Now The Bounty Hunter and the Deathslinger were just a few steps away from one another.
"So you're the Bounty Hunter I've heard that was coming."
"And you're the bounty I've been looking for. You know for someone using a revolver on a moving bullhead and actually hitting someone is impressive." Hector replied which the tall man chuckled.
To Hector, he was the big bad man from the old western films, cowboy hat, poncho, bandana and everything. His revolver was beautifully engraved and from what he could see looked had the handle hollowed out.
This told Hector he was smarter and careful since he knew that by just making his revolver just a few ounces lighter he knew that there could be a major difference in just a nano second.
"If you think that's impressive, just wait until I bring in your head." He said in a smug voice while his hand reached towards his revolver.
"Can't kill someone whose already dead." Hector said racking his shotgun.
"You ain't faster than me boy." He said with his hand now hovering over his revolver. Hector then lightly lifted up his shotgun.
Then silence... both looked at one another waiting for the other to make a move. To be honest, Hector was sweating since this could be the end of him and the heat wasn't helping.
Then as if both counted down inside their hand in their heads they drew.
From the perspective of the guards in the compound peering from the windows and Hector's team themselves peering from the sandy hills.
Since Hector was albeit very slowly lifting his shotgun up until he saw the rogue Huntsmen's sudden movement he drew and landed a bullet that grazed on the left side of Hector's head.
But the Deathslinger got himself shot in the stomach which resulted in him falling back aswell but didn't break his aura.
But in a second both of them were on the ground in pain.
Hector was right now thinking what was worse: This or training with Traya but now wasn't the time to think that but to figure out what to do next.
"Damn... you actually shot me heh." He said holding his stomach. He was genuinely surprised that he landed a shot on him but it wasn't enough.
As he slowly walked up to Hector who was grunting and crying since the graze went to the side of the head.
"You caused alot of suffering boy, only right if you get it too." He said in a cocky manner before Hector replied albeit in a shaky voice.
"G-G-Guess w-what."
"What?"
"Chinga tu madre." Go fuck yourself.
The Deathslinger visibly took a step back at Hector's reply. Out of anything he could say, he chose that. Those... were his final words? What did he even say??
Then out of nowhere a rock the Deathslinger in the head which prompted his hat to fall off.
The Deathslinger then snapped his head at the direction of where the rock was thrown.
Despite the pain and the blood leaking from his head Hector quickly reached for his shotgun, racked another live round and shot him in the head depleting his aura. Tumbling to the side which resulted in him dropping his revolver.
"You little-"
*BANG
"You're... f-fast... but... I'm s-smart." Hector said before collapsing on the ground.
"Get him out of there!" Lindholm shouted which Erika yelled back.
"On it!"
Henry, Jamison and Emma meanwhile provided covering fire for Erika.
Everything for Hector was a blur, gunshots echoed aswell as yelling.
The only thing he remembers is seeing Henry and Emma by his side tending to his wound.
The rest of the group continued with the mission, finishing off the remaining guards.
A few hours later...
"Uuuggghhh." Hector groaned before slowly pushing himself up from what he thought was a mattress on the ground.
"He's awake!" Henry yelled out which Hector then heard footsteps quickly approaching him.
"Thank the gods your alright." Henry asked which Hector replied while swaying his head from feeling dizzy said.
"Yeah... hate to split the rewards six different ways- shit!"
He touched the bandage which hurt like hell, well not hit in the chest pain but not too far off.
"Careful give it a few days-"
"No!" Hector said getting up before looking at the nearby table where his weapons were at and stumbled towards it.
"We stop for just a few days and we miss the meeting to hit all of them."
"Are you sure that bullet didn't hit him in the noggin?" Jamison asked which Elizabeth replied,
"Hector you're in no condition to fight. You got shot.in.the.HEAD."
Hector then slowly turned his head at her which she then felt uneasy. It wasn't that she was just feeling it in a emotional sense but also in a physical sense.
It felt like someone was pushing on her shoulders weighing her down. The more he looked at her the more she felt like she was being pushed down.
