Later. Fred Luo sits up in bed, revived but looking like death warmed over, mouth gaping open, eyes swimming with every breath. Dr. Doose stands by the bed, putting on his jacket. "Your condition is a bit advanced. I would say you have lost some eighty percent of your lung tissue. Maybe even more."
"So what does that mean?" Fred asked.
"Four years, four days, hard to say. If you have any chance, it is to stop now--smoking, drinking, gambling, night-life. You must a balanced diet and most importantly, you must have complete rest--meaning you must attempt to deny your martial impulse."
"Well, that sounds inviting."
"Sorry but I am afraid you have no choice." Dr. Doose takes his bag and exits, leaving Fred alone with the abyss. Suzuka enters, going to his bedside, and hands him a cigar. "How are you feeling, Fred?"
"Better."
"That is good. I knew it was nothing."
"We must talk, darling. It appears we have to... redefine the nature of our association."
"What does that mean, Fred? You know I do not understand when you talk up in a higher key like that. You mean you do not want to be my loving man no more?" Suzuka asked.
"Not exactly..." Fred answered.
"I am a good woman to you, Fred. Do I not always take care of you? Nobody else except for Gene and his friends care for you like me. I am a good woman."
"Yes, I know. You are a good woman, Suzu." Twilight Suzuka smiles. places the cigar in his mouth and leans over to light it so her ample bosom bulges over her bodice. As Fred Luo stares at her chest something behind his eyes seems to shut down. He takes a long drag from the cigar. "Then again, you may be the Antiassassin."
The cold blue light of dawn peeks through the windows. Harry McDougal drinks at the bar, brooding. He reaches for his rifle, and leans against the brass rail. "Goddamn pimp bastards. Think they can cheat me?"
"Nobody cheated you Harry. Just go home." Iris said as Harry reaches across the bar and slaps him. Iris scowls, more irritated than hurt and too tired to make anything of it. The few other patrons left look up drowsily. McDougal nods in drunken satisfaction, picking up his rifle. "And I do not take no mouth from any bartenders neither. There, you see? Give somebody a rap on the beard, to get some damn respect around here. Now you tell the Starwinds if I see them on the street and Fred Luo, I am going to send them all to hell on a shutter. You tell them that." Harry explained as he and the Kanes storm off as James Hawking and Aisha Clan-Clan step out onto the street. "Wyatt" Gene Starwind turns to them in disbelief. "What the hell is going on?"
Walking down Sentinel III, Harry stops the group at the telegraph office "I want to send a telegram."
The Starwind family starts to feel a growing sense of dread as three grim horsemen come galloping out of the desert toward them. Marx, Yase, and Unak ride into town, trotting by the jail with Starwind family looking on. "Marx, Yase, and Unak. Now there is six of them. This is like a bad dream." Jim said.
"Just stay calm, use your head. It will be all right. Just the same, though..." Gene said as he took a sip of his coffee, paused and sighed. "Guess you better swear me in."
In tight on a oak-mounted wooden case. It opens to reveal a gleaming Castor Colt .45 with an extra long barrel, the gold shield inlaid on the burr walnut grips engraved with, "To "Wyatt" Gene Starwind, Peacemaker..." This is the Castor Buntline Special, "Wyatt" Gene Starwind's legendary castor sidearm. Gene takes it from the case and puts it in his coat pocket as Melfina looks on. "I thought you swore you would never carry that gun again." she said.
"Yes, well, I swore a lot of things." Gene said.
Sheriff Clyde and Valeria watch from the hotel as the six Kei Pirates, all but Harry armed with castor pistols, walk side-by-side down the middle of Sentinel. "I am terribly afraid this looks like the end of the Starwind family." Clyde said. Valeria Marcus goes pale at the moment...
The Kei Pirates swagger by defiantly, giving the Starwinds sidelong glances. Meanwhile, the street starts to buzz, townspeople beginning to notice that something is happening. "Here they are again. Look at them." Jim said.
"Easy, Jim, they are just trying to egg us on." Gene said. Suddenly Fred Luo with Twilight Suzuka appears around a corner, a little the worse for wear in a long, dark inverness cloak and carrying a big gold-headed walking stick. "What are you doing out of bed, Fred?"
"What the hell is going on? I have had nine people walk up to my room saying the McDougals and Kanes are gunning for us."
