The morning after defeating the Duster Brothers, Curtis and the gang packed up their knapsacks and prepared to head into town. Proudkeep was only a few miles away, so it wouldn't take long for the party to arrive. Proudkeep was small, but not as small as Sunnyville. It consisted of one main road that ran north to south with buildings lining either side, but had an off-shoot which ran perpendicular to the west about half way down.
Stone structures were mixed in with the primarily wooden building that made up most of the town's construction; they were remnants of a war that happened long ago and in which Proudkeep was used as a military base. There was no longer any major military presence in town anymore, but reminders of the war were scattered all throughout the city, including at a history museum on the northern side. As the party approached, Mabel poked her head out from the hood. She had asked Sly for the bounties pamphlet and was reading over the names; her eyes lingered again on Lester Langely, but she didn't let herself think too hard about him.
"So, there are some Rangers with Spells, right?" she asked.
"Mhm," Curtis answered. "It's rare, but they exist."
"Hmph. How does someone get a Spell?"
"I think most people are just born with 'em,"
"You were born with yours?"
"Yeah, but I didn't know it 'til I met Midnight." Curtis stared forward toward Proudkeep. "Maybe we should finish this conversation later. Don't wanna draw attention to ourselves by talkin' 'bout supernatural forces an' all." He chuckled.
Upon entering the town on the southern end of the main road, Curtis felt that something was off. He knew Proudkeep to be a nice and calm place, but when he, Sly, and Mabel rode in in the morning, nobody was out on the streets. Silence filled the air as wind blew dust across the sandy roads. Curtis halted the carriage and held a hand out to signal Sly to wait. He couldn't help feel the similarities between now and when he rode into Sunnyville less than a week before. Mabel sat in the hooded wagon as they rode while Curtis sat on the bench in front to guide his horse, but Mabel poked her head out front to see why they had stopped.
Curtis faced Sly as the Ranger trotted up beside the carriage on Firefly. He gave Sly a look of worry and glanced at Mabel. He slowly gazed around the street for any signs of ambush, but saw nothing.
"Somethin's not right," Curtis said in a low voice to Sly. "Proudkeep ain't normally this quiet."
"You're right," Sly agreed. "Think someone's preparing to attack us?"
"Not sure. This feels all too familiar t'me right now. Let's try to make our way to the backroads behind the buildings until we can figure out what's up."
Curtis commanded his horse to move east and around the buildings lining the main streets and Sly followed on his steed. Just as they were almost past at the side of the road, however, a voice called out to them
"Wait!" a man shrieked.
Curtis exhaled and glanced toward the voice right before snapping the reins of his horse, but halted his hands when he saw only a single man—a civilian, not an officer or Ranger—running toward them, seemingly out of breath.
"Think it's a trap?" Sly asked quietly.
Curtis wasn't sure what to think. Then, the man yelped again.
"Please, help!"
Help? Curtis thought. He turned to Sly. "I'd hate to fall for the same trick two days in a row," he groaned. "But this feels different."
Sly nodded. "Yeah, this seems more genuine. Let's check it out."
"Hey!" the man shouted as he slowed his pace and reach the group. He looked to Sly. "Yer attire, you're a Ranger, right? Please, you have to help us!"
"Yes, of course I am," Sly said and straightened his posture. He looked to Curtis and Mabel with a wide smile. Curtis sighed.
"There's an Outlaw," the man explained. "He's wreakin' havoc in town and no one's been able t'stop 'im."
The man looked up at the mounted Ranger with pleading eyes. Sly glanced to Curtis and Mabel once more, then stared down at the man.
"Of course," Sly said again. "Who would I be if I couldn't help a people in need." Firefly started walking forward slowly, then turned so Sly could look at the man. "You should stay here, sir. Obviously, things seem dangerous. We'll take care of it, though; don't worry!" He looked at the Outlaw in the wagon and gestured with his head toward the middle of town. "Let's go, Dawn."
Curtis furrowed his brow; he didn't really like when Sly gave him commands like that, but he didn't want to leave Proudkeep to suffer.