Before it could go on any further Anthony asked,
"Thinking about it now... wasn't your aura supposed to protect you?"
Then all heads turned to Hector who then started walking out with his hand lightly touching the bandage where the bullet grazed. But before he left through the door he said,
"I don't want to talk about it."
As Hector left the group behind he headed towards where he thought was where he killed the rogue Huntsmen.
He walked a few feet before finding his body with half of his head gone with his cybernetic side of his head still intact.
Hector reached down to pick up two things that was of interest to him:
His revolver along with his belt and his hat.
Hit hat had metal plating on the side with a skull of a Deathstalker in the middle but with only three eyes.
But at the moment something else caught his attention that would've made even himself question himself entirely:
His cybernetic eye.
It was sorta square and a bit bulky with a red lense. He didn't need it anymore. Where was the harm in taking it?
As Hector pulled out Sion's sword to try and cut it out and stopped himself out of nowhere.
Was he really going to take out another part of a person's head to keep? Hector looked at it more wondering since when he got this sadistic.
No, they made him this way. They were the ones responsible for his mentality. But then Hector tried to give a reason to himself why he shouldn't take it.
After staring at the corpse for about a minute he decided not to for the reason being he actually managed to shoot him.
Putting on his hat and attaching the belt with his revolver and taking his scroll he headed back albeit having a headache. But he did question whether or not it was he was naturally healing or his unique aura's duing, either way though: The Florence family would go down... all of them.
LINEBREAK
After coming back and going over the information on Deathslinger's phone they discovered that if Deathslinger wasn't there in two days then the family would go on lockdown and head to different kingdoms which wasn't on the scroll or the information he had gotten from the robot.
He told them the next part of the final plan albeit more rushed since time was a luxury they didn't have.
Securing Deathslinger's personal bullhead that was found several blocks away from the compound they would head to the docking bay under the guise that Deathslinger was there the night before since the family members were going to attend the meeting in the morning.
It was relatively simple but it all was in a short time frame which would involve gathering the main head honchos in one room to pressure the Father into releasing the Councilman.
Hector and the squad readied up on Deathslinger's bullhead that was a young Deathstalker's skull with a revolver pointing upwards behind the skull.
Henry, Anthony and the twins were told by Hector to switch up their usual attire with standard Florence family guard uniforms to better infiltrate and update the others on what's happening behind the scenes.
However Hector told Jamison to make something that even he wasn't particularly happy in making: Collar explosives.
He didn't know where he had gotten the idea from but it's not like he wanted to know. When asked why he would want such a thing he simply was met with stare. Not wanting to piss him off he went to work but knew this was what Theo was talking about when he recruited him for this job.
After making explosive sticky bombs for everyone except for the father for some reason only known to Hector he then made bombs that had an extra "shell" that dispersed nails which spoke the level of cruelty and ruthlessness of the bounty hunter.
Lindholm was in charge of heading towards the security room while also wearing a Florence guard uniform albeit he didn't fit the whole "fit" criteria.
With everyone knowing there part in the plan they got their weapons and loaded their hear in the bullhead to head out to take down the Florence family... and free the councilman of course.
"This is command center, welcome back Deathslinger. The family's been waiting for-." The man who was overseeing the landing pads for the bullheads suddenly had his communications on the fritz.
"What the? What's going on with our communications?" One of the other guards asked as the bullhead pulled into a hangar.
The nearby guards then headed towards the hangar to refuel but saw other guards in the bullhead.
"Where did he pick you guys up?" One of them asked which one of them responded,
"He didn't."
And in a flash the twins ran towards them and kneed them in the face knocking them out cold.
"Tie them up and put on their uniforms. Just like we planned." Hector said which his team then led the way to take control of the nearby command center that was only a couple hallways down.
But before that each memenr was given five frequency jammers to make the guards coordination hectic.
First order of business was going to the guard's barracks to thin their numbers which was two large rooms with bunk beds. Making their way the guard barracks The twins handed Hector the bombs since they didn't want to be directly responsible for their long painful deaths if the initial blast didn't kill them.
