Legato starts to walk in a circle around Grave. Graves keeps Legato's gaze and his finger on the trigger. Legato stops walking and looks thoughtful.
Legato: My, my. You ARE interesting. A loyal man betrayed by his closest friend, killed for refusing to join in a grab for power. (Pauses) A common story, however, this story has a twist. The man is brought back from the dead in order to seek his vengeance. He slaughters each of his betrayers down to the last man. His death avenged and "justice" restored he sets out to live a normal life…heh, as if a dead man can "live" a normal anything. The methods used to bring about his "unlife" had a price. The one he cared about grew old over time and eventually died. After her death he did not wish to continue his existence and attempted to put himself to sleep for all time. But now, he awakens to a new world which he can never be a part of. (Looks him dead in the eye) Did I miss anything, Brandon?
Grave quickly moves to pull up his guns for an attack, but his arms suddenly bend painfully back. A look of surprise and pain covers his face as Legato walks up to him.
Legato: I do apologize. That was the name of a man who died, you're Grave. Right. Got it. I see that a dead man can still feel pain, that's good… In any case I came here about a deal, but first my Master requires a test.
Legato snaps his fingers and Monev the Gale leaps off a nearby rock formation landing in between Legato and Grave. His mask in place and his wrist gattling guns loaded and ready to fire.
Legato: This is Monev the Gale, he is a man whom failed in his mission. Which means he has to die, but I'm giving him a second chance: if he kills you, he may go free. You can choose to not participate in which case you'll simply die. Begin.
Grave falls forward, released from Legato's power, as the gattling guns on Monev's wrists start to turn. Monev's guns begin shooting rapidly, forming a trail in the sand leading to Grave. When the bullets are just about to reach him Grave leaps in the air and fires once. Monev's bloodied facemask lands at Legato's feet with a large, jagged hole in the center.
Legato: (Staring into the sky) No, that was not adequate. There must be a more thorough test. Yes Master; let's see how he fares against all ten Gung-Ho Guns.
Grave stands prone, with a small snap of sound a woman is leaning against his back, gun drawn. She is thoughtfully looking at the Luger in her hands.
Dominique: My name is Dominique the Cyclops and I thought it would only be fair to warn you. You see, no matter how powerful those guns of yours are and no matter how fast you move, you can't defeat me.
Grave whips around and fires …at the thin air she once occupied as Dominique is standing directly to the left of him with her gun three inches from his temple. Dominique tsks just before she fires seven times. Grave leaps backwards as the first six shots all fall under a flash of blue. The seventh shot goes through the flash with a loud crack and grazes Grave's left arm. He hits the ground firing wildly, but she's already gone. She appears with her gun directly in his face, smiling.
Dominique: You see, not even your energy shield can save you.
As she pulls the trigger, Grave's Coffin slams her to the side. She vanishes in mid air a look of surprise on her face. A small jet engine in the center of the back causes both Grave and the Coffin to spin madly, but Grave slams down the large spike at the base of his Coffin into the soil. Dominique keeps appearing and firing and missing her target completely due to his rapid spinning. Grave pulls out the lever on the back and squeezes the trigger firing the large machine gun sticking out of the top. Dominique vanishes as the bullets spray in all directions blasting hole in large rock formations. As the Coffin's spinning stops, Grave looks over to the tattered form of Dominique thrown against a stone from the several bullets that blew ragged holes in torso. Needless to say, she is very dead. Legato, somehow unharmed by the bullet cyclone, walks over a dune clapping softly.
Legato: A clever move. You beat her with the only thing that isn't affected by her Demon's Eye, a machine.
Grave only glares as him before his attention is quickly drawn to something above him, and he dives to the side half-a-second before a twirling black shape crashes into the ground with a large blast of sand. As the sand begins to clear we see Grave standing with his guns aimed at the center of the cloud which dissipates revealing a crater and at the heart is Hoppard the Gauntlet.
Hoppard: (Mock sad)You dodged my sneak attack…
Before he can say another thing Grave begins to blaze away with the Cerebos, but with a small move Hoppard moves his shield in front of him. The bullets glance off splattering harmlessly into the sand.
