The explosion burned and burled through the wind and singed Metal Sonic's jacket and skin, the flames roaring past him and igniting the air around him. Wicked, scarlet hellfire fountained skyward like liquid magma. A detonating noise like God's gun discharging boomed through the desert, and the train wobbled to and fro along the tracks as it raced ever-closer to its destination.
Shadow's vision spun and ignited like flash-paper as he tumbled through the smoke, off of the roof of the train and into the nightmarish realm of unconsciousness.
He heard the shot ring out somewhere far below just as he was making his way down the orphanage stairs.
His body hit the ground with a deadly thud and rolled in a stormcloud of dust and blood.
"Grandfather! Grandfather, no!"
The hedgehog's ears perked up at the sound of her screaming, and he broke into a run, half-tumbling and half-sprinting down the steps. His knee scraped against the wooden floorboards at the bottom, carving bloodred scratches across his legs. Scarlet eyes widened with horror when he saw the metal man from hell standing above him.
The same metal man who had tried to arrest him on the train.
And as he saw the horrid, black eye of the gun-barrel staring back at him, smoldering with smoke and stained crimson with blood, his body was racked with the sudden, sickening knowledge of death.
...
Hours passed before the sheriff finally returned to Westown.
The bolt-action rifle drew a heavy, dark line in the sand as the barrel was dragged through the dirt road. Its wielder kept his cold, crimson eyes forward, even as the smoke roiled off the gun in plumes like clouds of dust. His trench coat was in tatters and his pride in dark, burnt ribbons that trailed behind him like a dark storm.
Metal Sonic glared hard above at the setting sun, its neon red glow blinding to mortal eyes. His vision sparkled and cracked as it tried to adjust to the change of light.
"Anyone else see that?"
The android refused to let them see.
"That's… ain't that the sheriff?"
He would not allow them.
"Hell's bells. He looks like shit."
They could never know of his… his failure.
...
"Ah, Shadow. Good of you to finally join us."
The dark hedgehog strained to see who the speaker was, but could only make out a large, dark shape. It was a grotesque blob of immense darkness, with two hellfire-blue eyes made of glass that glared into his soul with maniacal glee.
Shadow glanced over to the girl who haunted his dreams.
She cowered beside the fallen form of the old man, her arms draped over his body like mourning rags as tears came down from her eyes like rain. Her mane of golden hair could barely conceal her sea-blue eyes, cold and chilled with icy tragedy.
Maria.
...
The dark blue robot felt something in his leg snap and squeal, and he suddenly toppled into the dirt below. Steadying himself shakily upon his gun, he struggled to rise. His makeshift crutch shifted upon the ground, causing him to stumble back down to his knees.
"Lookit this, fellas."
The lawman's gaze flickered when he heard the voice, quickly locating the men who had surrounded him.
The one at the lead was young. Metal Sonic's database faltered, and he failed to recognize the boy who stood before him, looming over the wounded sheriff with maniacal intent.
"Looks like old ironface has got a boo-boo."
There was a static cackling in the metal menace's audio receptors.
"Yeah."
"Not so tough now."
"Hey. Look me in the eye, ironface."
Metal Sonic felt the pistol pressing into his forehead before he could react in time. The hedgehog in front of him sneered evilly, his thumb inching towards the hammer and his eyes locked with his prey. "Stand up."
The injured officer tried to obey, however humiliating, his broken leg splintering and sparking as he stood. There was a hard smack as the barrel of the man's gun connected with the robot's, denting his already scarred skull and tossing him back to his knees.
More laughter. People left the safety of their homes to watch the young punks terrorize the metal monster of Westown.
Metal Sonic could feel their gazes burning holes into his skin.
...
"Don't be alarmed. We're just here to do a little… house-cleaning."
The dark blob shuddered with a deep chuckle.
"I suppose you don't believe me, do you?"
Shadow the hedgehog got up on his knees, slowly at first as he searched for the stairway's railing. He leaned on the wood shakily, his hands cold and clammy as he felt the terror seeping through his eyes and into his skull like cold water.
Maria… her name was Maria… looked at him with her shimmering, broken eyes. Her ivory hair was bloodstained and ruined as she stood and screamed, "Run, Shadow! Run-!"
The robot moved quickly, turning his gun over in his palm so the butt of the rifle was facing the young girl. Then he cracked it across her face with a bloody smack.
Shadow found the pistol in the waistband of his jeans just as the girl fell to the floor with a thud.
"Come now, Shadow. Be reasonable."