Quickly opening one door and throwing the bomb inside and going to the other door to repeat the process Hector gave a two finger salute ahead of him before placing a frequency jammer on the ceiling near a light.
The Living Room
"What was that?" The Mother said to one of her guards who pulled out his scroll to call the command center but got a No Signal notification.
"It was probably-"
Before the Son could get his sentence out the door suddenly opened and their guards were quickly taken out.
"What is the meaning of this- are you betraying us?!!" The Son yelled in anger as she saw the outline of the Deathslinger emerge from the smoke but her stomach sank as she saw that crooked white smile she's heard so much about... The Bounty Hunter.
Holding the Deathslinger's revolver he says,
"If everyone behaves they won't get a bullet."
The Son being at times the rash individual he is got up and said,
"If you think I'll sit here and take this- AAH! YOU MOTHERFUCKER!"
Halfway through his tantrum as Hector would put he himself put a bullet in his knee before telling them again.
"Cooperate and I won't have to waste bullets. Simple as that... take anything they have on them and tie them up!" Hector shouted which their guards who were betraying them got out rope and tied them each to pillars opposite of each other.
As they were being tied up Pearl, The Mother said,
"I'm sure we can have an arrangement. You'll find that-"
"Nope!"
"You didn't listen to what I have to say."
Pearl said confused. Her family had wealth that could rival that of the Vacuoan council and had connections to one of the more wealthier kingdoms than most on Vacuo.
And they had informants aswell as alliances with other gangs so if they somehow did survive the Bounty Hunter would have a hard time hiding from them.
As the guards that they betrayed them finished up Hector turned to one of them and said,
"Go to you know where and let's start negotiations shall we?"
The guard nodded and quickly left which he then prompted the Sister to say.
"Why are you doing this?! We don't have a bounty on us!"
"As a wise clown once said, it's not about the money, it's about the message."
Hector then reached into his bag he brought along and took out what looked like collars with a large box that hanged on the side.
"Alright, the more you move with these on the tighter they get. Got it?"
Then he went towards them and locked each of them on with the collars and then of of the guards scroll rang.
"They're ready then, time to call the big man himself." Hector said clapping his hands together.
The Father's Office:
It was just a regular night for him. Paperwork here and there and preparing to go over some topics that would be discussed in the meeting.
One of those topics was the Bounty Hunter that Ziro told them about who was on their trail to rescue Councilman Topaz.
They weren't too concerned but his wife insisted they talk about their options on how to deal with him since the Atlas military couldn't even track him down and him taken down their
However his scroll started to ring which was coming from his beloved wife. Despite their criminal enterprise they still loved each other dearly... which Hector took notice. Then it projected a smile all to familiar to him.
"Hello Mr. Obsidian. Sorry to bother you but I've taken control of the west wing of your lovely home and guess who decided to join me?"
The Bounty Hunter said which he then showed his entire family tied to pillars.
He also saw his son with a white bandage on his knee while sweating profusely.
"All I ask of you is to release Councilman Topaz and I'll leave you and your lovely family be."
The head of the Florence family simply scoffed and folded his arms before telling one of his guards to group other security personnel.
"Get everyone you can and kill them!" He commanded but as soon as the guard stepped into the doorway it automatically sealed, trapping his arm while he screamed in agony.
"I think you're forgetting who you're dealing with. I'm in control, I make the fucken rules!"
Hector shouted at the crime lord who then took a seat and a deep breath before asking for his demands.
"What do you want?"
"It's quite simple really. You hand over the councilman in exchange I'll won't paint this rather fancy living room with your family understand?"
"...fine..." He said looking away from the projection. The Bounty Hunter simply chuckled before saying,
"Good, send him to the docking bay with the bullheads. But send him yourself and try and get sneaky and I'll make sure to go after all your relatives that have nothing to do with this."
And with that the feed ended and the door leading to his office opened letting go of the corpse that was a guard.
