Awright I'm finally back :D!

I think the fever's finally gone, which means I can go back to writing again :D! Yaay!

So sorry for the two previous chapters, I really shouldn't write when I'm sick... Things will only get weird and stupid _...

Anyway, here's chapter... 29? Holy shiet, already :o?!

*** Chapter Twentynine : Reason For Revenge ***

"I-I can't believe it! Arrow! You're back!" Rango the bountyhunter exclaimed happily when the black roadrunner freed herself from the chameleons hand and hurried to her real masters side. With the plume on her head risen, she danced around the lizard, flapping her wings and nudging him with her beak. Rango laughed and scratched her on the neck. She didn't seem to be hurt. That's good! Actually, she looked to be in pretty good shape! A little thin, perhaps.

The other Rango grinded his teeth. Really?! After all this time, he would be happier to see his darn bird than the snakes he 'needed' to see? What a flippant jerk! Apparently, the snakes thought the same thing. Jolene cleared her throat and impatiently tapped her rattle on the ground. Finally the bountyhunter turned to the four newly arrivals.

"And wow! I just gotta say, WOW! You're still alive! AND you brought the all of the three siblings! How did ya do it?!" He said and kept scratching the silly bird.

"Well, it did help when you killed the Edwards son..." The sheriff answered with a serious voice.

"Ah, well I thought that little story would come in handy..." The lizard cocked a brow at Jolene. "You always had a weak spot for the little ones. Isn't that right, lil' Jo!"

Jolene snorted. "Since when did you murder kids?" She slowly shook her rattle, emitting a faint rustling sound.

"Since last week."

"You're disgusting!"

"Sticks n' stones, sweetie..."

"Sweetie?!"

"Yes, hun~?"

"I'll kill you!"

"Without a goodbye kiss?"

Jolene drew her revolver again. "Fine! Pucker up, bad boy!" She growled and aimed, but before she could pull the trigger on him, her brother stopped her. Jake put his rattle over her gun and shook his head. Jolene lowered it again with a quiet growl.

"Hey, could you two lovebirds quit it already?!" Blake moaned in annoyance when his sister started to squabble with the outlaw.

"I think I agree with Blake, for once..." Jake agreed with a low murmur. He turned his face to Rango and hissed. "Whaddya want? It's not like we haven't got more important stuff do to than to argue with you..."

Rango the bountyhunter crossed his arms and was about to reply when Sam stepped out from the livery, shotgun in hand and eyes burning with rage.

"You!" He cocked his gun. Blake hissed and the pupils in his eyes shrunk to thin slits. "I'LL KILL YA, BLAKE! I'LL KILL YA!" Sam screamed and lifted his shotgun, only to have it yanked out of his hands by Hicks.

"Stay back, kiddo!" He said and pushed the kid back. Sam looked like he was going to explode with anger.

"Fuck off ya ol' coot! Gimme back my gun and I'll kill this son of a bitch!"

"Wait, wait, WAIT A GODDARN SECOND HERE!" Blake exclaimed and bared his fangs. "This is 'bout Isabelle, innit? Ya gotta be kiddin' me?! You KNOW I didn't kill her!"

"LIAR! It must've been you!" Sams voice nearly broke. "A snakebite in the neck?! SHE TRUSTED YOU, YOU BASTARD!"

"I. Didn't. Kill. HER!"

"QUIT LYIN'!"

" Fer the last time: I AIN'T LYING, YA STUPID FLEABAG!"

"MONSTER!"

"RETARD!"

"FREAK!"

"EUNUCH!"

Hicks managed to hold the young bobcat from lunging at the rattlesnake, while Jolene and Jake had to combine their forces to keep their younger brother from ripping the bobcat apart. But at least the two fighters could still shout obscenities at each other.

"Get him outta here, Red!" Rango said, clearly annoyed, and waved with his hand. "This day has already gone to hell in a handbasket, the last thing I need is the brat screwin' ev'rythin' up..."

"Whaddya think I'm tryin' to do?" Hicks hissed in response. "Listen kid, you'll get yer shot sooner or later!"

Sam growled in dismay, but gave up. "That better be sooner..." He said and gave the rattlesnake a last, spiteful look before walking back to the livery. Blake mumbled something incoherent and turned away.

Rango sighed and shook his head before turning back to the three snakes. "Now, where were we?"

