As Mako and Lee fled through the forest, trying to make it back to the reservation, he couldn't help but notice that Lee was frantically looking through the treetops, and nervously twitching the cigarette in her mouth.

  "Are you alright?" Mako asked, breaking the silence between them.

  "I'm just worried about that sharpshooter. He…" She paused and dwelt on the fact that Deacon was just shot. "He took out Deacon so effortlessly." Tears began to well in her eyes, but she shook them off, as she knew she needed to keep her wits about her.

  "Oh, so his name was Deacon. I'm sorry." Mako said, trying to pay her some respect. "My name is Makoyepuk. But you may call me Mako."

  "Lee," our sniper replied.

  "Well Lee, I hope you're no stranger to war," Mako said as they approached the battlefield.

  "Definitely not. Just never been on this side."

  Finally, the two made it to the reservation. Lee wasted no time surveying the area to get a read on the situation. She could see a mob of Dixie rangers clashing with Mako's tribe, who was severely outnumbered.

  "Father!" Mako cried out, drawing Lee's attention to the large stone plated giant that held Chief Red Sky by the throat.

  "Hahahaha! You take forever to choke out. Why do you struggle so much? Don't you know it's pointless?" Stonewall taunted as he slammed Red Sky against the mountain, causing it to form craters on impact, all while still choking him.

  Red Sky tried to fight back, throwing punches at Stonewall's face, but it only managed to crack the helmet, Red Sky could only watch helplessly as Stonewall used his powers to mend the cracks immediately.

  "Still too weak." Stonewall taunted. "I suppose that's what happens when you take two hundred shots to the chest. AHAHAHA!"

  "I'm coming, Father!" Ura'oan yelled as he tried to rush past Jorgan and Bo, but the sheep man and bell armed Dixie kept clashing with him so as not to let him escape.

  "Where do you think you're going?" he asked, wagging a finger. "You're our opponent," Jorgan said with an evil smile.

  Seeing all this, Lee knew the situation was dire. She knew the Union treated the native tribes unfairly, but she had never witnessed it herself. The only way to stop this all in its tracks is to take out their commanding officer, and hope the troops become demoralized. She made her decision and raised her Goldenwood rifle, aiming it at Stonewall's head.

  Stonewall noticed this from the corner of his eyes, but by then it was too late.

  Krakoom!

  Lee let out a powerful shot that rang through the air, momentarily pausing all the fighting as the bullet slammed into Stonewall's head. His stone helmet shattered on impact and the force of the shot caused him to let go of Red Sky and fall forward.

  "That was for Deacon." Lee said as she took a drag from her cigarette and blew the smoke from her nose.

  "General!" the Dixie soldiers cried in unison as they watched their leader collapse to the ground.

  "Hey boss, get up!" Bo pleaded.

  "Stop playing around." Jorgan begged.

  "Wow, great shot!" Mako said as he turned to Lee with a big smile. Probably the first time he smiled since the battle began. "You're amazing."

  "Uh… thanks." Lee said as she looked away nervously and her cheeks became rosy from the complement. Now that she actually got a good look at Mako she noticed he was kind of cute, but she couldn't let that distract her.

  "Oh, my head." Stonewall said as he held his with one hand and tried to get back to his feet with the other

  "He's still alive! Shoot him again!" Mako yelled.

  "Right." Lee said as she aimed her rifle again.

  "Oh no you don't." Bo yelled as he leapt away from Ura and charged at Lee.

  Jorgan turned around to also rush at Lee, but Ura took this chance to slash him in the back with his axes.

  "I'm your opponent, remember?" Ura taunted, as he swished his axes provocatively.

  Bo, rushed at lee, aiming his sheep horns forward to bash into her. Lee turned around and lifted her rifle to guard, that's when Mako jumped between her and Bo, taking the hit for her as Bo's horns rammed into Mako's stomach and sent him flying back.

