Arrival of the Bounty Hunter at World #1000

In the country of Alcainez, in the royal palace, the summoning of a hero was being performed.

The castle staff was abuzz with soldiers, mages and priests rushing towards the main hall where the ritual was being performed by the Archmage, the Grand Priest and the Princess. The magical energies that were being poured into the magical circle and the formulae that had conjured it were alight as if on fire as the chanting of the three summoners was rising in tone.

Their world was now under the threat of the rebirth of the Demon King and needed to summon the Great Hero to protect the people, save the land and slay the Dark Lord. In the past, the Heroes were summoned under the auspices of the Gods, mainly the God of Wisdom, the God of War and the Goddess of Justice. However, due to the misdeeds of the Heroes of old and their eventual subjugation, these mighty Gods turned their backs on humanity. They could only rely on the whimsical Goddess of Fortune to send her Champion to save them all.

They could not fail on this dangerous task…

The fate of the World was at stake.

The chanting of the summoners grew louder as the magical powers being used created a vortex of colliding energies that began to connect the material realm with the realms of the Gods. When the chanting had reached its final verse, a blinding manifestation of light filled the entire call leaving more people that were observing blinded for a few seconds. The Princess had offered to assist on this task because her powers in magic were second only to the Archmage, but also because she had been raised in the stories of the Heroes and had fantasized on meeting the summoned Hero and, perhaps, getting to know him personally.

When the light finally abated and people were able to recover their sight, in the center of the summoning circle was a man dressed in outlandish attire never seen before in this country. He was in a kneeling position and groaned loudly when he stood up straight. He was dressed in a duster coat made of flexible leather, white crumpled shirt under a tough leather vest that seemed to house some assorted items on it, highly resistant tracker pants, a pair of unusual boots with jingling spurs and a wide brimmed bounty hunter’s hat. By his looks alone, this man looked to be in his 30s (which is much older than the usual Heroes they’d summoned in the past), some bits of gray hair could be seen falling over his shoulders on a mane of mostly brown hair and a badly shaven beard. His steel colored eyes looked at the people around him with a gaze that showed annoyance. He was carrying two odd looking weapons that looked like firearms used in the most modern countries holstered to a belt along with a satchel with assorted tools for his trade. Turning his head to take a good look at the people gathered there, the summoned man seemed to be looking for someone as he took slow steps within the circle. The audience were watching him with astonishment (and some degree of confusion). It was the Princess who, despite the initial disappointment on the looks of the Hero, cleared her throat and spoke to the man.

“Welcome, O’ Summoned Hero!” The Princess was speaking in a clear and regal voice. But something caught her attention about this man… while she was greeting him, she could see him mouthing something at the same time she was speaking. “I’m the-”

“Princess of this Kingdom who has summoned me in your time of greatest need now that the Demon King’s return is upon us…” The man spoke in such an impertinent and matter-of-factly way that everyone was suddenly taken aback. The Princess just had her words and speech stolen by this man who apparently already knew what she was about to say.

After she recomposed herself, the Princess cleared her throat and spoke again in her regal tone of voice: “My name is Princess Alice, Crown Princess of the Kingdom of Alcainez. What is your name, O’ Summoned Hero?”

“Richard Wolf.” He answered in a laconic tone of voice.

The Princess continued: “O’ Summoned Hero, now that-”

“...You are here, please lend us your strength so that the people can be saved, yadda, yadda yadda…” Once again, the summoned hero interrupted the Princess’ speech which made her lose her temper and approached the odd dressed man fuming with exasperation.

“Why are you interrupting me when I’m speaking!? Aren’t heroes supposed to be well-mannered when a Princess is talking? You’re robbing me of the excitement of summoning a hero to our lands!” The Princess lost all decorum and shouted at the man like a spoiled child who had their favorite toy stolen.

When she was finally done with her tantrum she glared at the summoned man who simply looked at her like she was an annoying child. To the growing frustration of the Princess and the gathered crowd, the man sighed dejectedly, took out something from inside his long coat and slipped what looked like a cigarette to his lips, lit a match by scratching it on his badly shaven chin and took a long drag from it. The Princess was about to explode with anger when the man spoke to her directly with the same look of indifference he had since arriving.

