-Chapter 244-

New Sheriff in Town

Tranquil Gulch

At the Aurorium (1) in town, a Mobian wolf in black, priest's vestments was tending to the chapel, making sure everything looked nice. As he worked, he heard the doors open.

"Just a moment!" he called. "I'll be right…"

He turned to see one of his flock walk in, one he'd been seeing for many years and who looked upset. "Lily, what a surprise."

"Hello, Father Wolfwood," Lily greeted.

"I didn't expect you to be coming so soon. Is everything alright?"

"No…" Lily sighed as she shook her head. "Not really."

"Come, have a seat," Wolfwood led Lily to one of the pews in the front. "Now, what seems to be troubling you, my dear?"

"It's…" Lily sighed. "The Dust Riders came into town today."

Wolfwood perked. "Oh my, did they–?"

"No, nobody got hurt too badly. Thanks to Sonic the Hedgehog."

"Ah, that's good to hear."

Lily scowled, looking away.

"Yeah, good..." she scoffed. "This has gotta be a joke. Now he shows up to do something about this place?"

Wolfwood sighed. "Lily, you need to understand. As fast as Sonic is, he can't be everywhere at once. He's only mortal."

"A mortal who can run at the speed of sound and is best friends with a princess."

"Lily…"

"You know what I mean." She looked up at the stained glass windows, a look of sorrow in her eyes.

"You're thinking about Jesse again, aren't you?" Lily just clutched her skirt in response. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

"It's not fair, Father. Sonic's been just about everywhere in Mobius, saving everybody. Everywhere but here… What? Is this place beneath him or something?"

"I'm sure he had a good reason."

"Well that 'good reason' is why Jesse is probably still going through Hell right now!" Lily snapped before covering her mouth. "I'm sorry…"

"It's alright, dear," Wolfwood assured. "We all miss him."

Lily looked away shamefully.

-X-

At the saloon, Willie treated Rally's laser burn.

"Yeow!" the horse yelped.

"Dagnabbit Rally, hold still!" Willie snapped.

"I'm tryin'! That stuff burns!"

"That means it's doin' what it's s'posed ta be doin' an' keepin' yer wound clean! Now, sit still!"

While Willie tended to Rally, Sonic was taking a moment to look over his new outfit, or rather, the new additions to his outfit. The Hedgehog had been outfitted with a red neckerchief and a brown cowboy hat and vest, a shiny Sheriff's star pinned on his left breast.

"Heh, not too shabby," he said with a grin.

"Well, don't you look good?" Bunnie said.

"You look like a regular Ramdolph Scott!" Dennis chimed in.

"Thank ya kindly, pilgrim," Sonic drawled as he tipped his hat. "Whatcha think Sal?

"I think that we've got more pressing concerns," she reminded him, gesturing to Rally.

"Right." Sonic cleared his throat and sat down. "So, Rally, right? What's your story?"

"Eh?" Rally perked. "Oh, right! Lily."

"She didn't seem too thrilled about me filling in," Sonic deadpanned.

"Yeah… She don't exactly have a high opinion of you."

Sonic sighed. "Look, I don't know what you've heard or who told you, but what happened with Akhlut and Thunderbolt-"

"This don't' have nuthin' to do with that, Mr. Hedgehog. Lily's had it out fer you and yers fer a long while."

"Really?" Sonic blinked. "Well, why? Something I said or did?"

"It's fer what you didn't do. Y'all weren't there when she needed you the most. When we lost Jesse."

"That's right," Sally recalled. "Lily mentioned that name. Is she a friend of her's?"

" He was, yes." The Clydesdale adjusted his arm as Willie began bandaging it. "Jesse was the son of a saddlemaker from Gravestone. He moved here with his ma, pa, and lil' sister, Jamie 'bout four years ago, when business back there started goin' downhill. His ma was your classic, Northameran housewife. Managed the house, cooked dinner, taught Sunday school at the Aurorium, that sorta thing." He smiled fondly. "That's actually where Lily and I first met him. Little feller kept to himself 'cuz he was too scared to talk to anyone."

"Sounds like y'all were real close," Bunnie mused.

"Yup, we were Tranquil Gulch's Three Amigos,." Rally looked down sadly, "Those were better days."

"What happened to him?" Antoine asked.

"I think I know..." Everyone turned to Hope. "Rally… would Jesse's last name happen to be 'MacNeil'?"

