-Chapter 253-

Wyld West Standoff

Sand Blast City - Earlier That Day

Orbot peeked around a corner. "Okay, all clear!"

He crept out, Hope, Cubot, and the others following him.

"Alright, if I remember correctly if we turn left at Schlesinger, then right at Tashlin, we should be back at the Blasters' base," Hope mused.

"Hope, are you sure about this?" Rotor asked. "I've got this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach."

"Ditto, Rote. But if we don't do this, those guys are never getting out of there."

"That's not what I'm worried about."

"Well, what are you worried about?" Cubot questioned, tilting his head.

"Well..."

"Shh!" Orbot hissed, everyone stopping. "We're here." He pointed to the Sand Blasters' base.

"And we've got company," Sam noted, pointing to a pair of guards standing by the entrance.

"Nuts…" Hope cursed. "Of course, it'd be guarded."

"So?" Sam questioned. "It's just two guys."

"Sam…" Hope shook her head.

"Let's make this quick," Rotor said.

-X-

The guards were doing their job, standing before the doors with weapons ready. They looked bored out of their skulls when suddenly something flew over them.

"Hm!?" one guard perked. "What was that?"

"What?" his friend asked.

"That noise. Sounded like a jet engine."

"Gee, I dunno," the second guard deadpanned. "Maybe it was a...jet?"

"Hardy har har. I'm serious, man!"

"Dude, there's a GUN base a couple miles from here. That was probably them."

"Nuh-uh. It was too close and not loud enough."

"Think we should call Mr. Wolf?"

"Yeah… Better safe than sor-"

Suddenly, Rotor dropped down and knocked the guard out with a blow to the head.

"Gotcha!" the walrus declared.

"What the-!?" was all the second guard managed before Sam crept up behind and chopped him in the back of the neck. He let out a grunt before dropping like a load of bricks.

"Night night, Mr. Guard," Sam dusted his hands off. "Well, that takes care of that."

"Indeed."

"Whoa!" Rotor and Sam flinched at Cubot screaming before speaking in a high-pitched, fourth-grader-esque voice (2). "Dude! That was badass!"

"SHHHHHHHH!" everyone hissed.

"Sorry."

"Um… Cubot, my friend, would you like to play a game?" Orbot asked.

"Ooh!" Cubot's voice switched back to his normal tone. "What kind of game?"

"The Quiet Game," Orbot replied. "Whoever goes the longest without talking wins."

"Ooh, okay!" Cubot blinked. "Oh no, did I just lose?"

Orbot put a hand over his face, venting deep and slow. "Just… stop talking, okay? Please."

Cubot gave a thumbs up, everyone breathing a sigh of relief.

"Alright, let's go." Rotor opened the door slowly, peeking inside. "All clear!"

"Hope, where did you leave the 6-S?" Sam asked.

"In my room," Hope replied. "They should still be there."

The group headed into the back, opening the door. Indeed, the inactive 6-S were still there.

"Alright, now we just gotta install the memory cores..." Hope popped their heads open one by one, carefully placing the memory cores back inside.

"C'mon guys, wake up…" Cubot pleaded.

The 6-S began to boot up, Grounder even making an old dial-up modem sound.

"Place your bets, folks! Place your bets!" Scratcher declared, eyes lighting up.

"Where'sssss the leak, ma'am?" Grounder slurred, sounding exhausted and out of it.

"Bananas, bananas!" Coconut chirped, looking around wildly. "What? What? Bananas!"

"..." Decoe droned in a monotone.

"Your thirty-day trial has expired..." Bocoe declared in what sounded like a pre-recorded voice.

Suddenly, their vision came into focus.

"Huh?" Scratch looked around. "What...What happened?"

"Are we dead?" Grounder asked.

"No," Orbot said. "This is still Mobius."

"MY FRIENDS!" Cubot exclaimed.

"GUYS!" Orbot and Cubot were tackled by their teammates, the whole group crying and laughing.

"Wow, never thought I'd be happy to see these nincombots together," Rotor remarked.

"Yeah, this is super weird," Hope agreed.

The 6-S looked up. Upon seeing Hope, all of them looked... relieved.

"Hope!" Coconuts exclaimed.

"Oh thank Aurora!" Decoe let out. "A sane Freedom Fighter!"

"You don't have any idea how happy we are to see you guys!" Grounder wept.

"I can imagine," said Sam. "Orbot and Cubot told us everything."

"These guys are insane." Bocoe shook his head. "Complete nutjobs, all of them! You should see the stuff they have on their computer."

"Yeah, it's darker than the boss' web history," Decoe agreed.