A vacant lot behind the Heiphong Corral with Mata's Gallery on the left and the Diamond Palace on the right. The Kei Pirates stand in a knot near their horses, passing a bottle around. "I like to teach those pimp bastards a lesson." Rob said.
"Probably already scared them to death." Yase said.
"You call it, Harry. What are we going to do?" Butch asked as Harry grabs the bottle. "Give me that."
James Hawking comes out of the nearby weapons office with a huge 10 gauge castor shotgun just as Iris runs up. "Those Kei Pirates are telling everybody in town they are going to clean you out. They are down in that lot right now behind the Heiphong Corral."
"Do not worry, Fred, It is not your problem. You do not have to mix up in this." Gene said as he turns to his friend, genuinely shocked and hurt. "That is a hell of a thing for you to say to me."
"What the hell are going to do?" Jim asked.
"Wait until the wine wears off. Once they start getting headaches they will lose interest." Gene said.
"Lose interest, hell! They are threatening our lives."
"You will never make that stick."
"They are carrying castor guns in town, Gene."
"Christ almighty, Jim, that is a misdemeanor. You go down there to arrest them, something goes wrong, maybe this time somebody gets his head broke, suddenly it is a mess and it will not end there, you will have Kei Pirates coming around looking for trouble from here to Valentine's Day. And you are going to risk all that over a misdemeanor?"
James Hawking pauses for a moment, thinking. "Damn right, I am going to risk it all, they are breaking the law and it is wrong." Gene pauses and decided. "All right, Jim, your call. But give Fred the shotgun. They will be less apt to get nervous if they see him on the street howitzer." Jim trades the shotgun for Fred Luo's cane. Fred folds the shotgun under his cloak. They get set, waiting for Gene's cue. "Well... Come on, boys." Finally they start down Sentinel, footsteps pounding the boarded sidewalk, James Hawking and "Wyatt" Gene Starwind in front, Aisha Clan-Clan, Twilight Suzuka and Fred Luo in the rear. Bystanders step aside, trading whispers as they pass, turning onto 11th St...
Clyde dashes around the corner into the lot behind the Heiphong Corral, facing the Kei Pirates. "They are on their way over here."
The Starwinds, Suzuka, and Fred turn off 11th onto Sentinel II St. Ikee Katchin and Shimi watch as they pass the grocer's. "There they go. Look kind of like preachers." Shimi said.
"Yes. Or more like undertakers." Ikee Katchin said. The vacant lot starts to come into view and the Starwind group are fighting nerves now. Fists clenched, gritting their teeth, eyes darting all over the street, they look all too human and nothing like legends. It is only Fred Luo, bringing up the rear, who could not care less. Gene narrows his eyes. "Jim, you are making the arrest. You make contact, I will back you up. Aisha will back me up, Fred will keep an eye out of trouble. And keep your hands on your guns. They even look like they are going to start something, rush them. Right over the head." Gene explained.
"Gene, I know what I am doing." Jim said while Gene sees the onlookers. "Look at them all. They love it. How in the hell did we get ourselves into this?" Gene thoughted until then Clyde walks up holding up his hands, reassuring. "You do not have to worry about a thing. I just went down there and disarmed them."
"You did? Great, thanks. Come on, boys." Jim said. The Starwind family quicken their step as Clyde enters Mata's gallery. Seeing the approaching Starwind party, the Kei Pirates glance around at each other, setting themselves. Now at the end of sidewalk, Gene and his party can see that the Kei Pirates are still armed and their relief evaporates. Gene mutters under his breath. "Oh, great. Disarmed my ass..." Gene and the others slow their step, gathering themselves. This is it, no turning back now. The Kei Pirates spread out. As Gene and his party get closer and closer, it seems as if the very air is electric with tension. But as they step into the street and fan out for their final approach, they suddenly do look like their legend now, five tall figures in long black coats except Suzuka advancing in a line, grim and unstoppable, a fleeting moment in time frozen forever in our minds. Finally they stop. The two groups are facing each other, perhaps fifty-five feet apart. Fred raises the shotgun, the cheshire cat smile spreading over his face. Jim steps forward with Aisha, his face set, holding up Fred Luo's cane. "We have come to arrest you. Throw up your arms!" A wierd moment of confusion where nobody seems to know what the hell they are suppose to do. Then Yase and Butch Kane slap their hands to their guns. The Starwind family instantly tense up, hands on their castor pistols. Jim waves his hands frantically, afraid they have misunderstood. "Hold it! I do not want that!" Suddenly realizing what is happening, Unak and Hitoriga bolt and dash into Mata's gallery. Everyone else stands frozen, breath short, pulses pounding, each staring into the other's wide-open eyes. Then something in Yase's eyes seems to go dead and Gene groans under his breath as the awful realization hits him. "Aw, hell..." Yase and Butch jerk their pistols and the battle explodes, everything happening in split seconds as Gene draws and fires, knocking Butch down with a castor gunshot. Jim fires, blowing Yase back against the wall of the weapons office. Death Rob darts for the cover behind his horses as Harry McDougal dives onto Gene shrieking like a crazed psychopath. "No, no, please! I do not have a gun! I am unarmed!"