Rally perked. "Y-Yeah! Jesse MacNeil, how...?"

"That's what I was afraid of," Hope sighed.

"What do you mean?" Rotor asked.

"Jesse...is a former Robian."

Everyone just stared in stunned shock. Sonic just looked on in horror.

"A...A Robian?" he stammered. "He was Roboticized?"

"Right in front of the whole town." Everyone turned to Willie at that. "'Bout two years ago, Eggman and his metal men waltzed into town and started trashin' the place, lookin' fer rings. When they couldn't find any, they started roundin' up people to put'em to work minin' fer more. Anyone who fought back got…" the possum swallowed nervously, "got put in that machine."

"Jesse was one of the ones who fought back," Dennis continued, "Threw a cowpie right in the Doc's face when he tried to hurt Lily and Jamie. It was…" the squirrel shuddered as he recalled that day, "Sweet Aurora above, it was a nightmare..."

"Jesse's family 'ventually moved to Sand Blast City," Rally continued, "With most of the townsfolk gone, there weren't a lot of people to do business with…and too many painful memories."

"How did we not know about this?" Sonic demanded.

"It must have happened during one of our missions or one of the times Eggman went quiet," Sally deduced. "That's the only explanation I can think of."

"That's why she hates me…" Sonic realized, his hands shaking as his hand drifted to his side, the old ache rising again. "Her best friend was roboticized. I could've stopped it. She counted on me, believed in me... and I wasn't there."

"It's Kat all over again," Bunnie remarked.

"Kat?" Willie asked.

"A friend of ours," Hope explained. "She...went through a similar experience to Lily. She probably could really help her right now."

Sonic got up. "I need to talk to her."

That grabbed everyone's attention.

"Sonic…" Sally began.

"I have to see her, Sal. It's the only way she's going to be able to move on."

"Sonic, if this is going to be a repeat of what happened with Kat on Angel Island..." Sally started to say.

"Nothing like that, Sal," Sonic assured, "I just want to talk to her. Try to make things right."

After a minute, Sally nodded. "...Alright."

Sonic turned to Rally. "Do you know where she is?"

"Well...whenever she gets like this, she usually heads to the Aurorium to talk to Father Wolfwood," Rally replied.

Sonic nodded. "Then that's where I'm headed."

"Are you sure that's wise, mon ami? " Antoine questioned.

Sonic shrugged. "Probably not, but this needs to be done. Whatever happens happens, and I'll accept the consequences. But I'm not nearly as bad off as I was with Kat. I can and will help her, without getting beaten to a pulp."

With that, he zipped off.

"I hope yer friend knows what he's doin'," Rally said.

"I hope so too, Rally," Sally sighed. "I hope so too."

-X-

At the Aurorium, Lily knelt before the altar, praying.

"Our Lady In Heaven. Blessed Guardian of the Sacred Light. Earthborne Goddess, please hear my prayer. Please, bring Jesse home."

"Funny thing about prayers," a new voice cut in. "Oftentimes, we're the ones who have to answer them ourselves."

Lily perked up, turning to see Sonic approaching, and promptly scowled.

"What do you want, Sheriff ?" she snapped.

"Just to talk." Sonic sat down next to her. "I... I know about Jesse."

"There's nothing to talk about. You don't belong here."

"I may not be a devout Aurorite, but last I checked, everyone is welcome in her houses." Sonic turned to Wolfwood, who was dusting nearby. "Am I wrong, Padre?"

"He's got you there, Lily," Wolfwood remarked. Lily scowled, but was unable to refute him.

"Look... I get you hate me for not being here," Sonic said. "If I had known what was happening, I would've shown up in a heartbeat."

"So why didn't you? It's been two years, Hedgehog. Two. Horrible. Years."

"I know…" Sonic sighed, rubbing his face. "And believe me when I say that every failure weighs on my soul, and will till the day I finally kick the bucket for good. Look, I'm sorry for what happened to your friend. But that's the hardest part of this job. You can't always save everybody. I know. I've tried."

Lily gritted her teeth. "You tried? You tried ?!"

She whirled around, slapping him.

"Alright!" Wolfwood pulled Lily back. "You can be angry all you want, Lily, but never forget this is Aurora's house! You will not fight in here!"

"It's alright, Padre," Sonic assured. "The last time I did this I ended up with a mass of bruises and broken bones. I can handle a slap."

