The year was 2268. Humanity had stretched throughout the reaches of our own solar system and beyond. We were now a united species, one nation exploring the cosmos under a single name: “human race”. The Earth still remains, as well as many other planets in our solar system, the only difference is that back then... they were inhabited. Planet and space travel was simply like a bus route with destinations throughout the stars.
1
A man awoke in his star cruiser with a startled jolt upright, followed by his own hyperventilating. A voice spoke from the shadows, “Did ya have another one pal?” “Shut Up, Stripes” the man responds. The voice chided him, “Listen Kid, that day was fuckin’ ages ago. Let Go”. The man before you’s real name is unknown. However, he is better known as “The Northern Cowboy” throughout Earth and neighbouring planets. Now you see, The Cowboy was a hero to the people of Earth. That voice in the back, the man known as Stripes was a hero as well, or he was until he lost his entire physical body in the biggest battle in human history.
The society in this time may been advanced one, but it still has its conflicts. Now, one of these conflicts made these men heroes, The Battle for Humanity was the largest battle in human history. The entire species divided, two massive armies lead by two political groups went head to head. The Planetarian group; a party that believes the population should merge and become one nationality to be recognized as human. Then, there's the Individuals, people wanting the borders to remain on our planet and to preserve cultures. The decision for the dominant party wasn’t one to be made in a courtroom, no one could decide on a party to put in charge. The dominant half needed to rise. Was it time for drastic change? Or was it time to preserve? That is what this fight would’ve decided.
The two armies clashed all over the solar system and fought for 12 whole years in continuous battle. Now this fight never ended, it was stopped. Stopped by exactly 390 heroes, two men or women from each country on Earth stood tall and decided to rally and stop this war. This was seen as an impossible feat for any normal human, but these people weren’t normal, they were extraordinary. They possessed abilities and powers only a fraction of the human race had. Some people were born with their abilities, like it was the next step of human evolution, others acquired them through science or an altering incident of some sort; these people were like folklore of their home countries, mere myths. However, the myths soon became reality when these people aligned with one another. Using their abilities, they arrived in the middle of the front lines of every battle between both armies and held them off. Eventually, these armies stopped their clash and listened to what these heroes had to say. These incredible men and women were seen as gods among mortals, and the leaders of both sides decided that if these people found a way to stop the fight and bring the society together, it would be worth listening to and trying. Soon after the war ended, a united party was formed and governed all of humanity. The Planet Earth Society was formed; a society that kept our individualities present on Earth, but we explored the cosmos and functioned our government as one species.
Now, back to our two heroes. The Northern Cowboy was a hero out of Canada, and Stripes was his partner out of the states. These men had some extremely powerful abilities; Stripes, a once massively built man, had the power to control electronics and machines with his mind, and The Cowboy, a tall man who stood at about 6’1 with two different coloured eyes, one black and one blue, had the ability to generate and manipulate lightning out of his body. All heroes were as strong as this, if not more. So obviously, it was no wonder they were able to stop the imminent war. However, the victory didn't come without its share of sacrifices. Stripes was gunned down between the two armies. A seasoned war vet like himself couldn’t avoid his own demise at the age of 42. But as a last act of desperation, he transferred his consciousness into the computer in the Star Horse, their ship; Immortalizing himself into his own starcruiser. Now, The Cowboy had his own tragedies as well, involving the death of the other Canadian hero... but we’ll get to that later.
“Where are we Stripes?” the Cowboy asked groggily, “About 300 miles away from the Red Dust Casino, in the Mars Orbit.” Every planet with a ground to stand on had been terraformed so that it was habitable for humans, and Mars was like the Las Vegas of the solar system, a planet for the rich and famous. “Are we making a pitstop, kid?” Stripes asked. The Man nodded, “Yeah but this ain’t for pleasure, we’ve got business to attend to at the Red Dust Grand Hotel”. Stripes replied, “Alright Cowboy I’ll bring us down for a landing-” The Cowboy interrupted, “Hold it, stop over top of the Crimson Canyon, I’ve got something to do first. Open the hanger for me would ya?” After a morning cigarette and a shot of whisky for breakfast, The Northern Cowboy boarded his one man fighter; a black, modified advanced secret service ship with a hand-painted white stripe down the middle. On the side of the fighter was a name painted in red, it read “Le Pew”. The Cowboy fired up his engines and shot out of the ship, and right into the depths of the canyon.
