For most freelance mercenaries working along the rim of the frontier, cybernetic augmentations are as commonplace as tattoos and sidearms. Limb replacement and the displacement of vital organs are popular operations, but the rarest form, that being full-body cyberization, is something most could not imagine being able to afford. Ron MacDougal is one of those few, implanting the surviving data that is his brother's personality and memories into a freshly-minted, state-of-the-art, and custom-built cyborg frame. This body allows Harry MacDougal access to abilities that heighten his combat efficiency, as well as allow him access into databases and mainframes regarding potential bounties. A perfect weapon for a bounty hunter. And yet, there is little doubt that Harry misses his flesh and blood, for with all the might his new frame has given him, mentally, he regards his current state as less than human. Not that it had previously been much of a problem for him, but in quiet moments, it is likely he dwells on that which he has surrendered. Nonetheless, Harry MacDougal represents the peak of humanity's knowledge of cybernetic engineering, and the bar by which all challenges must be measured.

Chapter 19: Outgunned

Mr. Howard sat impassively as Harry traded looks between him and Melfina. For a brief moment, he managed to scan Mr. Philip L. Howard's profile, viewing a restricted bounty offer that was far beyond any clearance he could access. He glanced back at Melfina, not even trying to hide his confusion. "Melfina, I don't understand…"

"It is irrelevant," Melfina coldly snapped. "That man must be destroyed, Harry. Please. Do it for me."

Harry looked back at Mr. Howard, who was sipping on something he'd gotten from the open bar, the taste of which evidently disagreed with him. He grimaced slightly before deciding to continue trying to endure the beverage.

"…For you, angel, anything," Harry nodded grimly. Knives extended from his wrists. The crowd around them let out a cheer and goaded Harry to instigate. Harry charged forward, blades before him as he immediately focused both of them towards his target's throat. A second before impact, however, he joints froze up. Harry felt an immense amount of pressure suddenly holding his shoulders, elbows, knees, and neck in place. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Silgrian making gestures while muttering to himself. That bird is a mage?! Harry thought to himself. The Saurian yawned as he pulled up his arquebus/halberd from the wall, shoving the barrel under Harry's chin as he looked to his employer for confirmation.

"No, not yet," Mr. Howard waved his bodyguard away. He turned to look at Melfina. "…Am I speaking to the Maiden or her guardian?"

"Neither," Melfina shook her head. "This one's safety is not my priority."

"Oh?" Mr. Howard cocked an eyebrow. "So… if you aren't either, then you must be… a failsafe," he chuckled as he pointed at her.

"This one was tasked with keeping our legacy away from the Fallen," Melfina said as Harry tried desperately to break free of the psychic bonds.

"And you've done a fantastic job," Mr. Howard grinned. "Unfortunately for you, your masters are no longer around to tell you how futile your endeavor is about to become. Why not just surrender and let this become easy for everyone involved?" he asked, rhetorically.

Melfina pulled out her revolver, pointing it towards Howard as his assistants braced themselves to intervene. Mr. Howard sat bemused by the action, silently goading her to attempt. Melfina then placed the barrel up to her right cheek, and Mr. Howard's smile vanished.

"You think that will be what it takes to stop me?" Mr. Howard asked.

"Denying the Fallen is my only priority," Melfina announced.

"…And what of your champion?" Mr. Howard asked as he looked at the struggling cyborg.

"My preferred alternative," Melfina said.

Mr. Howard raised his eyebrow. "…Mr. Chauncey, release this one."

The Silgrian dropped his hands to his side as Harry regained his mobility. Mr. Howard rose from his seat and stared down the cyborg. "…A full-body cyborg. No ether dependency, so a sensible, if not exactly inspired choice," he muttered to himself.

"CAN ONE OF YOU PLEASE TELL ME WHAT IS GOING ON?!" Harry screamed at both of the players while they continued their game. "Boy," Mr. Howard finally announced. "I challenge you to a duel. Win, and you will have restored the honor of the maiden yonder. Lose, and I destroy civilization as you know it. Deal?"