"No, it's not alright! It's never gonna be alright!" Lily glared at Sonic. "I was there when Eggman threw Jesse into that machine of his! I watched it turn his flesh into metal! Saw the life fade from his eyes! Heard it leave his voice!" She took a slow, shaky breath. "It was...Aurora, I can't even describe it…" She shook her head as she regained some of her composure. "But, I had hope. After hearing 'bout how you fought Eggman and won, I had hope. Hope that one day, you'd save Jesse and bring him back home."

"I don't know what happened," Sonic insisted. "He was one of those we saved and de-roboticized after the Black Arms invasion. He should've come back."

"Well, he didn't!" Lily screamed, "I saw the news! I heard about the rescue! I was bawlin' like a baby when I heard 'bout the cure! Rally an' I were gonna throw a party for Jesse when he got back!" She teared up. "But he never came. He never called. He never wrote or anythin'! He just…disappeared off the face of Mobius! I don' even know if he's alive! I tried callin' his folks, but they think he's dead! His own family gave up hope!"

At that, Lily lost what little composure she had left and broke down crying.

"I'm sorry…" Sonic let out. "We... I... should have done more for the victims."

"I don' wanna hear how sorry you are, Hedgehog!" Lily snapped. "I want you gone!" She hung her head, burnt out. "Please… just get out of here and leave me alone."

Sonic got out of his seat and began to walk away.

"You know...someone I loved was Roboticized in front of me too, my Uncle Chuck," he informed her, Lily perking. "It was the hardest thing I've ever went through. It ate me up inside and turned me into... something dark." He clenched his fists as he recalled his corrupted transformations, "I don't think Jesse would want that for you. He would want you to rise above your grief and fight. But then again, what do I know?"

And with that, he was gone. Lily just stood there, speechless. After a moment, Wolfwood walked over to her.

"He's not wrong, you know," he informed her, getting her attention. "That's probably not what you want to hear, but he's right. Jesse wouldn't want you to be miserable. And he wouldn't want you to let hate rule your life."

Lily just clenched her fists. "He don' know what Jesse woulda wanted, Father. 'Til now, he didn' even know he existed."

"He may not know... but you do, as do I."

As Wolfwood walked off, Lily reached into her pocket and pulled out a small prayer book. The book was filled with little, different-colored ribbons acting as bookmarks. She reached for a red ribbon and opened the book, taking a look at the saying there:

" Let not the fires of hate burn in your heart. For though it gives you strength and vigor, it burns away the body, clouds the eyes, and poisons the soul. "

Lily looked at the verse, and her eyes began to grow misty.

-X-

Meanwhile, Sonic left the Aurorium with a sigh.

"How'd it go?"

He turned to see Sally standing nearby.

"Sal…" Sonic took a breath. "Well, I'm not bleeding. So there's that."

"I heard the slap, though."

"Like I said, I've had worse." He walked with Sally through the town. "Still, this was pretty bad." He shook his head. "What happened, Sal? How could we let things get like this?"

Sally turned to him. "Sonic, we're only Mobian. We can't be everywhere at once."

"We have teleportation rings, multiple airships, and a submarine. We can be anywhere in the world in the blink of an eye, and people still slip through our fingers; people we just rescued at that."

"Sonic…" Sally looked him in the eye, "No one can save everyone, not even you; but that's not a reason to stop trying. You said it yourself, if you have time to sit around and feel sorry for yourself, you have time to get up and do something about it. You have the ability to overcome any hardship…"

"The only thing that can stop you… is your own fear," Sonic finished.

Sally smiled with a nod. "Exactly."

Sonic took a deep breath. "Sorry Sal, what happened with Lily just reopened some old wounds."

Sally patted his arm. "I understand. But, we'll make things right again. Maybe not now, but we will. Now come on, Willie's treating us to lunch at the saloon."

Sonic grinned. "Sounds good. I could use a chili dog and a beer."

Sally rolled her eyes. "Sonic…"

"What? Root beer. Don't you like root beer?"

Dust Rider Labor Camp

"C'mon, ya lousy meat-sacks! Put yer backs into it! This here railroad ain't gonna build itself, y'know!"

Several miles outside of Tranquil Gulch, by an abandoned mine, was an Egg Army labor camp. The soldiers there had sent the prisoners they'd captured to mine and, more importantly, build a railroad to transport resources to their different bases in the region. So there they were, countless men, women, and children toiling away in in the hot sun, as several Badniks watching over them; singing a familiar-sounding military chant as they did.

