Kitiara Club

BraveStarr · Outlaws of the Starr · Fort Kerium

Trail of Lies

Archive Guest · 6 pages

Comic

Kerium tracks twisted, a trail vanished.

Marshal BraveStarr and Thirty/Thirty stand at the broken kerium rail line, desert mesas behind, magenta sunset blazing. The rails end abruptly in a shimmer of dust.
Tracks don't just wander off, Marshal.Thirty/Thirty
Unless someone makes them lie.Marshal BraveStarr
establish place, mood, and the trouble1 / 6
Judge J.B. McBride stands on Fort Kerium's porch, arms crossed, staring at BraveStarr and Thirty/Thirty. Sunset shadows creep across the jail's wall.
If that's Tex Hex, I want a hanging.Judge J.B. McBride
First, we need truth—not just justice.Marshal BraveStarr
Deputy Fuzz, small and earnest, flags them down, pointing toward the distant mesas; dusk deepens.
Saw shadows! Big, green, and mean!Deputy Fuzz
Let’s ride, partners.Marshal BraveStarr
Judge J.B. pushes for justice; BraveStarr weighs magic vs. law2 / 6
BraveStarr kneels, hand on wagon rut in dusty ground, eyes sharp. Thirty/Thirty stands guard behind him. The sun is now low.
Wagons cut across the flats. Too heavy for decoys.Marshal BraveStarr
They peer over rim of a box canyon: Tex Hex's gang guards kerium crates below, green magic glows at the twisted rails.
That's our shipment. And Hex twisting the truth.Thirty/Thirty
Tex Hex, arms raised, green fire swirling, warps the rails; outlaw gang watches, kerium glimmers.
Lie for me, iron! Twist the path!Tex Hex
They track the stolen shipment; approaching the canyon hideout.3 / 6
BraveStarr, glowing with bear spirit energy, heaves a boulder towards the canyon, ready to charge.
Strength of the bear!Marshal BraveStarr
Thirty/Thirty leaps rifle-first down into the canyon, outlaws scattering; Judge J.B. covers from the rim.
Time to clear the pen!Thirty/Thirty
No one leaves with kerium!Judge J.B. McBride
BraveStarr invokes spirit powers; the plan turns from stealth to action.4 / 6
BraveStarr has Tex Hex pinned, spirit hawk energy overlaying him; the green magic fades, rails straighten, outlaws surrender.
Eyes of the hawk—no more lies!Marshal BraveStarr
Can't hang what ain't real, Judge...Tex Hex
Climax: BraveStarr defeats Tex Hex and restores the truth.5 / 6
Judge J.B. snaps handcuffs on Tex Hex; Thirty/Thirty lights a cigar, grinning; kerium crates safe.
This time, you face the truth, Tex Hex.Judge J.B. McBride
Maybe next time, the ground tells no lies.Thirty/Thirty
BraveStarr stands at canyon edge, animal calm returning, New Texas night rising. Prairie stars over mesas.
On New Texas, the fight for truth never ends.Marshal BraveStarr
Aftermath and soft hook.6 / 6
Chapter prose
The noon sun blazed over New Texas, turning the kerium veins in the railbeds to fire-bright threads. The wind tasted of dust and something unsettled. Marshal BraveStarr stood at the edge of the railyard, boots in the red dirt, eyes narrowed against the glare. Thirty/Thirty was beside him, a mountain of muscle and horsehide under a poncho, his jaw working around a cigar. "Tracks don't just wander off, Marshal," the big deputy rumbled. "Not unless they grow legs. Or, you know, someone gives 'em a push." BraveStarr knelt, laying his hand on the ground. The metal rails ended abruptly, the kerium shipment they had carried nowhere in sight. His fingers found a faint shimmer—kerium dust, but also something colder, and wrong. "This is Hex's work. The tracks themselves are lying." Thirty/Thirty spat out a stream of smoke. "Magic. Never did like cheaters." At Fort Kerium, Judge J.B. McBride met them in the shade of the jail’s porch, her coat faded by sun and duty. She listened, lips pressed thin. "If Tex Hex is behind this, it's not just theft. It's a challenge. That shipment was payroll for half a dozen families." Her voice was hard. "I want him tried, Marshal. If there’s any justice left, he’ll swing." BraveStarr nodded. Privately, he wondered if justice was ever simple here. "First, we get the kerium back. If the story is twisted, we need the truth before anything else." Their only clue was a set of wagon ruts that veered off the main line, vanishing into the badlands like a mirage. Fuzz, the smallest deputy, scampered out with a pack twice his size, eyes wide but brave. "Marshal! I saw shadows on the mesa. Big and green and mean." BraveStarr set his hat. "Let’s ride." They found the missing shipment at dusk, hidden in a box canyon where the shadows stretched long. The kerium crates glimmered, surrounded by Tex Hex’s gang—big shapes in dusters and hats, all guns and greed. At their center, Tex Hex himself, face wild with glee, worked magic on the rails, bending them into a knot with a flick of green fire. Thirty/Thirty grumbled. "I say we stampede." "No shooting unless there’s no other way," BraveStarr said. He closed his eyes. "Strength of the bear!" The spirit power flowed through him, a golden blaze. He lifted a boulder—no man alive could have managed it—and rolled it down into the canyon, scattering the outlaws. Thirty/Thirty leapt in, bellowing, his rifle ready. J.B. covered the rim, firing warning shots that made the gang dive for cover. Tex Hex tried to twist the truth again, but BraveStarr called, "Eyes of the hawk!" and saw right through the sorcerer's illusions. With a leap, he pinned Tex Hex, breaking the magic's hold. The rails straightened, the shipment's path revealed for all to see. J.B. descended, cuffs in hand. "Tex Hex, you are under arrest for theft and tampering with the truth." Tex Hex spat, but the fire had gone out of him. "You can’t hang what ain’t real, Judge." "Then it’s the truth you’ll face," she said, snapping the cuffs shut. As night fell, BraveStarr stood at the edge of the canyon. The kerium sparkled, returned to the honest folk of New Texas. Thirty/Thirty grinned, lighting a fresh cigar. "Next time, maybe the ground’ll tell the truth from the start." BraveStarr smiled, the spirit power fading to a gentle, animal calm. "On New Texas, the truth’s always a fight worth having."
Original idea

Outlaws of the Starr path: Tex Hex rustles a kerium shipment by making the tracks themselves lie. Judge J.B. wants a hanging; BraveStarr wants the magic undone before the boomtown becomes a ghost story.

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