-Chapter 250-

Enter Sand-Blasters

Tranquil Gulch

Sonic and the others stared at Jack and his crew in stunned silence, trying to process what they were witnessing. The best way to describe the group was…rugged. All of them wore some kind of combination of leather pants and jackets, heavy boots, shirts with torn sleeves, cloth wrappings around their hands or feet, fingerless gloves, and belts. They also bore some prominent battle scars. From Avery's chipped snaggletooth to Shift's partly lopped-off tail, to Jack's eyepatch. Even their fur, feathers, and scales screamed tough guy, with how messy and dirty they were. Jolt's head crest almost looked like a mohawk, and Tex was covered in so many spikes, he could cut you just by pointing at you.

But what really stood out was their equipment: guns. Each and every one of the Sand-Blasters carried some type of firearm on their person. Jack had a rifle and pistol, Avery had a bazooka, Shift and Jolt were packing revolvers, and Tex had a machine gun.

All in all, they looked like the kind of guys you would want to steer clear of when they walked by, an image that was somewhat undermined by their fanboyish glee.

"I-I gotta be honest with ya, I can't believe this is happenin'," Jack continued, "I'm sure you get this all the time, but it's a huge honor to finally meet you, Mr. Hedgehog! To say that you're an inspiration to us would be the understatement of the century."

"Uhhhh…thanks?" Sonic finally replied.

"I think you broke him, Jack," Avery said.

"Either that or he likes what he sees," Jolt added, clicking his teeth and whistling for emphasis. "What do you think, Tex? Yay or nay?"

Tex's response was to slap the roadrunner upside the head.

"Ow!"

"Shut up, Jolt."

"Alright, knock it off!" Jack shouted, "You're making us look bad!" Jack turned to Sonic.

"Sorry 'bout that, my crew's kinda…crazy."

"And by that, he means they're idiots," Shift added, earning him an annoyed look from Jack.

"Eh, no big deal, you should see the kinda shenanigans we get into," Sonic replied.

"Heh, I'm sure." Jack noticed Shard and Hope, his eyes narrowing.

"What?" Shard asked defensively. "You never seen a robot before?"

"You there," Jack said, ignoring Shard. "Girl."

"Yes?" Hope perked.

"Aren't you Hope Kintobor?"

Jack's tone immediately made Hope nervous. "Y-...Yes?"

"That a problem, Mr. Rabbit?" Sam asked, glaring at Jack.

Jack shook his head. "Nah, it's nuthin'. I–"

"Mr. Raaaaaaabbiiiiiiit!" Ray shouted as he suddenly flew over to Jack and landed on his head, startling him.

"Jitters!" Mighty said as he grabbed the squirrel off of him, "Sorry about that, sir. Jitters snuck a sip of someone's drink at the saloon."

"I noticed," Jack deadpanned.

"Anyway, we just finished checking on the civvies. Nobody's hurt."

"Thank you, Flex. That'll be all."

"Flex? Jitters?" Sonic asked.

"They're new," Jack replied, "This here's Flex Armadillo and Jitters McSquirrel."

"A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Hedgehog," Mighty said as he held his hand.

"Yeahyeahyeah!" Ray chimed in, nodding his head rapidly, "Nice Real nice!"

Before Sonic could ask what was going on, Mighty gave him a severe look, his eyes darting between him and Jack. Picking up on the message, Sonic nodded and shook their hands.

"Yeah…a pleasure to meet you too, Flex, Jitters."

"E-Excuse me..." Jack and the others turned toward Bunnie. Jack stared at her for a moment, his eyes narrowing.

"Can I help you, Miss…?"

"Rabbot. Bunnie Rabbot."

"Rabbot!?" Jack exclaimed, the other Sand Blasters going wide-eyed as well, "As in Beauregard Rabbot?"

"Yessir, I'm his niece."

The Sand Blasters gasped at that. Jolt darted over to Jack. "Jack, this chick, she's-!"

Jack grabbed Jolt by his purple jacket and got in his face, "I know who she is, Jolt! Now shut yer beak before you do somethin' stupid!" He then turned to Bunnie again, "Sorry about that…Miss Rabbot. Your uncle is…kind of a celebrity 'round these parts. Now, is there something we can help you with?"

"Y'all called yerself the Sand Blasters, I take it yer from Sand Blast City?"