" Eggman's got us breaking stones / We'd just like to break his bones! / Eggman's got us workin' hard! / Ooh, we hate that tub of lard! "

Their overseer stepped forward, cracking a whip. It was a humanoid robot with a round torso, no visible neck and pincers for hands. It also had black slit-like pupils with pale yellow sclerae. As attire, it wore a brown cowboy hat, a cerulean scarf across its face, a sleeveless orange shirt, a green-brown vest and green-brown cowboy boots with yellow spurs.

"Hey!" he snapped. "We ain't payin' ya to sing!"

"We're not being paid at all," one prisoner pointed out.

"Not important! You just used up today's bathroom break."

"Hardass…" the prisoner muttered under his breath as he got back to work.

"I heard that!" the bot whipped him across the back. "Lousy flesh-things."

The whip-bot's griping was interrupted by the sound of laughter and footsteps in the sand. With a grimace, he looked to the side to see two other bots approach. One was a gray humanoid robot with a round lower torso and a thin antenna on each side of its box-shaped head, a square mouth and analogue instrument meter eyes identical to Grounder's, and spheres for hands. It wore a tall, red top hat with an Ace of Spades tucked away in a purple band and a feather pierced on top, a short yellow scarf, a brown shirt with a yellow button, a green jacket with a darker green belt and red boots. The other was a humanoid robot with an almost egg-shaped body, no neck or visible mouth, with antennae on top of its head, three fingers, rings around its wrists, and no toes. As attire, he wore a small sinopia top hat with a beige band, a beige shirt with a collar, a large blue jacket and sinopia fur pants.

"Welly, well well well well…" the sphere-handed boy declared, "Havin' some problems are we, Jimjam? Cuz it looks like you are!" He chuckled as he elbowed his partner, "Don't he, DOS?"

DOS didn't say anything. In fact, he wasn't even doing anything at all.

"Eh, looks like he's laggin' again."

"The hell do you want, Batch?" the first bot snapped. "Ain't you s'posed ta be overseein' the mines?"

"Ehhh, I was," Batch rubbed the back of his head, " but we kinda had an...accident…that kinda started a cave-in…that kinda...crushed all the workers."

James gave him a flat look. "Someone made a crack 'bout yer hands and ya lost yer temper again, dint' ya?"

"Did not!"

The bots were interrupted by a loud crashing noise. They turned to see what it is - except DOS, who just kept standing there - and saw a prisoner frantically picking up bars of metal.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no...!" the prisoner babbled.

"Hey!" James yelled. "What do you think yer doin'!?"

The prisoner yelped. "It was an accident, Mr. James! I didn't mean to!"

"Yeah, well so is this! " James drew his gun.

"Now now, Jimmy, take it easy" Batch cut in, lowering James' gun. "They're only stupid flesh things, they can't help bein' useless. Ain't that right, flesh-thing?"

"Yeah!" the prisoner quickly nodded. "Useless!"

"See?" Batch asked. "Now, why don't you go pick this up and get goin'?"

"Y-Yessir! Though, I may need to make a second trip. These things are big and heavy, and I only got two hands."

Suddenly, Batch's eyes start flashing red. " The hell did you just say!? "

The prisoner went white. "Oh, nothing!"

"No! Nononononononononoooo! You said you only got two hands. Two . Hands . Are you makin' fun of me? Are you makin' fun of me!? "

"No! No, Batch! I would never!"

" I'll teach you to make fun of me! "

Suddenly, Batch zapped the prisoner with lightning from his spheres, keeping it up until he dropped dead from electrocution.

"He sure does, Batch!" DOS randomly spat out before looking around. "Eh? What happened? Was I laggin' again?"

James just nodded, turning to Batch. "Can't you go one damned day without trying to kill someone just for saying the H-word?! We need these flesh-things ALIVE to finish the railroad and mines, you idiot!"

"He insulted me!"

"He did not!"

"Did too! He was mockin' my disability! I thought you'd be more understandin', Jimjam! What with your an' your big, meaty claws!"

James stiffened. "What did you say, punk?"

Batch got right in his face. "Big. Meaty. Kuh-laaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwzzzzzzzzzzz-uh!"

"THAT DOES IT!"

James tackled Batch to the ground, the two rolling around in the dust and trading punches. But before they could continue, they got zapped, pulling away with shouts of pain.