The canyon The Cowboy had just ventured into was a place named Futurado Gorge. This canyon had a reputation all around the star system of being a dangerous death trap that only fools would venture into. So knowing this, Stripes questioned his partner's motives and speaks over the comm, “Hey Kid what the hell are ya doin’ divin’ into a place like this?” He responds, “Don't worry about it Stripes I know what I'm doing”, “alright whatever kid”. The Cowboy had discovered a while back that the water in this cave had unusual properties to it; the water allowed the person who touched it to see parts of their future, so being the clever guy that he is, he uses it to his advantages sometimes. When the Cowboy reached the bottom of the gorge, he got out of his ship and knelt down and touched the water…
The Cowboy’s eyes lit up for a moment and then he saw his entire life flash before his eyes, and then the vision showed itself to him, he sat back, shook his hands dry, and lit a cigarette. After a few minutes of pondering, he stood up and shrugged. He spoke to himself, “So that's how I go, huh? It's a bit sooner than I would’ve thought. Oh well, guess it can’t be helped” He threw his cigarette into the water and got back into his ship.
2
On the top floor of the Red Dust Casino, there’s a meeting between two men. One man is a criminal who runs the Casino and uses it for a drug and money laundering scheme to supply dealers throughout the solar system. His name is Isaac Pantangellini, an average height man but powerfully built nonetheless, he had tanned skin with jet black hair slicked back into a mullet. The other man was a short and unhealthily thin young man called Mouse, with matted brown hair and sharp facial features; he is a bright young man in the drug business; but it seems he’s bit off more than he can chew with his most recent scam.
Pantangellini started his rant towards Mouse by puffing his own ego a bit. He speaks aggressively, “Look dipshit, you don’t know who you fucked with. I own this casino and the resort, I’m not the manager or the bouncer, I'm the OWNER. I'm also a man who doesn’t put up with nobody’s shit, I have half of all the Mars cops on my payroll and the other half knows they can’t screw with me, I OWN this town. So tell me this kid, WHAT IN THE NAME OF JESUS, MARY, AND JOSEPH DID YOU THINK WOULD HAPPEN WHEN YOU TRIED TO SCAM ME?!” Mouse responds with a cool ignorance towards the riled up mob boss, “To be honest, what I thought would happen is that I’d grab one of the cases of money you launder through this joint to cover your drug business, and then I’d escape and you’d never see me again. But ya know what? You can go eat Venus Baboon shit, you fogey, I don’t care if ya caught me” Pantangellini was fuming mad from his disrespectful demeanor. He stood up from his desk, pulled a gun out of the holster concealed by his blazer, held it over Mouse’s head and brought the base of the gun onto the bridge of the kid’s nose so hard the cartilage in his face was smashed into oblivion and his cheekbones were shattered. Mouse crumpled to the floor after falling out of his chair. The casino boss pointed to his two henchmen at the door, “Hey you two, take this asswipe out back and put as many bullets as you want into the back of his head.” He then pointed to the blood on his marble floor and said, “Oh and get someone to clean this mess up.”
At that very moment, The Cowboy touched down into the casino’s ship lot and parked his vessel there and put on his red trench coat, “Are ya gonna pay for the valet service kid?” asked Stripes, “Fuck no, I’m not made of money pal” The Cowboy responded. “What happened to givin’ back to the community?” asked Stripes. His partner talks back through the comm, “We gave up that hero of the people stuff remember? We do this to get paid now” “Just givin’ ya hell kid, lighten up a bit would ya?” The Cowboy sighed and walked towards the back door of the casino; just as he approached the door, it was slammed open and out rushed two burly men in suits dragging a badly beaten, sickly looking young man who was unhealthily thin. The men passed the Cowboy. The ex-hero took a few more steps before stopping, cursing himself as he turned around to walk towards the men. The men had the beaten man on his knees with a gun to the back of his head. The Cowboy approached the men and obnoxiously asked, “Hey do any of you boys got a light?” One of the men turned on the stranger who had just approached him and pulled a gun on him, “Woah easy partner, I just need a light.” The Cowboy said passively. The man responds, “Piss off punk, or you're next”. The Cowboy continued to walk towards the thug, unfazed by the gun pointed in his direction. The thug fired. In a flash of blue light, the bullet seemed to miss its mark and then the thug was on the ground writhing in pain.