"Oh, thank you!" the man cried as the group made their way into the heart of Proudkeep. "And be careful! They're a dangerous one!"
Sly rode closer to Curtis and said in a low tone, "Do you think this guy has a Spell?"
"I don't know," Curtis groaned. "Maybe. I'm sure we'll find out more once we find 'im."
"So, does Proudkeep really not have its own Rangers?" Mabel asked, climbing out of the wagon and onto the little bench at the front where Curtis sat. "If a town as small as Sunnyville had a Ranger, surely Proudkeep has at least one."
"Yeah, I'm not sure," Sly said. "I agree that there should be one here, but maybe they're not responding for some reason. Like how only the police showed up the Bad Mouth's robbery, but no Rangers, even though Onyxlanding definitely has several stationed there."
"Yeah," Curtis chimed in. "That was weird. I hadn't thought about it 'til now. Any idea why they wouldn't've shown up?"
Sly shrugged and shook his head. Then, the sound of a crowd caught the Outlaw's and Ranger's attentions.
"Mabel," Curtis said. "Get back in the carriage. We don't know what we're up against."
Mabel sighed frustratingly, but knew Curtis was right. She had been able to help before against foes with weaponry that, while unique, was predictable after a brief study., but if facing someone with a Spell, their powers could be incredibly dangerous and more uncertain. Mabel hid in the hooded cart, but peeked through a small tear in the front of the cloth.
Straight ahead, Curtis and Sly saw a large crowd gathered around a large bank. The bank sat in front of the perpendicular street that ran east from the main road. Law enforcement were standing around outside and keeping the crowd away from the building.
"Another bank robbery?" Mabel wondered aloud. "Maybe Rangers just don't respond to those?"
Sly stopped and gestured for Curtis to halt, as well. He rode closer and suggested they switch places: Sly drive the wagon and Curtis ride Firefly.
"Being seen together seems unavoidable here," sly stated. "I figure it would be best to make it look like you're in my custody.
Curtis looked ahead at the crowd. There was a very good chance he would be recognized by the police. He groaned again and reluctantly climbed down from the carriage bench and hopped onto Firefly's back. Sly tied Firefly's reins to the back of the carriage with some rope from Curtis's satchel and handed Curtis some shackle handcuffs.
"Put these on," the Ranger said. "It has to look genuine. Give me your guns, too."
"I won't be able to defend myself very well without weapons, Sly," Curtis objected.
"Why would a Ranger let a captured crook keep his guns?"
Curtis begrudgingly obliged. Sly hopped onto the carriage bench and looked over his shoulder at the closed hood.
"Um, you good back there, Mabel?" he asked. He heard a quiet "Mhm," from inside. He nodded, then lightly whipped Curtis's horse's reins to approach the crowd. Sly hopped down from the carriage once at the edge of the gathering and pushed his way through to the officers in front.
"My name is Nathan Bowman," Sly shouted over the voices in the crowd. "Also known as Sly. I'm a Ranger passing through. What's going on here?"
"Oh, you're a Ranger," one officer responded. "I see. Well, we could really use your help." The officer gestured with his thumb to the bank. "An Outlaw in there has been givin' us a lot o' trouble."
"Can you give me some details?" Sly inquired.
The officer nodded. "We know 'er. It's Harley Reynolds; also known as "Zapper." She has a Spell."
"What kind of Spell?"
"She has two weapons; as far as we can tell, one o' them is just a normal six-shot revolver. The other, however, is a double-barreled pistol that shoots pins attached t'wire. She uses her spell to send electricity through the wire and into the pinned target, stunnin' 'em."
"That's right, I remember now. I've heard of her. How much damage has she done so far? Has she hurt anyone?"
The officer looked at the ground and sighed. "She's already killed one of the three Rangers stationed here. The other two are injured and bein' held hostage inside. Luckily, everyone else escaped."
She took down three Rangers by herself? Sly thought anxiously. "Okay," he said. "I'll be right back. I think I have someone who can help."
Sly pushed his way back through the crowd and walked to Curtis who still sat on Firefly, his wrists bound. He pulled the bounties pamphlet from his pocket and found Zapper's name on the list, then explained the situation to Curtis.