“Listen here, Missy. I’ve been doing this whole ‘summoned hero’ thing for a very long time, and I’ve heard this speech a thousand times already, long before you were even born. You think you’re the first people to summon me to help them? You think you’re special because I’m here?” The man’s words were spoken with such a disregard of decorum or the fact that he was scolding a princess that no one could react accordingly. “I’m here not because YOU summoned me, I’m here because my ‘benefactor’, the Goddess of Fortune, allowed you to bring me here as part of our arrangement. So, meaning no disrespect, I don’t have to stand here in ceremony and wait for all of you to finish talking in fancy tones when there’s work to be done. I’m a Bounty Hunter, and I’m the best in the business. Finding and killing a Demon King takes time, resources and allies. And as far as I’m concerned, I’ll be doing this my way, not yours. I don’t need your help, I don’t need your gold, I don’t need your men, and I sure as hell don’t need you to tell me what to do. If anything, I’ll only need two things from you.”

The entire assembly was aghast with the way the “Summoned Hero” was talking in such an impertinent tone. Legends and stories told them that the Summoned Heroes are the paragons of justice, strength and wisdom. But when they lost the blessings of the gods due to their hubris, they had to resort to asking aid to different gods with no success. Now that the Princess and the others had asked the Goddess of Fortune’s aid in the summoning ritual, she had sent them this rude man who was talking down to them like children, smoking in this sacred room and telling them that he had no intention of helping them out of the kindness of his heart!

One of the guards, unable to bear this man’s brazen attitude, approached and yelled out in anger. “Insolent cur! How dare you speak to the Princess in such a tone?” The man took out his sword and pointed it at the summoned man. “I shall vanquish you here, so that you will atone for your grave sin. I, Sir-” The guard’s speech was cut short by a sudden thundering blast that made everyone in the room cover their ears. The guard realized that his sword had been shattered to pieces while the remaining stump was smoking as if it had been hit by an iron hammer. Then he turned to look at the summoned man who was pointing one of his firearms at him, having drawn the weapon and fired in a single blindingly fast motion that nobody noticed. The barrel was smoking which was brought close to the gunslinger’s mouth to blow on it before putting it back in its holster.

“Don’t lose your head just ‘cause I’m telling the truth, boy. Anyone else wants to try to hit me with a sword or your fancy magic and I’ll shoot you dead where you stand. I’m not your friend, but neither am I your enemy. Got it?” The man’s gaze made the guard fall on his rump as he realized he wasn’t dealing with an honorable man, but a seasoned killer.

The Princess, horrified by what was happening, looked at the man and tried to recompose herself. This summoned hero was the chosen savior of the land by the Goddess of Fortune? He wasn’t the handsome, honorable, powerful hero she’d read in so many books and stories. He was a foul mouthed, violent bounty hunter who cared little for ceremony or the symbolism of his coming to this land. He had no qualms about killing anyone who stood in his way and she doubted anyone in this castle would be able to stop him even if they tried. He claimed his ‘benefactor’, the Goddess of Fortune, had made arrangements with him to be here. If he was telling the truth, that he wasn’t their enemy, then it might be best to let him go. She stepped towards the man who turned to look at her with a serious expression. Trying to match his seriousness, but unable to hide her anxiety, the Princess spoke. “Very well. We will not stand in your way. Please help our people if you can. You mentioned you needed two things. Ask, and if it is in my power, we’ll provide it.”

The man put his cigarette out, softened his gaze a bit and quite simply asked: “Where’s the nearest tavern, and how the hell do I get outta this castle?”

~Is this world ready for an ol’ gunslinging, world-jumping, hard-talking, long-living, ass-kicking bounty hunter? It’s hard to tell! Then again, he’s been causing mayhem in other worlds and none of them were ready for him either! Nevertheless, I know my Lover Boy will do the job! He always does! He’s not the hero you were hoping for, but he’s the best one you’re gonna get from me! We’ll see how this goes! Hugs and kisses from your favorite Goddess of Fortune! 

Buh-bye!~