  "That was stupid." Bo said as he turned his back on Mako and resumed his advance at Lee, but he was stopped as Mako grabbed a hold of his foot, keeping him in place.

  "Mako?" Ura yelled out in anger and confusion. His brother was supposed to have retreated.

  "Take the shot! Now!" Mako yelled.

  "Let go of me!" Bo ordered as he kicked Mako away with his cloven hooves.

  Lee aimed her rifle again at Stonewall ready to take another shot at him, but this time the general was prepared.

  "Stone pillar!" Stonewall said as he slammed his hand into the ground.

  Lee could feel the ground under her begin to quake. She looked at her feet and saw the dirt suddenly crack. She jumped out of the way as a giant stone pillar emerged from the ground at blinding speeds.

  "Holy crap, a serpent-bite power?" Lee thought as the pillar barely missed her. "If I hadn't dodged, I would've been obliterated by that pillar."

  "I see you have a Goldenwood rifle." Stonewall said as made his stone helmet reform on his head. The stone molded around him like clay before settling into the correct shape and hardening in place. "I'll kill you and take it for myself."

  Lee had to focus on dodging all the stone pillars shooting up from under her. Every pillar was a hair away from actually hitting her, and she could feel that window of time between noticing the attack and dodging getting smaller and smaller.

  Mako laid on the ground, clutching his stomach from the kick he just received. As he struggled to get up, he felt a strange vibration in the ground. He held his ear to the ground and listened. Despite Stonewall currently causing vibrations of his own with his serpent-bite power, Mako could hear a distinct vibration that came from somewhere else. He could feel it getting louder and louder. Something was coming, and it was big. Mako looked at his tribesmen, who were all fighting with their backs turned to where the noise was slated to arrive.

  "Everyone, something is coming! Get out of the way!" Mako warned at the top of his lungs.

  "Mako senses something, everyone! Fall back!" the army of tribesmen said as they all disengaged from their battles with the Dixie Rangers.

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  "Oh no you don't" The soldiers yelled defiantly. "Charge after them and kill them all! Don't let a single one escape!"

  The Dixie's charge would be halted as they soon were also able to hear the large entity that was approaching. It sounded like a faint noise that only got louder and louder until everyone could hear the sound of what could only be described as a war cry.

  "YEEEEEEEEE HAAAAAAAAW!" the high pitched scream echoed throughout the forest.

  "Deacon?" Lee questioned before barely dodging another stone pillar.

  A tall tree trunk pointing horizontally raced through the trees before tearing through the reservation. The Snake tribe had retreated just in time, so they weren't caught in the tree's rampage. The Dixie's weren't as lucky however, as they all were swept up by the stray branches and roots that dragged in front of and behind Deacon.

  "What the hell?" Stonewall said as he noticed the tree was charging straight towards him. His hand was still manipulating the pillars so he was unable to get out of the way, as the tree slammed into his chest like a battering ram. The impact shattered the stone armor and hammered Stonewall into the mountainside, leaving a giant crater and also splintering the tree into tiny pieces. Stonewall spit out blood as he reeled from the hit.

  When the dust settled, Lee, Mako, Ura, and all the Dixie's watched as Deacon stood over Stonewall while fastening his lasso back onto his hip. "You must be Stonewall." Deacon said as he clenched his fist in anticipation. "I'm here to kick your ass."

  Old man Sharp finally managed to free himself from the roots. His head was spinning from the ride Deacon took him on and he tried not to barf. "I need to call backup." Sharp said as he crawled on the ground and stealthily tried to make it back to the cathedral without arousing suspicion.

  "Deacon!" Lee yelled excitedly as she waved her hands. "You're alive!"

  Deacon just turned around and waved back cheerfully. "Of course I am! Turns out I'm bulletproof!" He said as he chuckled loudly.

