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*CLANG!*
*CLATTER!*
"Ow... Doc...?"
"Clint Eastwood", or rather, Marty McFly, had just taken a leap of faith... Right into a cast-iron stove.
You'd think a magic-powered superhero would be more careful. Chrissakes, he could have easily hit his head!
And that'd put an end to his old west gunslingin' dreams.
"That's gonna leave a mark.", he hisses inward in pain while rubbing his left shoulder.
Marty creeps over to the shop's window. Peeking out the curtain, he sees a gut-wrenching sight; Doc being held by Mad Dog's cronies while the man himself holds his gun up at the ready.
"Listen up, Eastwood!", Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen yells, looking right at him now, "I intend to shoot somebody today and I prefer'd it be you."
"But if you're just too damn yella, I guess it'll just have to be your blacksmith friend."
Why did he give into this idiot? Now Doc's being held hostage by Mad Dog's entourage. And it's his fault.
"Forget about me, Marty, and save yourself!"
"You got one minute to decide. You hear me roach? One minute!"
"Shit..."
He stares down at the photo in his hand as he pulls the curtain shut. The tombstone may as well already clearly read "Clint Eastwood" instead of "Emmett L. Brown". He angrily stuffs it into his pocket.
"Marty!"
"Marty!"
"Marty!"
"Martin!"
Four.
He's holding onto four Miraculous.
Ladybug. Tikki.
Rabbit. Fluff.
Snake. Sass.
Horse. Kaalki.
The four kwamis fly out from their shared hiding spot, a pouch around his waist.
No matter how much she says it, Tikki can't get him to believe he's capable.
That he's brave.
That he's not a chicken.
"But, Marty! You've saved so many people from akumatization!"
"It's only because I have Jenn and Doug's help."
A de-akumatization is a three person job, but this is no akumatized villain; this is just some chest-puffing Tannen loser!
"I-I can't leave Doc behind, but what the hell am I going to do?"
The kwamis fly closer to him, clinging to him as he sniffles.
"Marty, you can do it!"
"No, Tikki. I can't. Maybe I'm better off in the ground."
"I'm going to go down as the guy who got shot by Mad Dog Tannen over a pie tin. A pie tin, for crying out loud!"
"You don't need to give him the standoff he wants."
"Then how am I gonna save Doc?"
Peeking out again... He sees Buford stare right at him.
"I've got a bullet here for you, Eastwood!"
He trips over a coat rack, catching it before it smacks right into his head.
"Aimed right for your heart!"
Tikki hovers above him, a serious look on her face. You couldn't get her to admit it, but she's getting a little fed up with him and his need to prove himself.
"Are you ready, Marty?"
"But, what if I die out there?"
"You must face your own fear to protect the people you love."
He swallows it down, eyes shut tight.
"Tikki. Spots on."
Though nothing about his outfit changes, a red mask with black spots forms around his eyes as he opens them back up again, placing some sunglasses onto his face, which turn into a pair of goggles, resembling those a blacksmith would wear.
I gotta do what I gotta do.
"Lucky Charm."
Magical ladybugs swirl around his arms and into his hands. Thick red string emblazoned with black spots appears in his grasp as he scans around the room.
Aha! Thanks, Biff!
He quickly ties the door from the very stove he smacked into over his chest as he stands. clasping his hands together.
"Tikki, Fluff, Sass, Kaalki."
"Unify."
Pushing the timer of the snake bracelet back, he takes a deep breath.
"Second Chance."
Just before he leaves, he stares at himself in a mirror located at the back of the shop. He looks like Clint Eastwood... If he was going through Marty's "I could care less about my hero costume" phase. A haphazard attempt at implementing elements of each Miraculous' costume.
Gently sliding up his goggles... He jumps and knocks over another coat rack into said mirror, cracking it. He hastily shoves them back down.
With a newfound confidence, "Clint Eastwood" turns to face the door of... Wherever he is.
He has no time to come up with fun names. Never quite liked doing it, anyways.
"Time's up, roach!"
The sound of the hammer being pressed down echoes in his ears as he walks out into the square.
"Prepare to meet your Maker, blacksmith."
He spins his yo-yo at high speed as he approaches, so fast it's just a blue circle with white streaks. The sight of Doc with a gun to his head... It's enough to make Marty want to flee. But he's not gonna let him die a second time.
"Right here, Tannen!"
Buford turns to face Marty, lowering his revolver while his gang grabs ahold of Doc.
"What in the..."
Clint Eastwood's now quite a sight, one all the saloongoers are seeing- Including Seamus. Some rather silly looking rabbit ears are attached to his hat. Gold wings adorn his boots, like spurs. His serape is now a dusty blue color, the bottom edge black with glowing white spots.
Some weird white puffball thing sits near his neck, and a silver horseshoe on his chest. The goggles that the Horse Miraculous turned into now hang around his neck.
His hair's in a waist-length braid, tied with intertwined black and pink ribbons, the end tipped with white.
His eyes are a brighter blue- A shade so bright that it's unsettling. The white pupils don't help.
There are also three white dots in his irises; two above, one below. The arrangement of them vaugely resembles the Flux Capacitor. His mask is completely gone.
Does this mean that Marty's...
The two step out into the middle of the square, with Buford creating distance between them as he places his revolver into it's holster with a flashy little spin. He's absolutely itching to pull it back out.