"…What?" Harry asked, flatly.

Mr. Howard groaned. "This is a discussion that I have neither the time nor inclination to have with the Maiden's patsy." He held his fists in front of him, pantomiming an old-time boxer in a less than sincere manner. "Hit me with your best shot, lackey."

Harry, frustrated and angered by Mr. Howard's lackadaisical attitude, unceremoniously buried one knife through the man's neck while the other pierced his skull. A look of shock and horror was etched into Mr. Howard's dying face as his body went limp.

"Idiot," Harry growled. "Melfina, can you please tell me what this is all abou-" He turned to see Melfina round the corner, leaving the rec room and the fracas behind.

"Mel, what do you think you're doing?!" Harry called out.

"Well, lackey, it looks like she abandoned you," Mr. Howard said. Harry turned back in disbelief, just in time for Mr. Howard's cane to crack Harry in the jaw, the force of the blow disengaging Harry from Mr. Howard as his body rocketed to the ceiling, then back down to the floor with an impactful drop.

Mr. Howard cracked his neck as his wounds sealed over. As Harry picked himself from the ground, the crowd of bandits and marauders surrounding the melee started to mutter in confusion and disbelief.

"…What are you?" Harry asked in disbelief as his eyes went to work scanning the body of the dandy nerd who laid him out.

"And at last, you finally ask an interesting question," Mr. Howard crowed. "I am a survivor and a victim, not unlike yourself. I only want that which is rightfully mine."

Harry's eyes widened in horror at the reading he received, or rather the lack thereof. No heartbeat, no pulse, no brain activity he could monitor. For all intents and purposes, he was looking at an animated corpse.

"So, what, you're just another Rev?" Harry asked.

Mr. Howard burst out laughing, the Silgrian beginning to titter while the Saurian slapped his knee and shook his head. As Harry watched the scene before him, he felt his audio receptors begin to distort. He wondered whether or not it was a malfunction from the previous blast, but as he looked around to the audience of marauders, he saw similar expressions of pain and discomfort as they clutched their ears.

"You dear deluded boy," Mr. Howard grinned. "I'm the reason there even is a Rev in the first place."

"Jim. It is good to see you. I never expected to see you again so soon." Gilliam announced as the three filed into the Outlaw Star. Jim's relief at making it back to his old ship was tempered by the notion that A. he had to allow two of his least favorite people in the galaxy on with him, and B. he had no idea where the rest of his crew was and if they were OK.

The journey to where the Outlaw Star had been docked had been a surprisingly uneventful one. Cade, true to his word, knew the layout of the super-massive freighter and was able to navigate around the scant patrols with ease.

"I've never been so happy to see you, Gilliam. You didn't let anyone on board, did you?" Jim asked as Cade pulled out a tablet.

"No one has entered this vessel since the crew last departed," Gilliam announced. "And I'm pleased to say no one has even attempted to breach the interior since I was forced to dock."

"And the others?" Jim asked, hopefully.

"I'm afraid I haven't been able to establish contact with the rest of the crew since they last departed," Gilliam announced.

Jim rested his forehead against the wall. Of all the people they had to send to locate the rest of the crew, it had to be the one person none of them ever wanted to deal with again, and the other was Eddie. It was not going to be a pleasant encounter, and a part of Jim wanted to go with the two to smooth over tensions and help make a mutual understanding. Still, another part of him hoped that if a conflict did break out, his friends would overcome the two, make their way back here, and deal with Cade and Mara.

"Computer," Mara said as she looked up and down the corridor. "Lead me to the medical bay."

"Excuse me, Jim, could you tell me who these new individuals are?" Gilliam asked.

"Don't worry too much about them," Jim said. "They won't be staying for too long."

"Gilliam, is it?" Cade said. "I'm going to need access to the bridge."

"And may I enquire as to why you would request permission, sir?" Gilliam asked.