"You were 'bout to tell us why it was so important to get the snakes for ya..." Sheriff Rango said with clenched teeth. He was talking to the bountyhunter, but his eyes were turned to the gathering of townspeople. The return of their sheriff seemed to have sparked something in their hearts. The previously weary and dull expressions most of them had gotten during the past nightmarish weeks, had been replaced by a hopeful and victorious face. Some were even cheering on sheriff Rango and the snakes with loud hollers and whoops.

He searched for Beans in the group, and sighed with relief when he saw her, standing among the rest of the folks. Her face shining brighter than any of the others. Lucky for the bountyhunter, she seemed to be unharmed. That was good.

He began to search for Priss. It took a while for him to notice her, standing far in the back. He managed to get a few seconds eyecontact with her, but she quickly turned away and pulled her hat down over her eyes. This wasn't like her. She seemed to be ashamed. Over that she had switched sides?

"Oh yeah! That was it!" The other Rango snapped his finger. "Now, Jake. I know that you know why I gotta have a lil' chat with ya, right?" Jake didn't answer, he just slowly nodded and kept his eyes fixated at the lizard. "Hey, it's nothing personal, y'know! Just business! And lil' Jo, not only have you got a nice bounty on yer pretty lil' head, but you also tried to kill me once. And you nearly did it too!" Jolene snickered when he rubbed his shoulder. "Ya have no idea how much this bastard hurts when it gets cold!"

"Aaaww!" She teased and tilted her head. "I'm so sorry, but you WERE pointing yer gun at Jacob, y'know. You've only got yourself to blame, Rang-Rang!"

"I really don't like it when people almost kills me... I really don't... And especially not when they call me 'Rang-Rang'!" The bountyhunter frowned and slowly shook his head. "Anyway, Blake. Ya lil' shithead, you just got a large bounty from the mayor of Diego City. But that's not the reason why I wanna to rip yer head off right here on the spot..."

Blake snorted and was about to come with a dry response when he caught something in the corner of his eye. Or someone. He turned his head and grinned widely. "Coral?! I'll be damned! Long time no see, sweetie!" Coral had been drawn by the gunfire and was now watching the sand colored rattlesnake from afar with mixed feelings. Blake cocked his head to the bountyhunter. "What is this? Some sort of old friends meetup?" He frowned. "Hey! Is that skanky black diamondback from New Mexico gonna show up too? Gee, I told her; it ain't MY kid! I ain't payin' shit for someone elses runt! It's not my fault she can't even keep track on who's father to who! Even OUR ma could!"

Jake and Jolene simultaneously rolled their eyes. They've met the brat he was talking about, and that kid could impossibly be someone else than his son. He had both the looks and the attitude.

Coral snorted and slithered away to the bountyhunter. Arrow chirped happily when she saw the coralsnake coming towards them. Coral stopped and used the tip of her tail to scratch the bird on her favorite spot; the neck.

"Nevermind... Where have ya been all this time, Coral?" Blake snickered when he got an angry look from the female snake. "Oh yeah, you're still a mute, huh? Sorry sweetie, forgot 'bout that!"

Coral tightly shut her eyes closed and looked away. The bountyhunter put a gentle hand on her neck and turned to Blake with an angry frown. "Y'get it now?" He hissed. "The reason I want to rip yer bloody head off right now on the spot, is b'cause ya broke my lil' girls heart! And none of us can forgive ya for that!"

Blake flinched. "WHAT?! Bullshit! Ya don't even have a kid! I know you and Clara never got any...! Wait a second..." He switched his eyes from Coral to Rango, then back again while he tried to connect the dots. Rango, both of them, could swear that a lightbulb appeared over his head. "Wait, ya don't say...? Holy cow! This is WICKED! You're his kid, Coral?! Do I dare to ask 'bout the mother?"

"She's adopted, if ya wanna to know... And don't EVER mention that name again..."

"Wow! Did you two know 'bout this?!" Blake turned to his older siblings. They both scowled at him.

"You're despicable sometimes, ya know that?" Jolene spat. "You're not even the least 'bit sorry?"

"Hey! It's not my fault! D'you have any idea how many women there are out there?! And there's only ONE of me! I can't be everywhere at the same time, y'know!" That response got him a heavy blow to the head by his sisters rattle. "OWCH! What was that for?!" Another, heavier smack down from his brothers gatlin-rattle, caused him to faceplant in the sand.

"That's for bein' our brother!" Jake and Jolene said at the same time when Blake pulled his head from the ground, spitting dirt and sand.

"I get it! It get it!" He splurted out some sand that managed to get stuck under his tongue. "Gee! I'm sorry, 'kay!?"

Coral snorted. The half-assed apology, NOT accepted!

