The Tales of Brawl Stars

Gunfight at Barley's

Colt's PoV

After another day of long and monotonous work, signing legal papers and taking care of trivial civil issues, I decided to go to Barley's Tavern for a cup of beer or two. I asked my robot assistant, Ricochet, if he would come, but he replied that he was running out of battery and needed immediate recharge due to continuous work for five days. So I removed my Sheriff suit and walked out of the office in casual outfit.

My job as the Sheriff of Brawlville is boring most of the times, but there are occasional chances for me to be the hero of the day -- which pretty much makes it up.

Speaking of heroes, rumor has it that there's another hero in town. Heroine, to be precise, by the nickname of "La Bandita," which means the she-bandit. She's not like other bandits who steal or rob everything in sight; she only steals money from those infamously rich guys, like landlords who demand a ridiculously high rent or sly merchants who play tricks on their customers, and distributes the loot among the common people, all done anonymously and stealthily. No one knows what she looks like; people only know her because she always leaves a slip of paper that signs "La Bandita" after she steals something.

I had mixed feelings about her. On the one hand, I admire her because she sorta speaks for justice, but on the other hand, I'm supposed to capture her according to law. What should I do? I couldn't make up my mind.

As I pondered whether I should capture the Bandita, I slowly approached Barley's Tavern. The tavern is a multifunctional building, with a bar on the first floor and some rooms for accommodation on the second floor. There's also a basement where Barley the Robo Bartender stores all kinds of alcoholic drinks. I turned my attention towards the tavern, looking forward to drinking some beer and chatting with townspeople. But I soon noticed something strange. The tavern was open as usual, but it was quiet. I couldn't hear the usual chitchats or the occasional singing and clapping. There must be something awful happening inside.

Still, I walked into the tavern, stood by the entrance, and scanned the area. In the dimly lit bar I could see figures of people sitting here and there. A robot was standing behind the counter as usual -- wait, that wasn't the usual Barley. That was another robot. Its one eye glowed red, and it didn't have mustache-like decorations on its head. As soon as it noticed me, it pulled out a pistol and pulled the trigger in an instant. At the exact same moment, someone pulled me out of the entrance. We crashed by the wall, which was a nice cover from that gun-wielding robot. Apparently, the sitting figures weren't people, but rather humanoid robots.

I looked at the person who saved my life. That was a semi-Hispanic girl with a curly-hair ponytail. She had a shotgun in one hand.

"What's going on here?" I asked her.

"No time to explain--" she replied hastily as she leaped up, aimed her shotgun at the entrance, and took down a robot with a single blast as it walked outside. "Just keep yourself alive," she added before heading into the bar to fight the bots.

I pulled out my guns and followed her inside. She had already engaged in combat against all the robots inside when I walked in. Some of them wielded guns, like the one at the counter, and the others looked like boxing fighters with spiked punching gloves. The girl is keen in combat: the way she moves suggests that she can somehow predict the enemies' movements and pre-dodge the attacks, whether they're melee or ranged. However, there were so many robots that she was soon cornered though not a bullet or punch had landed on her.