Splinterbark: Chaos of the Coyote Crew

Chapter 16: The Series Finale Part III: Star Killer

Shots were fired in repeated volleys between the Silver Guardian and Captain Coyote. None of them managed to get a hit on the other as they dove and darted through the trees for cover. Finally Captain had enough and commanded the last two drones to set fire the landscape. The trees had a bit of difficulty sparking but the blaze managed to erupt quickly. The mounds of loose dry leaves that had just piled up over the months were the easiest to catch ablaze and they were swarming close to the building. Was she out of her head? Her sisters were inside! He managed to hurl dirt onto the starting flames and stamp out most of the leaves, but there was only so much he could stop on his own.

She was a monster. She was no better than that bug eyed devil! And what did angels normally do with devils? Silver shoved his firearms back in his holsters and flew directly at the captain. His massive hands grabbed the claw devices and he wrenched them free using his weight and impeded flight to shred them down. Captain snarled and turned her hoverboard right at her enemy. She swung hard at Silver's head and he caught her weapon effortlessly. With his eyes still locked onto hers, he crushed the prod in his hands and barely flinched. She tried to run backwards and shoot at him. The blasts were effortlessly swept aside with his greaves. A deflected shot caught her in the shoulder and she staggered to the ground. Captain screamed and tried to punch him the moment he descended to the earth. Her fists rammed hard into the palms of his own. Despite the pain it shot through her limbs and kept trying to hit him over and over again. The fabric of her gloves began to thin away and her knuckles bruised against the ironlike flesh. Finally she collapsed to her knees and struggled for breath. A cold rod of a gun pressed at her temple. She didn't even try to look up; just kept uttering how she was the hero. Silver's finger squeezed on the trigger slightly. He thought about her words how she reminded him of that tyrant angel story arc. Then he remembered how the story had ended and he felt awful for it. Even at his worst, his father never resorted to what he had been about to do. Maybe Shelly was right on a few things.

The heat against his back reminded him that the landscape was still on fire. He grabbed the defeated Captain and flew towards the building. Jinn was examining the body of Simon Callum. Desmond Dougal was there was well and holding Alucard upwards. Blaze and Star had been unmasked but not tied up.

"What is going on here?" he demanded. Splinterbark explained to him that Jinn was trying to see if she could undo the damage the White Rabbit did to Simon. So far he was not responding to her spells. Frix then piped up a suggestion that Silver might be able to do something if they both combined their magic.

"I have seen a Guardian undo an Oozling draining once before. But be warned, there is a risk in doing so. And I cannot fathom what it might so do you...inexperienced as you are." Frix cringed expecting the guardian to retort, but Silver was just clutching his collarbone.

"Don't be stupid!" Jessie scoffed. "You can't save him! I made sure he was drained good and proper! He'll be a useless puppet from now on!" She continued to laugh until Jamie slapped her hard.

"I don't want to hear one more word out of you! The mission is over, Jessie! And I hope you're happy." Jamie never struck her before. Why was she suddenly so mad? Silver didn't even know if he had seen his father perform such an action. Why would he be any different? Still, seeing Simon lie there didn't make him feel that much better. He knelt down and put his hand over Simon's chest just as Jinn pressed her staff on the back of his hand. He did his best to calm himself and try to only think of positive things. His focus was shaken though thinking about how he had actually considered murdering someone. Focus on what you need to do now. Focus on the preservation of life. He was really going to have to figure out that voice in his head one of these days. Like before with Metilla it felt like some outside force was guiding his hand and once again he traced that star like symbol on Simon's chest. At the same time Jinn's staff glowed green and mists began to outline Simon's body. Color was coming back to his face and hair before there was a slight flash that pushed back both the angel and witch from the body. Simon took a long deep breath before blinking and finally sitting up. His hair was still had flecks of white, but at least it no longer looked like a drab mop.