"No, we're from Robotropolis," Shift deadpanned.

"Shift!" Jack snapped, "Yes ma'am! You're lookin' at Sand Blast City and the Great Desert's very own Freedom Fighters!"

"That's perfect!" Bunnie exclaimed, "Sonic, these guys can get us to the city in no time!"

"Hey yeah!" Sonic turned to Jack, "Listen, Jack, sorry to spring this on you, but we need you to get us to Sand Blast City, pronto."

"Wait, what?" Jack blinked. "I mean, I'm happy to help, but…"

"I'll explain as soon as we get there," Sonic turned to Sally. "Sal, pass me a Warp Ring!"

Sally nodded, handing him one.

"Now then," Sonic turned to Cream, "I'm opening a warp to Floral Forest and sending you home."

"But Mr. Sonic—!" Cream objected.

"No buts, Cream," Sonic said sternly. "You saw what Kid and his friends did! This mission is too dangerous and that's that!"

"Actually, I don't think we have a choice, Sonic," Sally piped up.

"What?"

"That's… our last Warp Ring."

Sonic pinched the bridge of his nose. "Are you kidding me?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Ahh, it's okay! Let her come!" Avery cut in. "Not like she's short on people to look after her," He put his arm around Tex's shoulder, "Plus, Tex loves kids. Right, Tex?"

Tex looked at Cream for a moment, the lizard's taciturn expression and imposing physique making her nervous. Suddenly, blood began dripping from his eyes, startling her (as well as everyone else).

"Eek!" Cream squeaked.

"The hell!?" Sonic shouted.

"Tex, your eyes!" Jack yelled.

Tex winced and looked away as he pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the blood.

"Sorry, he's shy and gets nervous real easy."

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "He bleeds from his eyes when he gets nervous?"

"I'm a horny toad," he replied.

"Heh, you sure are," Jolt chimed in, earning him an elbow in the gut from Tex and a glare from Avery.

"Now then…" Jack said, getting things back on track, "You said you wanted to go to the city?"

Sonic nodded. "This Warp Ring can get us there instantly. Just think of where you wanna go and throw it."

Jack took the ring, examining it. "Nifty. Arite, let's take her for a spin!"

He reeled back, preparing to throw the ring.

"Wait!" Lily shouted as everyone turned to her. "Let us come with you!"

Everyone looked at Lily in shock.

"Lily, are you nuts!?" Rally demanded.

"This is our chance to fight the Dust Riders, Rally!" Lily insisted. "Maybe even stop 'em fer good! We gotta go!"

"But Lily—!"

"C'mon Rally! Yer my best friend! Ya gotta come too! Plus, Jesse's folks are there! Dontcha wanna see Jamie again?"

Rally winced in guilt, then sighed. "Alright…"

"Lily, are you sure about this?" Sally asked. "We—"

"She held her own against the Desperadoes, Sally," Sonic insisted. "She can handle herself."

"What!? Sonic!"

"Jack, the ring!"

Jack nodded, throwing the ring and opening a portal. Jolt whistled in awe.

"Fancy."

"I am very intrigued," Shift remarked.

"Well, what are we waitin' for?" Jack asked. "Let's mosey!"

"Hold up, Jack," Tex cut in. "We're not seriously letting—"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there, Tex. Just trust me."

Tex still looked unsure. Avery put a hand on Tex's shoulder.

"Relax Prickles," he said, "The boss knows what he's doin'."

Tex sighed. "Alright…"

Jack ran to the jeep, the others following.

"Freedom Fighters, let's move out!" Jack declared as the jeep ran through the portal.

"Come on, guys!" Sonic cried. "Let's get going!"

"Right…" Sally sighed.

"Wait, Sonic…!" Dennis objected.

"Thanks for having us, Mayor Chestnut, but we gotta go!" Sonic said quickly as the Freedom Fighter ran through the ring.

"Hold on!" Dennis cried as the ring closed. "Dangit!"

"Dennis, what's wrong?" Willie asked.

"I dunno, Willie. I just got a bad feelin'." Dennis looked at the pile of weapons and stuff Jolt picked off Kid. Among all the weapons and ammo was a small, plastic bag with a twist tie: a bag full of Chewy-Pops. "A real bad feelin'…"

Sand Blast City

The portal opened up, depositing the Sand Blasters and the Freedom Fighters in the city. Immediately, they felt queasy.

