Final hours - Part 2

--- 3 hours left ---

"Hey, hey! Wake up, sleepyhead." Guard #1 joked.

"Like I could sleep here." Perros looked up and saw the two guards.

"Now what? Want to beat me up?"

"Nah, we hold no grudge against you personally." The guards looked at each other with a growing smirk.

"Kidding!" Guard #2 shouted and kicked Perros.

"We'll drag you through the streets so people can get a good look at that ugly face of yours." he added as he continued to kick Perros.

The first guard joined in and also started kicking Perros, who was slowly losing consciousness.

--- 2 hours left ---

Perros woke up to the sound of booing. When he realized where he was, people noticed that he was no longer unconscious and began throwing things at him. Guards stopped here and there to give people a better shot at him.

"This must so humiliating." Guard #2 spat at Perros.

"Although don't worry, soon enough it will be all over." Guard #1 smirked.

"But for you!" both of them hysterically laughed.

--- Six Pistols ---

"That's it! That's the town." Esco said warningly.

"It's really close. I hope we make it." Bruno said.

Tio exchanged a look with Koon and took a deep breath.

"Yeah, we'll make it." Tio said with a smile on his face.

Sitting in the back of the wagon, he pushed down Bruno, who was taken by surprise.

"What are you doing?!" Bruno shouted.

Nazo, who was driving, looked to see what was going on in the back and got thrown out by Koon. Luckily, he still managed to grab the bag.

Tio and Koon looked at Esco.

"Fuck you. I'll do it myself." He said and jumped off.

"See, I told you we could make it." Tio waved back at them, his voice slowly fading into the distance.

"You almost scared me, ain't gonna lie." Koon chuckled.

When Nazo, Bruno and Esco came to their senses, all they could see was a small cloud of dust in the remoteness.

"They really thought I would help them." Tio smirked.

"I have to give it to you, you played them good. I really thought you'd join their side to help that brat. Thank goodness, it was all in my head."

"We're almost there." Tio pointed towards them.

Nazo, Bruno, and Esco had to hurry or they wouldn't make it to Perros' execution.

"Seems the plan was a success." Nazo gave them a slight smiled.

"Yeah, great. But now we have to actually get there." Esco sarcastically said.

"I'd say that's our biggest problem right now."

"And for the biggest problems..." Nazo said.

"We've got the biggest solutions." he patted Bruno on the back.

"I don't like where this is going..." Bruno unsurely said.

Nazo swiftly mounted Bruno, prompting him.

"Hiya, to Old York." Nazo raised his hand.

"You could've just said so. Come on Esco." Bruno walked closer to him.

--- 1 hour left ---

The day before Perros's execution, Luma ordered a gallows erected in downtown Old York. Before the clock struck noon, so many people had gathered around the gallows that the streets were completely blocked.

A man in a top hat ascended the steps to the gallows, adjusted his clothes and tapped the microphone several times.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are delighted that such a huge attendance has turned out for today's spectacular event." The announcer began his speech.

"The execution of Perros, rebel against the government and captain of the now infamous Six Pistol gang." he added, revealing a giant wanted poster beneath him.

"Unfortunately, the execution is set to take place at noon. So, allow me to apologize, and please wait a while longer."

--- 30 minutes left ---

After a few minutes, the announcer spoke again.

"There he is, ladies and gentlemen! Those who cannot see the devil himself, let those look to the east of the stairs." Announcer pointed east.

--- 20 minutes left ---

Another few minutes passed and Perros was at the bottom of the stairs.

"Here he is, ladies and gentlemen! The moment you've all been waiting for is here in a matter of minutes."

--- 15 minutes left ---

Perros, covered in all sorts of crap, sat under the noose they were lowering for him. He looked at the crowd. The hate, the thirst for justice, he knew there was no way for him to survive. And in the distance, on a raised platform, a shrouded character, which must have been Luma. Beside her sat none other than Amaan Feuntes, but one chair was still vacant.

"Can I say my last words?" Perros looked at the Announcer.

"I don't know, can you?" The Announcer looked at the crowd.

"What do you think, people? Can he say his last words?" he tried to stir up the crowd.

Crowd fell silent, but few of them spoke up: "Let him! Yeah! Why not!"

"Speak up, you low-life." The announcer tilted the microphone toward Perros.

There was a moment of silence as Perros thought about what to say.

