I groaned as the Gryphon, named Red, continued to jabber on about El Presidente. His voice was slightly irritating, a mixture of southern with a touch of civilized English.

“So… you’re Daring Do, right?” He asked and I nodded. “Damn… never thought I’d see a celebrity down in these parts.” He stated and I rolled my eyes.

“I’m hardly a ‘celebrity’. I’m just a famous adventurer.” I replied and he chuckled to himself.

“Whatever you say… sugar tits.” He stated and I immediately shot him a very irritated glare. “Hey, chill! It was a compliment.” He quickly defended himself but I scowled silently to myself. Sugar tits… the nerve he had was unbearable.

He led us all up to the small palace in the center of town where there was a large wall surrounding the building. Red waved to the guards who immediately opened the gates and let us through.

“It pays to be on the right side.” Red commented and I looked to him with a raised eyebrow.

“Which side is that?” I asked and he looked over to me with a smirk.

“The zebras, duh. The buffalo rebels are just a bunch of pilfering heathens. They claim to be on the righteous side but they’re worse than the zebras.” Red informed us. I didn’t say anything, figuring it would be better to keep my opinions to myself.

We ascended a small flight of finely polished stone stairs and to a balcony which overlooked the entire town. A very posh looking zebra, in a black suit, sat at a table near the edge railing. He was sipping a beverage from a martini glass and chuckling to himself heartily.

“What have you this time?” The zebra called out. Red stopped us then took a bow.

“The visitors you requested, your Excellency.” Red replied, in a noble voice, addressing him with a tone of hierarchy.

“Indeed… wait out by the gates. I’ll send them down shortly.” The zebra ordered. Red gave a nod and then did as he was told.

As he walked past me he gave me a wink then blew me a kiss. “Sugar tits.” He whispered under his breath, but loud enough that I could hear. I curled my lips and gave him a silent snarl.

“Indeed… so you are the famous treasure hunters here to… eliminate Mr. Mane… am I correct?” The zebra asked, not turning around to face us.

“Yes Mr. …” I trailed off to let him informed us of his name.

“Your Excellency will suffice, but if you must, call me El Presidente.” He told us. Great, this guy was like a zebrafied version of Prince Coldblood.

“Okay, so why did you want to talk?” I asked bluntly and he chuckled.

“Because we can help each other. You see, I know where Black Mane and his gang are hiding. Right here in this country. Not far either. But before I tell you, I need you to do something for me.” He informed us.

We really didn’t need his help. I had the map to the treasure chest and whatever was inside of it. Elijah broke my train of thought. “Alright, shoot.” Elijah spoke and I looked to him with a shocked look.

“That’s the spirit. Anyways listen. There’s this little town down on the prairie… it’s under the control of buffalo rebels. I have some of my troops down there but they’re experiencing… difficulties. Go with Red and… dispose of these nuisances. Then we’ll talk about Black Mane.” He told us and Elijah nodded.

“Okay, it will be done, your Excellency.” Elijah spoke then we all turned and headed for the gates. As soon as we were heading down the staircase, I looked to Elijah.

“What the hay?! We can’t work for the zebras, they’re savages!” I hissed and he looked over to me.

“Listen, I know it’s bad but consider it. We have no idea where that map wants us to go. Mr. Zebra over there knows exactly where Mane is. We help him out and he helps us out. Simple.” Elijah told me and I grimaced.

I really didn’t want to help out the zebras but he had a point. This would make our hunt for Black Mane a lot easier.

“Hey sugar tits.” Called a voice and I shook my head in dismay. “El Presidente has us hooked up.” Red smirked with a smug look sprayed all over his face.

“Let’s just hurry up and get this over with.” I grumbled and he chuckled. Red smirked.

“Aww, come on now. This is the fun part.” Red smiled and pointed with his stump limb over to a small village in the distance. “That’s where we’re going. Come on, it’ll only take a few minutes to get there.” He told us as he flapped his wings and took to the air.

We mounted up on our horses and followed him down the trails towards the village. As we got closer, I could hear gunshots going off. I looked to Elijah. “We can’t seriously be helping the zebras… do you remember what they did to the buffalo prisoners?” I asked remorsefully and Elijah nodded.

“There are some choices in life that aren’t easy to make.” Elijah replied, almost coldly. He cocked both his machineguns and readied his battle saddle. Billy cocked his Lee Enfield sniper while Brixie actioned the lever on her rifle. I couldn’t believe we were seriously doing this.

I tipped the brim on my cowpony hat and narrowed my vision, focusing on the town. We got within a few dozen yards before bullets started to whiz by us and we were forced to dismount our horses then continue on hoof to stay low.

Red flew down to us and laughed as he unslung a scary looking rifle. He looked to us and chuckled. “See this rifle? It’s a Mondragon rifle… just sit back and watch the show.” He laughed as he pulled back the bolt.

We all rushed over to some large rock formations where at least half a dozen zebra soldiers took cover. “What the hell are yah pansy asses doing?!” Red scowled and the leading zebra officer stepped forwards.

“We have been outnumbered and cannot take the town without reinforcements.” The officer stated and Red gave him a nasty glare.

“Alright well the reinforcements are here. Let’s rock and roll.” Red laughed but as he went to break cover, he stopped and looked back. “Well… whatta yah’ll waitin for… I ain’t feelin like taking this town by myself.” He laughed.