The Cowboy stood over the thug, stepped over his crumpled body and approached the second man. The second thug turned around and pulled his gun on the Cowboy. In a seemingly effortless motion the Cowboy had smashed the man's leg with a side kick and landed a knee to the man’s chest. The thug staggered for a minute and stood up again, firing away at the ex-hero. The Cowboy leapt out of the way of the bullets and snapped his fingers at the man and simply said “Bang”. Lightning shot out of the Cowboy’s hand and sent the thug flying a good 100 yards away. The Cowboy turned and walked away, lighting a cigarette. He looked over his shoulder and said to the beaten man, “Get to a hospital yourself, I’m not your fuckin’ babysitter”
3
The Cowboy sat at the casino bar and took a look around the place, a lively venue with a gold color pallette on seemingly every surface. The place was filled with people all dressed up in tuxedos and fancy silk dresses surrounding gambling tables and blackjack pits. The barmaid took a look at the Cowboy and was intrigued, he didn’t look the part of a gambler, he wore a casual, but wrinkled, black suit with a white shirt and black tie, and a faded red trench coat overtop. She walked over to him at the end of the bar and started talking “Howdy stranger, what corner of the stars did you wander in from?” He calmly replies, “Oh a place a lot worse than this one, can you get me an Old Fashioned?” She made him the drink and placed it in front of him, he knocked it back in a couple long gulps and then asked, “Do you know how to get to the top floor? I’ve got to have a chat with the man who runs this joint” She was less interested in the man now, “Oh he’s just another drug dealer here to see the guy upstairs” she thought. She then asked him “Here to close a deal?” “No sweetheart I'm here for him” he replied as he pointed upwards. She then asked,”A hitman?” The Cowboy replied, “Not quite, thanks for the drink” and got up and left without paying. He only left a bullet, sliced in half and scorched, on his napkin.
The first floor service elevator doors were always locked in the casino, it was the way to get up to the top floor office where Pantangellini hid out. The Cowboy walked up to the doors and pried them open and opened the top hatch in the elevator. He then used his lightning to charge the cable and the elevator shot upwards, he stopped it when it got to the top, he composed himself for a moment and blasted the doors open. The men in the office were startled by the massive explosion coming from the elevator and the doors shattering, which followed the initial bang. Out stepped the Cowboy, through a cloud of dust coming from the door. “Hey your elevator kinda sucks, the doors wouldn’t open” he said cooly. All the men in the room, including Pantangellini pulled their guns and fired into the dust and at the man that stood before them. The Cowboy walked backwards into the dust in the midst of the gunfire. After a minute or two of continuous fire, Pantangellini was shoved from behind. Everyone turned around shocked, to see the Cowboy behind the men, he had moved so fast no one had seen him get behind them. The Cowboy took Pantangellini’s gun from his hands with a quick jerk, and fired into all the men’s shoulders and knees; except for the mob boss who was now shaking in fear.
The Ex-hero kneeled down and was face to face with the criminal. He spoke, “You’re worth a fat $300 000 bounty Pantangellini. It seems like the all cops weren’t under your control, and that bounty’s all mine” Pantangellini was somewhat relieved he wasn’t going to be killed. He had to be brought in alive. “Stripes call the cops to the top floor, I’m not bringing him to ‘em” he said over his comm. “Alright Cowboy” his partner responds. The mob boss on the floor, who had now soiled himself, spoke with some confidence now that he knew he wasn’t going to be shot. He looked up at the man who had just brought him down and spoke, “You’re a filthy fuckin’ bounty hunter, you won’t last a week! You hear! YOU’RE DEAD! WHO ARE YOU?!” As if it was scripted, the Cowboy lights a cigarette and says in his trademark nonchalant tone, “Who me? Well, I’m just an old fashioned cowboy”.
4
On the other side of the asteroid belt orbiting Titan, one of Saturn’s moons, there was a large cruiser. The cruiser was owned by the Syndicate Of The Blue Moon, the largest crime organization in the solar system. The Syndicate was the unofficial ruler of the criminal underworld, they had immense power and resources; that of which rivaled the government. These people were no joke and certainly nothing to be taken lightly, their leader was a cruel and powerful man with incredible abilities. His name, The Midnight Gladiator. He could control and generate fire, giving him the ability to conjure immense blazes and destroy anything in his path. The Gladiator stood at a solid six feet tall, he wore a black suit and pants, with a scarred face and a head of white hair, despite him actually being quite young. He was a truly frightening man, who showed no mercy to anyone.
