THE MOMENT
"What?" Nax shook his head with a laugh as he searched the gunman's corpse for loot. "Anything I want," he answered. The old prospector laughed from behind the bar; he jumped back there for safety when the shooting started. He poured himself a drink as the teen thief moved on to another corpse. There were dozens.
"Typical. You're expecting to walk out of this saloon and into your happily ever after. You won't even give a second thought to the innocent townfolk. What about us?" The prospector asked. He downed his shot, then refilled it. Nax couldn't help but chuckle as he moved to the next body.
"What about you?" Nax chuckled.
"You get to ride off into the sunset thinking you did a good thing here...," he shook his head, then took another shot. "...we get to wait for the next villain to ride in and make a name for himself. They always come."
"Uhuh," Nax nodded but he was no longer listening.
"...they.... always come...," the prospector repeated. His shot glass was refilled but he held it on the bar. "Every day...,"
"Well, I didn't get anything useful...," Nax said. He stood up from the last corpse. He waved at the prospector and walked out through the swinging doors. The prospector watched the blonde kid leave and he drank his shot.
"What about us?" he asked. He locked his eyes on the doors. The moment they stopped a big, burly hand shoved it open. The squeaking door filled the quiet saloon with sound.
"Jethro, what are you doing back here?" The prospector turned and saw his favorite barmaid. She was alive again and she shooed Jethro out from behind the bar with a broad smile. "Don't let me catch you back here again buster." He wanted to hug her, but someone interrupted the whole bar.
"Excuse me folks," a large man with a black cowboy hat said. He grinned and gestured to the half-dozen armed men behind him. "My boys and I are looking for a good time."
"...Every day...," Jethro mumbled to himself. He clenched his fist; but, the big villain toppled forward and landed on the floor face first. He had a large dagger sticking out of his back with Nax crouched between the outlaws.
"Sorry guys, I'm trying to get through this quickly," Nax said. He drew two new daggers from his belt, then disappeared. The patrons had fled and Jethro was the only one still there. He watched as the outlaws spun around in confusion. Then, one by one, they all fell over dead.
"....no shots this time....," Jethro was impressed and confused.
"What'd you say, old-timer?" Nax yelled from the bodies he was inspecting.
"They didn't fire a single shot this time...," Jethro said. Nax stood up and faced the old prospector.
"What do you mean, 'this time'?" Nax asked. Golden stars flashed in his eyes as he watched Jethro.
"Last time.... they killed everyone... they almost got me...but you saved me..." Jethro leaned on the bar for support while his mind tried to make sense of things. Nax nodded and approached the bar.
"I'm not good at explaining it; but trust me, it's good news," Nax said. "Congratulations, you're a Unique Soul now."
"Huh?" Jethro asked.
"Up until today, your life was scripted one way. You spent all your time here...," Nax gestured at the bar, then at the corpses. "...doing this. But now your soul is awake to new possibilities."
"But...," Jethro shook his head. It was too much to consider. He couldn't even find his role in any of it. "...what do I do now?"
Nax grinned and raised his node so Jethro could see it. He tapped and swiped on it for several seconds. Then, a squeaky door brought the room back to life.
"Jethro...!" the barmaid whined at him for being in her way while Nax smiled.
"Anything you want."