"This fight is commenced. Get to fighting or get the hell away!" Gene hurls him aside. Harry sprints for the gallery. Rob fires over his saddle at Fred Luo who tries for a shot but is blocked by McDougal's horse. Yase bounces back, howling, and fires, the bullet piercing Aisha's calf. She drops to one knee. Rob fires again. Fred fires one barrel into the air, the blast making the horse rear up, exposing Rob for a split second. Fred fires again. Rob's side explodes into red mist, the full charge of red mist, the full charge of buckshot slamming him into the weapons office. Rob drops his gun and teeters into the street, talking eerie little mincing steps, already dead but still moving, like a chicken with its head chopped off. Yase fires again, dropping James Hawking with a hole in her right shoulder. "I am hit." Fred pulls his lightning and fires double action 1-2-3 times, hitting Yase in the abdomen while Butch bounds back into the fight, firing wildly. Jim gets up, firing back. The whole battle bow bathed in thick smoke, the fight starts swirling into the street, each man jockeying for position. Inside the gallery, Clyde and Unak watch at the window as Harry dives in. He snatches Unak's pistol and fires through the window. Harry's bullets whiz past "Wyatt" Gene Starwind's ear. He spins around, calling to Fred. "Behind us!" In a flashing move taking less than a heartbeat, Fred Luo pivots, replacing the .38 in his right hand with his big .45 then with one pass of his left hand rapid fires quick as a uzi machine gun burst 1-2-3-4-5 times, the bullets ripping straight through Mata's gallery, showering Harry and the rest with splinters and broken glass. "Come on!" Clyde hauls Harry up and they dash out the back door, Unak and Hitoriga right behind, all frantically running for their lives. Outside Yase gets to his knees, seemingly indestructible, and fires at Gene. He returns the fire. Eyes wild and bulging, a bloody hand clutching his wounds, Butch staggers across the lot, bearing down on Fred through the smoke. "I got you now, you son of a bitch!"
"You are a daisy if you do!" Suzuka said as she opens her arms, giving Butch Kane a clear shot at his chest. Butch fires. The bullet grazes Suzuka's holster. Butch trudges closer, about to fire again but Suzuka drills him through the heart with her bokuto while in the next millisecond Jim fires from her prone position on the ground the big castor blast carrying away the top of Butch's head. As the last shot echoes through the hills, Butch flops limply to the ground like a ragged up doll while out in the street his brother Death Rob finally runs out of steam and pitches face first in the dirt, leaving only Yase, leaning against the weapons office, legs splayed out in front of him, absolutely shot to pieces, clicking his empty castor gun and wailing piteously as the smoke clears. "More castor cartridges! Somebody load my gun..." He keeps repeating it with sinking volume as townspeople step timidly into the street. Mata bends down and takes Butch's gun from his hand and the fight is officially over, having lasted only some 35 seconds. Gene helps Aisha to her feet as Clyde strides briskly onto the street. "All right. You are all under arrest." he addressed. Gene looks at him in utter disbelief. "I do not think I will let you arrest us today, Clyde. Maybe tomorrow or the next day." he said. More bystanders arrive, a crowd scene rapidly developing. The Starwind women run up from the west end of Sentinel. Valeria fights her way through the crowd from the east. She and Gene catch sight of each other. She grins, tears in her eyes. He nods, smiling. Seeing the whole thing, Clyde fumes. And so does Melfina who turns and walks away while Hilda runs to James Hawking, hugging him. Meanwhile Fred stands over Butch's body, fingering the graze over his thigh, jeering under his breath while Mata comes up to Gene. "You call that shooting?"