"Her bounty's at 11 als even," Sly stated.
Curtis nodded. "Sounds really strong. We need to be more cautious than ever with 'er."
Sly agreed. He helped Curtis off of Firefly and said he'd unbind the Outlaw once in front of the bank so the police would believe their act more. Curtis wandered over to the carriage and look into the hood.
"You oughta stay here, Mabel," he said. "I don't want anythin' to happen to ya."
"What about you, though?" Mabel asked. "I worry about you guys, too."
"We'll be all right. We've got lots o' people 'round here to look after us."
Curtis rested a hand on Mabel's head and messed up her hair a bit. She gave him a happily annoyed grin. Curtis rejoined Sly and the two made their way to the police again.
"This is another Outlaw I've just captured," Sly said.
"Hey, I recognize him," the officer said after a moment of looking Curtis up and down. "They call 'im Dawn, right? He has a dangerous Spell, too, doesn't 'e?"
"He's not as dangerous as the rumors make him sound," Sly said with a shrug. "He can help, and he will if he knows what's best for him." Sly shoved Curtis's shoulder lightly.
Curtis groaned in pain, then said, "Yeah, whatever."
Sly unlocked Curtis's shackles grabbed his arm, then guided him forward.
"Be careful!" the officer shouted as the Ranger and Outlaw approached the bank's doors.
"Did ya really need t'hit my shoulder?" Curtis said quietly.
"Sorry," Sly said and winced. "I forgot."
"Never mind," Curtis said. "Let's just see what's goin' on inside."
The two stood on opposite sides of the doors and peeked into the windows that bordered the doors. From the looks of it, Zapper was nowhere to be seen. The two injured Rangers sat unconscious and tied up next to one of the tellers' booths to the left from their view. Sly backed away from the window and whispered to Curtis.
"Zapper must be in the vault."
Looks like it," Curtis agreed. "We can sneak in an' try to wake those Rangers. They'll be useful if Zapper's as strong as they say she is."
Sly nodded, then slowly opened one door. He glanced around the main room and didn't see Zapper. He stepped inside with Curtis right behind him, then shut the door behind them.
"Here are your guns," Sly said, then handed Curtis his revolvers back before sneaking over to the two unconscious Rangers. Curtis noticed in the front right corner from their perspective coming in, a body lying against the wall; it's back was to the rest of the bank. Blood was smeared along the wall and floor nearby, and a puddle surrounded the body. He could tell it was the third Ranger. Curtis slowly walked to the man and knelt down. He placed a couple of fingers on the body's neck and felt no pulse. He exhaled slowly.
Meanwhile, Sly knelt next to the other two Rangers and shook them a bit in an attempt to wake them. They both awoke, a man and a woman, and looked around for a moment before remembering where they were. Sly put a finger over his lips before speaking in a whisper.
"My name is Sly," he explained. "I'm a Ranger just passing through town, but it looked like you guys needed help. Is Zapper in the vault?"
The man nodded, and the woman whispered, "She's incredibly strong; much stronger than we'd heard."
"Her electricity hurts a lot more than we'd thought it would," the man chimed in.
"Okay," Sly said. "What are your names. Do you have weapons on you?"
"My name's Clayton Flynn," the man answered. "Call me 'Wolf.' I 'ave a couple flintlocks; they only shoot once before needin' t'be reloaded, but they pack a punch."
"I'm Effie Cain," the woman said. "People call me Effie 'the Elegant.' I have a revolver that shoots all six bullets at once."
"Well, gosh, guys," Sly said placing a hand on his forehead. "Your reload times were probably long enough to give Zapper a chance to strike."
"She took our weapons. I think she still has them on 'er," Wolf said. He gestured to the corpse that Curtis stood over and said, "We had a third with us. His name was Grover, my brother. We called him 'Speedy.'" He sniffled, then continued. "He was faster than both us with his four guns. They were regular ol' revolvers, but he could fire them quicker than anyone I've ever known. He was supposed to keep Zapper distracted while we went for the kill shots, but..." Wolf closed his eyes and looked toward the ceiling as a tear rolled down his cheek.