"James! Cassidy!"

The two Badniks turned to see an irate Thunderbolt, carrying Pete's head.

"Sheriff Thunderbolt!" They immediately got to their feet, standing at attention; only to go bug-eyed when they noticed what, or rather, who Thunderbolt was carrying in her arms,.

"Pete!?" James asked. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Sonic, that's what happened!" Thunderbolt declared.

Batch perked. "He's here?"

"Yes, he's here! Did you not get any of my messages?!"

"Uhhh… I don't think so," James pondered.

"Uuuugh, of course you didn't! You two were off beatin' the oil out of each other and killing off our workers!"

"Hey! That was Batch's fault!"

"Blame those fleshbags! They insulted me!"

"Shut up!" Thunderbolt turned to DOS. "And why is DOS just standing there?!"

"Hey fellers! Sheriff Thunderbolt's here!" DOS declared before noticing Thunderbolt. "Oh! Howdy there, Sheriff!"

Thunderbolt's eye twitched before she turned to James and Batch. "He's still lagging?!"

"Uhhhh...yeah?" James replied.

"Why is he still lagging!? We just patched that this morning!" Thunderbolt rubbed her temples. "Uuugh...nevermind. We have more important things to deal with. Where's Earp and Billy? We need everyone for this."

"You called, Sheriff?"

They turned to see another Badnik walking toward them with another slung over his shoulder.

He was a humanoid Badnik with a flat face, no neck, maya blue skin and a slight beak-like overbite. He wore an auburn cowboy hat, a short yellow scarf around his neck, a blue shirt with four yellow buttons on front, two auburn gloves with a yellow star on top of each glove, a pair of carrot orange fur one-piece pants/boots which are held up by a brown belt and gray fastener.

"Earp!" Thunderbolt declared. "Finally, someone who's not a complete nimcombot!"

"Sorry I'm late, ma'am. Billy got his head stuck in the latrine again an' I had to fish 'im out."

Earp dropped Billy on the ground.

Billy was a beige humanoid robot with a cylinder-shaped head, a curved nose, sharp teeth and slit-like black eyes. The top of his head was flat and had what appeared to be smoke billowing from the top. For attire, he wore a red shirt, black gloves and vest, a thin light blue bolo tie around his neck, blue pants held up a black belt with a gray fastener, and brown Badnik wobbled around groggily, a look of dopey happiness and a flush of intoxication on his face.

"Dowdy-hoo, Sheriff Blundertolt, ma'am…" He then proceeded to pull out a flask from...somewhere and started drinking, much to the chinchilla's annoyance.

"My finest creations…" Thunderbolt shook her head, pulling herself together. "Right then… Gentlemen! I come bearing important news! Sonic the Hedgehog and his filthy, Freedom Fighter friends are in Wyldwest!"

There was a collective gasp.

"So he's finally here?" Earp asked.

"That ain't good…" Billy blinked. "That ain't good, right?"

"No Billy, it ain't," Earp confirmed, adjusting his hat. "So, what's the plan, Sheriff?"

"Simple, Earp," Thunderbolt replied. "We go down to Tranquil Gulch, we find the Hedgehog and his compatriots, and then–"

"We kill the first-born of every family!" James declared, getting zapped.

"No, James!" Thunderbolt snapped. "Just them !"

"Awww…" James let out.

"Right then…" Earp cleared his throat. "Boys! Get yer weapons prepped and yer systems charged! We got ourselves a Hog Hunt!"

"YEEEHAAAAW!"

"Wait!" Pete cried. "What about me?!"

They looked at Pete's head.

"Oh right…" Thunderbolt noted. "We gotta get Pete a new body."

"I'll grab some iron from the reposit'ry," Earp said. "Batch! Gimme a hand!"

He clapped a hand over his mouth, but it was too late.

"Hand?!"

"Earp, you moron!" Thunderbolt shouted.

"Hand!? Hand!? HAAAAAAAAAAND!? " Batch began glowing.

"RUN!" everyone screamed, taking off as a huge pillar of electricity erupted.

Alas, due to...workplace-related incidents...the Hog Hunt would have to be delayed until tomorrow.

Tranquil Gulch

At the saloon, the Freedom Fighters ate while Willie told them stories about Beauregard.

"And then, he holds his gun to his head and holds himself hostage!"

"Seriously?" Hope asked.