"Ohhh, my stomach," Jack moaned.

"I feel like I just went six rounds with Avery," Tex groaned.

"I feel like I watched you go six rounds with Avery," Jolt remarked, earning him a dope slap from Avery.

"Sorry about that," Sonic said. "I forgot about the nausea. Been doing that a lot lately."

They took in the sights, seeing buildings of various sizes composed of sandstone or wood.

"So…" Hope began, "this is Sand Blast City."

"Looks like," Lily remarked.

"Yeah, home sweet home," Jack remarked. "Speakin' of which, here's ours."

He motioned to a building in front of them… a very old and decrepit-looking gas station.

Sonic blinked. "That's your base?"

"Pretty nice, eh?" Jack replied, "Come on! I'll show you around!"

The Knothole group exchanged confused looks before following Jack in as the Sand Blasters spread out, doing their own thing. The inside was cluttered and dilapidated, and garbage bags were strewn all over the place.

"Good Gaia, this place is a dump!" Sam exclaimed. "It smells! It's falling apart! There are roaches…" Tex immediately snapped one up with his tongue, "For Aurora's sake, you can hear the Mickies doing this and that in the wall!"

As if on cue, they heard rapid high-pitched squeaking from a nearby wall. Hope slowly turned to Sam.

"I thought you were kidding about that Micky bit," she said.

Sam turned beet-red. "I... thought I was, too."

"For the record, we've been out for a while, and haven't had time for spring cleaning," Jack defended. "And not all of us get funding from big fat cats like the Kingdom of Acorn or Nelson Thorndyke." He turned to Sally. "No offense, Yer Highness."

"None taken." Sally looked around. "Though do you really need so many guns?"

Indeed, there were various firearms mounted on the wall.

"Getting a little uncomfortable," Rotor remarked.

"Whatsa matter, nutkins?" Jolt asked mockingly, "'Fraid the powder fairies will make 'em leap off their hooks and start poppin' ya?"

Rotor just scoffed.

"Ease up, Jolt," Jack told him. "These folks ain't used to our way of doin' things. Just give 'em time." He clapped his hands. "Anyway, why don't y'all get situated and I'll rustle us up some grub? Shift! We still have any leftover takeout!?"

"I think Avery horfed down whatever was left!" Shift called back.

"Did not!" Avery objected, only to blush as the wolf revealed several empty and overturned takeout boxes in a nearby fridge, "Okay, so I snuck some of the chicken…"

"Us some or you some?"

"How bout ya look inside and see for yourself, ya scrawny–!"

"Easy!" Jack said as he and Tex restrained the bear.

Sonic and co. watched as the Sand Blasters talked and argued amongst themselves.

"Well, they seem rather..." Cosmo began.

"Uncouth? Loud? Boorish?" Antoine offered.

Cosmo shook her head. "I was going to say rough."

"Seem pretty normal to me," Lily mused.

"I dunno, Lily," Rally mused. "Somethin' bout those guys gives me the willies."

Shrugging, Lily walked over to the gun rack, examining it with a small glint in her eye.

"By Aurora…" she gasped. "They have some of the finest guns out there! Glocks, the 12-gauge double-barrel Remington... they even have a gunblade! The real kind (1)!"

"You're a gun nut?" Bunnie asked.

"I prefer gun enthusiast," she insisted, "And yeah. I'm from Hexas, what did you expect?"

"No, Rally's right..." Rotor held up a bazooka. "These are military-grade weapons here."

Immediately, the bazooka was snatched out of his hands by Avery. "Ah, so that's where I put my spare."

"Rotor's right…" Hope agreed. "I can't be the only one who finds it a bit suspicious that a bunch of hicks in the middle of fug-off nowhere Wyldwest could get their hands on the latest in military technology."

"That's because they salvage it from their victims," Mighty cut in.

"Victims?" Hope questioned.

Mighty pointed to a section of the room.

"Holy...!" Sonic gasped.

The area was decorated with Badnik parts. A Motobug chassis lay on the floor, its eye sockets empty and hollow like a skull. Some Vultrons and Cactulas hung from the ceiling by wires like a twisted mobile. There was even a whole Caterkiller mounted on the wall like a big-mouth bass, complete with plaque.