Feet firmly planted, Marty sheathes his yoyo away into the pockets granted by the Rabbit Miraculous. Quickly glancing around...
Whole town's here! Perfect, just perfect... Even Seamus...
His eye and trigger finger twitch as Buford now faces him head-on, grinning. Doc shoots him a look. One of disappointment.
"Draw!"
He almost wants to groan.
"No!"
Buford stares at him as he drops the gunbelt on the ground, gulping.
"I thought we could settle this like men!"
He can't help but shudder slightly as Buford pauses, the outlaw's grin growing even wider.
"You thought wrong, dude."
Within moments, he's shot right in the chest, falling rather dramatically as he splays outward. Doc's in complete and utter disbelief! Seamus looks down, dissapointed.
Had a whole life ahead'a 'im.
Buford chuckles as he saunters closer, even bowing as he does.
Doc looks at him, before staring at Marty. Seamus begins to walk away.
"Ahh, thank ya."
Pointing the gun at him, Tannen gets ready to finish him off. But when he cocks his revolver, Marty kicks it right out of his hand. Buford gasps as he jumps back up and stares right at him.
Nice try, Tannen.
Buford punches him in the chest.
*Clunk!*
*Crack!*
He holds his hand up in pain, shaking it as he yells out in pain and backs away.
"It's broke!"
Marty smirks in satisfaction. His plan worked!
"My gun hand's broke, dammit!"
Buford stares as Marty pulls up his sarape, revealing his makeshift bulletproof vest, which he removes as Buford runs at him, screaming.
*CLANG!*
He falls to the ground after getting smacked with the iron oven door, giving Marty enough time to drop it and pull his yo-yo back out. Seamus has come back over.
He knows that yo-yo, even if it's colored strangely. Could Eastwood be a descendant of his? Why would he be here in 1885 and getting into fights with Mad Dog?
Marty walks over to be in front of Buford, spinning the yo-yo again before throwing it right at Buford's forehead...
*STONK!*
... Making him growl as he stands. Guess they don't call him "Mad Dog" for nothing.
Once he's back up, Marty throws the yo-yo forward again!
*STONK!*
"Missed me!"
*STONK!*
"Missed me again!"
Buford stumbles face-first into a rather familar looking tombstone, cracking it in half... He's still not down.
But a mean right hook puts a stop to that, making him spin around and fall headfirst into a manure cart. Deserved.
He's done it! Marty's done it! He gave Mad Dog Tannen the showdown he didn't want! A showdown that ended with Clint Eastwood alive!
A wide smile crosses his lips as he shakes his hand slightly. Doc's still in absolute and total awe. Seamus chuckles, looking at a surprised Chester.
"That was good."
Buford's little gang is practically scared shitless when they spot the deputy marshall and a trio of officers galloping down the main street.
"You know what I think?"
"No."
"I think Buford's goin' to jail."
They let go of Doc and run like the cowards they are, but he manages to knock one of them over with a swift kick in the ass.
Marty has a very, very awkward look on his face.
God, I hope they don't call me a witch or something.
"Get him out of that shit."
He gestures forward to the fleeing gang with his rifle.
"Get 'em!"
Buford is lifted out of the manure cart by a bystander as the deputy points a gun at him.
"Buford Tannen, you're under arrest for robbin' the Pine City Stage."
Doc rushes up to Marty, pushing through the crowd as he does.
"Marty! What were you thinking?", he whispers.
"Not now, Doc."
He swiftly hides his arm under his sarape, taking a deep breath. He can hear the timer counting down slowly...
"Sass, Tikki, divide."
Sass flies out of the bracelet and into the pouch around his waist, while he fiddles around with his hat to let Tikki hide underneath it. His eyes are now just blue again, and the glowing dots on his sarape disappear... The rest of the details stick around.
"You got anything to say?"
The miserable looking Buford spits out some manure.
"Deserved.", an exhausted Tikki whispers from beneath the hat.
Usually, she'd be too tired to even speak, but her holder's overwhelming sense of accomplishment had infected her.
The Guardian's one step closer to surpassing that timer.
He spits out some more.
"I hate manure."
"Look!"
Doc points at broken tombstone on the ground, prompting Marty to pull out the photo.
Tombstone no more!
"YES!"
The celebration is cut short as the train's whistle blows, making both Doc and Marty look up and over at the station.
"The train!"
"Can we make it?"
"We'll have to cut 'em off at Coyote Pass!"
After Marty gets up on his horse, a kid comes up to him, gunbelt in hand.
"Hey Mister... Mr. Eastwood. Here's your gun, Mister."
It's handed back to him... But what's he going to do with it?
"Thanks, kid."
He takes it in his hands, and takes notice of Seamus looking over at him, faking a punch and grinning. He'd been watching; Marty already knew.
"Seamus!"
He tosses the gunbelt over to his great-great-grandfather, who catches it right away.
"Worth $12, never been used."
"Maybe I'll trade it for a new hat, Mister Bug."
He winks at Marty.
Right. Seamus was the first Guardian...
"Uhh... Right, and take care of that baby!"
Marty and Doc ride off. They've gotta catch that train!
"I will!"
Was it a good idea to transform? He ended up not needing it, sure. But smacking someone with that yo-yo after all this time was so much fun.
Hell, it was a relief to be able to reveal his identity to people that wouldn't even have a clue where his powers came from. History would only know Clint Eastwood as the man who defeated Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen with just his wits.
Seamus'll make sure of it.