"The Kanes are both dead. Yase is just about gone." "Wyatt" Gene Starwind, nods, pocketing his 'peacemaker', sadly surveying the bloody scene. "I Guess we did our good deed for today."
Fireworks explode in the darkening sky as a cortege of 65 Kei Pirates in their finest parade down the street toward the crude little graveyard, Ron McDougal and Marx in the lead, Harry McDougal right behind with the three coffins and a banner saying "Murdered On The Streets Of Sentinel by The Starwind Family!" As they take places at the gravesite Gene approaches Ron McDougal. "I am sorry. If there was any other--"
"I know. You just did what you had to. That banner and everything else, that is just Harry showing off. Do not worry about it." Gene nods, tips his hat and walks off. Looking after him, Ron McDougal whispers: "Do not worry about a thing."
James Hawking lies in bed, her shoulder in bandages. Gene sits by her. "How are you doing, Jim?"
"Fine. Better." Jim answered as he looks out the window, staring at nothing. he looks tired, older, all the fun and youthful zest gone from his face. "You were right. It is nothing like I thought. I almost wish..."
"I know, Jim. I know. Me too." Gene touches his arm, a look of unutterable sadness in his eyes. This is the one thing he did not want for his friend and partner....
The Kei Pirates are gathered around a huge campfire in Heiphong Park, sparks drifting up toward the heavens, faces vivid in the firelight like an ancient warrior host. Ron McDougal faces them, bottle in hand. "Here is to the memory of Yase and Rob and Butch Kane. They went out real Kei Pirates, dead game right up to their final kick. They won their places at the big table wit Vash The Stampede and Old Man McDougal. They are up there right now trading shots with them. And they will never be forgotten. Not ever. Thousand years from now there will be men sitting around a campire, passing a bottle of wine, telling stories about those boys. They are what you call immortal." They all drink, long and deep, Marx wiping away tears. "All right, first we hang back, just bide away until everybody thinks this is blown over. Then, we strike back tonight..." He tosses the wine bottle into the fire, raising the flames a little higher, getting woolly once again as they prepare for the downfall of the Starwind Family once and for all.
"So what does that mean?" Fred asked.
"Four years, four days, hard to say. If you have any chance, it is to stop now--smoking, drinking, gambling, night-life. You must a balanced diet and most importantly, you must have complete rest--meaning you must attempt to deny your martial impulse."
"Well, that sounds inviting."
"Sorry but I am afraid you have no choice." Dr. Doose takes his bag and exits, leaving Fred alone with the abyss. Suzuka enters, going to his bedside, and hands him a cigar. "How are you feeling, Fred?"
"Better."
"That is good. I knew it was nothing."
"We must talk, darling. It appears we have to... redefine the nature of our association."
"What does that mean, Fred? You know I do not understand when you talk up in a higher key like that. You mean you do not want to be my loving man no more?" Suzuka asked.
"Not exactly..." Fred answered.
"I am a good woman to you, Fred. Do I not always take care of you? Nobody else except for Gene and his friends care for you like me. I am a good woman."
"Yes, I know. You are a good woman, Suzu." Twilight Suzuka smiles. places the cigar in his mouth and leans over to light it so her ample bosom bulges over her bodice. As Fred Luo stares at her chest something behind his eyes seems to shut down. He takes a long drag from the cigar. "Then again, you may be the Antiassassin."
The cold blue light of dawn peeks through the windows. Harry McDougal drinks at the bar, brooding. He reaches for his rifle, and leans against the brass rail. "Goddamn pimp bastards. Think they can cheat me?"
"Nobody cheated you Harry. Just go home." Iris said as Harry reaches across the bar and slaps him. Iris scowls, more irritated than hurt and too tired to make anything of it. The few other patrons left look up drowsily. McDougal nods in drunken satisfaction, picking up his rifle. "And I do not take no mouth from any bartenders neither. There, you see? Give somebody a rap on the beard, to get some damn respect around here. Now you tell the Starwinds if I see them on the street and Fred Luo, I am going to send them all to hell on a shutter. You tell them that." Harry explained as he and the Kanes storm off as James Hawking and Aisha Clan-Clan step out onto the street. "Wyatt" Gene Starwind turns to them in disbelief. "What the hell is going on?"