"Maintenance," Cade replied, flatly.

"Just… give him what he wants," Jim relented. "But if he damages anything, Gilliam, let me know immediately!"

"I'm… unsure if this is the wisest course of action, Jim, but I will defer to you on the matter. I typically acclimate to your judgment sooner than I do to the captain."

"Thank you, Gilliam," Jim sighed.

"Computer!" Mara called out. "Medical Bay!"

"Follow me," Jim exasperatedly relented. In his mind, he had already done a tremendous and undeserved favor to these two for even allowing them to enter the ship with him, but as desperation was the current state of his universe, he had to concede more and more undue mercies to these guys. Still, that didn't mean that he couldn't exact some minor and petty retribution now and then.

"Gilliam, please upload my guest's status as a crewmember," Jim announced.

"Jim, that… that won't be necessary," Mara balked. "I'm not planning on staying for too long anyway, and…"

"Gilliam, can you please identify our new crewmember as Doctor Bitch from this point forward?" Jim asked, innocently.

"WHAT?!" Mara exclaimed.

"Very well, if that is what you wish," Gilliam announced, blind to the sarcasm.

"NO! Computer, my name is Doctor Morgan! This little- this young man is just making a joke, that is all," Mara tried to calm herself.

"Gilliam, as the senior crewmember, I would appreciate my order to be followed to the letter," Jim continued.

"So be it. Doctor Bitch, the medical bay is located immediately to your right," Gilliam dryly announced.

Mara dourly glared at the preteen, who innocently looked away while trying to whistle. "…I hope this makes you happy, kid, I really do," Mara muttered as she opened the door.

"I'm not the one who's eagerly waiting to carve up someone they never met," Jim shot back.

"I'm not looking forward to this, kid," Mara gritted. "I don't "get" to do this. I HAVE to."

"Yeah, yeah, for the money, whatever," Jim sniffed.

"No, as my punishment," Mara sighed as she slammed the door behind her.

Gene sat on the sofa, staring down into his hands as he tried to think of what to do. In a handful of days, he lost over half his crew. One kidnapped, one going rogue, and the last one…

Suzuka was beside him, trying to find the words to console him. Melfina was always more gifted in these manners, and the typically reserved Suzuka wasn't often one for heart-to-hearts. Still, if the captain was stressed, she found herself stressed, poker face aside.

"…Did I do something wrong?" Gene asked aloud.

"Gene, there was nothing you could have done," Suzuka answered.

Gene came to himself, coming back down to proverbial earth. "Oh, what?"

"You couldn't have foreseen any of this," Suzuka explained.

"Right…" Gene said to himself. "Right."

Suzuka realized Gene had been talking to himself. Counseling seemed futile at this juncture. So what did that leave her? Meditation? Religion? Sex? She wished she had brought her tea set along with her sword, but at the moment beggars couldn't be choosers.

"Why did she leave…" Gene muttered.

"Because Aisha has always been full of herself and her pride will get her in trouble more often than not," Suzuka explained.

"…Not who I meant," Gene sniffed, though he appreciated the attempt at levity.

"That, Gene, is something far beyond my understanding. Melfina is an open book that we still don't know so much about. I doubt even she understood what came over her," Suzuka consoled.

"I hope she's safe with that creep," Gene growled.

"Melfina is stronger than we often give her credit for, Gene. Worry will do you no favors," Suzuka tried to confide.

"And sitting here isn't doing Jim any either!" Gene snapped.

"That's why we need to take the first opportunity to get out of here the moment it presents itself, even if it means going through the Rev," Suzuka stated.

The door swung open immediately, and the man himself immediately stormed into the cell. "Music to my ears!" he sang as he pulled out his gun. "Your feline friend is taking forever to get her match ready, but Rukko doesn't play with his food for long, so you two will be up next! So, which one will be going first?"