Priss shook her head at the display. So, Rango had just spilled his intentions? All of them? Just like that? Why would he do that? That was just stupid! Right? "So, what happens now?" She asked Bentley, but didn't get an answer. She turned around only to discover that he was gone. She looked around and saw that Hicks and Scrange were gone too. And the brothers where nowhere to be seen either! However, Bad Bill and his gang had showed up instead. What a shame, everything just seemed so much better when they were patrolling the borders and NOT having them in town!

Suddenly she heard someone whistle at her. Turning around, she saw Fledge wave at her from the livery stable. She scurried away to the large building and went inside. Everyone had gathered here, their roadrunners all suited up.

"Woah! What's goin' on?" She asked when Fledge gave her Birdies reins.

"We have to retreat for a while..." Hicks answered when he climbed up in the saddle of his dark golden colored runner.

"What?!"

"Yeah, all our previous plans were thrown t'hell when Coral discovered that underground lake..." Hicks grimaced. "And then of course t'sheriff decides to show up with the snakes. I can't imagine Rango bein' all too happy at the moment..."

Priss threw a quick glance out at the street. "So what's he's doin' now is..."

"Buying us some time to get plan B in motion? Yep!" Scrange filled in while he and Bentley were herding the rest of the critters into the corral on the backside.

"Plan B?" Priss raised an eyebrow. "What's plan B?"

"Basically causin' as much havoc and commotion as possible, without the ground caving in under us, before disappearing into the desert!" Bentley said with a mischievous grin . "Trust me, it'll be FUN!"

Rango the bountyhunter threw an impatient glance at the livery. 'What's taking them so long?! And now Bad Bill has showed up too! Great!' He thought to himself, and shook his head from side to side with a warning growl as Bad Bill fingered on his gun. The angry smirk on his face made it obvious that he was mere seconds away from shooting the sheriff. He turned to the other Rango.

"What?" He grumbled and folded his arms.

"What's the matter, Rang-Rang?" Jolene noticed Rangos impatient behavior. "Startin' t'get cold feet?"

"Nah, was just thinkin'..." He answered with a shrug. "I didn't expect you guys back today, and we had to change our original plan since we found somethin' quite worryin' 'bout this 'ere town..."

This got the sheriffs attention. "What? W-what did you find?" Sheriff Rango gulped. "It's not cursed like Skeleton Cliffs, is it?" He started to study the townspeople for signs of the sickness.

The bountyhunter bursted out in a roaring laughter and was about to answer when he heard a gunshot, coming from the livery, followed by the rumble of many feet racing towards the main street. He called for Arrow and within seconds, he had jumped up in the saddle and took off his hat in a comical bow for the snakes. Suddenly, at two dozen of roadrunners and javelins came stampeding through the gates of the stable and head down the main street. People screamed and hurried to get out of the way. Rango the bountyhunter mumbled something and rolled his eyes. A stampede? Sure, it wasn't as rough a dynamite, but still! Couldn't they find something not so... brutal on the ground?

"Sorry to depart so soon, but you did come at a pretty bad time." He said with a grin. Jake frowned and readied his gatlin. "Not to worry though, I'll be back b'fore ya know it!" Just as he finished the sentence, the group of critters came rumbling past, allowing him and Arrow to disappear in the commotion.

Sheriff Rango jumped out of the way to not get trampled to death. He ran into the nearest building, a house. But before he entered through the door, he saw Priss passing on her roadrunner. Rango shouted her name, which miraculously seemed to carry on over the noise the stampede were making. She stopped and turned around, but lowered her head when she saw who it was that had called for her. Rango shook his head in disbelief when he saw Priss miming 'I'm sorry', before turning around and continued to follow the stampede. He shook of the shock and retreated into the house, where he was greeted by a group of Dirtonians. Rango put on a strong mask for his people and started to question everyone about, well, everything he could think of.

Jake cursed and started firing away among the fleeing animals. He hit a few roadrunners, scaring the stampede to go around him and his sister. No matter how much he searched, that bountyhunter and his goons were nowhere to be found. Jake cursed again. He should've shot him as soon as he opened his mouth...

When the dust had settled, sheriff Rango and the rest of the Dirtonians peeked out from their hideouts. The animals had calmed down and had gathered around the lake, but none of the outlaws were to be seen. Neither was Blake for that matter.

Rango was the first one to step out in the street and walked up to the two snakes. But he didn't get time to say anything before he got interrupted by the sound of running feet. He turned around just in time for Beans to throw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. He had been unprepared for the sudden hug and staggered back, but still he found himself responding by wrapping his arms around her.

