problem at the source. Destroying business, so to speak. The mayor of a sleepy little town named dirt, a righteous turtle, a holier-than-thou sort, was dispatched by a well-known gunslinger named Rattlesnake Jake. But the death of one businessman wasn't going to insure the security of all gunslingers throughout the west. No they had to hit all of them, every smug little death dealer that ever wanted to do their profession wrong. This was their quest, their mission, their legacy.
"Stop," Bruno said sniffing the air. "He's down there, I can smell him." They halted at the base of a great hill. Sykes stopped underneath them and waited. Bruno sniffed the air again and assured them. "He's on the other side, I know his scent anywhere." Bruno was known to be a master tracker, anywhere from the deadliest of outlaw, to the most harmless of foliage. If you wanted to find it, he could track it.
"How many are with him?" Diz asked flicking the air with his tongue.
"He's alone, he never runs with a pack, doesn't need to." Veronica nodded.
"Remember we're to take the diplomatic approach, I'm going to have a talk with him. We want him to join us in our cause. If he politely declines, we move on our way. If he so chooses to become violent, we put him down." Bruno and Diz nodded. As she moved Bruno sniffed her and put a hoof on her shoulder.
"No, you shouldn't do that."
"Why not?" Veronica asked patiently.
"You have Salvador's scent all over you. This guy hates tarantulas, out here in the desert, they're natural predators." Veronica hadn't considered. She looked at her spider Salvador and nodded.
"You go then," she told Bruno.
"No," he said simply. "I don't do talking."
"Well we can't send Diz, he's too intimidating, both size and species." They went quiet. The looked at each other. Then they looked at the dirt beneath them.
"No," Diz said a little harsher than he meant.
"I agree," Bruno said with a whisper. "We can't send Sykes in there, not if we're wanting to merely talk to him. He'll kill him before either have said a word." Veronica thought for a moment.
Then the silence was broken by the sound of movement under the ground.
"Shit," Diz spat. "He heard us, he's goin in."
"We gotta stop him before he does somethin stupid," Bruno added.
"Hold on," Veronica chided them. "Give him a moment."
Sykes made his way to a figure sitting at a campfire. The figure was in a long brown duster and a hat. The duster had four sleeves holding the figures four spindly arms. The back housed two holes with four wings poking out the back. His large golden eyes could see in every direction and his body consisted of three parts, head, thorax, and abdomen. His abdomen held a great stinger and his two legs donned chaps and boots.
This gun slinger went by a simple name, but one that got the point across. Sting the desert wasp. The gunslinger was revered in certain parts, and feared in many others. He was a perfect choice to have with the team.
"You can stop right there," he said drawing a repeater from his back and pointing it at Sykes position underground. Sykes burst from underneath the ground and had a pair of revolvers ready to fire. "What do you want arachnid?"
"Now I ain't come for a fight," Sykes replied with both guns trained on him. "But I sure as hell ain't one to shy away from a shootout wasp." Sykes' smile could've put a chill in the spine of any critter's spine. But the wasp was unmoved. "Now put your gun down, I'm here for diplomatical purposes only.
"I ain't never heard of a scorpion with diplomatic purposes," the wasp said lowering his weapon. "Whatchu want?" Sykes spun his guns on his fingers and holstered them.
"My posse and I were wantin you to join in our gang and such. We need a marksman of your reputable caliber." Sykes sat down across from him.
"I don't travel with no gang," Sting replied lighting a cigarette. "And I sure as hell ain't gonna join up with no scorpions. If you ain't learned by now, wasps don't travel with the likes of arachnids." Sykes was obviously perturbed by the remark but he didn't falter.
"And usually I don't roll with the likes of an unworthy gunman like yerself."
"Let me get this straight stranger," Sting said darkly. His large eyes narrowed. "You come to my camp in search of my help and assistance and you got the nerve to insult me here in my own area of rest and solitude? Are ya stupid'r somethin?" Sykes stood slowly.
"One thing you never wanna do in your miserable life, partner, is be callin a scorpion stupid. We're not a very patient species of arachnid and we sure as hell don't take a likin to bein called stupid." Sting's hand wrapped slowly around the but of his rifle. "But…" Sykes said. "I'm willin to overlook it if you'd be joinin our gang and cause." Sting only stared at the scorpion.
"I'm not threatened by the likes of you, I don't take threats from arachnids let alone pardons. You crossed the line just by draggin your sorry carcass into my camp, and I believe I'll be draggin it back out!" He pulled his repeater and two revolvers and shot them each six times in Sykes' direction. Dust kicked up where the bullets hit and soon the area was out of site to anyone caught outside or in. Sting took flight and flew high above the dirt cloud, his wings buzzing loudly. "C'mon you eight legged bastard, show yer sorry self."
