TRIGGERFINGER (ORIGINAL STORY) - SEASON ONE

S01E08 Plans Revealed! The Hellhound Strikes! (Part Two)

***

Ash and Meadow watched as the Hellhound roared towards the skies, then once again came charging at them. It tried to strike with a claw but Meadow sent out an air blast from her magic wand that knocked its paw back. It tried with the other but Meadow did the same, another air blast, keeping them safe momentarily. Ash fired more bullets from his fingertips but again, all they did was singe the beast's fur.

"This thing just doesn't quit," Ash said, as he fired another bullet.

"It's like our attacks have no effect," Meadow added.

Marianne watched from the sidelines, unable to contribute to the fight in any way. She clenched her fists, if only there was something she could do. She kept an eye out to see if she could notice any blindspots on the beast but she couldn't spot anything. This Hellhound was something out of a nightmare, a monster with no weakness. As the beast turned and charged again, its shadow engulfed her and out from the shadow came a hand, it pulled her down and she sunk into a world full of pitch darkness.

"You'll be safer here for now," Shade's voice said through the blackness.

Within seconds, she felt the presence of other people too. Including Ash, who responded with an empathic, am I dead? Shade went on to explain that he pulled them all into the Hellhound's shadow to discuss a game plan for taking the beast down. No one could contribute to the conversation however, as none of them had an idea on what the beast's weakness could even be.

"It asked us for help," Ash finally said.

"It did," Meadow confirmed. "Remember the video we watched in Corporate? Someone drank some kind of an elixir, and then transformed into the Hellhound. Could it be that whoever that person was, is trying to get through to us?"

"Could that be the answer?" Shade asked. "When Elder Chatka turned into the bear, I spoke to him and managed to snap him out of his rampage. Maybe we could do the same here?"

"That sounds like a reasonable idea," Bolt chimed in.

Marianne was proud of all of them. They sounded like they had already been initiated into the Aces of Spades, working together to solve the problem before them. Then in a flash, they were back out in the light of The Frontier sun. The Hellhound looked confused, like it wondered where they had gotten off to. Shade was the first to try and speak to the beast but before he could even start his sentence, he was smacked aside by a vicious paw. Bolt tried his hand but shared the same fate, once again smacked away with the paw. Then it was Meadow's turn but before she could finish, she was whipped with its tail and sent flying backwards.

Ash stepped forward, puffing out his chest. "Hey! You! I don't know who you are but you need to get a damn hold of yourself!"

The Hellhound looked Ash dead in the eyes. "Ash... Please, help me..."

Ash turned and looked at Marianne. How did it know his name?

***

Mortimer watched in astonishment as his father went toe-to-toe with the Sergeant At Arms of the Aces of Spades, neither man slowing down as they fought all over the place. They met all of each other's movements so precisely, Kore was catching all of Maximus's punches, Maximus was blocking all of Kore's kicks. It was a true spectacle to behold. Maximus sent a knee towards Kore's head but Kore ducked, and came up with an uppercut that Maximus redirected with a single finger. Then they started to brawl all over again. Mortimer could barely keep up, his eyes darting from left to right.

Kore then got the upperhand when he swooped in and took hold of Maximus by the legs, tackling him straight into the ground. Kore got on top of him and began a vicious flurry of lefts and rights. Maximus kept his guard up, forearms touching as he held them up to cover his face. Kore grabbed Maximus by the right arm and tossed it aside then came down with a fierce elbow, nailing his foe in the brow, leaving behind a bloody cut. This angered Maximus, who lifted his legs and kicked Kore in the stomach. Kore went skidding along in the dirt but managed to stop himself as Maximus kipped up onto his feet.