The Gladiator sat on a throne in the main chamber of his vessel with a man whimpering on the floor before him. The man begged for his life, “No please, I am so, so utterly sorry. You will have my undying loyalty if you let this go, please stop. Spare me! S-spare me, let me live!” The man stammered on, sniveling on the floor as he begged. The Gladiator grew impatient, “SHUT UP!” he roared. He approached the man and grabbed his face by his chin and spoke directly to the man, “I don’t accept failure, that package needed to get there. You have failed, you are worthless to me now. I have no use for you.” The Gladiator covered the man’s face with his hand, which grew hotter and hotter as his grip tightened. Soon a blaze erupted out of his hand and the man’s head was incinerated into ashes, the screaming died out as his headless body fell to the floor. Two men in suits rushed over and started to drag the body away. There was a knock at the door to the main chamber and a man with glasses who had a rather weak demeanor, donning a bland brown suit, walked in.
“What is it Genco?” The Gladiator asked. “It's Pantangellini” he said, nervously adding “He got life inside, a bounty hunter got ‘em’” The man of flame was concerned, “Well shit, there goes our best money launderer, we’ve gotta get a new casino” he continued “Genco, who was the bounty hunter that nailed him?” In a weak tone, Genco spoke to his boss, “We didn’t get a name, all Pantangellini said was that the man just told him he was a cowboy.” The Gladiator’s attention spiked, “What did you just say?!” He demanded. A bit frightened now, Genco spoke again “Um… He’s a cowboy sir, that’s all we know, is that alright? Did I do something wrong?” Genco was shaking now, and his stutter started acting up after seeing the burned up body laying on the floor. In a few words, he was fearful for his own life.
“Leave me, and deal with that corpse, you have two minutes.” “Y-yes sir!” Genco ran off dragging the body with the men, all while dry-heaving from the smell of burnt flesh. The Gladiator turned and looked out his window and contemplated what he had just discovered. “The bastard’s still alive! How?! There was no way he could’ve made it out all those years ago.” His mind was racing, The Northern Cowboy was still alive!
5
When the Cowboy arrived back on the ship he transferred Stripes his 10% cut of the job. Now you see, Stripes had no need for money; he wasn’t an actual person anymore. He was essentially an A.I. program at this point; the man was immortal now, his consciousness would live on forever. He was just in it for something to do, so a big cut wasn’t really needed for him. Stripes was a curious man and something had been on his mind for a while now, “Hey partner, what did ya see down in that cave the other day?” The Cowboy looked up from the gun he stole on Mars, which he was cleaning, and said simply, “I saw myself die. I died on my knees, burned and beaten. Right on Mercury Bridge, overlooking the sun.” Stripes was surprised, “No shit huh, were you old or what?” “Nope, in fact I looked the same as I am now” Stripes was worried for his partner, he knew the Cowboy would never run from death; he had no fear of it. His fearlessness wasn’t made of bravery, it was something darker.
The man you know as “The Cowboy” is a very peculiar man. He has no fear of anything, he has no cares in the world, he just lives. Day in and day out he is just living for the sake of living. He had a brush with death. He made a grave mistake one day, and ended up looking death in the face and it stole something from him, the ability to care had been stolen from the man. In his eyes, he lived by one belief; “Easy Come, Easy Go”. He is a man who is attached to nothing, he saw no point in getting attached to something if he was just going to die at the end and lose it all, just like it did that fateful day, the day that still haunts him when he sleeps; The day that will never leave him. He welcomes death, he just waits for it to come around the corner and claim him. He’s lost his ability to care, for it was snatched from him by death itself; and every night, he relives the encounter. A man sentenced to psychological torture daily, for as long as he lives, sort of a parting gift from death.