  "He survived?" Mako thought to himself. How?" Mako looked back and Deacon and once again noticed the stars on his face. "He really did eat the Mother's Cap? How? Where? Well I guess it doesn’t matter, at least he's on our side."

  Bo angrily aimed his horns at Lee and charged at her a second time. "Now's not the time to be fraternizing!" he yelled as he leapt at her.

  Lee pulled her rifle up to block, but Bo stopped his advance and turned around quickly to parry Mako's knife with his horns. The blow glanced off the horns and Mako stumbled backwards.

  "Mako, are you insisting on dying to my hooves?" Bo taunted as he decided to shift his attention away from Lee.

  "You white devils have caused so much death and despair. If I don't kill at least one of you, then I'm a disgrace to my tribe."

  "Baaaaaahhh" Bo bleated. Mako couldn't tell if he was laughing or just making that noise. "Newsflash boy, you already are a disgrace. Forcing your father to take your punishments as you went around acting like a fool and putting the whole tribe in danger. All this is because of you. And if I have to be the one to finally give you the beating you deserve, well so be it."

  Mako turned to Lee, his eyebrows intense with determination. "Leave this sheep man to me."

  "You sure?" Lee asked, not really convinced he'd be able to handle it based on what she had seen of Mako's abilities.

  "Go. It doesn't matter what happens to me here, all that matters is Stonewall dying."

  Lee was worried about Mako, but he sounded sure of himself and she didn't want to add doubts. "Alright. Good luck." She said as she left Mako with Bo.

  "Mako!" Ura yelled angrily. "I told you to leave! Are you seriously going to dishonor my sacrifice, right now?"

  Mako didn't have time to argue stoicism with Ura so he responded like a little brother. "Yeah, because it was a stupid sacrifice."

  "The hell did you say?" Ura said as his face turned red with anger and embarrassment.

  "Listen to me, those that can’t fight are safe, and I brought help. If there is even a sliver of hope that we can win this, then I'm going to give everything I got," Mako said bravely as he stared down Bo, who was sizing him up. "I'm done letting people fight and get hurt for me while I stand on the sidelines. From now on, I'm going to fight!"

  Ura wanted to argue. He wanted to tell him to run away, but he knew it was no use. Mako always did what he wanted, and when he set his mind on doing something, nobody could tell him otherwise.

  "Fine." Ura begrudgingly agreed. "But you better not die, or I'll kill you."

  "Love you too." Mako replied sarcastically.

  As the two brother's turned their attentions back to their opponents, Deacon was staring down Stonewall, who was still embedded into the side of the mountain.

  "Aww come on, you're not done already? I just got here!" Deacon said as he began limbering himself up, cracking his back with a spinal twist stretch.

  Stonewall just stared angrily into space, trying to make heads or tails of the situation. Deacon watched as the stone from the mountain surrounded Stonewall like clay, molding arond his body to reform the stone armor.

  "Whoa." Deacon said as Stonewall's power mesmerized him. "That's so cool."

  Once Stonewall was properly outfitted, he stepped out of the side of the mountain and sized up the young cowboy that was standing before him. He immediately noticed the the two stars on his face, with a third one seemingly starting to come in. Stonewall hadn't heard of any other people gaining powers from the Mother's Cap, not since the Civil War, and this kid was no John Henry.

  "Who the hell are you? What are you doing here?" Stonewall asked.

  "The name's Deacon. And I told you, I'm here to kick your ass."

  Stonewall stared dumbfoundedly at the boy, trying to gauge if he was serious. "Ahahahahaha! Kick my ass? Oh, that's rich!"

  Deacon said nothing as he continued his stretches, now doing shoulder pulls.

  "I don't know what business you think you have here, kid, but nobody goes against the Union and lives." Stonewall said, veins beginning to pop out of his forehead as he was starting to get infuriated.

  "This would be my second time in two weeks." Deacon said plainly as he grabbed his foot behind his back to stretch his legs. "I think I'll be okay."