"Ahhh, I see you happened upon our trophy collection," Jack said with pride.

"Trophies?" Sally said incredulously.

"Pretty snazzy, doncha think?"

"Pretty macabre," Rotor remarked with a wince

"Why, thank you," Jolt said cheerily, adjusting his jacket "Yup, we've been hunting and scrapping Badniks and killer robots for almost a year and a half! Ooh! Hey Jack, show'em our latest catch!"

"Alright, alright..." Jack sighed. "Tex, Avery..."

"One sec..." Avery said as he and Tex walked into the back.

"What about you, Mr. Sonic?" Jack asked. "I imagine a veteran bot-buster like you and your friends gotsa whole slew of souvenirs."

"Wasn't really a priority," Sonic replied.

"You should!" Jolt declared. "It's fun!"

"There is a certain satisfaction in the activity," Shift noted. "Gives one a sense of progression, of growth."

"Found 'em!" Everyone turned to see Tex and Avery wheeling out some stuff.

"Check out these cartoon characters," Avery declared.

The group gasped at a gruesome sight: Scratch, Grounder, Coconut, Decoe, and Bocoe, all inactive and badly damaged.

"Yeah, pretty crazy lookin, aren't they?" Avery asked, "Ol' Dr. Eggface must've been swillin' cactus juice when he drew up their prints."

"We found these robo-freaks snoopin' around the desert," Jack continued, "Took us a while to catch'em, but we got'em."

"The fools actually snuck into our own base!" Shift added, "That's…" He chuckled to himself.

"The 6-S!" Hope declared.

Jack blinked. "Izzat what they're called?"

"I believe the chicken was ranting about that being their name, but I wasn't listening," Shift remarked.

"Zut Alors…" Antoine gasped. "They look like they went through a trash compactor!"

"Even Kat never banged them up this bad!" Bunnie exclaimed.

"Jack, what the hell?!" Sonic demanded.

"What?" Jack shrugged. "They're just Badniks. What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that these guys are about as dangerous as a toddler with a rubber sword! They're beyond harmless!"

"That's what they want you to think. But they're Eggman robots. Ain't no such thing as a harmless Eggman robot."

"No, really," Sam cut in. "They're that dumb."

"As in, we literally stole a Chaos Emerald out from under their noses because they were arguing among themselves dumb," Rotor added.

"Seriously," Sally added, "This is just…messed up!"

"Kid ain't wrong, Jack," Avery conceded.

"You too, Avery!?" Jack demanded.

"You managed to trick the drill-nosed one into returning your gun after he stole it just by flipping your back-and-forth argument around," Shift pointed out.

"See?" Hope was already pulling them down from the wall. "Honestly, we keep them around because having them on Eggman's team makes life easier for us."

Jack grimaced but took a breath. "Alright, you made your point. They weren't exactly worthy prey anyway."

"Thank you," Hope nodded. "Now, if anyone needs me, I'll be doing repairs."

"Now hold yer horses!" Jack objected.

"Let her go, Jack," Rotor insisted. "We've proven they're not dangerous."

"They're Badniks!"

"They're basically children," Sally replied.

"They've seen our base!"

"Hope can wipe their memory cores," Sonic answered.

Jack blinked. "Memory...cores?"

"The Eggbots' brains, Boss," Avery clarified.

"Right, those."

"Now, let's see..." Hope opened up Scratch's head, blinking. "What the...!? It's empty!"

Avery perked. "Huh?"

"Scratch's memory banks are completely gone," Hope tilted the robo-chicken's head, revealing it was indeed empty. "In fact, his entire processor has been removed."

Shard went over to look at the others, "Grounder's is gone too!"

"So's Decoe and Bocoe!" Rotor added.

"What the heck's going on here!?" Hope said as she finished checking Coconut's empty cranium.

At that, everyone perked and slowly turned to the Sand Blasters.

"Don't look at us," Jack insisted. "We found 'em like this. Figured they just broke down or somethin'."

"Actually... now that you mention it, where's Orbot and Cubot?" Bunnie asked.

The Sand Blasters looked confused.

"A robot shaped like a red orb and a yellow cube," Antoine clarified.

"As I recall, Orbot is the only member of the 6-S with an actual intelligence quota," Cosmo remarked.