Stripes’ concern grew, he knew for a fact that the Cowboy wouldn’t avoid his own demise; he knew that the Cowboy would face it without a second thought. Stripes didn’t want to lose his brother in arms, “Hey kid, you might wanna avoid Mercury Bridge then eh?” The Cowboy holsters the pistol he stole from the Mob Boss on Mars and spoke, “Meh, I don’t really care, we’ll see what happens I guess”. Stripes, a once strong man, also had no purpose now. He was simply a spirit destined to float through the cosmos for eternity; for his consciousness was immortal, he would always be alive. Now, the thing he valued most, were his comrades. The Cowboy was like a kid brother to him, the only thing tethering him to reality was his only friend.
6
On the other side of the solar system approaching the asteroid belt, was a fleet the size 200 or so starships. The Syndicate Of The Blue Moon was heading straight for Mars. The Gladiator was looking for someone to answer for his missing money launderer and he was bringing his entire fleet. Pantangellini was a huge part of the money the Gladiator had, he made it clean to use by running it through his casino. It was virtually untraceable by the government; and now it was gone. Taken by some bounty hunter looking for a paycheck.
Now the important thing to remember is that this time period is just as lawless as it is advanced. The solar system may have had government and society, but the underworld of crime was just as large. The two worlds only meet when it comes to one thing, Bounties. The government sometimes wants a certain person and doesn’t want to waste police manpower; with a whole solar system to cover, they need all the help they can get. So the government enlists the help of people looking to make a quick buck. There are two types of bounties, an open contract: where anyone can go and get the target; or a private contract: where a specific person/group gets a contract exclusive to them. The Pantangellini contract was a private one; since Stripes was well known from his days as a hero and from his incredible skill, he gets clearance for high profile/dangerous people the cops want. Therefore, him getting a contract for someone like the casino owning/money launderer wasn’t out of the ordinary; but the fact that he got the Gladiator’s money launderer was some insane coincidence and bad luck for the crime boss.
One thing to mention was that the Gladiator was absolutely livid. He despised bounty hunters in general and the fact that one had gotten one of his most useful assets drove him crazy; on top of that, the man who stole it from him was the person he hated most. The hate was spawned for a reason only known between the two men, and the Gladiator had thought he’d gotten his revenge on the Cowboy and finished him off years ago. However, as both you and I know, the Cowboy is very much alive.
“GENCO!” The man turned a pale shade of grey, “Y-y-yes sir?” Genco stammered in response to the Gladiator. “Find a ship called the Star Horse! I WANT IT FOUND! Spend as much as you need, just get me that ship!” The Gladiator finished his yelling fit towards his assistant and sat down on his throne with a look of death on his face; for he was out for blood and he was going to get it.
7
“Well shit, ain’t that a sight huh Stripes?” The Cowboy asked. “Ha, it sure has been a while. What’s it been, five years?” His partner responded. The Star Horse was orbiting the once blue and green planet of Earth. The War had destroyed pretty much all wildlife on the planet, all the forests had cities and skyscrapers built out of the ashes of a once prospering planet. So naturally, the planet had been turned into a blue and grey coloured rock orbiting the sun. Even if it wasn’t the prettiest sight ever, it was their home.
The Cowboy perked up and spoke, “Woah, hey easy Stripes, you haven’t gotten clearance to land yet” Stripes was distracted and seemed distant, even for a non-physical being. “Ah shit my bad, calling in now.” Stripes sent out his ID and got a spot on a landing strip near the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. Stripes was having himself some bittersweet nostalgia, the last time he was here on Earth, he lost so much to him. That’s right, the battle when Stripes was confined to his ship forever, were his last moments on Earth. The same went for The Cowboy, he hadn’t returned to the planet since that fateful day either.
The duo had returned to Earth to grab a quick bounty and then get out. To The Cowboy, the faster he could leave, the better. This was mainly because the whole solar system thought he was a dead man who died in the final battle on Earth, who died a hero (they made a plaque for him and everything). It was perfect for him, he hated the whole hero gig; he liked to operate freely and do things he wanted, whenever he wanted. So naturally, the hero committee that was formed put restrictions on how you could act and he hated it; so he never was a huge hero of the people, no one really knew him, he was just a guy who could fight really damn well and he happened to do it for good. So as The Cowboy walked into the setting sun to grab his bounty under the cover of nightfall, he remembered the simpler days…
8
2263, Earth, Five Years Prior To Present Day
Gunfire rained down from above, the varying volume of bombs crashing down indicated their distance from them, screams of the souls lost from the war echoed in the distance. There these two men stood, bullets whizzing around them and above their heads as they stood in their trench. The two men went by names familiar to us both, The Northern Cowboy and The Midnight Gladiator. “They say hell makes two men brothers through the despair they share” said the Gladiator to his comrade. “I guess it does but we were brothers before we got into the fight” The Cowboy responded. The two men were polar opposites, The Gladiator was a fierce warrior who lusted for bloodshed and power; meanwhile, his brother The Cowboy was a cool and collected man who didn’t care much for the war they were fighting. But they were brothers nonetheless; now you see, they weren’t brothers by blood, but by situation.