"Yep!" Dennis added. "The boy even switched 'tween this deep, gravelly voice and a high-pitched, girly voice!"

"Okay, that's hilarious," Rotor noted. "Tell me he had fake names too."

"Not in that instance, but Beau had plenty of disguises...most o' them women."

"Yeah, it was scary how good he was at dressin' up," Dennis mused.

"Huh…" Bunnie rubbed the back of her head. "So that's where that photo album came from."

"He was a cross-dresser?" Sam shuddered at the thought. "That's in my brain now. Thanks very much."

" Zut alors , Bunnie…" Antoine mused. "Your uncle is...quite the character."

"Yeah… he sure is," Bunnie agreed, looking at her ginger ale worriedly.

"Cher, do not get upset," Antoine soothed. "We will find him, and he will be alive and kicking."

"I know…" Bunnie nodded. "Uncle Beau's a tough sonuvabitch. Still…"

"No offense, but I'm more worried about the missing ex-Robians," Shard said. "We did make sure to explain how the Warp Rings worked, right?"

"I know I did," Rotor said as he attempted to put some ketchup on his fries, only for it to get stuck in the bottle, "Hrrm...lousy thing..."

"So they should've returned home without any problems."

"Maybe it's less about returning home and the environment they were returning to," Willie mused, getting their attention.

"What do you mean?" Cosmo asked.

"Well... you have to remember that the Robians were with Eggman for the longest time," Willie pointed out. "And many of them did unspeakable things while under his thrall. And there are those who would... well, be wary of them. And then there are the people who simply had nowhere to go. Not everyone is blessed with a loving family or a happy home."

"Right…" Hope noted. "A good chunk of the victims were likely homeless or runaways. People nobody would miss or notice."

"But that still don't explain people like Jesse," Rally rebutted.

"Rally's right," Shard concurred, "Something's wrong here and..." Suddenly, the Needlemouse began spasming, glitching out and the like.

"Shard!" Hope cried.

"System- s-s-system... Fai-Fai-FAI-Faaiiiiiiillllliiiiiiingg..."

He slumped forward, his faceplate hitting the table. Rotor and Hope immediately ran over to him.

"Shard, you okay?" Rotor asked as they helped him up.

"Uuuuhh..." Shard managed, "That wuzz... wuzz... Weird…"

His voice was fluctuating, and he almost sounded drunk. "Hope...why is Rotor g-grrrrraaaay now? (2)"

"What?" Rotor asked, confused.

"And...did you gain weight? Like, a looooooooot of weight? (3)"

"He's drunk," Rotor realized.

"Robots can get drunk?" Rally asked.

"But he hasn't consumed any liquid," Cosmo pointed out.

"They can't," Hope said. "Something's probably wrong with his power supply. Likely that electrical interfer-"

Suddenly, there was a loud boom, shaking the saloon.

"What in Sam Hill?!" Bunnie screamed.

-X-

Meanwhile, Sonic and Sally were walking when they felt and heard the boom.

"What the?!" Sally exclaimed.

"What was that?!" Sonic demanded.

"Uhhh Sonic, I think it was whatever made that ." Sally pointed to the distance, where a massive pillar of electricity shot up.

"Probably just Thunderbolt throwing a hissy fit because I whooped her goon," Sonic mused.

Suddenly, a metal box landed in front of Sonic and Sally, startling them. The two approached the box, which they discovered was a monitor similar to the ones Bokkun used.

"What the…?"

The monitor hummed to life, showing Thunderbolt's grinning face.

"Greetings, Freedom Fighters… Enjoying your little victory party? I imagine you are, seeing as you utterly destroyed one of my creations!"

"See, what'd I tell you?" Sonic said to Sally. "Thunderbolt losing equals giant electrical explosion."

"Actually, that giant column of lightning was not me ."

Sonic blinked. "Say what?"

" Rather, that was one of the Militia's new Horde Commanders. He's...eager to get to face off with you for what you did to Pete." The chinchilla glowered as she leaned in closer to the camera, " As am I. "

"You can try all you want, Thunderbolt," Sonic stated, "As long as I'm here, no despicable desperado like you is gonna take over this town!"

Thunderbolt smirked. " Maybe not, but what about six despicable desperados like me? "

Thunderbolt gestured as she stood aside, revealing Pete, as well as five Badniks in Wild West attire.

