The being from Hell chuckled once more. "So you really are here. I was hoping I might have a little more time to spend here looking for you. Take in the sights and what not."

"Unfortunately for you, it looks like you won't get it," Azrael replied.

"You don't know how good I am with this here six shooter," said Raggan. "Could be you getting killed."

"I doubt it," Isaac interjected. "I saw this guy get shot in the face and just shrug it off."

"By a human," Raggan scoffed. "It's a little different when a demon does it."

"You mean if," Azrael retorted. "Do you really think you can shoot me before I drop you all the way back to Hell?"

"I'll admit my chances are rather low based on our positions here. Here I am aiming my gun at this here boy, while you have your gun pointed square at me. Perhaps that means I might be better off trying to take this coon out with me. Huh, boy? You ready to die? Maybe I can drag you down to Hell with me. Wouldn't that be nice?"

Isaac grimaced. He hated the prospect of serving as a hostage, but he knew that he really wasn't ready to die like this. There was a lot he still wished to do with his life, starting with saving Eden Prairie. People were counting on him. The kids were counting on him.

"If you want to know what Hell is like, I can tell you," Raggan began. "There are many nasty things down there. Have you ever cut your finger on some paper? Now imagine that happening all over your entire body after your skin gets ripped off and hooks have skewered through your bones and we hoist you in the air. Then your skin regrows and we just keep repeating the process until we get bored and move onto a whole new way of torturing you. And this happens forever."

"Shoot him," Isaac said as he looked into the eyes of Azrael. "Send the son of a bitch back to Hell where he belongs."

"Bold kid," the demon laughed. "But I think we both know you wouldn't want to see an innocent kid like this get gunned down before his time has come by a demon."

Azrael smiled, "If you think I care about this kid, I can assure I don't. He's been a pain in my ass as long as I've known him. I had to chase him down to what I can only describe as the asshole of this town. They boarded everything around here up and one stiff breeze will knock everything over. Dust and dirt and grime on everything. Overgrown clumps of grass and weeds growing. It's terrible. And yet here I am because of this kid. So, go ahead. Shoot him."

"This is the lamest attempt of reverse psychology I have ever seen. There is no way you would let me shot this n-"

BANG! A bullet flew right into the trigger finger of the demon, taking it off before the knuckle. As Raggan recoiled from the injury, a second shot rang out. This time the bullet found its way through the demon's head, ending the hostage situation for good.

Once more, Isaac could not believe what he witnessed. He stared at the corpse of the demon before moving his eyes to the angel of Death.

"That was amazing," Isaac beamed.

"You think that's amazing, get a load of this," Azrael said as he motioned Isaac to look once more at the demon. As Isaac watched, burned hands began to emerge from the ground, grasping at the corpse. Soon the body descended in lurching motions into where the hands had came from. For one moment there was a hole of unimaginable depth before them. In the next, it vanished. "Demons are really into showmanship."

Isaac wished the strangeness would cease immediately. He knew it wouldn't and that he better embrace it until he could finish putting up with it forever. At least he would have to if he were to have his best bet to save Eden Prairie. As Azrael began to head away without even a goodbye, Isaac called out to him, "Wait!"

Azrael glanced back, curious what this kid could want with him. "Look," the kid began. "I'm trying to help my town. Some guys came and took it over a little while ago. They killed the sheriff and have been holding everyone hostage ever since. They've made everyone their slaves, making them provide them with food and anything else they want. I don't have any idea what they are after, but they seem keen on just using the town as a camp."

"Interesting," Azrael pondered. "Do you think they could be the missing colleagues of the dearly departed Mr. Raggan?"

"They could be," Isaac nodded.

"Okay."

With that the two made their way back to the saloon for the final time. Isaac mounted his horse, thankful that he might just be able to save the day. Azrael mounted an impressive-looking stead of his own. "You have a horse?" Isaac asked in disbelief.

"Well, duh. How else do you expect me to get around? Though technically, Scythe here is an undead horse. Isn't that right? Aren't you boy?" Azrael cooed as he gave a tender rub to Scythe's head. Scythe nickered at the attention.

With that, the two began what would become one of the most important journeys for the lives of everyone who lived within the Regal Desert, human or otherwise. As they finally reached the edge of Oasis, Isaac couldn't help but feel in awe of the moment, though he would not understand its significance until far later. He was about to make his way back to Eden Prairie with what must be the finest gunman in the entire planet, if not beyond. "I still can't believe you shot the finger off that guy. That was amazing!"

"Oh, that," Azrael said as he put his hand on the back of his head. "To be honest, I figured there was about a sixty percent chance that the gun would have gone off from that, but I guess we both got lucky."