General Lee's Revenge--Karma

Chapter Four: "Tormentoso"

(A/N: It's finally done, after a month of work, it's complete. Chapters like this are gonna be the death of me, ong.)

As the afternoon wore on, the sky grew dark and windy. The toll of October had swept through, loose leaves caressing the roads. General had started his trek back towards town without any luck and feeling down. Expected to have run into Thunder or the boys by now, he had grown worried, combing through the backroads where the hunters had chased him, where they should've picked someone up. What if it's the other way around, he thought, what if someone picked them up? A heavy wave of dread washed over him, fearing the worst, and it was then that he heard a rustle from the trees.

He quickly turned, seeing a piece of green emerging from the woods. The Ranchero pulled up to him with a rev of his engine to which General returned the greeting.

"Oh, it's you again," he said, slightly surprised.

"Don't seem so excited, fool," Diablo rumbled, circling General. "Thunder calls you Gen, can I call you Gen?"

General rumbled to answer 'no' but was never given the chance.

"Right, Gen, I need your help. They got our boy Tormentoso locked up and we need to spring him. You in?"

"Thunder's in Impound?"

"Hell yeah, they got your boys too, we gotta get them outta there, fool!" he started down the road and quickly turned back realizing that General wasn't following him. "Let's go!"

General shook himself and slowly rolled forward, chuckling slightly. "What's your hurry? With any luck, Thunder and the boys are outta there by now. He's got superpowers, remember?"

"He's got his limits don't he?"

General nodded. "Well, yes, but Thunder's more versatile than one might think." He revved his engine. "C'mon, I'll fill you in on the way."

Diablo shifted on his suspension as he drove away, following General down the road confusedly.

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Thunder had been counting the minutes, timing it just right. He knew the exact second Little picked up the phone, how much time he had. Tapping into the phone lines wasn't hard, there was a telephone pole running wires over the fence. All he had to do was run up an electric current, tune his CB, and he was in. Out through his CB came the conversation he was looking for, sheriff Little on the line from the not-so-distant sheriff's department, completely unaware he was listening in.

"Yeah, you heard me right. I got the Duke boys in custody in the Hazzard County jail. There's a search out for the rest of 'em, but I can't guarantee no results. If they had help, they're gonna be a whole hell of a lot harder to find than our boys here," Little reported over the phone.

There was a brief pause before a response came, however, the voice made his coolant boil.

"Forget them, you've got what I want, name your price," said a curt little voice.

"Two thousand."

He heard Hughie's chuckle on the other end. "Fifteen, no higher."

"Eighteen or they're shipped up the river and you never see them again."

Hughie chuckled again which turned into an uneasy groan. "Oh, you drive a hard bargain, sheriff, but I'll take it."

One could nearly hear the grimy smile slide onto the sheriff's face. "Pleasure doin' business with you, Mr. Hogg."

"Tomorrow at eight, Willow Bridge. Don't disappoint me."

With that, the call was hung up. Thunder shook himself and he reeled back from the wire. He took a quick moment to glance around, seeing a glint of metal from the far side of the fence, he rolled over with a rumble of his engine.