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It was a hot day in Tumble Town, probably made even hotter with the 11 bodies in the same room. All but one were in attendance and it was the very man who had called the meeting. Toes and fingers were tapping as people waited for the Sheriff's arrival. The tensions in the air could be cut with a knife.
First to break the silence was Joel, “Where in my holy name is the sheriff? Is he aware that not all of us can’t feel the heat?”
“Has anyone actually reached out to him?” Gem pointed out, “I mean I haven't heard from him in a while.”
The room returned to silence. All at once, the air seemed to stiffen. A half-hearted chuckle came from Sausage, “I mean he is the sheriff, I doubt anything bad has really happened to him!”
“How about someone actually call him?” Scott added, also hissing through his teeth. To be fair, his over the top over jacket was making him sweat to the point he was definitely have to wash it when he went home.
“He always picks up my calls! I’ll call him!” Fwhip beamed, or at least tried to. Reaching into his pocket, wiggling around his hands for a second before pulling out his communicator with triumph. He types into the com, buttons clicking loudly and hurriedly. He holds his com out as it rings, filling up the room, almost echoing. A breath was held as it rang.
“Hello, this is The Sheriff! I’m not at the phone right now-” Fwhip had never hit the end call button faster. His face fell, he was glaring at the table but not at the same time. Everyone could see the gears turning in his head. The fear slowly infecting them, and it spread fast.
That was until the sound of crunching gravel and the click of spurs came from beyond the door. Eyes turned to False as she was the closest to the left side window. She almost buckled under the weight of it. She shakily moved the curtain, following their silent order. She almost gagged.
People on the street stopped and stared, jaws on the floor, watching their sheriff being dragged through the streets, missing pieces, and terracotta cracked. It didn't talk long for False to notice he was missing an arm. She pressed her back to the wall, forcing herself not to puke as she slid down the wall. False couldn’t seem to catch her breath.
“What! What's wrong!” Joel demanded.
False didn't get time to answer before the door flew open, hitting the wall adjacent to hers. People sat back in their seats or turned heads. The bright red wide-brimmed hat decorated in blue flames was instantly recognizable. The piercing yellow eyes that seemed to cut through the air were not. A completely neutral expression on its face as it let The sheriff's leg hit the wooden floorboards with a thud that seemed to echo. Taking its time, it let its eyes bore into each one of the seemingly untouchable rulers. With meaning, it pulled out the other side of The sheriff's arm, letting it crash onto the table, more pieces falling off. It took a few steps back, almost retreating, that was before it lifted its leg to a 90-degree angle. The sound of pottery shattering and a scream caused a couple to gag, a couple to inhale sharply.
“I let Jimmy off easy. Don’t make the same mistake.” The sheriff hadn’t told anyone his name, well not that any of them at least knew. Before anyone could make a move, it turned around, walked out, and slammed the front door so hard it shook the windows.
No one could move, even if they wanted to go chase down The infamous Setting Sun. No one moved for what seemed like hours. The sheriff's groan is what awoke everyone from their paralysis.
People scrambled, propping him up in a chair. Just for him to double forwards, he fell onto Shubble who was trying to wrap her brain around a spell or potion that could piece pottery together.
“Sheriff! What the hell happened?” Joey shouted.
The noise made Jimmy's head spin. Where was he? What time was it? Better question, what day was it?
The snapping in front of his face made his eyes snap open, “Hello?! Earth to sheriff!” Fwhips voice like crackling static.
“... What?” It had taken him a few moments to find his voice again. The overwhelming amounts of pain flooded every part of his body. For once, he was glad he was a toy.
“What happened, man!?” Fwhip questioned him again.
Memories of blue flickering flames and bleeding fists flashed in his mind like a slideshow. What had happened?
“Speak to me, man!” Fwhip shook him and Pixlriffs loud protests.
“Blue Fire? Uhhhh,” Jimmy squeezed his eyes shut trying to piece together a story, “Bloody fists?” It was right on the tip of his tongue, until it hit him, “The jailhouse!” He jerked forward, “The Setting sun had lit the Jailhouse ablaze!” He looked almost at his colleagues, but more so trying to catch anything else.
“Why in the hell would it do that? It hasn’t actually hurt anyone before, or not that I've heard of.” Katherine had a point, sure it was annoying and a hassle to deal with but it had never hurt anyone on purpose. Even going to great lengths to not.
In the back of Jimmy’s mind, he saw two figures in the searing blue waves. Finally, he could remember. “I had figured out that The Setting Sun and Taqqiq were close, so I uh,” He couldn’t say lured, that would make him seem like the bad guy here. And he wasn’t the bad guy, he was just trying to prevent more theft, he was just doing his job, protecting the people. “I uh, had called over Taqqiq, for assistance with helping build the jailhouse. The setting sun must have gotten the wrong idea. Maybe thinking I had arrested Taqqiq. And Flew off the handle.” Jimmy knew it was a thin line but it's all he could do at the moment.
For a moment, Jimmy thought he had gotten away with his crime. That was until he felt Pix’s eyes bore into his head. “You used Taqqiq as bait didn’t you?”
Deflection. He was the Law after all. “I was trying to get The Setting Sun in close enough so I could finally put it in Jail! For the betterment of the people! The Setting Sun-”
“You said you had finally gotten a way to capture the Setting Sun when you called us all over didn’t you? Correct me if I'm wrong sheriff! You used my intern as bait for petty-” He had never heard Pix yell before, he would be lying if he said he wasn’t terrified.
“This isn't some petty rivalry! It has stolen Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of art!” Jimmy was just trying to defend himself now. He didn’t care if he was caught red-handed. He was in the right. He was the Law.
Pix’s voice became a whisper as he grabbed Jimmy's shirt, “You know what I promised not only their parents but also Weayaya, The Setting Sun? I promised their safety, Jimmy . Weayaya had come to me personally and made me swear to protect Taqqiq,” Then Pix's voice started to increase in volume, “Made me swear to protect the one thing it loved, you wanna know why Jimmy ?”
Jimmy gulped, how did Pix even know his name? There was something in Pix's eyes that seemed to grind him further into his seat, “Why?” His voice trembled more than he thought it would.
The Pix gripped his shirt tighter and pulled him in real close before whispering so quietly that surely Jimmy was the only person who heard it, “Because Taqqiq is the only thing it loves.” With that, Pix threw Jimmy back so hard he almost tipped over. He slammed the door on the way out, The building's hinges and nails squealed at the way the door rattled the house again.
Before Jimmy could really process all that Pixlriffs had said, the outer rims of his vision had begun to go dark. Lost in an ocean of fear, pain, and regret, he reached out for someone, anyone really, not knowing if he had gotten any response.