"Seriously, Dr. Robotnik's done some messed up stuff, but Jack?" Scratch shuddered.

"It's like what happened with the Death Egg, only worse!" Grounder remarked.

That made the Freedom Fighters shudder themselves.

"Do any of you have copies of what you saw?" Rotor questioned.

Scratch nodded. "Decoe managed to snag a few files before we had to bolt."

Decoe revealed a port in his head. "We were going to send them to the Doctor, but we got caught."

"Omochao, could you…?" Hope began.

"On it!" Omochao interfaced with Decoe "Download complete!"

"Show us," Hope ordered.

Omochao brought up a holographic screen, and everyone went silent.

"Holy…" Sam managed.

"Oh no…" Hope let out.

"What...the fugg?" Rotor said.

"...We need to get this to Sonic," Hope decided. "Now!"

Junkyard - Present

Matilda reeled back, preparing to unleash a devastating punch to Mighty.

"Matilda, stop!" Mighty begged. "Don't do this!"

"You left me in Hell for almost two years, Mighty!" Matilda screamed. "I'll never forgive you and I'll never forget it! Now, just shut up and-!"

She let out a yelp, forced to jump back to avoid getting hit by a blast of flame that suddenly whizzed past her.

"What the...?" Mighty managed.

"What just happened?" Ray asked.

"Awww shit..." Bill cursed.

Everyone turned to see Sally go flying at them as Jose laughed hysterically. She plowed into Mighty, knocking them both to the ground.

"Oh, hey Mighty," Sally groaned. "How are you?"

"Sal, are you okay!?" Sonic demanded. "What happened!?"

"Looks like she got caught up in one of Jose's fiestas." Kid mused.

"It was really fun, Jefe!" Jose belched loudly. Kid cringed.

"Bill, round'em up," Kid ordered. "It's time for Blue Boy and his bootlicker band to pay."

Bill nodded, using his barbed wire to round up Sally and the others.

"Guys!" Sonic yelled before he was restrained as well. Kid grinned beneath his scarf.

"I've been waiting a long time for this, Hedgehog. And I intend to enjoy every last minute of it."

He started laughing evilly, Matti and Jose looking nervous.

Meanwhile, Lily's group fled down the streets, Cosmo and Rally carrying Meryl and Milly on their backs.

"Okay, I think that's far enough!" Lily shouted, the two stopping.

"Whoo!" Rally let out. "I think my face is turnin' blue. Is my face turnin' blue?"

"You really gotta do more cardio work at the gym, Rally," Lily deadpanned as she and Cream slid off, gently setting Meryl and Milly on the ground and looking them over. Cosmo shook her head in sympathy.

"Those savages," the plant girl remarked. "How could anyone do this to someone?"

"Here, let me help," Cream stepped forward, Meryl and Milly looking on in fear as she manifested the Mystic Melody. She played a soothing melody as the two Egg Soldiers relaxed, feeling warmth spread through their bodies. Their pain slowly faded and their wounds healed as well. About a minute later, Cream was finished.

"There," she smiled. "How do you feel?"

Meryl and Milly looked at them in disbelief.

"I… I don't believe it…" Meryl let out. "It's like our injuries were never there!"

"Are you some sort of sorceress?" Lily asked. "A witch?"

"Nope," Cream shook her head. "I'm a priestess."

"Say what?" Tex questioned.

"A priestess of Chaos."

"It's a long story," Cosmo said.

"Uhhh…" everyone turned to Milly. "Wh-Why are you helping us? We're Egg Soldiers. You're Freedom Fighters. We're your enemies. I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but... why?"

"Because we know that you didn't ask for this," Cosmo replied.

"Yeah, Eggman forced you to be his soldiers," Cream added. "And even if he didn't, what Jack did to you guys, we'd never do. The Knothole Freedom Fighters view all life as sacred."

"Which reminds me…" Cosmo turned to Tex, Avery, and Ashe.

"Awww hell…" Avery cursed.

"You have some explaining to do.

Tex and Avery winced.

"Yeah… guess we do," Tex admitted.

"Why were they going to kill these guys?" Cream asked, pointing to Ashe. "Why were they going to have him do it?"

"Because they're Dust Riders!" Ashe insisted. "Egg Soldiers! They're the bad guys!"

"Do they look like bad guys to you?" Cream gestured to Meryl and Milly, the two putting on cute, innocent faces with puppy dog eyes.

"Yeah!" Ashe declared. "They got metal parts! They're wearing his badge! They shot at us!"

"You shot first!" Milly shot back.

"You, your uncles, and that psycho rabbit you worship are the reason we're in this mess, you little brat!" Meryl snapped.

