SATUS ARC PART VI: Red in the sand - The Last Outlaw

It was the point between rounds with all four competitors left standing gathering their strength for the upcoming end. Hoshi watched Greaves as he struggled to catch his breath. The wannabe cowboy looked fresh as a daisy, but his scowl was sour. He hadn’t taken his eyes off the other one from Hoshi’s bracket, the one he knew all too well.

She was loud with her allies, drinking what they called starflash (because it's all you’ll see after drinking it). It was almost like she was just having a nice get-together, not a care in the world, and it got under Greaves’ skin badly. “Having second thoughts?” Hoshi asked, hoping his words would bring Greaves back to the land of the living.

It did work, but his anger did not subside. “I lost to her once, I’m not doing it again.”

“Is she tough?” Astra asked, watching Artemis knock out one of the rowdy groupies for no reason seemingly.

“Nothing I can’t handle.” His words were not as convincing as he intended them to be. How could they though, right now all he could see was the loss last year, all the talk and training just to fall flat. It still tore at him, all the smirks and giggles as he passed. None hurt more than Yuri’s jabs though, his snide comments to push at him. “...Never come back” He heard again. No. He told himself, shaking the thought from his mind. I will win this, no matter what. It was as his head lifted that he saw the one that survived with him, the creepy figure in the shadows by itself, watching, listening. “You might want to worry about yourself, Hoshi. If he can sneak up on me that easily, you’re done for.”

“Yeah… I’ll work something out, I guess.”

“Either way, at least one of us will beat them.” Greaves said just before an arm wrapped around his shoulder. Following it was a familiar, aggravating voice. “Think you might be jumping the gun a little there kiddo!”

Greaves knocked her hand away. “Artemis.”

Bleached blonde hair flowed in the wind, stretching out like extra arms. She had a scar just above the nose and under her ocean-blue eyes, something she got from her day job. He’d never seen her without a smile on her face, if she wasn’t laughing at her idiot friends, it was at her enemies. It wasn’t enough to have them defeated, she wanted them to feel the full brunt of it, to feel fully worthless. “That’d be me. Must get tiring hearing my name, huh? Oh, what a final it was!” She reminisced.

Greaves had to bite his tongue, barking at her only led to more jestering. “It won't be like last time. I won’t lose again. Not to you.”

“Believe it when I see it, hun~” It was here that she noticed Hoshi. “Oh, you’re the other one… well done for making it this far” Her words were kind, but her face and voice, were not. She spoke like a mother trying to encourage a child trying to be an adult and Hoshi’s blood began to boil, but she would not stay for the result. “Looking forward to seeing ya in the finals.” She sauntered away with a swagger, her posse following behind with smirks beaming at the duo.

“Well… she’s intense,” Hoshi commented.

“I’ll beat her.” Greaves confidently predicted. “You just be careful about that one.” Hoshi’s eyes followed the head movement to his own opponent, who in turn was staring wild-eyed at him. “He’s dangerous,” Greaves added, remembering how it sneaked on him earlier.

Hoshi’s face was filled with dread, watching the sicko smile at him. “No, 'cause I thought he was a box of puppies.”

“Ladies and Gentlemen!” The announcer called suddenly, drawing in every eye in the vicinity. “It is time to begin the Semi-Finals!” His words brought forth a wave of cheers and uneasy silence from the competitors.

“Once this is over, we’re one step closer to that Tachyon Drive.” Both faced Astra in the stands. “Let’s get this done.”

*-*-*

The first match.

The Last Outlaw, Austin Greaves Vs The Reigning Champion, Artemis Angela.

Anticipation held in the air like smoke, both stood strong in the dunes facing each other, reminiscent of last year. He remembered that last shot, how he hesitated for just a second, and Artemis took her chance… the past is the past he thought.

Silence fell upon the stage, the wind their only comfort… and when it died, the bullets flew.

The match started quick. Artemis slung a sniper from her back to her arms and aimed seamlessly, with her first shot fired like a thunderbolt. Greaves knew it was coming however and ducked under while still running to the centre. He was just a little out of range for his revolver but he fired nonetheless, his bullets hitting just close enough to make her take caution.

Another sniper shot and Greaves found cover behind the rocky outcropping, feeling another round smash against the rock face. “4” he counted silently as he reloaded, still too much distance. Shadow covered him and his eyes led him to his opponent, sniper still in hand, vaulting over his cover with a wicked smile. “5!” She called.

