Disclaimer:I don't own Sonic,Sonic characters, ect. I DO own any characters I make though, so no stealing without permission okay?

This is my first fanfic so please R&R

It all started innocently enough.

"Hey Knuckles, you said you were the last echidna right?" Sonic asked this question on his back from the floor of Tails's workshop. The smell of oil and the grinding sounds of metal dominated the senses. Tails at that time, was tuning up the engine of the Tornado after their international adventure that ended with the defeat of Dark Gaia almost a month ago. Knuckles had dropped by for no particular reason and the three had been idly chatting when a thought crossed Sonic's mind.

"Yeah Sonic, I am the last echidna. Haven't I made it painfully clear?" Knuckles leaned against a wall near the doorway. The echidna had been abnormally lax in his guarding of the Master Emerald as of late. Although it worried him from time to time, it was nice having Knuckles around and not staring into nothingness atop the Master Emerald. Sonic found it strange that now he could bring up this question he could bring up this question that has been nagging him ever since the issues surrounding Chaos. Every other time he had seen his red friend there was a world to save and they didn't have time for things like this.

"Yeah know you have. But I just wanted to know if Tikal counts." Sonic stood up and strolled over to Knuckles, who had a puzzled look on his face. Tails's ears perked up, but other than that he seemed oblivious to the conversation around him.

"T-Tikal? She's, like, umm…Tails help me out here. Tikal can't count right?"

"I'm not so sure of that," Tails stopped working and pulled his protective goggles onto his forehead. He hopped from his workbench and walked over to Sonic and Knuckles. "I believe that Tikal is a spirit, bound to the Master Emerald, but since she never really died there is some grey area.

"Oh…I see…" Knuckles withdrew into the wall a little. Sonic picked up on his emotions and struck immediately.

"Well well well, seems like our little echidna wanted a real echidna to hang out with. Someone to talk to, play with, to hold…"
"Sonic…" Tails began with a little shock at what appeared to be Sonic poking fun at the destruction of Knuckles's clan. But both Sonic and Knuckles knew what Sonic was REALLY talking about.

"Sonic," There was a clear note of irritation in his voice. "You weren't just suggesting that I wanted Tikal to be alive...no flesh and blood for the reason I think you're thinking…"

"Only if you thought that I thought you'd just love to be the father of the next echidna. I saw how you looked at Tikal all that time ago." Sonic smiled now. He'd known the joke had the potential to explode and luckily for him Knuckles had the right mindset.

"Sonic, what way did I look at Tikal again? Refresh my memory," Knuckles started to approach Sonic with a smile, flexing his hands as he went.

"Well, I remember Mr. Lone Wolf practically drooling over her. You were staring so hard, I'm surprised she didn't feel your eyes feeling her up." Sonic smiled. He hadn't fought Knuckles in too long.

"Oh really! I remember a certain hedgehog showing off a little when he was supposed to be saving the world. I wonder if he was trying to get some extra attention from a certain pink hedgehog…"

"Ooo, are you trying to start something?" Sonic hopped from foot to foot and his spines tingled in anticipation.

"Maybe I am, maybe…"

"Hey hold up on the fighting for a second. Something just hit me." Tails stood between Knuckles and Sonic. He stared intensely at Knuckles. "Knuckles, if I said I may be able to make Tikal the second echidna, do you think she may agree. And would you be okay with that?"

Knuckles met Tails's gaze and in a steady voice said, "Any Pachacamac, semi-dead or otherwise, would do anything to restore their clan."

Sonic, his interests peaked, said "Tails, how exactly do you plan to make this happen."

Tails walked over to his workbench and fumbled around in a cabinet until he pulled out a wrinkled and yellowing stack of papers. He brought them over and spread them out so Sonic and Knuckles could see them. They seemed like some sort of blueprint.

"These are blue prints for various Eggman machines I've managed to collect over the years. After an exhausting amount of research, I think that I could integrate some concepts from the E-100 series and the Artificial Chaos to create something of a new body for Tikal. It would be watery like Chaos's body, but other than that it would essentially be a fully functioning body." Sonic, Tails and Knuckles stared at the blueprints for a moment.

"Tails, how are you going to get a soul into a body?" Knuckles said. He had a look of hope, fear, and excitement.

"That's the only flaw in the design. We would have to find a living creature that would allow Tikal's spirit to take over its body. Personally, I would suggest a small bird, like a Flicky, in case Tikal needed to escape her new body quickly." Tails pondered silently for a moment and then said, "And we'll find one in Eggman's lab. I'm sure there are essentially dead animals being forced to live soulless lives due to Eggman's experimenting. It would be a favor to the soul tied to the body to be freed by a spirit as kind as Tikal's."

"So, what do we do?" Sonic inquired. He smelled an Adventure coming on.

"I'll stay here and prepare Tikal's new body. Sonic, I need you to infiltrate Eggman's lab and find a failed E-100 series. Bring it here ASAP. Knuckles, you have to talk Tikal into this."

"I can't believe this is happening. A second echidna…" Knuckles stared out of the solitary window in Tails's workshop.

"Well it is! Come on team, let's make this happen nice and smooth." Sonic extended his hand out towards Tails and Knuckles.

"Somehow, I don't think it will be all smooth…" Tails said, placing his hand on top of Sonic's.

"Read my mind," Knuckles placed his hand atop Tails's.

"We can handle this easy. It's not like Eggman is gonna make any real trouble! Come on, Sonic Team on three!" Sonic smiled and looked at Tails.

"You got it Sonic! ONE!" Tails looked at Knuckles.

"This better work. TWO!" Knuckles looked Sonic in the eye.

"It will. THREE!" Sonic sucked in a deep breath.

"SONIC TEAM!" All three shouted.