"Psycho rabbit…" Cream perked. "Oh no… I was afraid of this…"

Cosmo looked confused for a moment before perking. "Oh no... Jack has it, doesn't he? What Coco was talking about at the farmer's market…"

Cream nodded. "He has the gift."

"Cream, what are you talking about?" Lily questioned.

"It's the rabbit Mo-Bility. Watch." Cream turned to Tex. "Mr. Tex, can I borrow your vest? I'm cold?" She shivered, giving him cute eyes.

"Ehh…" Tex's eyes began to bleed. "Ohhh… who can say no to a voice like that?" He removed his vest, giving it to Cream.

"Thank you, Mr. Tex," Cream said gratefully before slipping it on. "See?"

Tex blinked. "Wait… what did I just do?"

"So that's the rabbit Mo-Bility?" Rally questioned. "Mind control?"

"Yes and no," Cream answered.

"Subliminal suggestion…" Avery realized, eyes wide open in fear.

"I can't make someone do something they don't want to do," Cream went on. "But I can tip the odds in my favor. That's what Jack's been doing. Stirring up feelings that are already there, getting people to side with him and his crazy methods."

"That bastard…" Tex spat.

"No…" Ashe shook his head. "I-It can't be! Th-That's a lie!"

Cream turned to him. "Ashe, can you please get me some water? I'm really thirsty."

She batted her eyes at him too, making herself look small and cute in Tex's vest. Ashe blushed slightly as he tried to look away before sighing. "Uncle Avery, where's the nearest drinking fountain?" As soon as those words were out of his mouth, his eyes widened in shock. "Oh, Aurora... it is true…" His hands started shaking. "I trusted Jack! I had so much respect for him! I wanted to be him, and all this time, he was...!" He sank to the ground. "I think I'm gonna be sick…"

Tex placed a hand on Ashe's shoulder.

"Damn it… this is bad," Avery cursed. "I've gotta get to the radio tower!"

He prepared to run off.

"Mr. Avery, wait!" Cream cried as he bolted off.

"Avery!" Tex cried.

-X-

"Damn that miserable, rotten, no good, dirty, sonnuva…!" Avery let out a feral roar in rage. "Next time I see him, I'll-!"

He bumped into someone, knocking them to the ground. "Hey! Watch where you're going you-!" He looked down to see he had run into Hope, who was rubbing her head.

"Ow…" she let out.

"Hope! Thank Aurora it's you!" Avery quickly helped her up. "We gotta get to the radio tower! NOW!"

"Whoa, what!?"

"Hope!"

They turned to see Sam, Rotor, and the 6-S run over.

"What the…" Avery blinked. "The robots!?"

"It's the bear guy!" Scratched exclaimed in fear.

Sam promptly kicked Avery in the ribs. "Back off!"

"No, wait!" Avery exclaimed as the 6-S charged him, eager for payback.

"Get him!" Grounder yelled.

"Dogpile him!" Decoe shouted.

"Time for you to Pass Go and collect two hundred Mobiums, you big jerk!" Cubot declared.

As the 6-S pummeled Avery, Sam and Rotor checked on Hope.

"You alright, Hope?" Rotor asked.

Hope nodded. "I'm fine, guys. I–"

"Aurora-damn it, will you hold on and listen to me for ONE MINUTE?!" Avery yelled in frustration.

"STOP!" Everybody stopped as Cream and the others caught up. "Mr. Avery doesn't mean any harm! Let him speak!"

"He mounted our carcasses on the wall and tormented us for weeks, Cream!" Coconuts snapped. "Whatever this psycho bear's sellin', we ain't buyin'!"

"Coconuts!" The 6-S looked up to see Meryl and Milly approach. "Let him go."

"Oh, hey Meryl!" Cubot greeted cheerfully. "Hi Milly!"

Hope perked. "Wait, Meryl and Milly?"

"Oh!" Milly smiled at her. "Hello, Miss Kintobor. It's been a while since Operation Flesh and Blood, hasn't it?"

"Yeeeah…"

"Hold on," Rotor cut in. "Hope, how do you know these two?"

"They're Meryl the Coyote and Milly Lagarto…two of the Robians we rescued after the Black Arms invasion."

"Wait, they're ex-Robians!?" Sam demanded.

" Never mind that!" Cubot declared. "Guess what?! We caught one of the Sand Blasters!"

"I said let him go, Cubot!" Meryl ordered, getting a yelp out of the cube-bot.

"But Miss Meryl..." Orbot objected.

"Now!" Milly yelled, the 6-S screaming and obeying.

"What in the-?" Sam managed.

"Please, listen," Cream pleaded. "They're not the bad guys."