12 Years ago when the war between humanity began, both men were mere children who had lost their families in the crossfires of the war. At just 11 years old, The Cowboy and The Gladiator were neighbours in what used to be Canada until the bombs fell. Their entire neighbourhood was destroyed and many died. Bombs rained down from above and turned their city to rubble. The Cowboy crawled out of the ruins of his house and searched for survivors, for someone to help him. Who he found was his neighbour, a boy the same age as him badly burned. His hair had turned a silverish white and he was barely clinging to life. The Cowboy nursed him back to health and they spent their days training, learning to fight and to use the abilities their bodies had somehow evolved into achieving. Their bodies had evolved past a normal human’s abilities in order to survive. One day, they made a vow to one another, it was the idea of human identity that had started the war and they decided to contradict the entire concept. They decided to never use the names given to them by the world, for it was an identity uncertainty that brought the war upon humanity; and on that day two men were born. The Northern Cowboy and The Midnight Gladiator were brought into existence and they were going to stop the war that took so much from them.
Back to the battle, The two men waited for a pause in the gunfire. When the bullet rain stopped they leapt out onto the battlefield and unleashed hell onto the armies; the Cowboy was a blur in the fight, he cast massive blue bolts of lightning towards the enemy and with each blast he made massive craters and sent men flying. The Gladiator conjured a tsunami of flames and sent it towards the army behind them. Within minutes the armies had stood down and retreated, The Cowboy spoke to his brother, “I'm gonna go get a ship, I’ll be back in a bit” “Alright get back fast though, I don’t wanna be stranded here with my pants down” his brother responded.
The Cowboy finally found a ship, a black two man fighter with a hand painted white stripe on it from the nose to the tail. He hopped in and flew back towards his comrade. However, what he saw was a terrible sight indeed. Both armies had returned with reinforcements and were unloading all they had onto his brother and he was just barely holding his own. He was dying in a blaze of glory, tornadoes of fire and beams of flame were shooting all throughout the battlefield, he was shouting and giving it his all, killing by the hundreds. The Cowboy knew that his brother would be a dead man and there was nothing he could do; he turned his ship around to leave with a heavy heart when the Gladiator spotted him in the sky about to leave. “DON’T GO! NO PLEASE! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE TO DIE! COWBOY! COME BACK!” The Gladiator roared and begged but the Cowboy knew better; with great sorrow in his heart he left his brother there on the battlefield for there was nothing he could hope to accomplish. The feeling in the Gladiator’s heart of betrayal turned to rage as he roared and screamed “YOU BETRAYED ME! HOW DARE YOU, WE ARE BROTHERS! DIE, YOU UNFAITHFUL BASTARD!” He turned towards the Cowboy’s vessel and unleashed a blaze so incredible it incinerated the battlefield for miles and he shot it right into the sky at his brother’s ship. The ship was engulfed in a pillar of flame; and as it plummeted towards the ground, The Cowboy caught a glimpse of his brother lying on the ground, in the charred dirt exhausted of all power and with many bullet wounds all over. The ship slammed into the earth and was somehow still intact.
A few hours later, the Cowboy was sitting in the wreckage of his ship when a star cruiser flew over head and landed nearby. Out of the ships loudspeaker a voice shouted, “Hey you’re the Cowboy right?” “Yeah who’s this?” the Cowboy shouted back. The voice spoke once again “It's Stripes, the hero from the States. Looks like you wanna get off this rock, hop in kid”.
