CHAPTER 28 – RED SALOON

10 Crows shot Marshall in the chest. Slaughterhouse Slater's shots missed, as he was finally executed by Peyton wielding Kid Colt's dragoons. Steel Coat Kildare unloaded his sawed-off shotguns on Ira, but he was too far out of range. He got shot straight through the head by Ira who did not blink and did not fail in the revenge of his brother.

"Let's see your steel coat stop that."

Jebediah FreeLander clapped and laughed. Wild Card got in between 10 Crows, and Peyton and Ira, who were too busy checking Marshall’s limp body on the floor. But before they could get to him, all were summoned before FreeLander. Wild Card ushered Peyton and Ira in front of him. They unwillingly approached the strange assassin. 10 Crows did not look at his son on the floor. He was lost in his demons. Wyatt Kaleb Troy III was still in New York. 10 Crows was a ruthless killer, and his true heir was made clear. He walked behind Peyton, eyeing him up and down like a prized stallion.

FreeLander greeted them. "Welcome, Blackheart," he turned, "Welcome, Sergeant Davis."

"Actually it's just Ira now."

"Yes, but that is when you did your finest work." He nodded at both Wild Card and 10 Crows as they all entered the Inferno. "Aside from Cass, you are three of the deadliest men in the West." FreeLander smiled at them as they each reacted differently. "Ira," he went on, "I'm surprised you made it this far."

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Smart.”

"What exactly is this?" Ira asked.

"Tryouts," Peyton figured out.

"Mr. Quade is correct," FreeLander scoffed, "Consider this your recruitment."

"Recruitment into what?"

"My ranks."

"Sure can talk a lot for a dead man," Peyton spat.

"Dead is such a relative term."

"How can this be?" Ira wanted to know.

"Follow me and I will tell you everything."

Ira thought for a second, that he actually had a choice. They walked past the main bar and down through the cellar. Upon entering the only other door in the room, FreeLander led them further down into the depths of the Inferno.

"To know me is to know the war," FreeLander stopped.

Ira looked around, it was a dungeon. Skeletons in chains lined the walls.

"What war?" Peyton responded.

"An ancient war," FreeLander went on, "that has been waging since the beginning of time. I was once, like you all, an angel who was cast out of heaven against his will, but instead of this nice blue planet, I was cursed with the underworld." He continued walking, leading them down further to yet another level. "Well I have spent countless years trying to take back what is rightfully mine."

He brought them through wild caverns, "And in that time, my plight has desensitized. Once a gruesome war… Now we play a game, where I have come to find that the only way into heaven is through certain loopholes.”

“Like?”

“Unleashing the apocalypse on humanity."

Ira and Peyton only hesitated slightly at that, as they continued walking on a path carved out by the stalagmites and stalactites through the caves. "You see, I have lured the Father out of the Kingdom, but his Son remains, guarding the throne." FreeLander looked back at them. "All I can do is summon Christ before mankind as it says in the prophecy of his second coming. So many times I have tried and failed... This time I will not."

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"We won't let you."

"Your juvenile heroics are meaningless at this point. Just ask your late president of the Union. Letting Lincoln foil my attempts at a civil war was only a façade. Really it was just a precursor to what I have long planned. Today, we see the labors I have carefully laid out finally come together in one beautiful masterstroke." FreeLander smiled at his own words, and brought them into a man-made tunnel.

"What are you talking about?"

"Abraham Lincoln thought he was stopping me by stopping the war. Early he found out I was responsible for the hate and greed of the south. Only after digging a little deeper, did he find that I was behind all of slavery. There is no place in this universe where an idea as foul and merciless as slavery could be thought of, except for my hell. But I was after something deeper. By preventing the destruction of America, he sealed his own fate, along with yours. You all acted exactly as I have foreseen. Steps taken by your own free will, governed by the end of the war, brought you all together here tonight for one reason." They came to the end of the tunnel, where the floor was raised up as an altar.

"And what reason is that?"