"Zapper is lightning fast, as you might assume," Effie continued, "I've never seen anyone so quick, and I don't just mean with her guns. She moves in a flash. Must be part of 'er Spell or somethin'. It ain't natural."
"All right," Sly said and stood. 'Let's get you two untied. We'll need all the help we can get."
"She didn't even shoot Speedy," Wolf whimpered as Sly untied him. "One moment he was standin' ready to fight, and the next, a giant hole was in 'is chest. I couldn't tell ya what happened."
Curtis took one more look at Speedy's body. Death was something Curtis was used to seeing having come from the Southern Slick, but such gruesome wounds were always a hard sight to bear. He tipped his hat as a goodbye, then turned away, but something caught his eye. He turned back and noticed a small metal pin on the back of Speedy's poncho. He knelt back down and plucked it from the fabric with some difficulty. It was about the size od a thumb tac and was barbed like a fishing hook, and black in color.
He looked toward Sly who had just finished untying Wolf, then noticed someone peering from behind one of the tellers' booths holding a gun.
"Sly, watch out!" Curtis called just before Zapper fired her weapon.
Sly noticed just in time and dove out of the way, pushing Wolf out of the way, as well; Effie still sat on the floor tied up. The pins from Zapper's gun deflected off the wall, then were retracted on their wires back into the double barrel of the pistol.
"Oh!" Zapper said as she walked out from behind the booth. She looked at Curtis. "I didn't see you there. The rangers called for backup I see."
"You!" Wolf yelled. "You'll pay fer whatchu did to my brother!"
"Oh my," Zapper said and placed a hand on her hip while pointing her pistol upward. I didn't know the fast one was family. I'd have made his death a little less painful if I'd known that."
Wolf was visibly infuriated. He grunted and clenched his fists. "You son of a—"
"Don't worry," Zapper interrupted. "I'll just do the same thing to you. You'll seem 'im in no time!"
Zapper started to charge at Wolf, but Curtis fired a bullet from each of his two revolvers. Suddenly, faster than Curtis could even register, Zapper jumped and situated herself horizontally in the air, then spun around in a flash. The bullets flew past her and she landed on her feet, then started running at Curtis. Curtis blinked and flinched as Zapper raised her weapon and fired the pins at Curtis, but he leaped as far as he could to one side. One pin still stuck itself into Curtis's left arm, though, and electricity shot through the wire and shocked Curtis's arm.
Curtis rolled along the ground and the pins were brought back to Zapper. Curtis couldn't feel his left arm; when he stood again, his arm fell limp and he dropped the revolver he held in that hand. He looked up and saw Zapper still charging at him; she jumped and thrusted her feet forward at him. Curtis put up his good arm and blocked the attack, but grunted from the impact. Zapper landed on her feet with a flash, then lunged at Curtis. He stumbled back and stuck his foot out and tried to tried Zapper. Zapper responded by grabbing Curtis's poncho and pulling him in for a headbutt.
Curtis closed his eyes and groaned as Zapper broke his nose with her skull. He reached out and wrapped his arm around hers, then pulled her back and flipped her over himself. She twisted around and pulled Curtis's poncho over his face. She pulled Curtis to the ground, then stood and aimed her gun at the disorientated Outlaw, but again just before Zapper could fire, two bullets whizzed through the air at her. With another flash, she side stepped out of the way easily.
"You all wanna play, don'tcha?" Zapper cheered, then dash at Sly.
Curtis began to stand as he fiddled with his poncho, but as Zapper sped past, she pushed his back and knocked him back onto the ground. In only a second, she appeared in front of Sly ready to strike. She jumped and brought her leg high into the air and kicked Sly in the side of his head, sending him stumbling to the ground. She landed gracefully and was about to strike again when Wolf threw several punches at her; she dodged them, but was caught off guard by Effie swinging the rope that had previously tied her up around to trap Zapper. The rope wrapped around Zapper, still held by Effie, and Zapper was pulled toward Effie.