"Oh, dear..." Shift said. "I believe Jolt was playing around with them and accidentally threw them off a building."

"Dude!" Jolt objected.

"You what!?" Sonic demanded.

"Which building?" Hope questioned.

"Uhhhh...a big building?" Jolt smiled awkwardly, getting a facepalm out of Hope.

"Come on," Sam stood up. "Maybe we can find them."

"Right," Hope nodded.

"No." Everyone turned to Tex. "It's dark out. The Dust Riders prowl the streets at night."

"Tex is right," said Avery. "You kids need rest. Last thing you want is to deal with the Baron's boys when you're runnin' on half a tank."

That earned confused looks from the Knothole group.

"The Baron?" Sally asked.

"The Dust Baron," Jack clarified. "The ruler of the city's underworld and leader of the Dust Riders," he grimaced, "And one the quickest damn guns in all Wyldwest."

"Hang on," Sonic held up a hand, "I thought the Diablo Kid was their leader?"

Jack chuckled at that. "The Kid? Yeah, right. He's a mean sunnuvabitch, yeah. But compared to the Baron? He ain't nuthin'."

"Someone worse than him?" Sonic shuddered.

"What can you tell us about this Dust Baron?" Sally asked.

"Not much," Jack answered. "One night, the whole city heard gunshots and explosions coming from the slums. 'Bout a week later, some Dust Riders showed up and made the big announcement of the Kid bein' dethroned. Kid didn't take it too well."

"He doesn't seem like he takes anything well," Sonic deadpanned.

Jack shook his head. "That reminds me… Y'all were in quite a hurry to get here. Somethin' goin' on?"

"It's my uncle," Bunnie replied. "He's gone missin'"

Jack's eye widened. "Missin'?"

"Came ta sell scrap and never came home," Bunnie confirmed. "Auntie Lulu's been worried."

"You wouldn't happen to have seen him anywhere, would you?" Antoine asked. "He's a yellow-furred rabbit with blue eyes and a brown coat."

"Hey Jack, wasn't he the guy who-?" Jolt was cut off by an elbow to the gut.

"Quiet, you!" he hissed.

"You've seen him!?" Bunnie exclaimed.

Jack flinched before sighing. "Yeah, we have. But… you're not gonna like where." He took a breath and looked Bunnie dead in the eye. "Your uncle's been captured by the Dust Riders."

The group's eyes widened in shock and horror, especially Bunnie's.

"No…" she managed. "No, it can't be..."

"H-Hold on! That's crazy!" Lily cut in. "Buckshot Bunny… captured? By the Dust Riders? H-How?!"

Jack shrugged. "Dunno. All we know is that we saw three of the varmints run off with him."

"And none of you tried to stop them!?" Sonic shouted.

"Hey!" Avery objected. "It's not like we stood there and watched! Those guys are crazy strong and fast! And well-armed!"

"We're just some guys with guns and a few tricked-out cars and computers," Jack snapped. "We don't have a fancy royal army or special powers like you do! So get off our backs!"

The Knothole group was stunned as Jack calmed down.

"Sorry...that wasn't nice," he sighed. "Look, it's getting late and we've all had a rough day. How's about we call it a night and discuss more 'bout this tomorrow morning?"

"That sounds wonderful," Sally decided.

Jack nodded. "Jolt, Shift, get some spare cots and stuff out of the back!"

"You got it bossman!" Jolt declared, racing off with Shift following. "Avery, Tex, help clear some space. This place is a sty!"

"Already on it," Avery and Tex got to work.

"Flex..." Jack looked at Mighty, then Ray, the flying squirrel twitching in place. "Go help Jitters deal with...whatever the hell he's dealing with right now."

"Yes sir." Mighty picked Ray up, walking off. "Come on, little buddy."

"If anybody needs me, I'll be in my office," Jack said. "Gotta document this all down. You all make yourself at home." He walked off.

"Well, this adventure got off to an interesting start," Sonic said.

"You said it," Rotor agreed.

Antoine turned to see Bunnie, still recovering from what they just learned about her uncle.

"Bunnie, are you alright?" he asked.

"I...Yeah, I'm okay. I just..." Bunnie sighed. "No...No, I'm not."

"Hey," Antoine soothed. "Everything will be alright. Your uncle's tough. He'll be alright, and we'll find him."