"Are you nuts!?" Sam shouted.

"Jack's the real enemy here!" Lily cut in. "He's been gaslighting Tex, Avery, and everyone in Sand Blast City the whole time!"

"Wait, what!?" Rotor yelled.

"He has the gift," Cream explained, "My gift."

"He knows the Mystic Melody?" Rotor asked in confusion.

"No, the rabbit Mo-Bility of persuasion.

"Wait, hold on," Hope said, "Start from the beginning."

-X-

Alternating between them, Cream's group explained what was going on, and what Jack had been doing.

"So…Jack's been mind-controlling the whole city?" Sam asked.

"It's not full-on mind control," Cream clarified. "Everyone's so eager to go with what Jack says and follow his methods because he's stirring up the anti-Eggman sentiment that's already there."

"And it's because of him we signed on with the Egg Army!" Meryl cried. "Why we're stuck in hell!"

Everyone perked, Hope slowly turning to her.

"Wait a second," she began. "A-Are you saying you signed on with Eggman and got Cyberized willingly?"

"It was either that or be hunted down like... well, like animals," Milly remarked.

"After you de-roboticized us, everyone thought we were basically dead," Meryl added. "Husks inhabited by demons, robbed of our souls because of our time as Robians. And Jack milked it for all it was worth."

"What!?" Rotor exclaimed. "That's...That's absurd!"

"That's how the Wyldwest is," Milly sighed.

"Listen to me already!" Everyone turned to Avery. "We're running out of time! We need to get to the radio tower and shut it down before it's too late! If we don't, every single Dust Rider in the city's gonna end up dead, and your Cyberized friend and the robot are gonna join them!"

Everyone's jaws dropped in shock.

"What?!" Cosmo shrieked.

"It's part of Jack's big endgame," Avery explained. "Operation Vacuum. He's gonna supercharge the Anti-Badnik field produced by the radio tower to generate a massive EMP! It goes off, it'll fry every machine in the city!"

"Bunnie…" Cream gasped. "Shard… Everyone… We have to get them out of the city!"

"We'll handle the radio tower!" Rotor declared.

"We'll head back to base and alert the Baron," Meryl said.

"Good idea." Rotor nodded, "Cosmo, Cream, you need to find Sonic and the others!"

"Right!" Cosmo closed her eyes and focused. "They're in a secluded area… The soil is contaminated. And there's metal everywhere."

"The junkyard," Tex realized.

"How did-?" Rally began.

"My mother called it the Song of the Green," Cosmo explained. "Seedrians are attuned to all flora. While it is sparse in this region, it does exist." Suddenly, Cosmo's eyes widened with shock.

"Wait…there's someone else with them." She focused again, "There are four of them, and their auras…" she froze with fear, "My word! This aura, it's…something is wrong with it!"

"That's gotta be the Kid," Sam said. "Him and his pals already found them!"

"Dammit!" Rotor cursed. "Cosmo, you and Cream need to get there! Rally, Lily, you need to go with them."

"Uh, beg pardon?" Rally questioned.

"Hold on, Rotor, why US?" Lily questioned.

"Because you're the only ones who can stop Kid. He's…" Rotor winced.

"He's what?" Lily asked.

Rotor sighed. "It's about Jesse."

"I know," Lily replied sadly. "The Dust Riders killed his family… And...they probably killed him too."

"Actually…" Rotor took a breath. "Jesse's alive."

Lily and Rally's eyes widened.

"He… he's alive?!" Rally exclaimed.

"Where is he, Rotor?!" Lily demanded. "Tell me!"

"I…"

Cream's eyes widened in shock and realization. "Miss Lily, we need to go! NOW!"

Cosmo shifted into Mover Mode before scooping up Lily, getting a "Hey!" out of the girl as Cream hopped on as well.

"Go!" Cream yelled. "Hurry!"

Cosmo raced off.

"Hey, wait!" Rally yelled, following.

Back in the junkyard, Kid loomed over Sonic.

"So Hedgehog..." He began mockingly. "How does it feel being beaten by three Egg Bosses in a row?"

Sonic just glared at him defiantly. "If you want me to beg, Kid, not gonna happen. So how about you just say whatever speech you rehearsed and get this over with."

Kid scoffed. "Alright then. Here's how we're gonna do this." He drew his gun. "I'm going to kill each and every one of your friends, and I'm gonna make you watch. That nice and quick enough for you?"

Sonic glared at Kid. "Actually, yeah. Just know, I'm gonna stop you."

Kid growled.

"Uh, Jefe?" Jose began. "I get you want Sonic dead, but isn't that a little-" He yelped in fear as Kid fired a warning shot right next to his feet. "Yipe!"