Zapper flung herself backward and slammed into Effie, then kicked one of the Ranger's knees back and forced her to falter with a screech of pain. Zapper ducked to free herself from the rope and flashed over to Sly who was regaining his composure. She threw three swift punches; the first two landed squarely on Sly's face, but the Ranger caught the third. Sly twisted Zapper's wrist to lower her hand, then slammed his head forward into hers.
"How do you like it?" Sly cried as Zapper's head fell backward.
Sly also reached for Zapper's hips where she kept the other Rangers' weapons. He grabbed them, but Zapper wasn't stunned for long and quickly dropped to the ground to sweep at Sly's feet. Sly was knocked off balance and tumbled to the ground, losing his grip on the other Rangers' guns, but Wolf sprung forward and caught his from the air. He swung at Zapper with it, but she leaped out of the way in the blink of an eye, then countered with a swift kick. Effie rolled to her gun and took aim at Zapper. The Ranger fired and six bullets flew from the six-barreled revolver.
Zapper zipped out of the way, but not before two of the bullets pierced Zapper's right arm. Blood dripped onto the floor.
"I hit her!" Effie cheered before getting a boot to her chest, sending her falling back.
Zapper flashed between the three Rangers, delivering a blow or two to each of them as she sped around.
"You Rangers!" Curtis shouted. "Down!"
Zapper glanced to Curtis who was holding one of his revolvers toward her with his moveable hand. Just as the Rangers around her ducked to the floor, she blinked over to Curtis faster than before—Curtis hadn't even realized she was in front of him until he fired his weapon—and thrusted Curtis's arms upward so his bullet landed in the roof. She, then, forced Curtis against the wall, keeping his good hand over his head with one of hers.
Curtis huffed. "Right 'ere?" he teased.
Zapper scoffed in return, then raised her gun with her free hand and said, "Never shocked anyone point-blank before."
"I ain't gon' be the first," Curtis exclaimed, then brought his knee up to strike Zapper.
Zapper met Curtis's knee with the back end of her gun. Curtis grunted in pain, then threw his arm down to break from Zapper's grip. He shoved Zapper as hard as he could with one arm, but she didn't stay away for long and bounced right back to him, throwing him down with all her might. Curtis slammed to the ground, then was pinned again by Zapper. The two outlaws rolled around on the floor for a few moments.
"I recognize you," Zapper said during the scuffle. "You're called Dawn, right? You have a pretty high bounty; why're you helpin' out these Rangers?"
Curtis groaned. "Can't we just talk this out?"
Zapper chuckled at that response and continued the struggle with Curtis for a few more moments.
"You ain't so tough," she scoffed. "You ain't worth that bounty! You have a Spell don'tcha? Show me!"
"You don't know who you're messin' with," Curtis grunted.
Zapper's attention was drawn away from Curtis for a second when she heard a distinct click. She glanced over to see Wolf cocking the hammer on his flintlock pistol, but he didn't fire. A gunshot came from somewhere else; Zapper flashed away from Curtis just as six bullets simultaneously bored into the ground right next to him. Curtis gasped and turned his head to see Effie aiming toward him.
"You almost hit Dawn," Sly said nervously and looked at Effie.
"You can bring 'im in dead, can'tcha?" she replied with a shrug.
Effie pulled from her belt a pin holding six bullets in a circle around the center. She flicked the large barrel of her gun forward and slid the pin perfectly into the six-slotted cylindar, then release the bullets from the pin, tossed the pin aside, and flicked the barrel of her gun back up and cocked the hammer. Zapper flashed to the center of the room and looked to the Rangers who were then more spread out.
That was actually close, Zapper thought. I gotta pay more attention with these folks.
"I can't leave any o' y'all alone, can I?" she said with a grin.
"Now's our chance," Wolf growled.
"Dawn," Sly called. "Follow my lead!"
Sly fired three bullets at Zapper, alternating between his two seven-shot revolvers, followed immediately by Wolf's single-shot flintlock.
"Oh, I gotcha," Curtis mumbled, then raised his good arm and aimed at Zapper.
