Chapter Thirteen: The Water's Back

The mayor's office building doors violently swing open, and out comes Jake baring his fangs to him. But he's holding Beans in his grip... Why is he holding her like that?

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Rango: Put her down.

Rattlesnake Jake: (Smirks) Or what? You're gonna kill me?

Rango: That's just about the size of it.

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Jake then looks at Beans for a second before pushing her into the arms of the rabbit henchmen and they tie her up, including putting a cloth around her mouth so she couldn't talk. Now serious, Jake looks back at Rango.

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Rattlesnake Jake: All right sheriff, make your move.

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Jake then slithers his way towards the center of the dirt road of the town facing Rango. He then looks at his rattle and adjusts it, cocking the rattle gun so it's ready to fire. As he grins at him, he lets out an evil chuckle.

Rango pulls his gun out and cocks it before putting it back in its case on his belt. It's now silent. The winds are slightly blowing, causing the glass bottles hanging to touch each other. As the tower clock chimes, Rango proceeds to walk forward. Jake shakes his rattle as he proceeds to slither towards him.

Now you're now extremely worried. You're not worried about Rango, of course, you're worried about Jake. If Rango fires one bullet at him in a weak spot, then it's all over. You can only watch as the two head towards each other while everyone else watches from their front porches and through dusty windows.

Then Rango stops in his tracks, causing Jake to stop as well. The tower clock then strikes noon and it chimes, which can be heard throughout the town. You then see the raven cock his shotgun and was about to shoot Jake, but Jake hears this and quickly turns his head and fires at the guy. One of the bullets struck his shoulder, causing him to fall two stories and crash through the ceiling, and lands on the front porch.

Jake then quickly turns back at Rango and is ready to fire at him. But Rango crosses his arms and smiles as he says...

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Rango: Thirsty brother?

Rattlesnake Jake: Huh?

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Jake looks down and tries to slither off out of the way, but a water geyser shoots up into the air from the ground, sending Jake into the air. Jake lets out a shout as he's being sent into the air causing you to run out of the porch and run towards the geyser.

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Y/n: JAKE!

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But just as you stepped off the front porch is when a few more water geysers come out of the ground, destroying some of the buildings and sending a couple of citizens flying into the sky. Everyone began running away, but you're not going anywhere until you know that Jake's okay. You don't know what Rango is up to, but whatever it is, you're going to make sure he doesn't harm Jake.

You hurry towards the town center, and that's when Jake finally lands on the ground. But he quickly shakes the water off his eyes before he takes his stance and faces his gun rattle at Rango.

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Rattlesnake Jake: I'm gonna blow so many holes in you, your guts will be leaking lead!

Rango: Well then it's a good thing I brought some backup.

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That's when you all see a big shadow of a hawk fly across the sky. Causing Jake to look up into the air, and in a panic, he hides his rattle and slithers onto a front porch underneath a roof so the hawk doesn't see him. This is the first time you've seen him get scared of a predator. He looks at the sky, in fear of being seen by the hawk. The fear you see in his eyes as he then looks at the front porch window and his fear quickly turns into anger as he realizes that it wasn't a hawk.

You finally look up at the sky and see that it's dozens and dozens of dark-colored bats being controlled and formed into a shape of a hawk. You were about to run to him to comfort him, but Jake then comes out of his hiding place, destroying the porch before he starts shooting at the bats. Jake laughs as he takes down some of the bats, but his joy doesn't last long when he runs out of bullets. He looks at his rattle and notices that he's run out of bullets.

Rango, now less than three feet in front of him, takes his pistol out and cocks it as he aims for Jake's head.

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Rango: it only takes one bullet.

Rattlesnake Jake: You ain't got the nerve.

Rango: Try me.

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Others wouldn't notice, but Jake's expression turns into shock as he realizes that Rango does mean what he says. You stood there in complete shock, unable to move, seeing the love of your life at the mercy and knowing that Rango's going to shoot him. Your mind is almost completely blank, but the words "Please don't shoot him" and "Please don't kill him" were running through your mind.

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Mayor: Oh Mr. Rango, aren't you forgetting something?

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One of the two rabbit henchmen then pulls his pistol out and pushes it below Bean's chin. They then pull Beans back into the building while one of them lets out an evil chuckle.

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Mayor: Hand me your gun, sheriff. Now Mr. Rango.