"No, it's a lot!" Kid screamed.

"Kid!" Bill shouted. "Settle down!"

"No! This blue bastard needs to pay! And he needs to suffer before he does! Killing him isn't an option! So, we'll make him watch everything he cares about burn to ashes."

"Still, that's pretty messed up," Matti insisted. "Even by our standards."

"Matti, we had Jose douse a whole congregation of churchgoers in tequila and set them on fire!"

"Yeah, and that was fugged up too. A lot of things you do are fugged up," Bill said, his eyes narrowing, "And honestly, I've wanted to speak up for a while."

Kid was flabbergasted. "We're seconds away from getting our ultimate revenge on Sonic, and you pick NOW of all times to grow a damn conscience?!"

"This isn't revenge, Kid!" Matti snapped.

"Sonic ain't done nuthin' to us!" Bill added, "They ain't the Sand Blasters!"

"He left us all to rot in this dusty hellhole!" Everyone flinched hard at that. Sonic felt his rib pain flaring as Kid whirled on him, breathing heavily. "Everything that's happened to me, all of my misery, is because of you, Hedgehog. You had so many chances to kill him, to rid Mobius of him once and for all. It's YOUR fault Robotnik got to me! To us! You cost us everything! Our homes! Our families! Our lives!"

"Hold up," Sonic cut in. "What are you talking about?"

"Operation Flesh and Blood! The Robians! Ring any bells?!"

"The De-Roboticizer..." Sonic perked. "The missing former Robians… you... all of you?"

"Yes. Dr. Robotnik's lost property." Kid gestured to everyone around him. "All the poor, lost souls you worked so hard to rescue from Eggman after he turned our flesh to machinery."

"But…" Sonic shook his head. "B-But we saved you! I-I–"

"Saved us?" Kid shouted, "Saved us!?"

He slapped Sonic with his pistol.

"Robotnik ripped us away from our families! Our homes! Our lives! He turned us into robots and made us his slaves for a year! A YEAR! And then, we finally get our bodies and minds back, our freedom... We finally got to go back home... Instead, everybody we know and love abandons us! Casts us out! Calls us demons! Hunts us down like animals! Forces us to hide in the gutter! We escaped one Hell and returned to a worse one! And it all comes back to you, Sonic."

His teeth ground together as he pointed a condemning finger at Sonic.

"If you had just manned up and cracked that fat egg open, I wouldn't have been roboticized in the first place! Or if that goes against your precious 'moral code,' you could've just rolled over and quit! But no! You keep on fighting! You keep on giving bastards like him free reign to bring misery wherever they go! And it just keeps on going and going and going! And the whole world loves you for it. Well, guess what?" He took aim at Sally. "Now, it's your turn to lose everything!"

"Kid, stop!" Matti screamed.

"Jefe, don't do this!" Jose pleaded.

"Shut the fugg up!" Kid spun on them, flashing the Devil's Eye. They all dropped, shaking in terror. "Never forgive, never forget. That's the Hellrazer way."

"Matilda!" Mighty shouted.

"Oh my gosh…" Sally uttered in horror.

Sonic scowled in rage and disgust. "How could you do that to them?! They were your friends!"

"Nobody's friends here, Hedgehog!" Kid snapped. "There's no love. No hope. No future here. Only demons… Now... " He turned back to Sally. "Say goodbye to your bushy-tailed skank girlfriend."

The situation was about to explode, Kid was seconds from pulling the trigger, and Sonic was about to break free when…

"JESSE!" Lily's voice screamed.

Kid froze, all eyes turning to see Cream's group running in

"Cream!?" Sonic exclaimed. "Lily?!"

"Jesse, stop!" Lily shouted. "Please!"

"Don't do it!" Cream cried.

"Lily...Rally...Cream?" Kid blinked. Sonic turned to Kid in horror.

"Hold on...you..."

After a minute, Kid chuckled. "I was wondering when you'd finally figure it out, Lil. Suppose there's no point hiding it anymore."

He pulled off his bandanna, hat, and sunglasses, everyone gasping. Barring a set of Cyberized metal teeth and a black-and-red cyberized left eye, the Kid was a dead-ringer for the boy in Lily's picture.

"Let me reintroduce myself, Hedgehog. I'm the Sheriff of the Wyldwest Egg Militia. Leader of the Dust Riders. The Devil of Dust Town. The Diablo Kid. But you can call me… Jesse MacNeil."

Author's Note:

(1): Stan Marsh from South Park.

Yep, that's right! The Diablo Kid was Lily's friend Jesse the whole time.

Stay tuned; the climax of this arc draws near.

Please R&R. Until next time!