Gene and Suzuka immediately readied their weapons. The Rev readied his own weapon. "Ah, one at a time! That's the only way this is going to work! Don't make me get some of my boys down here to hold one down to make it fair!"

"So we aren't just imprisoned here, you bastard, you'll also strand us?" Gene growled as he readied his caster.

"You know, it's the weirdest thing. Your ship hasn't left its dock, even though your woman has been permitted to leave," the Rev explained.

"Mel's still here?" Gene breathed, in simultaneous relief and exasperation.

"Yeah, she actually swung by to say goodbye to me first, y'know," the Rev explained as he started thrusting his hips. "Because she's never done it with a corpse before."

"Piece of shit!" Gene hissed, finger tightening on the trigger.

"Where was she going?" Suzuka asked, refusing to let the obvious attempt to get a rise out of them work.

"To see a guest. Ever heard the name Mr. Philip L. Howard? Didn't think so, but your girl was dead set on a meeting. Blew my brains out to get to him."

"YOU ASSHOLE!" Gene snarled.

"She shot you?" Suzuka asked, incredulously.

"Right under the chin," The Rev lifted his chin, the wound still relatively fresh despite his atrophied skin and muscle. "Who would have thought that trembling little thing had the stones to sucker me of all people?"

Gene started to blush. Suzuka looked over to him. Clearly, she thought, Starwind's mind spends too much time in the gutter.

"Of course, if I see her again after that little stunt. I'll have to punish her," the Rev grinned, and Gene's hostility was renewed.

"…Why are you doing this?" Suzuka asked.

The Rev shot her a glance. "Because when you're trying to find someone to kill you fair and square, asking nicely isn't as effective as you'd hope."

"So why not just throw yourself into the space forces or pirate turf? I'm sure you'd make lots of friends there." Gene spat, sarcastically.

"Now, you see, I did try that, but when I fight either of them on their terms, they tend to be lousy sports and use overwhelming force to try and stop you. They either bombard you from orbit or try and destroy whatever section of the fort they think you're on, and despite their best efforts, I keep coming back like a bad case of hemorrhoids. They don't have what it takes to understand what I'm looking for, and what it takes to make me go away forever."

"What, so it's our fault you're too hard to kill?" Gene snarled.

"On the contrary, I'm too damn easy, like your woman!" The Rev heckled.

Gene wanted to blow this guy away and destroy this whole ship as his own sped off into the stars. The Rev gleefully readied his own gun and felt the relief of his warden release itself from his back. Suzuka, however, saw an opportunity to stall the fight and wring some more intel out of the Rev. He'd already let slip that Melfina was still on the ship and that the Outlaw Star hadn't departed, both pieces of information would be invaluable for their escape. She had to fish a little bit more.

"How many times have you been killed?" Suzuka asked.

The Rev shot her another glance. "…I don't know. Somewhere in the low hundreds."

"That often?" Suzuka raised her brow. "…I thought you'd be a better fighter."

Now the Rev had whirled his attention to her. "Now listen here, you little shit! I fought at the Battle of the Black Ether Sea, I personally killed Thatch, I was the best gunslinger the Carnival had ever seen!"

"So what made you like this? What caused you to throw your pride away and turn into a cockroach of a serial killer?" Suzuka goaded.

"Because three weeks after the battle, I almost died," the Rev admitted. "It was a poker game, the pot was twenty wong, and a drunken mechanic with a knife stuck me in the ribs and I almost bled out. Can you believe that?! ME?! I break the back of Admiral Thatch's battlefleet, fight my way through the most vicious killers in the Ban Guild, and that is how I damn near get offed?! Where is the justice in that, the honor?!"

"So I decided I was going to do whatever it took to die on my terms," the Rev hissed. "You can thank that thing calling itself Mr. Howard for what you see before you. I will only ever die on my terms, and those terms are a fair fight against a worthy opponent of my choosing. I would have loved for it to have been someone like Hazanko, but, well, whose fault is that?" the Rev asked.