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Beans was right about the Mayor being evil. Rango then takes the bullet out of the gun before he walks toward the mayor. That's when Jake finally notices you standing a few feet away from where Rango was just standing. You're relieved that he's okay now, but you both know that you would have seen Rango shoot him dead.

Even with the water geysers all around you, it seems like it's just you and him again. You stare at each other for what seems like a few seconds until the mayor calls out to him and he looks at you one more time for a second before slithering into the bank with the mayor and the rest of his henchmen.

After they all head inside, you run towards the front of the building and look through the window. You see Rango and Beans inside the water vault and the water's filling up with them locked inside. You slightly open the window to hear their conversation, but you make sure to keep cover as you didn't want to be seen. You also rip a flexible piece of your dress and pick up a couple of rocks in order to make a slingshot out of it. As you make your weapon, you hear the mayor talk.

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Mayor: All my problems taken care of. Except for one.

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The mayor pulls out Rango's pistol and aims it at Jake. No...

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Mayor: It's a new west Jake, there's no room for gunslingers anymore. We're businessmen now.

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No... He's going to shoot Jake. You just finished your weapon to help Beans and Rango, but you stop at the sight of the mayor aiming the gun at Jake's head. You know that Jake doesn't have any bullets in his gun rattle.

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Mayor: You and the sheriff are more alike than you think. You're nothing but legends. Pretty soon, no one will believe you even existed.

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The mayor reaches his arm out, as to make the gun a little somehow closer.

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Mayor: One last bullet, to kill one last outlaw. (Chuckles) How fitting.

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You seemed to be frozen in time. No... this can't be it... You didn't even get to tell him that you love him. You're so focused on Jake, terrified of seeing his death that's about to happen that you didn't notice a tear run down your cheek.

The mayor pulls the trigger, but the gun doesn't fire. That's when you and everyone else realize that the gun doesn't have any bullets. Rango must have taken the last bullet out of the chamber. You quickly take your makeshift slingshot and fire the first rock at the glass water vault and the second rock to knock the gun out of the mayor's hand.

Just as you bend down to grab another rock, the glass from the water vault cracks until it completely bursts, letting all the water out of the vault. In less than a few seconds, the water drowns everyone inside and almost fills up the entire building. But because all the windows are weak, the water breaks through the windows and the next thing you know, your body is being violently pushed as the water drowns you for a few seconds.

You keep your eyes shut as your body is pushed against a building and the water goes down. You hear Beans cough and she helps you up as you couldn't stand up due to the pain in the side of your body. When you fully open your eyes, you see that Beans has her arm under your arm to help keep you standing. Then you see Rango walking up to the mayor who's knocked over, laying on his shell, and can't get up because of it.

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Mayor: Now sheriff! I'm sure if we work together. We can reach a mutually beneficial solution to our current situation.

Rango: You better take it up with him.

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Rango uses his foot to kick and spin the mayor around to face Rattlesnake Jake. And right on cue, Jake takes a high stance, his face showing complete anger. He leans forward but stops after a small light reflects off something and it hits his eye, getting his attention. You both look and you see that it's the single bullet that Rango took out of the gun.

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Rattlesnake Jake: One bullet... (Turns to Rango) I tip my hat to you, one legend to another.

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Jake turns his attention back to the mayor who's still lying on his shell.

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Rattlesnake Jake: What was that you said? Pretty soon, no one will believe you even existed.

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Jake angrily shows his fangs at the mayor before wrapping himself around the mayor. Now with the mayor wrapped in the lower half of his coils, Jake then quickly drags the mayor out of town, leaving you and everyone be. The mayor's screams were loud, but only for a second before no one can hear his scream anymore.

As soon as Jake leaves town with him, the townspeople walk to the center and start celebrating. You have Beans let you go and you walk the same way Jake slithered away, leaving Beans and Rango be. Your side where you hit the building still hurts, but the pain's not even on your mind right now.

You pass by several townsfolk and see that they're all so happy. Children are kicking and playing in the water while some of the adults are crying tears of joy at seeing the water. Seeing these families smiling and laughing together reminds you of your family... Mrs.Belle...

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Y/n: I wish you could see this mom... You would have been so happy.

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What would you have to give in order to at least see her one more time? To have a small conversation with her and tell her what you should have told her...

You reach the end of the town, and you see the wet slither marks Jake left behind. You know that Jake is going to kill him, you just wonder how he's... wait... the squeeze of death... Well, either way, the mayor deserves whatever he has coming. You just hope that you'll see Jake again tonight.