The black and red hedgehog could not stifle or contain the tears in his eyes as he aimed the revolver at the metal creature's head. He felt his fangs biting into his own lips as he fought down a sob. "Stop…" he pleaded, his legs weak and his fingers trembling. It took both of his hands to hold the gun steady in his grasp. "Or I swear to God…"
The robot met the gaze of the gun with an aura of cold amusement.
"I'll do it!" Shadow shouted, the tears searing his vision. "I will blow your brains all over the goddamned wall!"
"Shadow…" the girl choked from her place on the floor. The hedgehog felt his heart break in several places when he saw her innocent face plastered with blood, her nose a contorted mess that was surely broken if not shattered. "Run… get away…"
The metallic hedgehog returned his attention to Maria, bending down to grab her by the back of her head, his steely fingers tangling into her hair. She yelped in pain as she was wrenched to her feet and forced to stand before the indigo villain, her back to him and her eyes locked with Shadow's.
The barrel of the bolt-action pressed into the back of her skull.
"After-…" the black hedgehog cried, the tears running freely now and mixing with his voice, raspy and dying, "… after the hell you put her through!" His eyes were alight with a holy fury as he pulled back the hammer on his pistol. "I will end you, you bastard!"
"Be rational, boy." The thing made of pure evil spoke from the blackness of the nightmare, his glossy, hellish eyes glowing gasflame blue. The amber end of a cigar flared in what must have been the man's mouth. "This whole process could be quite painless, I assure you."
The metal monster chambered another bullet and waited.
...
"Whatsa' matter, leadlegs? Aw, ain't so freakin' high and mighty now, are ya'?"
"Yeah. Kill him dead, Johnny."
"Yeah, kill him dead."
The boy stuck his revolver back into the android's face, jabbing the barrel into the black screen of his left eye. "Yeah, that's right, ya' bastard! I gotcha' right where I want ya'!"
The organic hedgehog lifted his gun to the heavens and shouted for all the town to hear. "This is our town! Hear me? Ours! I been waitin' all my life to say that, and now I can." He jammed the pistol back into the robot's forehead. "This freak killed my pop when I was just a kid. And he's supposed to be protecting us? Him? Sheriff?"
He smiled widely as he pulled back the hammer and returned his attention to man at his feet. "Bull-freaking-shi-…"
Metal Sonic's talons sunk into the criminal's arm before he could finish his sentence, his metallic fingers digging through the sleeve and past the flesh like ravenous fangs, not stopping until they met bone. The steel pierced the marrow and shattered the boy's arm from the inside as he might have bitten through a toothpick.
An earth-shattering scream rang out as the organic dropped to his knees, tears streaming from his eyes like rain as the pain reached his core. He fell into the dirt unceremoniously, his gun tumbling from his grasp and just out of reach, sliding away in the sand as Metal Sonic stood to his full height and kicked it aside.
The goon's two friends backed away, shuddering in fear.
The people of Westown watched in silence.
...
The blob nodded silently, his face breaking open into a wicked, bleached smile that would haunt the ultimate life form for years to come.
Then the sheriff pulled the trigger.
Bloodstuff and greymatter gushed out of Maria's skull as the bullet drove through. Her eyes widened with shock as the red trickled down her forehead and into her gaping mouth. Her pale lips were bloodstained and lifeless even as she let out a final breath of life.
The bullet did not stop even though Shadow's world had come to a screeching halt.
And so the second round flew into his brain before he could react in time, slicing a shockingly clean line through the bone and flesh as the flaming lead cut through and into the stairs behind him. He felt cold. Very, very cold, even as he fell awkwardly onto the steps, bruising his spine and hearing something in his neck snap. A choking gasp for air escaped his maw and he dropped his pistol with a clatter.
"Burn it to the ground. Leave no witnesses."
...
The sheriff stared at the shivering whelp in his claws, and he let his rifle fall to the floor. Upon his broken leg, he resolved not to wobble as he formed a deadly fist with his free hand.
They.
There was a bloody crunch as steel met bone.
Would never.
Cartilage broke and spattered.
Know his failure.
Spinal cord snapped as the fresh corpse's head lolled back lifelessly, blood oozing from its decimated nose.
Metal Sonic let the body fall, casually striding over to the boy's pistol and making good use of it. Two shots rang out as the final two rebels fell dead.
Everyone looked on numbly.
And the sheriff said nothing as he replaced his fallen firearm and continued his march, knowing that the vultures now watched his every move.
...