"That's it?" Gene asked. "That's what this is all about? You got scared of dying like a punk so you've been dumping that problem on everyone else? That's what this is all about? And you expect me to care?!"

"NO!" The Rev growled. "I don't need you to care! I don't need your sympathy, your understanding, your pity! I just want to die in a manner befitting of a man who made a terrible decision and had to get exactly what he wanted! So if your useless girl won't take me to the damn Leyline to get this fixed, then either come with me to the ring or fight me here and now!"

"JUST DIE ALREADY!" Gene screamed as his caster activated.

Leilong crept through the hallways, narrowly avoiding patrols as Eddie followed close behind, muttering that odd language into a small microphone on her collar lapel. Every now and then, she'd motion to take an unexpected turn, but thus far her navigation had been impeccable.

"You know where they are?" Leilong asked as another small patrol passed through an intersection.

"Cade says holding is just one level below us," Eddie replied. "Crew so far has been a bit sparse, so everyone must be getting ready to watch the games. Lion's share of the crew should probably be filling into their seats by now."

"And how long do these games last?" Leilong asked.

"They vary, but if they get to the arena, the crew is pretty much as good as dead," Eddie responded.

"So, how do you want to do this?" Leilong asked.

"I don't," Eddie sniffed.

"The more numbers we have on our side, the more likely we can make our escape," Leilong tried to reiterate.

"The only numbers I need are me and Cade. The two of us can handle anything this ship can throw at us, short of the Rev himself."

"You know how to make a man feel welcome," Leilong rolled his eyes.

"Actually, you're doing exactly what we need you to do," Eddie said as she pulled out one of her automatics.

"Hmph, so, was this your idea, or just Cade's?" Leilong asked, unsurprised.

"Cade wants you gone, and I don't want to see him hurt Jim or Mara. It sucks, but it's not that hard a decision for me," Eddie explained.

"So, I hope you don't expect me to make this easy for you?" Leilong asked rhetorically as he slowly fished out his revolver.

"I would be disappointed if you did," Eddie admitted.

An instant later, both of them opened fire on one another. Their fast movement allowed them to evade their shots, even in the narrow confines of the corridor. Leilong swore to himself as he heard the screams of some of the sentries being alerted to the battle. Eddie, on the other hand, had swung by a power box attached to the walls. Pulling out her stun baton, she dug the weapon into the console, shutting down the lights, leaving only the blasts of their firearms to illuminate through the dark.

The Rev immediately turned his head to the sudden noise. Gene fired. His gun glowed with a surge of ancient energies as it came to life… only for it to sputter out and die as the dud round failed to muster up enough nascent ether to power its shell. As Gene looked on in horror, the Rev was muttering to himself. "Now what kind of idiot has a gunfight in these corridors? Don't they know how little this ship is holding itself together," he muttered himself, his hypocrisy ignored as he shot out of the cell and down towards the noise. Behind him, Gene fell to his knees as he broke out in a cold sweat.

"Did he leave?" their guard peeked his head into the cell. "Cuz if he did, I'm just going to take you two down to the-" was as far as he got when a blast of air shot the door nearly off its hinges and slammed his body against the wall, knocking him unconscious.

Gene felt a hand grab him by the collar, Suzuka pulling him up to face him. "Gene, you need to find Melfina and get to the ship. I'm going to get Aisha!"

"What, Suzuka, what is going on…" Gene said, his near-death experience still rattling him.

"This is our chance!" Suzuka shouted. "The Rev's distracted and most of his crew is occupied, we won't get a better opportunity than this, but we have to move now!"

Leilong stumbled in the dark as he listened for the slightest sound. He couldn't tell if Eddie had fled or if she was waiting to finish him off. He had his knife hand resting under his revolver, waiting for the slightest thing to set it off.

The sound of boots stumbling towards him sprung him into action. He leaped forward, driving his knife into the center of the advancing figure. He fired a round following afterward, listening to the gurgle as the figure breathed their last. I wish it didn't have to come to this, Eddie, Leilong thought, but you didn't give me much of a choice.