Walking down Sentinel III, Harry stops the group at the telegraph office "I want to send a telegram."
The Starwind family starts to feel a growing sense of dread as three grim horsemen come galloping out of the desert toward them. Marx, Yase, and Unak ride into town, trotting by the jail with Starwind family looking on. "Marx, Yase, and Unak. Now there is six of them. This is like a bad dream." Jim said.
"Just stay calm, use your head. It will be all right. Just the same, though..." Gene said as he took a sip of his coffee, paused and sighed. "Guess you better swear me in."
In tight on a oak-mounted wooden case. It opens to reveal a gleaming Castor Colt .45 with an extra long barrel, the gold shield inlaid on the burr walnut grips engraved with, "To "Wyatt" Gene Starwind, Peacemaker..." This is the Castor Buntline Special, "Wyatt" Gene Starwind's legendary castor sidearm. Gene takes it from the case and puts it in his coat pocket as Melfina looks on. "I thought you swore you would never carry that gun again." she said.
"Yes, well, I swore a lot of things." Gene said.
Sheriff Clyde and Valeria watch from the hotel as the six Kei Pirates, all but Harry armed with castor pistols, walk side-by-side down the middle of Sentinel. "I am terribly afraid this looks like the end of the Starwind family." Clyde said. Valeria Marcus goes pale at the moment...
The Kei Pirates swagger by defiantly, giving the Starwinds sidelong glances. Meanwhile, the street starts to buzz, townspeople beginning to notice that something is happening. "Here they are again. Look at them." Jim said.
"Easy, Jim, they are just trying to egg us on." Gene said. Suddenly Fred Luo with Twilight Suzuka appears around a corner, a little the worse for wear in a long, dark inverness cloak and carrying a big gold-headed walking stick. "What are you doing out of bed, Fred?"
"What the hell is going on? I have had nine people walk up to my room saying the McDougals and Kanes are gunning for us."
A vacant lot behind the Heiphong Corral with Mata's Gallery on the left and the Diamond Palace on the right. The Kei Pirates stand in a knot near their horses, passing a bottle around. "I like to teach those pimp bastards a lesson." Rob said.
"Probably already scared them to death." Yase said.
"You call it, Harry. What are we going to do?" Butch asked as Harry grabs the bottle. "Give me that."
James Hawking comes out of the nearby weapons office with a huge 10 gauge castor shotgun just as Iris runs up. "Those Kei Pirates are telling everybody in town they are going to clean you out. They are down in that lot right now behind the Heiphong Corral."
"Do not worry, Fred, It is not your problem. You do not have to mix up in this." Gene said as he turns to his friend, genuinely shocked and hurt. "That is a hell of a thing for you to say to me."
"What the hell are going to do?" Jim asked.
"Wait until the wine wears off. Once they start getting headaches they will lose interest." Gene said.
"Lose interest, hell! They are threatening our lives."
"You will never make that stick."
"They are carrying castor guns in town, Gene."
"Christ almighty, Jim, that is a misdemeanor. You go down there to arrest them, something goes wrong, maybe this time somebody gets his head broke, suddenly it is a mess and it will not end there, you will have Kei Pirates coming around looking for trouble from here to Valentine's Day. And you are going to risk all that over a misdemeanor?"
James Hawking pauses for a moment, thinking. "Damn right, I am going to risk it all, they are breaking the law and it is wrong." Gene pauses and decided. "All right, Jim, your call. But give Fred the shotgun. They will be less apt to get nervous if they see him on the street howitzer." Jim trades the shotgun for Fred Luo's cane. Fred folds the shotgun under his cloak. They get set, waiting for Gene's cue. "Well... Come on, boys." Finally they start down Sentinel, footsteps pounding the boarded sidewalk, James Hawking and "Wyatt" Gene Starwind in front, Aisha Clan-Clan, Twilight Suzuka and Fred Luo in the rear. Bystanders step aside, trading whispers as they pass, turning onto 11th St...
Clyde dashes around the corner into the lot behind the Heiphong Corral, facing the Kei Pirates. "They are on their way over here."
The Starwinds, Suzuka, and Fred turn off 11th onto Sentinel II St. Ikee Katchin and Shimi watch as they pass the grocer's. "There they go. Look kind of like preachers." Shimi said.
