Pushing the manhole cover off, Hex was once again topside. The cold night air chilled the soaking wet cowboy to the bone. Jonah quickly glued himself to the discrete side of a shipping container as he watched two guards patrol the warehouse door. The bounty hunter didn't want to announce his presence yet, so the Colts stayed holstered for now. The henchmen weren't going to leave their post without provocation and Hex found it in the form of a discarded brick. Picking up the brick from the cold harbor, Jonah threw it against the security fence. The racket it caused led the two guards to investigate the commotion. Once they were clear of the door, Jonah moved from behind the container and crept to the door. The warehouse was poorly lit by humming florescent lights. The cowboy stepped tenderly with his boots as he sleuthed around the near-empty building. Hiding spots were limited so it was no surprise that Jonah was spotted by a contingent of guards.
"Hey, put your hands up." the guard's tone was of a startled man. Jonah grumbled a defeated grunt to himself and raised his hands slowly. The second guard extended his hand to turn the bounty hunter slowly around by his arm. Jonah stared at them, his hands resting on the back of his head. The two henchmen looked at the intruder they caught, "We got us the ugliest bastard in Gotham." he teased the cowboy, "besides the boss that is." the goon couldn't help but let out a dumb chuckle at his own joke.
"Whoa, Lou. Careful. Ol' Black'n'White might hear you." his partner said as he nervously looked around them. While the two guards distracted themselves, Jonah threw off his hat causing it to fly into one of the guard's face. His fellow minion was taken back from the sudden action. He raised up his assault rifle, but Jonah was quicker on the draw. Before the guard could bring the rifle butt to his shoulder, he and his friend had a hole through them. The thundering noise of the Colt killed Jonah's element of stealth. He dove behind one of the few boxes on the warehouse floor as Two-Face's henchmen sent a hail of automatic gunfire towards him. Wood chipped away from the crate as Hex kept his head down. There was a break in the fire when most of the attackers had to load in a new magazine. He flew up from his cover with both revolvers clutched in his hands. Each shot rang off with deadly accuracy. Bullets ricocheted near Hex's head. He looked up at the guard on the catwalk who was shooting at him. He raised the Colt Navy and fired off a round that hit the man's collarbone, sending him backwards off the high walkway. The remaining guards got smart and took cover in the warehouse. Jonah fired off another shot, his guns were now emptied. He ducked behind cover and started jamming more paper cartridges into the cylinder.
"He's reloading. Let's rush him." one of the guards shouted to his compatriots after he realized what was happening. Fumbling with percussion caps, the gunslinger could hear the steps of boots coming ever closer.
"Hang on boys." came a new voice that Hex recognized from the club, "Who are you to take his fate into your hands?" Jonah heard the encroaching boots stop. He was almost glad Two-Face had shown up. As Two-Face was speaking Jonah was able to load in the final shot and holster his guns. "Come on out, stranger. Fate is waiting for you." Jonah stood up from his defensive location and examined Two-Face up on the second story and four guards within feet of him. "I told you not to come after me, Mr... Well, you never told me your name." the villain said with a grimace that aggravated his scar tissue. The Confederate was calm as he casual spat some dip on the concrete floor and spoke in his hoarse voice.
"Reckon not." this answer didn't improve the mobster's mood. Dent pretended it didn't effect him and continued his monologue, slowly stepping down the stairs to the ground floor.
"I give everyone the benefit of chance, even scum like you." he dug in his pocket for that infernal coin, "Chance of life" he now reached into his suit and pulled out a Colt .45, nickel plated with black ebony grips, "or death. Even something as simple as a coin flip brings order to the chaos of life." he was now standing in front of Hex, his men circled behind him, "Without order, when people use their free will, there is nothing..."
"Ya gonna flip that thing er just lecture me ta death." the bounty hunter's interest in Two-Face's philosophy had worn thin. Harvey Dent rested the coin on his thumb, his destroyed hand still tight on the semi automatic Colt. His thumb flicked up, time seemed to slow as the coin cut through the air. In the quickest draw Jonah Hex ever pulled, he brought the Colt Navy out of it's leather holder. He brought his other hand across to work the hammer back. Before the coin could even begin to spin down a lead ball smashed into it, sending it flying across the warehouse. Two-Face turned towards where his coin flew off towards, his guards still staring at Jonah. The cowboy grabbed up his second gun and in a quick flurry of shots only Dent was left standing. The former DA ran off to the dark corner of the warehouse in search of his coin. Jonah followed behind him. The supervillain dropped to his black and white knees as he waved his hands around on the ground, feeling for the silver dollar.
