[The Lone Gunslinger, Chapter 16, Festival Day, Part II] [Previously on The Lone Gunslinger] We follow David around to the back of the warehouse. He puts a finger to his lips, and crouching, we tip toe around the crates they stored outside to clear the warehouse for the play. David stops at the corner of a crate and motions for me to come look around the corner. I do it and… [And Now, Part II] "Oh my frozen ancestors!" I whisper staring in shock at what I'm seeing. Then I fall on the ground roaring in laughter. Ace and Jaco push apart from each other and face us. Ace's face turns bright red and Jaco just grins stupidly; they were making out. I crawl away laughing while David points at Jaco. "He was cheating on you!" shouts David. "How can you laugh?" "You're a moron," I reply. "Jaco's my brother, not my lover… Omgosh you are so stupid." Ace's expression turns dangerous. "No, No, don't shoot me, Ace," I choke out through more laughing. "I didn't know this is what he was bringing us to see." "Yea, sorry, Ace," says Twig and Misfire together. "We didn't know either." Shane and Heather turn and run. David tries to run also, but I reach out and trip him, and then Ace is on top of him. Misfire and Twig grab me, and we wisely run away as well, to the sounds of Ace punching the snot out of David. We make it back inside just in time to see the kids finishing up the play. All the actors and stage crew hold their hands up and bows. "We are Lone Gunslingers," shout the kids. The audience stands and the applause is thunderous. We run back to our positions, Gunslinger Elias is shooing everyone off stage and getting them lined up for the last part of the play. Now we have to show our progress through the last year. Gunslinger Elias and Cyrus carry a balance beam out on stage and set it down. The audience calms down and the first graders parade across the stage and walk the balance beam one by one. The second graders do the same but stop on the balance beam and lift one foot and hold it to show they have developed balance. We don't have any third graders, that was the year of the Shadow War and we didn't have any births that year. The fourth graders jump up on the balance beam and then bend down and do a two-handed-hand stand before running off stage. The Fifth-graders do a series of summersaults on the balance beam and finish with perfect hand-stands. The sixth-graders execute perfect flips over each other before leaving the stage. The seventh, eighth, and ninth graders perform a simple version of the Duster Dance, spinning and jumping and finishing in a swirl of continuous summersaults from the standing position across the stage. I notice David is not present. Then it's our turn, the First Year Trainees. My class runs out on stage, flips up on the balance beam on one hand, and then we jump up on four fingers, then three, then two. We hold the position without a single shake or movement, and then finish by pushing up and somersaulting backwards, draw our revolvers in mid-air, and land in a kneeling crouch, our revolvers aimed at the audience. The Second Year Trainees add to our demonstration by spinning horizontally in the air and landing with their revolvers pointed at the audience. The Third Year Class takes positions apart from each other and demonstrates the last technique, they spin, summersault, and use their dusters as the weapons they can be. The whip sound of their dusters as they spin is loud and amazing as their spins cause their dusters to break the sound barrier and crack. The Graduate Class performs a ten minute fight scene that shows they have learned every technique and are ready to join the Lone Gunslingers in battle. We all run back to our seats on the floor in front of the stage to watch the grand finale of the show. Commander Conrad and Gunslinger Cyrus walk out onto stage and face each other. Gunslinger Elias faces the audience from the corner of the stage. "We have only one challenger this year," announces Gunslinger Elias. "Begin." At first the two men just stare at each other, then Cyrus spins, his duster lashes out and Conrad rolls to block. The crackling sound as the flex-armor strikes each other sounds like a machine gun. Conrad drops and sweeps a leg but Cyrus is already in the air and spinning away. Conrad rushes Cyrus and a series of punches and kicks that are nearly too fast to see blur outward from the two combatants. Cyrus jumps back and summersaults away as Conrad follows with flying kicks. This fight is very very real. Cyrus draws his revolver in a blinding movement that makes it look as if the gun just appeared in his hand, and Conrad mirrors the move, the sound of metal on metal rings out as the two men move and block and strike, trying to get a clean shot. Then as quickly as it began, it's over. The revolver flies from Cyrus' hand. Misfire sees the trajectory of the flying revolver first with Twig only a moment behind him. The two boys dive forward and shove the first and second graders away as the gun rockets past us like a missile. I look back at where the gun went. A Graduate Gunslinger caught the gun in his hand before it could go any further and hurt someone. I turn back around but the fight is over. Cyrus is on his back and Conrad is pressing his knee into Cyrus' throat. I hear movement and turn again to look behind me. Gunslinger Phillip is standing with help from his assistants, and then walks around and up onto the stage. "Gunslinger Conrad remains the Lone Gunslinger Commander for another year," announces Gunslinger Phillip. "Choose your Deputy Commander." Commander Conrad stands and faces the assembly of Lone Gunslingers. "I choose Gunslinger Simon." "Gunslinger Simon remains Deputy Commander for another year," announces Gunslinger Phillip, and then walks off the stage with help. Commander Conrad starts to address the Lone Gunslingers but an air raid siren begins a long piercing wail, and he holds up his hands. "Remain calm," shouts the Commander. "Simon, get that thing turned off." I look back at my father; he's talking to someone on his Com-link and the siren abruptly shuts off. "We are not under attack," says the Commander. "I had to keep this secret for security reasons. I want all airfield personnel to report to the airfield; the trainees will report there as well to help. The Gunslinger Quartermaster Corps is arriving and will be staging here while we send an advance party to Pyra to clear the chain of islands they will be moving to. We have 5,614 Quartermasters arriving. Check your Vid-screens for assignments. Festival Day is over, let’s get to work." I look at Misfire and we jump up and run for the door. Twig and the others are already running for the door. We run outside and look up at the sky; it's amazing, the sky is filled with the landing lights of hundreds, maybe thousands, of ships approaching. We are standing next to each other when Ace comes up behind us and puts her arms over our shoulders. "Say one word to anyone about what happened and you will never have children," whispers Ace. "Understand?" [End Part II] Special Notes: Happy Festival Day Everyone. I would like to thank everyone that follows my stories, and all the kind comments.