" Let me introduce you to the Dust Riders' very own Horde Commanders: the Despicable Six ! S i x-Gun Pete! Wired Earp! Batch Cassidy! Billy the Kit! Chassis James! And DOS Holiday! And every one of them is programmed to shoot fast and at you! " Thunderbolt turned to the Six. " Show'em, boys. " She adjusted the camera, revealing they were out in the desert. " PULL! "

Suddenly, several Silver Sonics ran out.

"Oh great, those knock offs…" Sonic sighed.

Immediately, the Six drew their weapons, shooting the Silver Sonics up. Within seconds, all of them had been reduced to piles of scrap metal and glass.

"We got'em!" Batch cackled.

Sonic and Sally just watched, utterly stunned.

"By Aurora…" Sally gasped.

"Wow, I remember a time where Silver Sonics were tough…" Sonic noted.

" Do you see now? " Thunderbolt asked. " So, last chance, hedgehog. Give me what I want, and my little friends won't pump your guts full of lead and leave your carcass to the buzzards. After we bulldoze Tranquil Gulch off the map! You have until we get here tomorrow to decide. This message will now self-destruct. "

As the timer went down, Sonic spun in place, tunneling down. Once the whole was deep enough, he grabbed the monitor, putting it in the hole and covering it up. A little later, there was a muffled explosion.

"Whew! Seriously, why do bad guys always gotta make their messages blow up?"

"Sonic…" Sally began.

"I know, Sal. This is bad. Next to Metal, the Silver Sonics are the closest robo-Mes to me in speed. And if those robo-wranglers could take them down like that..." He shook his head. "Well, nothing worth doing is ever easy, right?"

"We better get back to the saloon," Sally said.

"Yeah," Sonic nodded before the two raced off.

-X-

Back at the saloon, Hope was examining a still-'drunk' Shard. "Alright, let's see here..."

"Didjoo know I'm missing a hand?" Shard was looking at the cannon that made up his left arm. Ignoring him, Hope opened his access panel, revealing the Power Gem was bizarrely flickering between green and red.

"Uh-oh," she let out.

"Yeah, I don't know much 'bout machines, but I know that ain't normal…" Bunnie noted.

"What's happening to him?" Cosmo asked.

"His systems are totally out of whack," Rotor reported. "Whatever's causing this interference is causing the energy output to randomly fluctuate."

"Hole in one, Rotor," Hope noted.

"So, how do we fix it?" Sam asked.

" Can we fix it?" Antoine questioned.

"Uuuuugh...fix what?" Shard stabilized, blinking as he noticed Hope was working on him. "Did...something happen?"

"You don't remember?" Sam asked. "The interference hit again, and you got drunk as a skunk."

"No," Shard rubbed his head. "Although, I do have a bit of a headache. Can robots get headaches?"

"Maybe we should get him a prairie oyster?" Dennis offered.

"Dennis, you know that stuff doesn't work!" Willie declared. "He needs a Bloody Mary!" She rubbed her head in confusion. "An...Oily Mary?"

"I thought this place didn't sell alcohol?" Rotor asked.

"Well…" Willie was cut off when the door burst open, Sonic running in.

"Guys! We got a problem! Thunder..." Sonic trailed off, seeing Shard opened up. "Uhhh...what happened here?"

"Shard got robo-drunk," Sam said.

Sonic blinked in confusion.

"The interference hit again," Hope clarified. "Messed with Shard's systems."

Sonic nodded as Sally ran in after him.

"Everyone! We have a problem! We…" Sally saw Shard's condition. "Why is Shard…?"

"Robo-drunk," Sonic said bluntly.

Sally just shrugged. "I'll ask what that means later." She got to business. "We have a situation! Thunderbolt is coming back here with a gang of Badnik Horde Commanders tomorrow! They're going to tear down the whole town if they don't get the deed!"

That elicited looks of horror from everyone.

"How bad are we talking?" Sam asked.

"Six cowboy Badniks, all of them great shots," Sally replied. "Thunderbolt's monitor message showed them taking out a slew of Silver Sonics in ten seconds."

Those who were around for the Westside Island attack looked uneasy.

"Ummm… is that significant?" Cosmo asked.

"I'm going off on a limb and saying very," said Sam.

"Silver Sonic," Hope explained. "The precursor to the Metal Series bots. Next to Metal himself, they're the fastest in the Horde."

"Except for that giant hulk model I fought on the Death Egg, but you get the point," Sonic chimed in.

"Dammit, this is bad! This is real bad!" Rally panicked.