9
Present Day
The Cowboy reboarded his vessel and Stripes took off, leaving their old home behind once again. “Hey that guy sure was a runner huh kid?” Stripes struck up a conversation, “Yeah, I’ve never seen a bounty run so damn fast in my life. He really did NOT want to go to jail, he must of pissed off someone inside” The Cowboy said back. “Ha! Yeah, better keep a strong hold on the soap pal” The two shared a good laugh as comrades one last time. The Cowboy knew the end was near for him and Stripes had probably figured so too. The visions had never been wrong, Futurado Gorge was a mystical place and somehow always seemed to predict correctly. The two men shared great comradery but even still, there was a melancholy feeling hanging in the air.
An urgent message flashed across the ship’s display, a message from the Solar Police Force.
It read, “ATTENTION! THIS VESSEL IS THE NEAREST REGISTERED HERO SHIP IN THE VICINITY OF THE INCIDENT, THE SYNDICATE OF THE BLUE MOON ARE LOOKING FOR A CERTAIN BOUNTY HUNTER AND ARE KILLING POLICE AND CITIZENS UNTIL THE GOVERNMENT GIVES THEM INFORMATION ON THE CONTRACT THAT THEY FOLLOWED, PLEASE RESPOND TO THE SITUATION AND ACT AS REINFORCEMENTS.”
“Stripes where is the location on that message?” The Cowboy asked, “Mercury Bridge” his partner replied. “Open the hanger, Stripes”
10
“You can’t be serious! You know what will happen Cowboy, Don't even think about it!” Stripes shouted at his partner. “Look man, someone’s gotta do something and I’ve got something to atone for. I’ve gotta be a hero one last time.” Stripes was upset but he knew there was no stopping his partner. Whatever happened on Earth that day was eating away at the Cowboy, he simply couldn’t take it anymore he had to make up for it or die trying and that was exactly what he was going to do. The Cowboy ran off to the hangar and hopped into his ship. The hangar doors opened and he sped off into the direction of Mercury.
The Cowboy was pondering to himself as he flew, “So this is probably the end huh? It’s okay, I’ve got to do this. I’ll do it for you brother, I’m sorry it had to end that way.” As he grew nearer to the planet, Stripes’ heart sank more and more; his partner would most certainly meet his demise. As skilled as the Cowboy was, he couldn’t take on the entire Syndicate. Not even in his prime, but he could certainly do some damage and help out. The Cowboy saw the gray planet grow closer and closer; he spotted the bridge floating in its orbit, connecting different parts of the planet to each other. He then spotted the masses of criminals and gangsters shooting civilians and police. He then decided to dive bomb his ship into the crowd of gangsters and do some real damage. He dove out and used the slower gravity to land slowly onto the bridge, his ship gained speed and crashed into the crowd with a massive explosion. The Cowboy leapt into action holding nothing back, he was firing his pistol into men and electrocuting others; he shot about 20 thugs and dropped the gun, then continued to fight with his bare hands and ability, taking fire from all sides he was still able to fight back. He was dodging and weaving in and out of the path of fire, landing punches and kicks covered in lightning on anyone in his way; his power surged through him, every move he made was as fast as lightning and as powerful as a thunderstorm. He slowed down for a minute to breathe when a bullet caught him in the back, “Arghh!” he groaned in pain, and stumbled but he kept on fighting regardless.
Stripes watched on in awe and horror, his partner was an amazing sight. The Cowboy let the power flow through him and he had an aura of lightning covering every inch of him, he battled his way through a crowd of criminals and finally broke out of the pack of gangsters. What was waiting for him was something he’d never expect as long as he’d live. The Cowboy collapsed to his knees and looked up, standing before him was his brother. The Midnight Gladiator was waiting for him; he looked different from the last time the Cowboy saw him, his face was burned and scarred, he had the look of an animal in his eyes. “Pathetic, just pathetic, brother. You’re simply a beast who’s lost his fangs” The Gladiator motioned for his men to stand down and continued to speak. “I got off that fucking rock and built an empire, you went and caught small fry bounties, you don’t even compare. If you’re gonna leave me for dead, at least do something with your life.”