"Why did you do that? Everything was going to be clean and precise. The coin is flipped and fate decided." the usually calm and sinister villain sounded like a scared child.
"Life ain't always that cut'n'dry, partner." Jonah waxed as he cocked back the hammer of his Colt. Two-Face picked himself back up and faced the cowboy.
"Order is what keeps this world in balance." his voice slowly turning from frightened to a sharp anger. "I may not know the fate the coin prescribed you, but taking you out of this world will bring in closer to perfect symmetry." Two-Face raised his pistol and fired. His accuracy wasn't as pinpoint as Jonah's and the bullet struck only the bounty hunter's leg. Hex responded by firing the Colt in his hand, but Two-Face had hidden himself behind a steel support beam. Blood still trickling from his leg wound, Hex limped behind another conveniently placed storage crate. As he settled down behind it, Two-Face jumped out from the steel beam with two guns aimed at Hex and began to fire at the wooden box. Laying on the ground, Hex raised only his hand over the cover to fire his revolver blindly. None of the bullets hit Dent but it was enough to drive him back into cover. Hex took the opening and ran from cover, a hobble in his step. He was face to face with Two-Face when he peeked out from his cover. Harvey tried to fire on the cowboy, but Jonah threw his arm out and knocked one of the pistols to the floor. Hex then connected the butt of his revolver with Two-Face's jaw. He could hear the bone pop out a hair from that blow. Dent retaliated by whipping in his other pistol into Jonah's shoulder. The gunslinger could feel it bruising, but he kept pushing against Dent. This time he sent the butt of his second Colt into the opposite side of Two-Face's jaw. It sent a searing pain through the deformed scar tissue causing Harvey to drop his gun and smash his hand against the pain. He backed up a few steps, not interested in killing Jonah Hex until the pain subsided. His head still bent down in anguish, he raised his eyes to Hex.
"Who sent you?" he growled in tense pain. Hex holstered his guns again, knowing the fight was over for now.
"Don't matter much does it. Say I'm just making the world a better place." he gave a half truth answer to the villain's question. Two-Face straightened himself up, his hand still covered the new wound on his macabre face.
"So, what then? Are you Batman's new lackey?" he tried to piece together this stranger's motive.
"That boy in the Halloween get-up? Nah. From what I know of him, that feller don't know the tried'n'true motto, 'don't kill ya makes ya stronger.'" Jonah started to slowly walk to the side of Two-Face, "And I don't aim ta make you stronger." this statement replaced Two-Face's look of anger with that of shock and fear. "Then again, I may not need ta kill ya." Hex reached down and found the coin he put a hole through. The one Dent couldn't find. "I reckon without this here coin you ain't gonna do much of anything." Hex tucked the coin away in the pocket of his faded gray pants. Two-Face stared at him dumbfounded, unsure what this bounty hunter's next move was. Hex stared him down a few extra minutes to make the two-toned gangster sweat a little longer. Finally he spoke again, "Enjoy yer day." it was accompanied with the tip of his Confederate hat. Hex started off towards the door, blood still staining his pant leg, the coin still deep in his pocket. Two-Face silently watched him march across the floor.
"No, no..." it started as a whisper then crescendoed to a yell, "no, NO, NO!" Two-Face dove for his gun. He pulled himself up with the pistol shaking in his hand. He pulled back the slide to load a new bullet in the chamber, that was Jonah's cue. Spinning on the heel of his boot, Hex pulled the Colt Navy from it's housing and like a strike of lightning fired the gun. Harvey Dent took it in the heart. Two-Face staggered forward two steps and dropped the gun. His body soon dropped after it. Hex held his position as he looked over the gruesome scene. The bounty hunter could only shake his head at the deranged, and now dead, man.
With a spit of tobacco, Jonah Hex walked out of the dock warehouse and back into the neon bathed underworld of Gotham.