Paint splattered on the rock and bespectacled Greaves, just moving in time to avoid the shot but being hit with the ricochet. She was airborne, vulnerable. He took two shots and yet even here she could weave away and continue the attack. Down went the sniper, no ammo remaining, and in its place a more modern rifle perfect for close-range encounters.

Giving her space with such a weapon was not smart, the sniper gave him leeway to fight mid-range but here, she was almost inviting it. Without a second thought, he was trying to wrestle away the rifle from her whilst also trying to get an angle for his own firearm, she did well to hold on and constantly move away from fire. She too unloaded her magazines but no round made contact. 6 rounds from Greaves and 20 from Artemis gone, staining nought but the sands. They both tried to fire one more round as they wrestled free of the other but neither had the bullets to fire, the click followed by a kick to the chest for Greaves.

He took it well and stayed on his feet, only being knocked back a short distance. She released the empty mag, and Greaves followed suit, flicking his revolver open and watching the shells fall.

Artemis laughed as they hit the floor, like a crazed beast she looked. “Another year, another loss eh?” A new mag flashed for a moment and she loaded it instantly. “Unlucky again Austin.” Snap back the bolt and she was ready for the killing blow. She was convinced it was over, she had the bullets, Greaves did not. She knew she hadn’t seen him reload, so why was he now holding his revolver towards her? A cute fake she thought, then she saw the calm in his eyes. No hesitation, no way to escape if she took the shot…

And instead she was reminded of last year, when he stood in her position, hesitant to fire. Without her really knowing, he’d chambered a bullet, his firearm low and close to his leg away from her sight. Only one could suffice, only one could slip her attention… and only one was needed to end this.

She believed the revolver was empty… but when it fired everything in her body had told her to move away.

*-*-*

Distance formed between them, Greaves by the trees and Artemis catching her breath by the cliffside. “That shot” she recalled, looking at the flecks of paint on her skin, and the impact wound just above the hip. She winced, feeling the broken skin weep. “Son of a bitch.” Such a hit was not enough to defeat her, but another shot would be the end and for many, it was the first time seeing the huntress anything but jovial.

Greaves was closing in slowly, cautiously. Neither had the rounds to take potshots anymore, it was now or never.

“Come on out, Angela. Let’s get this done.” He called to her, revolver at the ready.

“Oh, yeah just gimme a minute I’ll be right there!” She responded sarcastically, pulling a face he couldn’t see but could imagine. “Christ, a year on and I’m still rent-free. How bitter do you actually have to be?”

“Bitter?” He asked. “This is everything to me! What’s it to you? Another piece of gold? Another thing to hang over my head?!”

“It’s not about you!” She screamed back. “Grow a pair, fuck. Think I spent an entire year thinking about you? Worrying how the big bad outlaw is gonna come challenge me?” She whimpered, pretending to shiver. “It’s fun, Austin. Pushing buttons of uptight fuckers like you. Its fun winning shit you’re good at.”

As she spoke he had reached her, both raising their weapons with no clue if the other had the rounds to fire. He watched her laugh away, that smile that he hated so…

Face to face, and his revolver trained. It mirrored last year to a tee. All he had to do was pull the trigger, same as twelve months ago… and once more those images flashed in his head, clawing at his resolve, ripping out his calm and making him hesitate. She noticed the twitch of his trigger finger and the silence that followed, laughing quietly as he struggled. “Checkmate… kid.” She murmured, grabbing her gun and aiming it his way. “There’s always next year.”

Red in the sand… “Austin!” She cried, the sound of the monster thrashing in the sand behind her getting closer and closer. Meanwhile Angela cocked her gun, both Hoshi and Astra in the stands calling to their ally who was a world away now.

All he could hear now was the past, that same feeling of fear gripping him intensely as he tried to squeeze the trigger, paralysing him to his core. “Ah” he sighed, “I can’t do it.”

“What’s your dream?”

That scene, of blood and tears dissolved as the bullet ripped through his parent’s killer. Through teary, guilt-ridden eyes he turned and saw him approach and kneel. “Are you okay, kid?”

Panic-stricken he was… and yet on the embankment, with his eye to the scope and his finger on the trigger, he was set as stone. The man placed an arm on his back and pulled him close, embracing him. “It’s not your fault…”

“I want to be a hero.”

“Onto the finals!” Angela screamed one last time, but it was already too late.

The revolver lifted and the second between life and death she saw his face, different from what she knew… “who are you?”

The next she knew he was stood over her, red leaking from her brow onto her face, slick and oily. She was dumbfounded, only able to look at him in wonder, hearing the crowd explode into noise.

“Who am I?” He responded…

“I’m the Last Outlaw.”