The Cowboy was shattered. Not only was his brother trying to kill him, he became the very thing they swore against; he had become a tyrant, a warlord, a monster. He spoke to his long lost brother, “I didn’t want to leave you there, I just couldn’t do anything. You would’ve done the same” “NO! I WOULDN'T'VE! I WOULD HAVE DIED TRYING!” The Gladiator roared at his brother. The Cowboy had a realization in that moment, it was the realization that his brother always had a dark side; he was brutal, lethal and lusted for blood. Not unlike the way he fought in the war but the only difference now was that it had consumed him completely. The Gladiator’s hand erupted with flame and he swung down on The Cowboy to finish the job. The Cowboy looked up at his brother, the whole moment was seemingly slowed down in time, he reacted. The hero leapt back and got to his feet and countered, just as his brother hit the ground, shattering the asphalt. The Cowboy landed a flying kick directly into his face. The Gladiator was sent sprawling out to the ground and then got back to his feet angrier than ever. He unleashed a wave of flame towards his brother and The Cowboy sent a bolt of lightning right back at him, the attacks clashed mid-air and made an incredible shock wave all throughout the bridge. “Done with the warm up?” The Cowboy taunted, “Yeah let’s get serious” the Gladiator growled back at him. Both men were engulfed in their respective power, The Gladiator was now wearing an intimidating coating of flame and The Cowboy had a magnificent aura of lightning. The two men leapt at each other, clashing fists and kicks; with every blow, held the power of an earthquake, flames and electricity were shooting off of every bit of contact with the two.
They stumbled back after a few minutes of continuous fighting, they both took a breather and prepared to go at it once again. The two were equals, yet polar opposites. All the men surrounding them were in awe and dared not get involved; their leader was showing power of which they’d never seen and this complete stranger to them was not only keeping up, but holding his own.
The two charged once again and met in the middle of Mercury Bridge, The Gladiator reared back onto one foot and brought his other leg down in a heel kick from above onto The Cowboy. The Cowboy raised his arms to block the attack and the force of it drove him right into the ground, right through the pavement. The biodome surrounding Mercury and it's bridge to make it habitable was shaking; every single man on the bridge, even the most seasoned gangster was fearful for their lives. The Cowboy leapt out of the shattered asphalt and landed a fierce upper cut on his brother which sent him flying into the air and then he too, hit the ground damn hard. The Gladiator unleashed everything he had in him, every ounce of power, every drop of energy he had was now barreling towards The Cowboy. Our Hero didn’t dodge, he stood still facing his brother barreling towards him. He allowed his brother’s flame covered fist to pierce right through his stomach. He didn’t even flinch, his lightning aura disappeared and his brother’s flames fizzled out. “I'm sorry brother.” The Cowboy whispered to his opponent. The Cowboy put his hand right over the Gladiator’s heart and said “Come with me.” He used the last power he had left in his wounded body and sent a shock right into the Gladiator’s heart, stopping it entirely. The Gladiator’s eyes widened and then closed. He whispered to the Cowboy with a smile as he died, “Oh good, you’ve got your fangs back…” then slumped over backwards as the last of his life drained out of him. The Cowboy fell to his knees and called back to the Star Horse, “Stripes, I’m a dead man. There’s nothing you could’ve done for me, don’t fret my friend. I left you something..” he continued, “Use the cameras and look in the weapon storage in the hangar.” Stripes tuned the cameras to the hangar and he saw a tank full of liquid with a body in it. “What is it?” Stripes asked confused. “It’s a replica of your old body, powers and all. I had it made the night after I saw the vision of my death, I spent all my bounty money and savings on it for ya.” The Cowboy kept talking, “All you need to do is activate the control panel remotely, and turn on the A.I. transfer to the body.” The Cowboy’s last message was a simple one, “I’m gonna go to sleep now, Stripes. Easy Come, Easy Go, Mijo” Stripes was now in his new body and stepped out of the tank. A tear rolled down his face as he radioed back to his partner, “See you, Cowboy”.
The Cowboy leaned back and looked out of the side of the bridge, the sun was in plain view as he died. He stared at the ball of beautiful, burning gasses. As the light faded away from him, he spoke his last breath, “Hell makes brothers of us all…”
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Afterword
Hi There Dear Reader! My name’s Tim Agar and I hoped you enjoyed coming with me on this incredible journey of mine. My inspirations for this story came partly from Cowboy Bebop and from movies like Platoon and The Good, Bad and The Ugly, I have always loved westerns and sci-fi and it was a blast to combine them and pay homage to the great pieces of fiction that have inspired me. My experience writing this was one of the best of my life and I appreciate any attention this tale gets. Thank you for sticking around to the end and I bid you farewell.
Easy Come, Easy Go...