  "Ah, so an outlaw, huh? What? Did you come to take my head? Do you think killing a famous general will earn you some notoriety? Well, I can assure you I'm no easy mark. Even if you could succeed, you'd be hunted down to the ends of the Earth."

  "I don't care about any of that." Deacon said as he stopped his stretches and readied himself into a fighting stance. "I saw old people and children running for their lives, I saw a man crawling through the dirt with no hope left." Deacon said as he remembered meeting Mako. "And it's all because of you, right? So if I have to kick your ass to make everything better, well then that’s what I intend to do."

  "Deacon." Lee said under her breath as she watched from afar, keeping her rifle trained on the General.

  Stonewall raised an eyebrow and gave a confused look. "You're saying you were just passing by and decided to risk your life?"

  "Bingo." Deacon said as he pressed his finger to his nose.

  Stonewall had heard enough. Using his powers, he summoned a mass of stone to his hand, forming it into a large boulder, and he launched it at Deacon. The cowboy easily dodged the attack and snagged the boulder with his lasso before spinning around in the air and sending it back to him.

  "Pfft. Trivial." Stonewall scoffed as he raised his hand to catch the easily telegraphed attack.

  Krakoom!

  Lee sent out another shot from her rifle that shattered the boulder in Stonewall's hands, and then smashed into his helmet, leaving a giant crack and stunnng the General. Deacon took this chance to slam his fist into Stonewall's helmet, shattering it again and knocking him back.

  "That damn roughead bitch!" Stonewall said as he held his head.

  Deacon turned around and gave Lee a thumbs up, which she returned. It was then that she saw a flash coming from the cathedral.

  Blam!

  Sharp let out a shot, aiming for Deacon once again, but this time Lee was quick enough. The bullet seemed to travel to Deacon in slow motion. Lee felt like she had plenty of time to lift her weapon and open fire.

  Krakoom!

  Lee's bullet collided with Sharp's midair, stopping it from hitting Deacon and ricocheting it off course. Lee stared directly at Sharp, who could see his cover was blown. In a panic, he leapt from the cathedral, into the forest.

  "I have to take care of that sniper." Lee declared, looking her friend in the eyes. She knew if Sharp was left alone, everyone else would have to worry about a loose sharpshooter on top of their own fights.

  Deacon just turned to her and gave her a nod of understanding. "Go. We're counting on you."

  When Lee saw how much faith Deacon still had in her, she thought back to earlier, when she failed to stop Deacon from getting shot and left him there. She didn't let the guilt stop her, however, and saw this as her moment to redeem herself. She returned the nod to Deacon before disappearing into the forest, after Sharp.

  "Where do you think you're going?" Stonewall yelled as he lowered his hand to the ground, ready to summon a stone pillar to attack Lee with. "I still have a bone to pick with you."

  "I won't let you!" Deacon yelled as he charged at Stonewall.

  The General gave an evil smile. Deacon had fallen for the bait. He summoned another mass of stone and lobbed it at Deacon. This time the stone morphed around Deacon's torso before hardening in place, trapping his arms and legs into a ball and rendering him useless.

  "Hey, let me out of this!" Deacon yelled as he struggled to break free. "Fight me like a man!"

  "Ahahahaha! Oh I've met some dumb sons of bitches in my time, but you take the cake." Stonewall cackled as Deacon wiggled helplessly. "Sticking your neck out for strangers on a whim? That's a surefire way to get yourself killed. Now you just stay there and watch, as I crush your roughhead friend!"

  "Forgetting someone?" a voice from behind Stonewall said.

  "Huh?" Stonewall said as he looked behind him, interrupting his attack on Lee. He felt a pair of firm arms, wrap around his waist, and lift him up before slamming him backwards with a suplex.

  "Who the hell?" Stonewall grunted as he saw Red Sky standing over him.

  "You didn't think I was going to let you get away with all this," The Chief said as he charged at Stonewall again.