Mayor Vivian

Now there were a lot of things fishy about Miss Rivercrest, besides just her smell, but Texas’ main thought right now was...why in the blazes did Vivian let this happen? She had some kind of grand plan for this town, didn’t she? It seemed strange to Texas that Vivian would let some rich city lady from back East come and buy up so much of Gold Springs. Of course, it also seemed strange that said city lady had her and April dead to rights and just...let them both go. If she was in kahoots with Vivian, there was no way the Lynx wouldn’t demand that Texas be brought to heel. Well, the only way to find out what was going on was to investigate!

“I’m goin’ ta see the mayor, April. Y’all hold down the fort while I’m gone.” Texas told her deputy whilst stepping out the door.

April, who seemed oddly focused on keeping her booted feet in the sunlight that poured in from the window, looked up for the first time all day and nodded. “Huh? Oh, yeah sure thing, Tex! Have fun!”

Texas rolled her eyes. It had been getting harder and harder to get April to pay attention. Hopefully if she found out a little more about Rivercrest, she could stop...whatever it was she did! Heading out into the dusty town, Texas scowled at the multitude of construction sites she could see from here. Why in the heck was she making a factory out here anyways? Fancy house and oil wells sure, but weren’t factories put in cities for a reason? Like, because they had a lot of people willing to work dangerous factory jobs? Whatever. Texas would figure this out soon enough!

As Texas approached the Mayor’s Office building, the guards out front were quick to stand in her way. A pair of muscly boars who didn’t look too thrilled about Texas’ presence here.

“What’re ya doin’ here, Sheriff? Here ta spew more lies and slander at the mayor? Or were ya just lookin’ for a beatdown?”

Texas grimaced. She really wasn’t in the mood for this crap, but right now Vivian was probably her best lead on Rivercrest. “Now now, I’m jus’ here ta ask Vivian some questions.”

“Yeaaah, suuure...” The boar retorted, rolling his eyes and giving a dismissive snort. “More like snoopin’ around in her business and tryin’ ta pry another fake confession outta her! Like when ya **** her at gunpoint ta ‘confess’ to shovin’ that new banker inta a pit o’ skunks!”

Ugh...of course these idiots believed anything Vivian said. She could just walk back on confessions, and most of the folks around here just...accepted it. Whatever. It wasn’t important right now. “Actually, I had some questions for her about that rich city lady what’s building all this business stuff out here.”

The two guards exchanged an...oddly surprised glance and...stepped aside? “If that’s all, go right in.”

Texas was now sure she was walking into some sort of trap. Vivian’s thugs never just let her waltz on in to interrogate the mayor! “Uh...just like that? Not that I’m complainin’, but y’all ain’t ever been so friendly before.”

Another snort. “Don’t get the wrong idea, sheriff. I don’t like you one lick. But that lady...I like her even less. Mayor’s been actin’ weird ever since she started makin’ appointments with that Glitterygarden lady. But...you leave yer gun with us.”

Acting weird? Oh no...not her too! Texas didn't care about Vivian herself, but if Rivercrest had already sunk her claws into Vivian's mind, things were worse than she'd thought. Now she REALLY needed answers. Loathe as she was to part with her trusty firearm, she sighed and handed it over. Not wanting to look this gift horse in the mouth any further, Texas stepped inside the Mayor's office building and made her way up to Vivian. When she reached the door to Vivian’s office though, a huge skunk woman whose outfit was barely holding together blocked her way. Off her tail wafted waves of musk that made Texas glad she’d had such a light breakfast this morning. Blegh...of course Peppermint was on guard. Just another “former” bandit who was on the mayor’s payroll. Texas really wasn’t in the mood for having to deal with her...it took weeks to get the skunk spray out of her clothes last time.

“Texas? How the hell did you get in here? Ugh, doesn’t matter! This is perfect. I’m finally gonna be able ta crush ya for trespassing’!” Peppermint growled. The massive skunk cracked her knuckles, making Texas reflexively take a step to the side. Not back. Stepping back didn’t help her avoid being skunked.

“N-now hold on there, pardner! The fellas downstairs let me in. I gotta talk to Vivian about somethin’.” The weasel hastily yelped out, hoping that Peppermint was in a listening mood for once. After all, Texas was unarmed right now, and Peppermint was always packing! As it turned out...the skunk was!

“Seriously? Those guys hate yer guts. They’d only let’cha in for a damn good reason. Though...you could be lyin’. I’ll have to check with them, of course.”

“Go right ahead.” Texas responded, eager to see Peppermint leave. However...she wasn’t leaving. In fact, there was an unsettling grin creeping up on her face.

“Now now, Tex. I can’t just let ya wander around the Mayor’s place when ya might be a trespasser! You’ll hafta come with me till I get this sorted.”