Shadow awoke with a start, sharply inhaling the desert sand beneath him as the nightmare bled out through his eyes. His vision faltered as he struggled to determine his location, and he winced with agony as he felt sand blister within his wounds, boiling the dried blood and sending sickening tremors down his arms. He choked on pink saliva and coughed a gross concoction of blood and spit onto the dirt as he rose shakily.
The noise of the grinding gears and train-sounds had been replaced with the howling of desert winds, and the cry of vultures somewhere above him rang in his sore eardrums. He coughed blood, dry and agonizing as he struggled to catch his breath, his heart pounding out of his chest and threatening to explode out and into the arid winds.
Gaping, disgusting burns were slathered across the tattered remains of his gloves, and his once-decent overcoat now hung on his body in ribbons, clinging to his shoulders by smoldering threads. He felt numbly about for his gun, to make sure it was in its rightful place, and when he was certain of this he stood.
His breaths still came out in guttural spurts, his body aching all over with the pain of the burn-wounds. Slowly, his memories came back to him, shedding light on his reasons for being here, stranded in the middle of the endless desert hellscape.
The sunset was a bloody orange that stared into his soul as he did his damnedest to put the pieces back together.
Maria. Maria was killed that day… the day he lost his memories… and his sanity.
And the sheriff. The sheriff had the gun. He killed her. In cold blood.
The dark hedgehog snarled as he peeled a cigarette from his torn jacket. The bastard. He swiped the match along the stiff material of his gunbelt, bringing the drug to life with an amber flicker. He took a drag and told himself to calm the hell down.
He coughed suddenly and violently, and he thought he felt a rib or bone stabbing into his lungs when he inhaled.
Ark. Ark Orphanage. The Robotniks, Amy had told him.
The thought of the preacher's daughter sent an odd, cold feeling shooting through his stomach, and he brushed it aside thoughtlessly. He had to go back now. No way around it.
"Charged with crimes against Westown…" he remembered as he muttered under his breath and he realized he had lost his hat in the fall. He glanced about until he found it stuck atop a solitary cactus, and he plucked it from the plant and huffed in frustration. "Damn it all."
After he had picked the spines of the cactus out of his hat, he placed it back on his head and pulled the brim down low. Then he took another drag and doused the fag in the desert sand. The amber end sizzled in the heat.
He growled lowly, "Damn it all to hell."
...
"She dead yet?"
"No. Not yet. I'm doing my best over here."
Sonic's eyes left the window only briefly to look at the doctor and his patient, observing the bat-girl with concern before returning to the scene outside. "You've got to do better, then."
Tails sighed wearily and looked back at the bleeding assassin on his operating table. "Got it."
Silence reigned in the doctor's office.
"Tell me again what happened."
Sonic glanced tiredly at the fox.
"I already told you what happened."
"Humor me."
"… I blew her wings out."
Doc Prower sighed in frustration and seemed to gesture at the many holes in the woman's wings. "I figured that."
"What more do you want from me?" the blue hedgehog retorted, turning away from the glass to look at his old friend. "She's an assassin. She was lookin' for a Shadow. She came at me thinkin' I was him, and I shot her. And this makes the third damned time that someone in this town got shot because of this freaking Shadow-person, and the third time that it was my fault it happened."
The deposed lawman slammed an open hand against the wall and cursed loudly, his eyes alight with holy rage. "What the hell more do want outta' me, Tails? What the hell do you want?"
Rouge the bat writhed in pain in the center of it all, her holed wings flicking to and fro like a restless child's arms. Her eyes were clenched shut, but they fluttered and flickered at the noise, her ears doing the same.
Tails quickly took up a syringe and filled it to the brim, thumbing down the lever and expelling any air from the medical concoction. He skillfully pumped the drug into the girl's veins with one hand and held down her waking body with the other.
She drifted back off into the land of the living-dead as the anesthetic took effect.
"I see you're off the drink."
"The hell I am."
Sonic sighed and slumped down into the chair behind him, his boots grinding across the floorboards as he stretched them out lazily. The doc frowned at him and shook his head.
"I can tell."
"No, you can't."
"When's the last time you gave a damn about anyone getting shot in this town, Sonic?" Tails shot back, his eyes leaving his patient briefly to lock gazes with the former drunkard. "You bitch about Metal Sonic every day, but you don't do anything about it. Now, you're in my office, telling me to fix up a girl that tried to kill you, and hollering about this Shadow of yours." He pointed a bloody scalpel in the hedgehog's direction. "And you're trying to tell me you're still drunk off your ass?"
The has-been hero said nothing.
The doctor went back to work as he muttered, "I'm calling horseshit, sheriff."
That was when the door to the doctor's office slapped open with a loud bang.