"But he's been gone for almost a month! What if he's-!?"

"He's fine." Everyone turned to Sonic, seeing he looked dead serious. "We'll find him."

"Besides, didn't your aunt get a call from him just a few hours ago?" Sally added. "That means he's still kicking."

"See?" Antoine asked.

Bunnie smiled. "Yer right. Thanks, y'all. I really needed that."

The Knothole group resumed exploring their new temporary home. As they do, Lily looked worried.

"You good, Lily?" Rally asked.

"Huh?" Lily perked. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine."

Unbeknownst to Lily, she was being watched…

Dust Rider Base

Meanwhile, at the Dust Riders' base, Kid was being dragged kicking and screaming by Bill's energy wires.

"Let go of me!" Kid snapped, struggling.

"Not a chance, Kid," Bill insisted. "You need to rest."

"That fat bear's gun barely did a thing to me! I'm fine!"

"No, you're not," Matti cut in. "You have not been 'fine' in years."

"She's got a point, Jefe," Jose agreed.

"Shut it, Jose!" Kid snapped, getting a terrified squeak out of the bird. "This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't spent so much time in the bathroom! What, did you fall in or something?! Maybe I should've gone in there and flushed you down like the overcooked piece of chickenshit you are!"

"Enough!"

The quartet froze and turned to see a lone figure walk toward them, his face hidden by a hood and poncho. They were terrified, even the normally stone-faced Matilda. Kid, on the other hand, just glared at the man in sheer anger.

"El Barón..." Jose gasped.

"Aww hell..." Bill cursed.

"Matilda, go to your room," the Baron ordered. "I need to talk with your friends."

"Yes sir." Matti ran off.

"Jose, you been drinking too much again, consider yourself on cut off for the week."

"Awwww…" Jose slumped.

"Bill... actually, you have some working brain cells. You're free to go. But Kid... you and I are gonna have words, boy."

The Baron produced a newspaper from his coat, detailing Kid's attack on the cantina.

"Lousy ass picture," Kid cursed.

"We talked about this, Kid. You keep it quick, you keep it clean, and you keep away from innocent civilians!"

"They were threatening my men!"

"That don't give ya carte blanche ta blow a guy's fingers off and jam a lollipop stick into his brain through his eye! And don't even get me started on the stunt you pulled at Mirage Saloon last week! Are ya lookin ta git cracked?

"Maybe I am," Kid spat. "Be a helluva a lot better than listening to your twangy, hick voice, old man."

"Don't toy with me, boy," the Baron hissed. "Yer already on thin ice as is."

"I'm not afraid of you." Kid grinned. "I'm not afraid of anything."

"I can think of one thing. Act out like that one more time, and you ain't allowed to see Matti again."

Kid froze. "You wouldn't dare."

"Try me."

Kid glared at the Baron, trying to act tough, but it was clear that he was terrified. "Fine..."

The Baron nodded. "That's what I thought. Bill, let him go."

"Yes, Baron." Bill dispelled the wires, allowing Kid to get up.

"No more warnings, Kid. One more mess like this, and Matti's gone. You understand?"

Kid just remained silent, glaring at him underneath his glasses.

"Answer me, boy," the Baron ordered.

"Yes. I understand, sir," Kid grit out.

"For your sake, you better." With that, the Baron walked off. Once he was out of earshot, Jose let out a sigh of relief.

"Way too close. I thought you was gettin cracked for sure." Kid said nothing. "Jefe?"

Kid walked off.

"Kid, where are you going?" Bill asked.

"None of your business," Kid snapped. "I need to focus."

"Thaaaaat's not good." Jose said.

Bill watched him go ."Kid…"

Kid made his way to the Dust Riders' dormitories, where everyone was preparing to turn in for the night, occasionally passing by terrified Dust Riders who gave him a wide berth.

"It's the Kid!"

"Oh geez, he's pissed..."

"Looks like he got in another fight with the Baron again.:

"Again? How is he still alive!?"

"Mother of all miracles, that's how."

Kid gritted his teeth.

"Shhh! Quiet!"

"Well, how else do you explain it? The guy's an Aurora-damned psychopath!"

Kid's eyes went wide.

"Dude! Don't say that name!"

"What was that?" Kid turned toward a pair of Dust Riders, who looked at Kid in horror.