Wait, come with her? Oh shit, she didn’t mean... “Now hold on just a-MMMM!”

Peppermint was no longer in a listening mood. Her big, fluffy tail coiled around Texas’ head to shut her up, and soon the sheriff’s entire body was cocooned in it! Which wouldn’t be so bad if it didn’t reek! Texas hacked and sputtered on the vile mix of farts and skunk musk that stained Peppermint’s tail. And to make matters worse, Peppermint was slowly starting to constrict Texas in there! She could feel herself getting crushed by the incredibly strong prehensile tail!

“There we go! Now I know ya can’t run away on me. Hope ya don’t mind if I take the long way out. Girl’s gotta get her exercise in!”

Texas was now very close to losing what little breakfast she did have this morning inside this skunky fart prison. Her body was just getting compressed tighter and tighter as Peppermint began to slowly head out to the door guards. She made each step as agonizingly slow as possible, just to ensure Texas would spend longer stewing in her stink. The weasel was vaguely aware of Peppermint’s voice, but she was having a hard time focusing on anything outside of this tail!

Eventually though, Texas was freed from that putrid appendage. The coiling tail had constricted her so tightly though that she now looked like a weasel colored stripper pole! The cylindrical weasel needed a moment to pop back into her normal shape before she just collapsed to her hands and knees, nearly coughing up a lung!

Peppermint seemed pretty darn proud of what she’d reduced Texas to. Shame that she actually WAS here on important business for once. “Alright, Tex. The guys confirmed yer story. Go on in, but ah...dunno about how much help Vivian’s gonna be.”

Great. This was getting worse and worse. Still, Texas had to see if Vivian knew anything about Rivercrest. So, she heaved herself up onto her feet, walked up to the door, and yanked it open.

...Yeah, that was a mistake. Texas’ eyes and nose were immediately assaulted by the unmistakable rotten stink of Rivercrest’s abhorrent ass expulsions. A thick haze of yellow gas hung in the room and Texas was barely able to make out Vivian in her seat through both the fog and her profusely watering eyes!

What was even weirder was how...unfazed by it Vivian seemed! Instead of gagging like Texas now was, Vivian just did her usual thing! “Texas. Here to arrest me for some imaginary crime again? Or try to extort me for information on things I don’t actually know about?” However...something was off. As Texas begrudgingly walked further into this stink hole and took a seat, she started noticing things. The hazy look in Vivian’s eyes...the disheveled appearance...and...guh! Even through this heinous gas, Texas could tell it had been a while since Vivian’s last bath!

“G-gghh...a-actually, I just wanna talk. Specifically about a Miss Rivercrest Gildegarden?”

Now THAT definitely got Vivian’s attention. Her eyes seemed to glaze over even further as her back stiffened and she let out a...mewl!? What in the world? It got even stranger when Vivian took a deep whiff of the air and started hacking like she’d only just noticed it was there! “M-Mistress is here to refresh Kitty’s air? Kitty will be good this time...Kitty will always be good...”

Texas had no idea how the hell she was supposed to respond to that. This had to be because of Rivercrest but...even with April, there only seemed to be minor lasting effects. Texas didn't have any! And, much as Texas was loath to compare herself with this lying snake...she and Vivian were about equally stubborn. The cogs in the sheriff's mind started turning. A feat in and of itself with the overwhelming stink in the air constantly bearing down on her senses. The guards outside had mentioned appointments. Plural. How long had Rivercrest been doing this!? How long did it take her to wrap Vivian around her finger?

"Now...ngh...V-Vivian..." Texas soothed. "I need y'all to focus for me. What the heck did that fancy fox bitch do?"

Upon hearing Texas speak, Vivian snapped back to...ignoring the stink again and breathing it like normal! "Excuse you? Sheriff Stanton, Miss Gildegarden is an upstanding future member of our town and I will not be having you slander her like you do with me!"

Ohhh great...she was back to obliviousness. How many layers did her conditioning have? "Vivian...gh...I know y'all h-hate my guts, and I ain't fond of ya either. But ppplease...I need ya to-hrrk... focus. Think back to your first meetin' with her. What. Did. She. Do?"

Vivian glared at Texas. "You're not letting this go, are you? Ugh, fine. If it'll shut you up and get you out...o-of...here..."

Vivian's expression started shifting as she struggled to think back. Texas could hear her coughing again as her mind once more started registering Rivercrest's farts!

Texas nodded and tried to encourage her, even while the smell was starting to make her woozy. "Ngh...y-yeah, come on Viv...that's right. T-thinkgh...and let's t-talk about this..."

Vivian shivered and turned back to Texas. "Ggh...you want to talk? Well then, let's talk about..."