He then made his way through his now confiscated home with the doors in front of him opening while the ones behind him sealed shut.
Until he went downstairs via the kitchen and after a few minutes, councilman Topaz was held at gunpoint. When Lindholm asked whether or not to got in for the kill Hector said to stick to the plan. The main objective was the councilman and the other was the assassination of the family.
At the door to the hangar the door opend to find what he thought was his own guards pointing their weapons at him.
"Fucken traitors... all of you!"
They didn't say a word merely still aiming their guns at him. When The Father pushed Topaz to the ground he quickly backed up quickly which prompted the door to seal.
Hector was still with the three hostages making some conversation.
"You won't be alive by the end of this!" The Son yelled out in anger.
"Yeah no. Once I get confirmation that the councilman is safe I'll simply walk out into the sunset." Hector said in somewhat of a non caring voice.
"My father is probably gathering up all our guards as we speak." The sister interjected in a smug attitude.
Hector then put his fingers on his chest in a shocked but sarcastic manner and said,
"Oh? The ones that weren't on night shift in the barracks which accounted for atleast 90% of your security?... I killed them." Hector said happily.
Both the Sister and Son's face went pale upon hearing how The Bounty Hunter knew what they would be doing. The Mother on the other hand still had her composure was trying to read what was in front of her... a child.
She had somewhat trained in aura but the business took much of her time but she didn't need alot of training to sense the emotions Traya had sensed.
The hate, anger, sadness, confusion, dread, and pain. He wasn't born this way, he was made this way.
But before she could way anything the door opened to show her husband holding a gun.
"Ooohh, the big man himself finally does his part huh?"
"The bombs you bastard, take them off." He said gritting his teeth and clenching the gun in anger.
"Nuh uh uh! I need confirmation first then I'll-"
"I will kill you and everyone you love." The Father said in with anger radiating off of him. Hector simply chuckled before suddenly shoving the barrel in her wife's ear.
Everyone then tensed up at his sudden action. The two of them locked on each other waiting for the other to make a move... until Hector said while reaching for a small cylinder like device on his belt.
"The bombs on them are big enough to explode them but not the rest of us."
"Put it down... please." The Mother said to her husband who looked at her with tense eyes that soon watered upon seeing their kids in a state of fear.
Letting out a defeated sigh he slowly put the his gun before kicking it away. Then as if on cue a bullhead came in front of the window overseeing the ocean.
The side of the bullhead opened where a platform emerged and broke through the window.
"My ride's here." Hector said tossing him the detonator which he threw himself to catch. While on the floor he looked up at the bounty hunter who gave a two finger salute before saying,
"Thanks to your calm leadership Mr. Obsidian
Florence family, I wish you all a uneventful farewell."
He then got on the bullhead which then departed from the famed Florence family residence. Inside Hector saw the council member who if Hector would describe would look like the father from the princess in Aladdin.
He was wearing a blanket over while being comforted by the twins. Hector also noted the saggy eye bags, telling that he didn't sleep well. But just because he resuced him from a place many people considered very difficult or even impossible and looked miserable that didn't stop Hector from making fun of his weight.
"It looks like your kidnapping didn't affect you physically atleast."
"Y-Yes thankfully I didn't-... hey!"
"Hehheh, oh I almost forgot."
Hector then pulled out his scroll which he then pressed a few buttons before saying,
"Hey councilman look behind us."
The backdoor opened to find his prison in the distance. What he didn't know was that Lindholm sealed the door making sure that they would be stuck there until the bombs Hector requested Jamison to make went off.
Then to the councilman's horror he saw the building suddenly fall collapse into the sea where spiked rocks waited at the bottom.
The councilman looked at the Bounty Hunter in pure dread. Even more so when he reminded himself that he wasn't even old enough to attend the Huntsmen Academies.
All and all, Hector simply killed them to build his reputation as Remnant's most efficient bounty hunter.
Author's Note: Taking a bit longer than usual to post cause now I'm actually trying to think ahead and not making shit up as I go.