Zapper zipped between Sly's three bullets and avoided Wolf's shot, but Curtis followed suit with three shots from his revolver immediately succeeded by Effie's next round. Sly then emptied his revolvers as Curtis finished his first, then retrieved his second and copied Sly. Effie loaded her last bullets and fired between Sly and Curtis's rounds. Zapper, concentrating intensely on her opponents' shots and seemingly sporadic pattern, danced through the storm of bullets at lightning speed, and after all of the gunshots ceased, stood in the middle of the room where she standed completely unscathed by the flurry of lead.
Her arm still bled from Effie's successful attack, but no new wounds scarred her flesh. The Outlaw stood with her shoulders lowered, panting, beads of sweat dripping for her forehead and chin. She raised her head and glanced around the room and took pleasure in seeing shocked expressions all around.
"N-no way," Effie stuttered.
"She—" Sly choked.
I did it, Zapper thought. I dodged them all. She swallowed deeply and took a deep breath. "That's it," she panted. "I'm ending this right now!"
"Don't be so sure," Curtis spouted, feigning confidence. "We aren't goin' t'give up that easily!"
And just like that, he had—PANG!
Curtis fell backward; the fall felt like it took minutes both from his perspective and from the view of his Ranger allies. Sly watched in horror as Curtis's confident expression slowly morphed into one of shock. He stared as blood flowed like a waterfall from a massive hole in the right side of Curtis's chest; much of the wound was cauterized as if a ball of fire bored through his ribs and lung, but it was such a large wound that blood still spewed forth. Curtis was unconscious before he hit the ground. Sly turned to Wolf and Effie who also looked on in awe.
Then, just like with Curtis, in a flash, Wolf had a similar wound in his stomach—much like that of his fallen brother's—and he also fell hard to the ground. That's when Sly noticed something on the back of Effie's poncho: a small, metal pin.
"What is—" Sly barely got the words out before Effie too was struck in the shoulder by the same force as Curtis and Wolf. As quickly as he could, Sly pulled the shoulder of his poncho over his front and found a pin tacked to him, too, so he cast his poncho aside just as it, too, had a hole blasted through it. It wasn't until the explosive noise and blinding flashes had ceased that Sly realized what had happened. Zapper once again stood in the middle of the room and looked around at the bleeding bodies scattered about the bank. An evil grin overtook her face.
She looked at Sly, then at the scorched poncho on the ground. She chuckled.
"Smart," she said to Sly. "I'm surprised y'figured it out in time. Doesn't matter, though; yer friends'll all be dead in a few minutes and you don't stand a chance against me by yerself."
"Go, go!" a voice called from the front of the bank.
Just then, twenty-or-so police officers stormed into the bank through the front door. They organized themselves around the main room close to the walls. Zapper smirked.
"I'd love to stick around," she teased. "But I have better places t'be. See y'around"
She flashed over to the sacks of gold and alloy coins she had stashed behind the counters when she first exited the vault, then flashed through a window which shattered a moment later; a streak of what looked like lightning followed her path, but she was too fast for the police to catch. That didn't stop them from trying however. The remaining officers then gathered the injured Curtis, Effie, and Wolf, and retreated from the building after determining that the three of them were still alive. They offered to assist Sly to the hospital, but he declined and watched as the officers declared their beloved local Ranger, Grover "Speedy" Flynn, dead.
***
Curtis's eyes opened slowly and he looked toward a blurry ceiling; Sly stood beside the bed and Mabel leaned over the other side. Curtis gently looked back and forth between the two of them, closed his eyes for a few more moments, then opened them again to clearer vision. He noticed that his chest was wrapped in bandages. A doctor stood at the foot of the bed; he smiled.
"Hello, Mr. Conrad," the doctor started; his accent was that of someone from the Ridge, just like Sly's. "My name is Doctor London Richardson. You're in a hospital in Proudkeep." Dr. Richardson gestured to Sly and Mabel saying, "You've been out for quite a while, but these two have been awake and waiting the whole time. I understand that you're a highly wanted Outlaw and that trust is not something your kind has a lot of, but I need you to believe me when I say that I do not discriminate against any of my patients and that I will do everything in my power to make you better."