Third person:

Red gallantly rushed into the heat of battle with his rifle leading the way. Several buffalo took cover behind a picket fence. As they saw the gryphon rushing them, they stood up and tried to get a bead on him with their rifles.

Red simply leveled his rifle on the small group of three and held back the trigger. The Mondragon rifle chattered in full automatic and spat out 7mm rounds that quickly shredded the group.

Elijah shook his head and held back his regret. He didn’t really like the idea of killing the rebels. They had no real part in this war and only wanted to find Black Mane. Several buffalo rushed out and fired blindly at him.

Elijah stopped for a brief moment and cut them down with his twin machineguns. The buffalo cried out in pain before crumpling to the ground in a bloody heap. Elijah turned back to Daring who was following him closely. “Stay close… I know you don’t kill.” Elijah told her and she nodded.

The two had spoken about Daring and how she had never killed before. She wasn’t too keen on the idea and even in the heat of combat, she found it difficult to even point a gun towards an enemy.

Red’s laughs of hysteria could be heard throughout the entire town. “Come on you bitches… RED’S IN TOWN!” He screeched as he blew his way through more buffalo rebels, leaving a wake of destruction in his path.

His automatic rifle locked, signalling that it was empty. He ejected the magazine and fed a fresh twenty round box magazine into the gun. He pulled back the bolt and released it, loading a round into the chamber.

Billy crouched atop of a nearby boulder and took pot shots on buffalos near Elijah. He didn’t have much care for the safety of that gryphon psychopath, so he only focused on enemies near Elijah. A buffalo took aim on Elijah who didn’t notice the armed rebel.

Billy put the crosshairs right on the buffalo’s chest and squeezed back the trigger. Blood spurted from the entry wound as the buffalo was knocked back. Billy quickly racked the bolt and took a new target.

Red laughed insanely as he kicked down a door leading into a small shack. Three rebels stood inside. One fired and clipped Red in the shoulder, drawing blood. Red held back the trigger on his rifle and performed a large arc with the automatic rifle. The buffalo screamed in agony as they were cut down.

The gunfire seemed to slow in pace drastically. “Bastards… they must be retreating.” Red sneered as he reloaded his rifle then stepped outside. Sure enough, most of the remaining zebras were retreating. A younger, spiteful looking buffalo teen rushed away. Blood covered the majority of his body as he tried to escape the massacre, crying heavily for those who had died.

Red smirked to himself and slung his rifle. “Hey kid!” Red called out and the buffalo teen made the fatal mistake of turning and looking towards the voice. In a flash of motion, Red drew out a C96 pistol from his hip holster and fired a round right between the buffalo’s eyes.

Red brought the smoking barrel to his beak and blew out the smoke before holstering the gun. He began kicking down doors until he found a building where a female buffalo whimpered in the corner. “Hey… hey, don’t cry. Hush now, everything is going to be alright.” Red cooed the female buffalo.

He approached her but she tried to dash away. “OH NO YAH DON’T!” Red laughed as he dove into her and tackled her to the ground. “Now just stay still!” Red laughed as he brought his stumped limb over and the blade to her throat. “Be real still or it’ll be the last mistake you ever make!” Red hissed as he began to rip off her clothing garments.

Daring’s perspective:

I trotted along as the zebra army soldiers began to burn down the huts. ‘Savages.’ I thought quietly to myself. I heard screaming from inside a building and went to investigate.

As I opened the door I spotted Red atop of a female buffalo. My jaw dropped as I saw that he had obviously put her through terrible physical abuse while he was raping her. She had scratches, cuts and bruises all down her side and some on her face.

Red looked over to me and smiled as he licked some blood off his beak. “Hey sugar tits… wanna join?” Red snickered.

“Red… what the buck do you think you’re doing!” I yelled and he simply laughed casually.

“Taking my reward. I earned it. I saved her town… and her, from those nasty rebels. So it’s only fair that she repays me. Unfortunately she didn’t have any money but she has a tight snatch… well she did before I came along.” He laughed maniacally.

I pulled out John’s pistol from my holster and pointed it at him. “Get the buck off her right now… or I swear to goddess I’ll put you down, you… sick buck!” I scowled. He sighed remorsefully then stood up.

The female buffalo staggered to her hooves then limped away, crying painfully. I looked down as I shook my head in anger and holstered the heavy M1911 pistol. Suddenly there was a lone gunshot and I gasped. My head perked up and I looked to see Red, pointing a still smoking pistol in my direction.

I looked behind me to see the female buffalo lying dead on the ground, a pool of red blood quickly forming around her body. “She was damaged goods anyway.” Red laughed.

In my anger I quickly brought out the pistol again but Red simply laughed as he holstered his own gun. “Go ahead, shoot me. If you kill me then El Presidente will have a bounty put on your head… and you’ll never figure out where Black Mane is.” Red sneered.

My grip tightened on the pistol then I scoffed irritably as I shoved the handgun back in its holster. He had the upper hoof this time… bastard was worse than the zebras. Red walked past me then patted me on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. The right decision ain’t always easy to make, sugar tits.”

Author's Notes:

I know that Red is an asshole, I mean: He killed an innocent teenager (Or we presume to be innocent), raped a helpless buffalo and then shot her in the back. Yes he's an asshole but... I don't know, I kinda like him. I always have this thing of liking the badguys in stories, well in this case he's more of a very, very dark antihero.
By the way, sorry for the long wait. Tried to figure out how to work iPhone5, got frustrated, then brought it back for a refund. Damn technology is too hard to work.