Fisticuffs Turns to Firearms and Fire

By Hayward Heston, editor of the Brimstone Bee

What was to be a night of pugilistic skill and merriment turned into a night of terror and blood for our fair town of Brimstone. Renowned boxer Marcus "Mangler" Mulligan, most famous for his loss against Jonh L. Sullivan The Boston Strongboy, had been taking all comers at the Silver Palace Dance Hall, when during his fifth round against local boy, Chinatown resident Shun Qiaohe, when one of the vilest scourges west of the Mississippi burst into the establishment. Led by the infamous "Lightning" Lenora Langley and her ever present second in command Theodora “Thunder” Santos, a band of the notorious Wichita Witches merciless opened fire upon the innocent crowd, including women and children, their chaos and mayhem augmented with reckless use of explosives. If it was not for the heroism of brave Brimstone residents such as the aforementioned Shun Qiaohe, Solomon Mao, and Quince Bullen, alongside Sgt. Peregrine Griffiths, Graham McClane, and Silver Palace employee Zeng Fen, the previous night could very well have been the site of a massacre! Nevertheless, it is with a heavy heart that I must report that while three of the vile band faced justice in the ensuing gunfight, they were not the sole casualties. Both Marcus Mulligan and his manager Phineas P Calverton fell prey to their wild dynamite, while Brimstone residents Mercedes Pedrossa y Silverio of the Silver Palace and Fernando Chavez and Maxine McClane of the Rocking C Ranch were all left in critical condition at death's door, only saved by our own Dr. Winston Bishop, and almost a dozen were wounded in some lesser capacity. Furthermore, both Langely and Santos escaped and are free to continue to kill and terrorize. This humble reporter tries to avoid politics, but I must ask, dear reader, should Black River Rails and Mina Devlin not be held accountable for their hired thugs? Should we not have justice!?