"Do not fear me, Ira. I cannot kill you. I need you, all of you." Before the altar was a giant circular metal door with seven seals on it. "Trust me," FreeLander reasoned, "If I could open the door to my world, I would have a long time ago. The truth is, I cannot. It requires the unlocking of seven seals to raise hell upon the Earth. Each of the seven seals materializes in one distinct choice within a human soul. The first four are always my horsemen; evil, war, famine, and death. The White horse was the first seal I unlocked, as a symbol I gave him the gift of immortality and a pure white beard."

Everyone looked over at Wild Card. He did not budge, for he already knew what he was.

"The second and third seal I held open competitions for. It was Charlie Slaughterhouse Slater and Peyton Blackheart Quade who came out on top, respectfully becoming the Red and Black horsemen."

"It is no mystery who the final and most deadly horseman is." FreeLander gave 10 Crows a look of approval. "Peyton, be proud. For evil is in the very blood that runs through your veins. Your mother-raping father, who has come to be known and feared as the outlaw 10 Crows, has been my right hand man, and king amongst assassins. He was a certain choice for my Pale horse, Death."

"After I unlocked the first four seals, the martyr seal was next. Young Jimmy MacPherson played an integral role in my plan, albeit an irrelevant part in of your useless cause. In sacrificing his life he gave me exactly what I needed. You knew him as Kid Colt."

Ira stepped back, blown away by the reality of FreeLander's total control over them; at the impact he had on that kid's life, just by picking him up along the way. He would always regret getting him involved, and never forgive himself for letting him die.

"The sixth seal was the hardest to unlock. By harnessing the power cosmic and tempting man with the ability of time-travel, Ira helped me bring the world to the brink of apocalypse with only one final seal remaining."

Another forced realization and Ira was beside himself with contempt.

"And so here we are, before the seven seals. Six of which are already unlocked. The seventh seal waits for one of you, the children of Adam, to step forth and open the gate, helping me unleash all the evils of hell upon humanity.”

Ira acted only as he knew how, remaining steadfast in his opposition. Peyton was undecided, and began to once again doubt who he was. Wild Card was too apathetic. He no longer knew what was next for him; a feeling he had forgotten. And 10 Crows most eagerly pledged, "I will do it."

He stepped forward as no one tried to stop him. Even Ira's feet stuck to the ground as he wondered if this was truly where he belonged. After all, what sort of righteous man has an affair with his brother's wife while he watches his brother get murdered just outside? Christ, he didn’t even bury Will. They just left his body out there like savages. It all felt like a daze, a trance. It was all so unlike him. Maybe Ira really was always meant for the destiny of a gatekeeper of hell.

10 Crows went to press his palm against the only empty seal on the door. A shimmer of light caught off a blade as it flew through the air. The knife sliced through 10 Crows' hand and pinned it to the wall next to the seal. The side of the handle read, "BUCK".

Marshall tackled 10 Crows from behind, pulling his arm caught by the blade down, and ripped his hand in half, freeing him. 10 Crows screamed in agony. Marshall had survived the duel. He got the knife out of the wall as 10 Crows hit Marshall’s elbows, releasing the buck knife into the air. Marshall dropped while 10 Crows lunged for the knife. A piece of Kid Colt's vest fell out of Marshall's shirt with a bullet lodged in it.

10 Crows just missed the knife due to a quick jab to the gut from Marshall. The knife continued to plummet. Marshall swung around and caught it low, plunging it into 10 Crows' side. He lifted the handle of the blade up with tremendous force and cracked open his body from his ribcage to his chest-plate. 10 Crows fell to the floor and his insides spilled out as Marshall let his knife go with his fallen father. Wyatt Kaleb Troy III died in the bowels of Dodge City as 10 Crows, the fourth horseman of the apocalypse.

Marshall stood over him, hand covered in blood. Seven horns sounded off seven times. The final seal turned within the door and unlocked. Marshall backed away, terrified at what he just had done. FreeLander walked over with a big grin on his face. He held his hands up as the mechanisms within the door began to unlock and release. And just like every step up until this moment, they all realized…

It all unfolded according to the devil’s design. Free will was a myth. A concoction for the unintelligent to convince them they had control. Marshall’s triumphant reckoning was the seventh seal all along. The apocalypse was now upon them.