"I need you to do everything you can to heal him," Sly stated firmly. "You understand? I get a better reward if he's alive."
The doctor nodded. Curtis lifted his head slightly, then winced with pain.
"Oh, please don't move," Dr. Richardson said. "Your body is in a very fragile state right now. We don't want to put any more stress on it."
"I... can't breathe," Curtis choked out.
Dr. Richardson nodded, then said, "You need to take short, shallow breaths so as not to expand your lungs too much. If you tear the tissue that stopped the bleeding, it'll be hard to keep you alive if I'm being quite frank."
Mabel looked at the doctor with a worried expression, and Curtis looked with slight annoyance. Curtis slowly turned to Sly, practicing his breathing, and asked, "Where's Zapper?"
"She escaped," Sly said with slight hesitation. "She almost killed you, Wolf, and Effie. Would've gotten me, too, if I hadn't noticed the pins she was using to guide her lightning abilities."
Sly held up a small, metal pin. Curtis faced the doctor again and asked how long he had been out for.
"It's been about 10 hours since you arrive here," Dr. Richardson said. "In that time we performed surgery to remove your broken ribs so they wouldn't pierce your lung anymore, and we managed to stitch up your lung...as best as we could, anyway." The doctor turned to Sly. "It's rather late. We should let Mr. Conrad rest some more; you could use some sleep, as well."
Sly sighed, then nodded. He gestured for Mabel to follow him, then exited the room after saying, "Better not move if you know what's good for you, Dawn." It sounded like a threat, but Curtis knew it was genuine and the tone was just an act. The doctor brought a small cup of gray liquid to Curtis.
"Drink this," he said. "It'll help your body heal faster while you sleep."
He tilted the cup into Curtis's mouth and let small amounts of the liquid flow down the Outlaw's throat at a time.
"What was that?" Curtis asked softly. "Better not be any o' that snake oil stuff I've been hearin' about."
"No, no," Dr. Richardson chuckled. "It's genuine medicine, I promise. Now get some sleep."
The doctor walked over to the single lantern lighting the room and cupped the flame with the lantern's lid, then exited the room. Curtis fell asleep less than a minute later. The doctor walked down the hall and noticed a nurse heading in the opposite direction.
"Oh," Dr. Richardson said, gesturing to the nurse. "Could you keep an eye on that patient tonight?" he asked pointing to the door to Curtis's room. "He's in really bad shape; just want to make sure he makes it through the night, you know? And please change his bandages when you get the chance."
The nurse nodded. The doctor thanked the nurse and continued on his way. The nurse approached Curtis's room and opened the door slowly. Their footsteps were soft as they walked over to Curtis's bed. They withdrew a folded a crumpled wanted poster from their pocket and unfolded it; Curtis was pictured. The nurse folded the paper back into their pocket and stepped away from the bed to retrieve more bandages from the cabinet in the room, then returned to Curtis's side.
They gently pulled the bedsheets down below Curtis's chest and unwrapped the front of the bandages. Curtis's chest was in horrible condition. The ocean of dried blood was black and the wound was poorly stitched and burnt badly. The nurse hovered a hand over Curtis's chest. A soft glow came from the nurse's palm. Then, after a minute, the nurse replaced Curtis's bandages and left the room.
The next morning, Curtis awoke to Dr. Richardson opening the door and saying, "Let's see if he's awake," in a quiet tone. Sly and Mabel followed him into the room. He apologized when he noticed that Curtis was awake. "I hope we didn't wake you," he said.
Curtis lied for a moment, then noticed that it didn't hurt when he breathed anymore. He started taking deeper and deeper breaths; Dr. Richardson's expression grew concerned. Curtis lifted himself and sat up in the bed. The doctor gasped and rushed over, urging Curtis to lie back down.
"Hold on," Curtis said. "I... I feel good."
He took a couple more deep breaths, then poked at this chest before patting it loudly. He tore at the bandages on his chest and revealed a completely healed chest underneath. He also rolled his right shoulder around and exclaimed, "My shoulder don't even hurt anymore." He looked to the bedside table next to him and picked up the small cup the doctor had used to pour the medicine into his mouth the night before. "Damn, Doc," he said. "What was in this stuff? I feel completely better!"