"Rally, calm down!" Willie demanded.

"Calm down? Calm down!? That crazy, yellow varmint's bringin' a whole band of Dust Riders! It's over...we're doomed!"

"No, we ain't!"

They turned to see Lily walk into the saloon.

"Lily…" Sonic slowly approached, holding up his hands in a placating gesture. "Look, I know you have... issues with me, but we gotta work together if we're gonna save the town. I need you to trust me, Lily. I know that's hard, after Jesse, after everything, but please... at least do it for the people here."

Lily looked at Sonic appraisingly. She turned to Shard, then the rest of the Freedom Fighters, before taking a breath.

"Fine. But don't get no funny ideas, Hedgehog. I still don't consider you Sheriff, temporary or not, and this sure as hell don't make us friends. But fer the sake of my home and fer keepin' what happened to Jesse from happin' to someone else...I'm willin' to work wit' you."

"Alright, I'll take what I can get." Sonic held out a hand. Lily hesitated for a solid minute before reluctantly taking the offered handshake. She sighed at that.

"Jesse would want me to move on, to forgive you. And so would Aurora. And I hope that maybe someday, I can. But fer now...bear with me."

"Can do," Sonic replied, the two shaking on it. "So, you've been dealing with these guys longer than us. I don't suppose you know anything we can use against them?"

Lily grinned. "As a matter of fact, I do."

The Great Desert

Back in the wastes of the Great Desert, Cream, Cheese, and Kid watched as the lightning column raged in the distance.

"Wh-What is that?" Cream asked nervously.

"Looks like Batch blew a gasket again," Kid replied.

"Batch?"

"Robot outlaw. Bad temper. Little bit crazy, too."

"Oh my…" Cream held Cheese tightly as she watched the lightning dance, "He sounds scary."

"Eh, he's a wild one, but he's not that tough." Kid reached into his pockets and pulled out some colorfully-wrapped lollipops, "Get him angry enough and his power cells burn out faster than a roadrunner on Blue Cow." He extended the candies to Cream and Cheese, "Chewy-Pop? I got grape, raspberry, cherry, chocolate, orange, and green apple."

"Oh! Thank you very much," Cream said as she took two raspberry pops for her and Cheese.

"Raspberry, eh?" Kid noted as he unwrapped the green apple and slid it through the folds of his scarf. "Not what I was expecting."

"My Mama makes raspberry tarts sometimes," Cream explained, smiling as she licked the lolli. "They're one of my favorites!"

Cheese happily chirped in agreement.

"Heh, that must be nice," Kid said as he looked out into the wilderness. As he did, Cream couldn't help but notice his hands twitching. His fingers alternated between trembling fists, and flexing and bending.

"We should get moving," Kid said as he started walking, "If we stay out here, the sun will bake us into buzzard biscuits."

"R-Right…" Cream said as her and Cheese followed after him. Cheese chirped in concern.

"I know Cheese, I saw it too," Cream whispered, "The way he moves his hands…" She took one more look at Kid's gesturing, "It's kinda like how Mr. Sonic squeezes his little stress ball."

Although worried about her new companion, she continued to follow him deeper into the desert.

Author's Note:

(1): Church of Aurora

(2): Reference to Rotor's SatAM design.

(3): Reference to Rotor's pre-reboot Archie design.

Well, Lily's coming around. And yes, Father Wolfwood is based on Wolfwood from Trigun.

Voice cast for this chapter:

* Wolfwood - Jeff Nimoy (Nicholas D. Wolfwood from Trigun, Tentomon from Digimon Adventure)

* Earp - Benjamin Byron Davis (Dutch van der Linde from Red Dead Redemption, Agent Burleigh in Ant-Man and the Wasp, Paul Kadarowski from L.A. Noire)

* Batch - David Herman (Roberto from Futurama, David Nabbit from Angel, Errol from Jak II and 3)

* Billy - Dan Castellaneta (Homer Simpson and Barney Gumble from The Simpsons, Earthworm Jim, Grandpa Phil in Hey Arnold!, Emmett Brown in Back to the Future: The Animated Series, the Robot Devil in Futurama)

* James - Mick Lauer (Android 13 from Dragon Ball Z Abridged: Super Android 13, Leone Abbacchio from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 5: Golden Wind)

* DOS - Bill Farmer (Current voice of Goofy, Puma from Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa)

Please R&R. Until next time!