A shot was fired from underground and Sting ducked to the left, narrowly dodging the bullet. Another shot, he ducked to the right. Another was fired, and another, he dodged the bullets springing from the ground and fired his own back. This kept on as they moved from side to side, back and forth chasing each other, firing, reloading, and firing again. Soon the dust was everywhere and nothing could be seen. Sting looked around, he couldn't seem to fly high enough. The dust seemed to engulf the whole desert.
Then he saw what he was looking for, Sykes' hat poked out from the ground it moved from side to side as Sykes looked for any sign of him. Sting took the opportunity to lower himself and rest the tip of his repeater gently atop the hat. "You put up a hell of a chase, son, but it's over, and I won." He fired a shot into the hat and watched as it lowered to the ground. Sting laughed and reach down to pull the hat up.
There was nothing beneath the hat but a hole. Sting, realizing that he hadn't shot his target, started to beat his wings. He wasn't an inch off the ground as Sykes' tail shot out of the hole and the stinger plunged straight into Sting's thorax. The gunslinger groaned and blood dripped from his lips as he fell to his knees. Sykes exploded from the hole and landed on his four walking legs. He raised the rival gunslinger into the air and glared at him. "Don't call a scorpion stupid." He launched a pincer into the wasp's throat, severing his head completely.
Sykes walked back up the hill and met the others. "I take it that's a no?" Diz said with a laugh.
"He called me stupid," Sykes replied with a wicked grin. "But so you know I tried my best to be diplomatical and such. He wouldn't listen though." Veronica nodded.
"I know we were listening."
"Okay good, who's next?" Sykes asked. "We haven't had much luck with these guys, not too many gunslingers want anything to do with our cause. Slingers nowadays seem to have too much pride in themselves that they think they're good on their own." Sykes spat on the ground.
"It's always been like that," Diz said looking at Veronica. "What now? Where to now?"
Veronica thought for a moment and sighed. Her large ears fell helplessly flat.
"Well…?" Bruno asked patiently.
"We head to Sand," Veronica replied with almost a regretful expression on her face.
"Sand?" Sykes repeated. Diz laughed, his head bobbing up and down with each intake of air.
"What's in Sand?" Bruno asked noticing the inside joke he wasn't part of.
"Wait, we's goin in the sand?" Sykes asked still confused.
"No, we're going to Sand. It's a little town like Rock, or Dirt, or Mud," Bruno replied. "Now what is wrong with Sand? You seem a bit hesitant."
"Not what," Diz corrected. "Who." He looked at Veronica and smiled. "Rocco."
"Rocco?" Sykes said
"No!" Veronica swung at Diz, who ducked and laughed. "I told you I will NOT go back for him, I do not want him anywhere near me!" She seemed to shiver as her ears flattened even further.
"But he's a gunslinger, and so is his partner, they're both good and sure to join us. If you ask Rocco to join us, he will, and if Rocco joins us, so will Blanco, and Blanco's a damn good shot. Big and intimidatin' too." Diz smiled at her, a reassuring smile, but one that didn't quite reassure Veronica.
"No," Veronica said. "We got another, and she's better than Rocco, plenty big too." Diz shook his head.
"Not Madam Legs," he groaned. "Anyone but Legs, you told me she wouldn't be an option."
"Not so eager to laugh now are you?" Veronica said popping him on the head.
"Fine, Legs it is," Diz said.
"Good," she said the discomfort in her brother's eyes and smiled. "Don't worry, we'll go get…Him…afterwards, that'll make us even, huh?" Diz laughed and rubbed his cheek on hers.
"So which way then?" Sykes asked with his pincer arms crossed.
"South," Veronica said starting up her spider, its legs carried her onward and her brother and companions followed close behind.
As they moved they were unaware of the black abyss eyes of a void-like creature. A powerful figure watched them on their way. She stood tall with a black duster, a black hat with a wide brim, and heavy black chaps and boots. Her eyes could see in eight directions and her teeth could kill a man with one stroke. She had a scope trained on the scorpion of the group. A wild savage that she owed a bullet to. But not yet. She only watched with an easy sight and an easy shot, but not yet, she was good, but not prepared enough to take on four well-equipped and well-trained gunslingers like the lot of them. So she merely waited. She waited for him to be alone, it might take a while but, then again, she had been waiting almost five years to kill that bastard. The one who took everything from her, the one who turned her into a gunslinger, a bounty hunter, an assassin. "I'll get my chance, Scorpion, and when I do, it'll be yer end."