Dr. Richardson was at a loss for words. He stood with his mouth open and his arms dangling by his sides.
"You're a real miracle worker," Sly said with astonishment.
"I'm glad to see you've recuperated,' Mabel said, rushing to Curtis's bedside.
"I guess you're good to go, then, Dawn?" Sly asked.
Curtis nodded and grinned widely.
"Great," Sly said, then tossed Curtis his tunic and poncho, both of which had gaping holes where Curtis was struck.
The doctor still stood speechless, but Curtis and the gang didn't want to stick around for long, so they gathered their things and made their way to the door.
"I—uh—well—it's, uh," Dr. Richardson stuttered.
"Put the bill on my official Ranger tab," Sly said.
"Uh... yes sir," the doctor said.
"Thanks, Doc," Curtis said as he exited.
"Always happy to help, I guess..." Dr. Richardson replied with hesitation.
Outside, Curtis, Sly, and Mabel situated themselves in the positions they held when approaching the bank, shackles around Curtis's wrists and all. As they rode out of town, they passed the bank and saw the police gathered at the scene. They didn't stop, but noticed a memorial taking place for Speedy; Wolf and Effie weren't in attendance.
"I guess the other Rangers are still hospitalized," Curtis remarked.
"Why didn't the doctor just give 'em the same stuff he did you?" Mabel wondered aloud.
Curtis shrugged. "Probably expensive stuff if it's capable of this," Curtis said gesturing to his woundless body. "You sure yer tab'll cover it?" he asked Sly.
Sly didn't answer; he was watching the service as the carriage rode slowly past. He then turned to Curtis.
"Zapper's Spell..." he said. "I'd never seen anything like it. She couldn't just control electricity—which was already powerful enough—but it was like she could flow with it, or maybe transform her body into it? I don't know."
"I've heard of some pretty powerful Spells in my day," Curtis said.
"Yeah, I've heard of some," Sly replied. "But I honestly didn't believe they were real. Crazy to think powers like that actually exist."
"I have a feelin' that won't be the only incredibly strong Outlaw we face on our journey," Curtis said somberly. "We got lucky this time. We just need to be even more careful about who we choose to fight, if we have a choice."
Sly and Mabel nodded in agreeance.
The group didn't talk again until reaching the edge of town, when Sly said, "So, I deposited a bunch of our cash into the bank, and I bought a real map like you suggested."
Sly held up a clean map showing the entirety of the Mesa Frontier. Curtis smirked.
"How much coin do we have left with us?" Curtis asked.
"Fifteen silver, 20 dimes, and five pennies," Sly listed.
"Fair enough," Curtis said.
"Also, I asked around a bit about Midnight while you were out. Nobody knew anything."
"Thanks. Didn't really have much time to do that in Proudkeep, huh?" Curtis chuckled.
After a moment of silence, Mabel spoke suddenly. "I couldn't tell you how worried I was," she said, staring at the floor of the carriage.
Curtis placed a hand on her head, then said, "I told ya, we can handle ourselves. Everythin' turned out all right."
"Yeah," Mabel agreed. "But you said yourself that you just got lucky. What if... what if things had been different..."
Curtis sighed and leaned against the hood of the wagon.
"Listen, kid," he said. "Doin' what we're doin' is incredibly dangerous. I know you worry, but honestly, it's pointless when any day could be our last. All I want is fer you t'be safe. As long as you're not in harm's way, I don't care what happens t'me or Sly. Once my life flashes before my eyes, then I'll start worryin'."
Mabel smiled, then said, "I'll try to worry less."
Curtis smiled, too, then shouted to Sly sitting in front. "Hey! When're you gonna take these cuffs off o' me?"
Sly cackled from the front of the carriage and Mabel giggled.
"Sorry," Sly called back as he slowed the carriage to a stop. "I guess we don't need them anymore, do we?"
To be continued...
Map on imgur: /a/jnrTPi8