Hoppard: (Giggling) Unlike your stupid light shield, my Götterer is invincible! (He pushes off the ground and into the air) I'LL SMASH YOU LIKE A BUG!!!!!!!
Grave stands prone watching Hoppard hurtle high into the air. With his right hand he slides down a panel on his Coffin and pulls out a small black sphere with a silver cross emblazoned on the surface. He throws the sphere at the now descending Hoppard. (!SLOW MOTION SCENE!) Hoppard watches the sphere fly towards him until it passes right next to his face. On the ground Grave pushes the button on a pen shaped device and high in the sky, a rather large explosion. The Götterer crashes to the ground burring itself deep into the sand. Grave quickly turns around and grabs a large metal spike that was flying towards him and hurtles it back. The spike impales a stunned E.G. Mine who dies soundlessly staring at Grave silhouetted by the burning debris of Hoppard.
Legato: (Sighs) How disappointing of you, I thought you more clever than this…
Grave looks to Legato but he's looking off to the horizon. Or to be more specific at the small army of identical white haired men approaching carrying automatic weapons. Grave jams his Coffin into the sand and leans against it as the volley of the fire fills the air. Grave sticks his guns out on either side of his Coffin and fires blindly knocking down several of the men. The men keep marching and even the ones who are shot to the ground continue to drag their mangled bodies. As they begin to swarm Grave puts his guns in the leg holsters and switches to the Coffin's large machine gun and starts blowing clusters of them into bloodless piles. When all the pieces have settled to the ground, Grave walks over and nudges one of the large destroyed puppets with his foot. Satisfied, Grave walks away, but a soft rumbling beings to sound and he turns to a living nightmare. The various pieces are reforming forming a pair large bladed monstrosities, they're horrific forms a mockery of humanity. Grave starts blasting at what appears to be their heads, but with no effect. Grave bares his teeth in frustration and leaps onto one of the hulks and jams in his guns in hope of hitting something that will hurt it. As he pumps round after round into its "body" he notices something glint in the setting sun. He looks closer and sees a series of hundreds of very thin strings. Grave grabs a handful of the strings and jumps as the one he was riding jams one of it's bladed appendages into it's self. Grave grasps as many of the stings on the other before jumping to the ground. Some distance away, Leonof looks down to as the strings tighten around his gloved fingers. Grave has a bundle of strings wrapped around his forearm and held in his other hand, he twists around and pulls them down. Even over the distance you can hear the scream. Leonof lies on the ground, face blood stained, convulsing ever slower until he stops moving all together.
Grave drops the loose strings to the ground and they are taken by the wind. The ground begins to rumble and Grave quickly pulls his gun and begins scanning for the attacker. Seeing nothing approaching, Grave slowly looks down. A large gray hand bursts through the sand and grabs him around the midsection, binding his arms. Grey the Ninelives stands up and holds Grave in front of his face with a "smile". He throws Grave against a rock formation and Grave crawls up to his knees and shoots Grey in both eyes. The mushroomed bullets fall off the undamaged eyes as Grey swiftly kicks Grave forty feet. While lying in the sand Grave coughs up some blood and then pulls himself up using his Coffin. Grey watches with mild curiosity as Grave gets back to a standing position and with his arms held limply at his side, Grave's Coffin splits in four places revealing tubes and a set four rockets up into the air and then blast towards Grey with a satisfying series of explosions. Grave allows himself to smile looking at the flaming smoke, but that smile is short lived as the wind clears the smoke revealing a slightly singed Grey the Ninelives. Grey extends both arms and Grave's jaw actually goes slack for a moment as the hands split into large machine guns and Grey's chest opens revealing six rocket launchers. Grey fires everything he's got making the area dense with explosive clouds and large caliber bullets. Grey actually manages to look surprised as he sees Grave running towards him. As Grey adjusts his aim, Grave goes into a slide, holding the top of his Coffin to his shoulder. A stand drops from the side allowing him to line up the scope that just popped out in front of his eye, so he can properly aim the VERY LARGE cannon that has sprung out the other side. Grave pulls the trigger with an explosion so powerful as to shake the rocks covering the landscape. Grave lowers the Coffin revealing Grey with a large circle blown out of his left side, as in his left side is gone to the point that the bottom of his left leg is standing independently as the rest of him topples to the ground.
