One of the warriors whooped, firing a barbed hook from a gas-powered gun, snagging Bane's arm so that his shot went wide over Gunner's head. More warriors fired grappling guns, hooking Bane's arms and legs while others scrambled to secure the cables to the ground with long stakes fired from powder-actuated fastening guns. Bane pulled and tugged against the wires, gun empty, clothes ripped to shreds, metal-armored body straining, electric-blue eyes flashing. One of the cables snapped with a twanging sound, flinging a warrior high into the air.
Gunner cupped his hands, shouting into the wind. "It's not gonna hold. Fall back. Fall back to the caves!"
The warriors backed away, firing primitive rifles, arrows from compound bows, some even hurling rocks. The storm clouds rushed in as if eager to witness the battle, bringing in heavy rain that pelted the already saturated ground. Silvery slashes of lightning forked back and forth, turning Bane into a monstrous silhouette, metal hide gleaming as he tore free of his restraints. He roared, vapor billowing from his mouth as he charged across the ground, splashing water with each heavy step. Some of the hooks still stuck in his limbs, cables flailing behind him as he ran.
The warriors darted through a sparse grove of sycamore trees, leaping up into the branches and from tree to tree. Some took positions and continued to fire at the behemoth as he tore through the woods, smashing into trees hard enough to shake the warriors from the limbs. Ignoring the fallen, he ran after Gunner, who broke through the thicket and ran for the caves with Bane hot on his heels.
As he reached the cave mouth, one of the warriors emerged with a gas container on his back and flamethrower in hand. Gunner turned, shocked to see Bane closing in incredibly fast, abandoning his cannon for a knife longer than most swords, glinting in the flashes of lightning.
The warrior ignited the flamethrower, expelling a brilliant pulse of liquid fire that engulfed Bane, soaking him in red-yellow tongues of pure hell, hissing as they away at his body, melting whatever flesh remained like hot wax, destroying every human remnant of whoever he had been.
The robotic frame emerged from the flames like an unholy revenant, metallic bones white-hot, half his face missing, one eye burnt out. He seized the warrior by the face with one steel-fingered hand, crushing it like a raw egg. The others retreated, firing their weapons in futility, bullets ineffectual against his skeletal frame. Gunner stood in front, waving them away, backing up toward the glow and rising heat of the forge where the automaton still tended to its duties, obliviously pounding away at an alloyed plate with a large hammer, raising sparks with every blow. Gunner picked up a long piece of rebar, waving it back and forth in front of Bane like a bone to a dog, practically begging him to take the bait as he retreated toward the hanging vat of molten metal, bubbling and hissing, ready to be poured into the molds. Several of the warriors leaped to the metal rafters, preparing to tip the vat when ready.
Bane stopped in his tracks, looking above Gunner's head, studying the forge with his remaining eye, head scanning side to side. Bullets bounced harmlessly off his metal bones. Ignoring the warriors that whooped and danced just out of his reach, he turned and looked back at the mouth of the cave, focusing on the path that would lead to the village. Where the women and children huddled, frightened and helpless.
"No!" Gunner hurled the piece of rebar, striking Bane in the shoulder. "It's me you want. Not them. Me."
Bane stared at him, eye whirring and flashing. With his bottom jaw missing, it seemed his mouth was open in a never-ending scream of laughter. Ignoring the warriors, ignoring Gunner, he turned and headed back to the cave entrance. Gunner picked up a heavy pipe wrench and dashed forward, striking Bane in the leg so hard that his teeth rattled. Bane swiped his arm backward, catching Gunner in the chest, knocking him ten yards back. He hit the ground and curled into a fetal position, clutching his sternum and gasping for air. The warriors fell on Bane like a living avalanche, trying to pull him back, shattering rifles and bending steel against his alloyed frame. He shrugged them off, slammed them into the ground, breaking bones, swinging the razor-sharp blade, cutting limps apart in grisly sprays of blood, leaving a trail of injured bodies behind him, never breaking stride, an unstoppable juggernaut with his mind fixated on slaughter.
Pablo appeared at the mouth of the tunnel with Enya scampering by his side. A rocket launcher rested on his shoulder. Dropping to one knee, he fired it. The rocket exploded on impact, sending Bane flying backward in a blast of flame and trailing smoke, both legs shattered, one arm severed, body parts skipping across the cave. The main torso landed in front of the forge, flailing like an enormous injured insect, head jerking, one arm reaching out toward Gunner as if trying with all his might to satisfy some insatiable need to kill. One of the warriors tilted the vat of molten metal over, pouring it over Bane's remains. The magma covered him, sizzling and smoking, red-orange and silver, flowing across the ground like hot molasses. Gunner crawled to his feet, stumbling away, shielding his face from the heat.
Winded, clutching his bruised chest, he turned and squinted at Pablo, who approached with the launcher tucked under his arm. He smiled at Gunner's expression.
"Don't look so surprised, amigo. I haven't been a son of God my entire life. Enya here helped me find this launcher in a heap of old weapons. Took a lot of digging to find a rocket to fit, but we got here as quick as we could."
Gunner clapped him on the shoulder. "Much appreciated. Don't think we would have been able to stop him." He glanced back at the fallen warriors, face turning somber. "As it is, the Mahinarah lost many of their warriors today. The Judge is gonna pay for this."
"The Judge is dead."
Wiley stepped out of the gloom with a grin on his face, twin Reapers in both hands. "The Baron had Bane take care of him. He died, screaming and crying like a little bitch. Then we killed his people. And now I'm gonna kill you, Gunner. Been looking forward to it for a long time."
Pointing one of the Reapers directly at Gunner, he fired.
Chapter 12: Fire and Brimstone
Pablo jumped in front of Gunner, jerking backward as the round struck, sending both of them sprawling into the damp earth. Two more shots rang out, the echoes crashing in the cave like thunder. Gunner pulled himself from under Pablo, staring as Wiley stumbled in front of him, gasping, blood trickling from his mouth. He slumped forward and slammed face-first into the ground.
Janey stood behind him, smoking revolver in hand. She spat on his corpse and holstered her weapon, dropping to one knee beside Gunner, who cradled Pablo's body in his arms. "Pablo, you old fool. Why would you do that?"
He looked up at Gunner, light fading from his eyes. "Why? It is the…Way, Gunner. No one…has love greater than this: that he…lay down one's life for one's…friends." His eyes fluttered shut, and his body went limp.
Jamey shook her head. "Damn it. I was hiding out in Town after the Baron took over. Saw that bastard Wiley and the metal monster heading up the mesa. Decided to follow. Didn't get here in time."
Gunner gently laid Pablo's body on the ground. "Much obliged, Janey."
"We need to get the hell away from here, Gunner. The Baron ain't gonna stop. She'll be sending everyone up here once she figures out they ain't coming down. We could be deep into Mexico by then. Find a train or a caravan and head out to Tucson or Nogales."
Gunner picked the Reaper up stood, staring at the dead bodies on the ground. "You go on ahead. I'll make sure no one comes after you."
Her head jerked up in surprise. "You're planning on going to war with the Baron? By yourself? That's crazy. She's gotta have a couple hundred guns down there. All deputized. Legal. That's a suicide mission. I know you're mad about the preacher, but think straight for a minute. Why would you wanna even try to take on those kinds of odds?"