"All of you should go to hell." Perros said with a grin on his face.

"I have nothing to say to you..."

The crowd was taken aback, the whole centre became quiet, but before they could even send their anger at him, a female voice spoke up from the crowd. Initially, she received many hateful looks and then an empty circle formed around her.

--- 5 minutes left ---

"What did you say?" The announcer asked.

"I said let him go!" Anna shouted.

"Are you out of your mind, young lady?! There's no reason for us to free this lunatic."

"I already told you - give it up." Perros mumbled.

"Hear that?! Even this baboon knows it's futile to try anything." The announcer laughed.

"But..." Anna's voice dropped a little.

"But?" The announcer repeated mockingly.

"I love you, Perros! I love you!" Anna's voice echoed through the center.

Perros couldn't believe his ears and neither could the rest of the audience. After he heard that, the last bit of life force in him surged. However, several guards were already on their way to subdue Anna, but the density of the crowd made it take them longer than they expected.

"Why?! I never did anything for you!" Perros spoke louder.

"Not for me, but you would risk everything for your friends. It just shows what a character you have!"

"I don't understand you..." Perros smiled slightly, but by then the guards had reached Anna.

"I will wait, whether in this life or the next---" The guards silenced Anna.

"That hat wasn't all you had! It's all in you!"

Perros paused and watch the guards take Anna away.

"Maybe, there are still some people who do care..." Perros thought for himself.

"It's too late for that." he watched as the noose approached him.

"Lift him up!" The announcer commanded, and the guards lifted Perros to his feet.

--- The platform ---

"Well, that was somethin'..." Amaan laughed.

"If it goes on like this, we won't even get to the execution itself." Luma said and waved at the announcer.

"And where is that half man, half machine?" Amaan jokingly asked.

"I'm here you, clown." Koon out of breath said.

"Oh, here it is. I thought I'd never see you again, FRIEND." Amaan stood up to shake his hand, but Koon swept past him.

Amaan looked at him and narrowed his eyes. Koon pushed back the chair and took his place.

"Old friend of ours is here, but he stayed aside to guard from intruders." Koon spoke as he looked at the gallows.

"Who?" Amaan asked.

"Presto..." Koon turned his head to him.

--- The gallows ---

"Ladies and gentlemen, I have received a signal, meaning we have speed things up a bit." Announcer signalized to the guards.

One guard held Perros and the other fastened a noose around his neck. Perros didn't even fight back, fully accepting his fate.

"And as you can see, when we hang him from the platform, we'll turn the arm of the gallows and leave him dangling under twenty feet of nothingness." Announcer pointy at the arm of the gallows.

Perros having the noose around his neck, they slowly raised him in the air. He stood on tiptoe and walked slowly forward to the edge as they turned the arm of the gallows.

"Don't resist..." The guard coldly said and gently bumped into Perros, who was on the verge of being killed.

In an instant, Perros began to gasp as the noose closed around his throat. This was the end for him.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the clock has struck noon and he is hanging at last. I'll venture my little guess with you: he won't even last five seconds." Announcer chuckled.

--- The platform ---

"Finally, he's hanging. How I hate such pesky insects." Amaan smiled devilishly.

"But he's still not dead." Luma pointed out.

"Until it stops moving completely, we can't celebrate."

"Don't think too much about it then, as it has been said before... No one can save him---" Koon said, but he heard some scrambling behind him.

Koon looked behind him and saw a man standing on the railing of the platform.

"YOU?!" Koon pointed his gun at him.

"Hello there." Tio smiled and shot in the air.

"What are you doing!?" Koon asked furiously.

"Making a ruckus. What does it look like I'm doing?" Tio smiled.

"Who is that? Your friend?" Luma asked.

"Never seen him before." Amaan looked at him thoughtfully.

"That's sad. You don't even remember the one who taught you all this." Tio kept on his smile.

"PRESTO!?" Amaan exclaimed in surprise.

The shot that Tio fired caused everyone to panic. At the time, few cared if Perros was hanging or not, they were too worried about their own lives.

"Look what you've done. Previous master or not, this is unacceptable." Luma got mad.

Luma tries to shoot Tio but he evaded and the shot only hit his leg. Tio fell back to the ground and was soon surrounded by guards.

"Ignorant." Luma turned back to the gallows.

"WHERE IS HE?" she immediately noticed that Perros was missing, as was the eye of the noose.