"Yes. Or more like undertakers." Ikee Katchin said. The vacant lot starts to come into view and the Starwind group are fighting nerves now. Fists clenched, gritting their teeth, eyes darting all over the street, they look all too human and nothing like legends. It is only Fred Luo, bringing up the rear, who could not care less. Gene narrows his eyes. "Jim, you are making the arrest. You make contact, I will back you up. Aisha will back me up, Fred will keep an eye out of trouble. And keep your hands on your guns. They even look like they are going to start something, rush them. Right over the head." Gene explained.
"Gene, I know what I am doing." Jim said while Gene sees the onlookers. "Look at them all. They love it. How in the hell did we get ourselves into this?" Gene thoughted until then Clyde walks up holding up his hands, reassuring. "You do not have to worry about a thing. I just went down there and disarmed them."
"You did? Great, thanks. Come on, boys." Jim said. The Starwind family quicken their step as Clyde enters Mata's gallery. Seeing the approaching Starwind party, the Kei Pirates glance around at each other, setting themselves. Now at the end of sidewalk, Gene and his party can see that the Kei Pirates are still armed and their relief evaporates. Gene mutters under his breath. "Oh, great. Disarmed my ass..." Gene and the others slow their step, gathering themselves. This is it, no turning back now. The Kei Pirates spread out. As Gene and his party get closer and closer, it seems as if the very air is electric with tension. But as they step into the street and fan out for their final approach, they suddenly do look like their legend now, five tall figures in long black coats except Suzuka advancing in a line, grim and unstoppable, a fleeting moment in time frozen forever in our minds. Finally they stop. The two groups are facing each other, perhaps fifty-five feet apart. Fred raises the shotgun, the cheshire cat smile spreading over his face. Jim steps forward with Aisha, his face set, holding up Fred Luo's cane. "We have come to arrest you. Throw up your arms!" A wierd moment of confusion where nobody seems to know what the hell they are suppose to do. Then Yase and Butch Kane slap their hands to their guns. The Starwind family instantly tense up, hands on their castor pistols. Jim waves his hands frantically, afraid they have misunderstood. "Hold it! I do not want that!" Suddenly realizing what is happening, Unak and Hitoriga bolt and dash into Mata's gallery. Everyone else stands frozen, breath short, pulses pounding, each staring into the other's wide-open eyes. Then something in Yase's eyes seems to go dead and Gene groans under his breath as the awful realization hits him. "Aw, hell..." Yase and Butch jerk their pistols and the battle explodes, everything happening in split seconds as Gene draws and fires, knocking Butch down with a castor gunshot. Jim fires, blowing Yase back against the wall of the weapons office. Death Rob darts for the cover behind his horses as Harry McDougal dives onto Gene shrieking like a crazed psychopath. "No, no, please! I do not have a gun! I am unarmed!"
"This fight is commenced. Get to fighting or get the hell away!" Gene hurls him aside. Harry sprints for the gallery. Rob fires over his saddle at Fred Luo who tries for a shot but is blocked by McDougal's horse. Yase bounces back, howling, and fires, the bullet piercing Aisha's calf. She drops to one knee. Rob fires again. Fred fires one barrel into the air, the blast making the horse rear up, exposing Rob for a split second. Fred fires again. Rob's side explodes into red mist, the full charge of red mist, the full charge of buckshot slamming him into the weapons office. Rob drops his gun and teeters into the street, talking eerie little mincing steps, already dead but still moving, like a chicken with its head chopped off. Yase fires again, dropping James Hawking with a hole in her right shoulder. "I am hit." Fred pulls his lightning and fires double action 1-2-3 times, hitting Yase in the abdomen while Butch bounds back into the fight, firing wildly. Jim gets up, firing back. The whole battle bow bathed in thick smoke, the fight starts swirling into the street, each man jockeying for position. Inside the gallery, Clyde and Unak watch at the window as Harry dives in. He snatches Unak's pistol and fires through the window. Harry's bullets whiz past "Wyatt" Gene Starwind's ear. He spins around, calling to Fred. "Behind us!" In a flashing move taking less than a heartbeat, Fred Luo pivots, replacing the .38 in his right hand with his big .45 then with one pass of his left hand rapid fires quick as a uzi machine gun burst 1-2-3-4-5 times, the bullets ripping straight through Mata's gallery, showering Harry and the rest with splinters and broken glass. "Come on!" Clyde hauls Harry up and they dash out the back door, Unak and Hitoriga right behind, all frantically running for their lives. Outside Yase gets to his knees, seemingly indestructible, and fires at Gene. He returns the fire. Eyes wild and bulging, a bloody hand clutching his wounds, Butch staggers across the lot, bearing down on Fred through the smoke. "I got you now, you son of a bitch!"