"Uhhh...n-nothing!"

"Did I hear you say the A-word, soldier?" His left eye glowed brightly. "Well?!"

The Dust Riders whimpered in fear as Kid loomed over them.

"Kid." Kid froze, turning to see Matti standing in the doorway to her room.

"Matti..."

"What are you doing?"

"Matti, I was..."

Matti shook her head. "You're already in trouble. Don't make it worse. Please."

Matti looked at Kid with her usual deadpan stare. However, if one looked closely, they could see a faint hint of desperation in her eyes. Kid saw this and reluctantly stopped.

"Consider yourselves lucky," he hissed. "Next time might be different."

Kid walked off, the two Riders sighing in relief as he headed over to Matti and entered her room. The room had light green wallpaper with four-leaf clovers scattered about, and contained all the usual things you would find in a young girl's room: a dresser full of cute clothes (as well as spare Egg Soldier uniforms), a vanity and mirror, a toy chest, a bed with light green sheets and pillows, as well as a stuffed animal resting on it, and a bookshelf packed to the brim with books. Matti walked over to the bed and sat down on it.

"You okay, Matti?" Kid asked.

"My status has not changed," the armadillo said as she pulled a Feel the Rabbit (2) book from the shelf. "Then again, I'm not the one who mouthed off to one of Eggman's generals."

Kid blinked. "How did you–?"

"You do that every time you and the Baron see each other. And every time, you get in trouble."

Kid scoffed. "Please, that windbag can threaten to Crack me all he wants. We both know he'd never do it."

"Maybe not, but he will have me reassigned."

"He won't." Kid smiled evilly. "If does, I'll make him regret it. Just like for everyone else in this shithole world when I'm through with it."

Matti shrugged. "Whatever you say, Kid."

"I mean it, Matti." His demeanor softened. "One day, I'm going to take my title back from that old geezer. Then, we'll take back everything else that was stolen from us, and all the people who took it from us will be dead. And you won't have to be stuck down here. Maybe then, I can finally get you to smile again."

"We'll see…"

Kid sagged in defeat. "I gotta go now. G'night Matti..."

"G'night." Matti watched as Kid left the room, then sighed and shook her head, going back to her book. "You idiot..."

Kid continued walking until he reached the door to his room. The door had been heavily vandalized and spray painted with words and phrases like "Demon", "Scumbag", and "Eat shit and die" to name a few. Kid merely growled and went inside.

His room was sparsely furnished or decorated. In fact, aside from a bed, a dresser, a coat tree, and a nightstand, it was completely barren and empty. The walls were even pure white. Kid hung his hat on the tree, revealing his messy, black hair, removed his boots, and took a seat on his bed. He paused for a moment, then opened a drawer on his nightstand and pulled out a hand mirror. He stared into the mirror, getting a good look at himself.

"Devil's Eye," he uttered, causing his eye to glow red. The world around him went dark and he was surrounded by shadowy, humanoid figures. They were completely featureless, save for their eyes and mouths, which glowed red and were simple shapes, like those of a jack-o-lantern. Their expressions were those of fear, but most were rage and hatred. The figures pointed and jeered, shook their fists in fury, and shouted all kinds of horrible things.

Monster!

Demon!

Get away from us!

Go back to Hell and stay there, you freak!

Kid's hands trembled in rage, but he kept his gaze focused on the mirror; the figures' jeers becoming more and more disturbing.

String him up! String him up!

Throw him in the river and feed him to the jackals!

Keep away from him, he's not human!

You're not my son, you're damned! Get out! GET OUT!

I see you here again and I'll shoot! Y'here!?

Big brother, is that you?

Suddenly, Kid let out a demonic scream. An unseen wave tore through the figures, blowing them all away as he returned to reality. Kid panted heavily as he tried to regain his bearings, repeating the same phrase over and over.

"Never forgive…never forget…"

Author's Note:

(1): The real life pistol sword, not the Final Fantasy weapon.

(2): Feel the Rabbit was a prototype of Sonic with stretchy ears. He would later serve as the basis for the character Ristar. Here, Feel is a cartoon character ala Mickey Mouse or Bugs Bunny.

Sand Blast City at last. Next chapter, Sonic and co. begin their search for Beauregard.

Please R&R. Until next time!