"You're back!" She said and buried her face in his neck. "I-I've been so worried!"

"Aw, Beans! Don't worry, I'm back!" He said reassuring and gently stroke Beans over her cheek. "And the next time I see that other Rango, I'll make sure that he'll wish he never came here in the first place!" He looked up at Jake. "Because he'll be back, right?"

Jake clenched his teeth together. "He has never broken a promise. Not once..." He mumbled, still mad at himself for letting the bountyhunter escape so easily.

"Am I the only one worried concerned 'bout the tranquility?" Jolene hissed and looked around, searching for her other brother. "Where the hell is Blake?!"

But just as she finished her sentence, her brother came crashing through the wall of a building next to them. Coral came after, diving for the ground, but were stopped in midair by the diamondback.

"Where do ya think you're goin', sweetie?" He said and wrapped himself around the smaller snake. She hissed at him and tried to bite him, but missed. "I'd appreciate some HELP over here!" Blake shouted at his siblings as he tried to hold his prisoner still without getting bit. A task trickier than it seemed.

Jolene turned to Jake and frowned. "Whaddya think? Should we help him out?"

Jake snorted. "Why?"

"... Yeah, you're right"

Priss was completely lost in her own thoughts, just numbly following the others without any sense of direction. She tried to tell herself to stop and turn back to town over and over again, but that wouldn't happen. And she knew it...

That look on sheriff Rangos face. No matter how hard she tried, she would probably never get that sad, disappointed frown out of her head. He had all rights to be disappointed at her right now.

Suddenly she felt their road going downhill and she felt walls closing in around her. She looked up and immediately recognized the place they had arrived in.

"The Crystal Canyon? What are we doin' in the Crystal Canyon?!" She asked the man closest to her; Hicks.

"You'll see..." Was the unsatisfying answer she got.

Rango in the lead stopped at a certain wall and jumped down on the ground. He ran up to the wall and started to search for something.

Bad Bill rode up to him, his roadrunner looking like it would fall apart any minute. "What was that all 'bout, mate?! Ya promised you'd let me get mah hands on t'sheriff once he returned!"

"Shut up!" Rango spat and turned to the angry gila monster. "In case ya failed to notice, NOTHING has been goin' as planned for ANY of us t'day! So you can either shut up and stop bitchin' 'bout it, or get the hell out!" With that said, he turned to the rocky wall again and found the small crack he was searching for. Bill solemnly growled something to himself but didn't say anything else after that. Rango grabbed one side of the thin crack and pulled the whole wall back with a loud, scraping sound. Priss' eyes widened when she saw the hole hiding behind a thin, wooden decoy wall, perfectly camouflaged to blend in with the rest of the environment.

"Alright everyone, git in! I dunno if we're followed, and I sure as hell don't wanna stay an' find out!" Hicks said and looked around. "Wait, where's Coral?"

Rango frowned when he noticed that she was missing. "Oh well, she knows where to find us..." He mumbled and was the one who went in last into the hole and made sure to close the wall behind him.

They entered into a massive cavern, lit up by hundreds of torches. The cavern was more like a small town; there were loads of rooms carved into the rock, and a stair made from both rock and wood led to an upper floor with even more rooms and doors.

"This place is AMAZING!" Priss whispered to herself. This gotta be one of the legendary hideouts the smugglers built!

But instead of being abandoned and empty as it should be, this cavern was bustling with life. There were people everywhere, scurrying back and forth, talking loudly with each other.

And there was one voice that were heard especially well, even through all the ruckus going on;

"HEJJ! MOVE! OUTTA MAJ WAJ!" Along with lots of foreign words Priss didn't recognize. Soon enough, the owner of the voice appeared through the crowd of people. He was a quite small, gray snake with a black zigzag pattern on his pack. He wore a cylinder hat decorated with a colorful band and two red pompoms. Large, reddish brown eyes scanned the group that just arrived and the snake grinned.

Rango walked up to stranger and stood next him. "Sam, Priss, Bad Bill and company." He said and nodded to the snake. "Lemme introduce you to my good friend an' ally: Jonas Smith!"

Yes. Blake is an asshole. And he's goddam proud of it!

Jonas is a character that I've been extremely cussy with, throwing him in and out of the story. That is, until I made up my mind and decided that everything would probably make more sense with him present ^^".
That, and I've always wanted to write about an angry Swede with a fancy hat, hehehe...

Anyway, I'll be back next time xD!

Delilah OUT! (Btw, why am I always ending everything I do like this -.-?)