"You are a daisy if you do!" Suzuka said as she opens her arms, giving Butch Kane a clear shot at his chest. Butch fires. The bullet grazes Suzuka's holster. Butch trudges closer, about to fire again but Suzuka drills him through the heart with her bokuto while in the next millisecond Jim fires from her prone position on the ground the big castor blast carrying away the top of Butch's head. As the last shot echoes through the hills, Butch flops limply to the ground like a ragged up doll while out in the street his brother Death Rob finally runs out of steam and pitches face first in the dirt, leaving only Yase, leaning against the weapons office, legs splayed out in front of him, absolutely shot to pieces, clicking his empty castor gun and wailing piteously as the smoke clears. "More castor cartridges! Somebody load my gun..." He keeps repeating it with sinking volume as townspeople step timidly into the street. Mata bends down and takes Butch's gun from his hand and the fight is officially over, having lasted only some 35 seconds. Gene helps Aisha to her feet as Clyde strides briskly onto the street. "All right. You are all under arrest." he addressed. Gene looks at him in utter disbelief. "I do not think I will let you arrest us today, Clyde. Maybe tomorrow or the next day." he said. More bystanders arrive, a crowd scene rapidly developing. The Starwind women run up from the west end of Sentinel. Valeria fights her way through the crowd from the east. She and Gene catch sight of each other. She grins, tears in her eyes. He nods, smiling. Seeing the whole thing, Clyde fumes. And so does Melfina who turns and walks away while Hilda runs to James Hawking, hugging him. Meanwhile Fred stands over Butch's body, fingering the graze over his thigh, jeering under his breath while Mata comes up to Gene. "You call that shooting?"
"The Kanes are both dead. Yase is just about gone." "Wyatt" Gene Starwind, nods, pocketing his 'peacemaker', sadly surveying the bloody scene. "I Guess we did our good deed for today."
Fireworks explode in the darkening sky as a cortege of 65 Kei Pirates in their finest parade down the street toward the crude little graveyard, Ron McDougal and Marx in the lead, Harry McDougal right behind with the three coffins and a banner saying "Murdered On The Streets Of Sentinel by The Starwind Family!" As they take places at the gravesite Gene approaches Ron McDougal. "I am sorry. If there was any other--"
"I know. You just did what you had to. That banner and everything else, that is just Harry showing off. Do not worry about it." Gene nods, tips his hat and walks off. Looking after him, Ron McDougal whispers: "Do not worry about a thing."
James Hawking lies in bed, her shoulder in bandages. Gene sits by her. "How are you doing, Jim?"
"Fine. Better." Jim answered as he looks out the window, staring at nothing. he looks tired, older, all the fun and youthful zest gone from his face. "You were right. It is nothing like I thought. I almost wish..."
"I know, Jim. I know. Me too." Gene touches his arm, a look of unutterable sadness in his eyes. This is the one thing he did not want for his friend and partner....
The Kei Pirates are gathered around a huge campfire in Heiphong Park, sparks drifting up toward the heavens, faces vivid in the firelight like an ancient warrior host. Ron McDougal faces them, bottle in hand. "Here is to the memory of Yase and Rob and Butch Kane. They went out real Kei Pirates, dead game right up to their final kick. They won their places at the big table wit Vash The Stampede and Old Man McDougal. They are up there right now trading shots with them. And they will never be forgotten. Not ever. Thousand years from now there will be men sitting around a campire, passing a bottle of wine, telling stories about those boys. They are what you call immortal." They all drink, long and deep, Marx wiping away tears. "All right, first we hang back, just bide away until everybody thinks this is blown over. Then, we strike back tonight..." He tosses the wine bottle into the fire, raising the flames a little higher, getting woolly once again as they prepare for the downfall of the Starwind Family once and for all.