The ground begins to rumble again and Grave immediately looks at Grey who is still a pile of scrap. In front of him a column of sand bursts forth revealing a gigantic razor toothed worm and twenty feet to the side a small blonde boy.
Zazie: I'm Zazie the Beast, and while you may have felled my companions you have no chance of survival against the ancient beasts that dwell in the sand. You'll be swallowed whole…
He is interrupted as Grave fires a single rocket form the bottom of his Coffin into the open mouth of the worm blowing its hideous head off. The boy looks in horror as the giant headless mass falls towards him. Any screams Zazie may have given out are muted by the creature's body crashing to the ground.
Grave is allowed not a moment before a bullet blats through his right leg and drills itself into the ground. Grave drops to his left knee. He looks around for any sign of the attacker, then to his bleeding leg, and then to the bullet hole in the ground. He carefully sets his right gun against the hole lining it up so the back of the gun matches the angle of the bullet dug deep in the sand and then he fires one shot. The flaming bullet flies through the air towards a nearby cliff upon which lies Cain the Longshot, it flies up the barrel of Cain's gun and bursts out the back of the gun and, shortly after, the back of Cain's head.
Grave knells on the ground bleeding and breathing heavily as soft footsteps forces him to turn to face the latest super powered killing freak. He's a man dressed in a Kimono and brandishing a sword. His large hat is taken by the wind and he stands staring at Grave.
Rai-Dei: I am Rai-Dei the Blade and while I have nothing against you personally I have come to…
His introduction speech is cut short as Grave shoots him in the chest blowing him to the ground. Grave tightly bandages his leg with a scrap of cloth from one of the puppets and drags himself to his feet and starts to lift his guns towards Legato.
Legato: Don't be so hasty, there's still one to go.
A handsome well dressed man carrying a saxophone steps from behind a large boulder. Grave is sweating heavily and wipes some from his forehead before it can cloud his vision. The handsome man leans the sax against his shoulder and smiles.
Midvalley: I am Midvalley the Hornfreak, last of the Gung-ho Guns. Join me for a number.
Grave looks from Midvalley to Legato and back. Grave sighs and slowly aims at Midvalley's smiling face with his right gun. Midvalley shrugs and hangs his sax loosely beside him. (!Slow Motion!) Grave squeezes the trigger and sends a flaming bullet towards him. Midvalley inhales and brings the sax to his lips. (!Real Time!) A deafening note blasts out and sends the bullet flying back to Grave. Grave ducks and the bullet strikes the cross on his hat tearing it from his head. Grave lies on all fours staring in shock.
Midvalley: (Clears throat) Okay, now that I'm warmed up...how about some jazz?
Midvalley inhales and Grave grabs his hat and jumps to the left as a jazzy tune is belted out. Not a moment later everything in a 10 foot diameter explodes. Grave starts running, pulling on his hat, and the ring of destruction follows as Midvalley turns to follow. Graves jumps behind a large boulder and presses his back to the rock to catch his breath. Midvalley smirks as he "aims" the saxophone. The rock Grave was leaning against explodes into a million fragments as Grave is hurtled into the air. He hits the ground sliding to a stop next to the shredded corpse of Dominique.
Midvalley: You have to be cool, you know. Always go with the flow, even if it means riding it to your destruction. (Raises the sax to his lips) Sorry, but it's time to for the finale…
Grave, on all fours, looks from Midvalley to Legato, who smiled darkly at him, and then to Dominique's corpse. He looks intently at the metal eye patch. He dives for her body and grabs it up into his arms and turns her head to face Midvalley.
Midvalley: (A look of panic) No! (Sucks in air sharply for the final note)
Grave brings up his left gun and cracks her eye patch with the butt of his gun. Midvalley blasts out his deadly notes an instant later. He sees the ruin of her body being torn to bits, but no sign of Grave. His eyes, wide with panic, dart from left to right looking for a sign of Grave. White gloved hands clap over his mouth and forehead. Grave twists Midvalley's head to the right with an audible snap and Grave lets the limp body fall to the ground, Midvalley still holding his horn. Grave looks at Legato with a mix of hatred and sorrow.