Not a few moments later than did the dim emergency lights activate, their orange tinge illuminating the formerly dark hallway. Now, Leilong could realize that the figure he had killed was a sentry who was looking to see what the cause for the noise had been all about. It also cued him in on the large shadow looming over him.

Swinging his knife around, the blade was intercepted by a two-foot-long hand-cannon, and Leilong found himself staring down a living scarecrow. Its lips began to recede, revealing two rows of broken teeth as its glowing green eyes locked with its prey. "Oh, you and I are going to get along just great!" Solomon grinned.

Harry felt his body slam back into the ceiling as Mr. Howard caught him once more with the hook of his cane and careened his body onto the twice-broken bar. By now, the cheers of the audience had become silent awe as Harry had been effectively dismantled by Mr. Howard. Even Hazanko had a certain element of sportsmanship, from what little he had remembered from that fight. Mr. Howard, by contrast, treated the "fight" like a chore, his fighting style some parodic cross between that of a matador and a child stick-fighting.

This was impossible. There was no way someone like Mr. Howard could be as strong as he was. Harry couldn't even process what was happening as he narrowly avoided another potentially damaging blow from Mr. Howard's cane as he rolled away. In the back of Harry's artificial brain, he had begun to realize what Mr. Howard's movements reminded him of.

As part of a joke, Ron had once bought him a wooden puppet, telling him that Geppetto had owed him a lot of money and he had to offer up his son as collateral. He could infer two things from that. The first was that Ron had a terrible sense of humor, and the other was that Mr. Howard was moving like a marionette. With that in mind, Harry was left to wonder who or what was controlling Mr. Howard's strings.

With barely enough time, he was able to react quick enough to block Mr. Howard's cane from striking him in the heart, but by now Mr. Howard had mounted Harry and began pressing down with his formidable and inexplicable strength the sharp end of his cane towards Harry's "heart."

Harry tried to fight back, pushing back with the very limits of his body as Mr. Howard allowed a lopsided grin to etch onto his face. "Well," Mr. Howard said, casually, "it appears you're starting to figure out what you're dealing with. I ask you, though, are you prepared for the whole truth?"

"What are you talking about?!" was all Harry was able to grit.

"Well, your eyes are not your own, so this will be a very interesting experiment," Mr. Howard grinned as he took one hand off his cane and began pulling down his sunglasses.

ERROR! ERROR! ERROR! CATASTROPHIC SYSTEM FAILURE! VISUAL RECEPTORS OFFLINE! ENGAGING EMERGENCY SYSTEMS!

The messages flashed through Harry's vision. Whatever Mr. Howard had shown had essentially "broken his eyes." Unable to process the visual, Harry's senses had entered an emergency state. He was blind now, and deaf, the two senses his new body depended on. He could, however, feel his body being released from Mr. Howard's vice grip. He wasn't going to let him get away with this.

He attacked with everything he had. He swung wildly, blades at the ready. He felt the impact of skin and flesh as it tore under his onslaught. He felt the satisfaction of finally, for once, overcoming something by himself, without the help of his brother. As much as he didn't understand what was going on around him, he was finally in a position to take control of his fate, and by killing that babbling idiot Mr. Howard earned the gratuity of Melfina. Now if only she would tell him what the hell was going on?

Backup visual and audio systems engaged. Rebooting of mainline sensory apparatuses imminent.

As he came back to his own "senses" he was able to see the body of one of the marauder spectators skewered by his combat blades. Looking around, he saw that, in his blind rage, he had butchered his audience. There was no sign of feathers, or scales, or even the faintest trace of a cane. Harry was alone, in the middle of a hostile enemy vessel, covered in the blood of members of its crew, and he had now just realized he had no allies whatsoever.

"What am I going to do?" Harry muttered to himself as his machine mind failed to withhold his panic. "What am I going to do?"