Chapter 16: The long road home


Mobius - Coastline past Robotropolis's south west port - 178th day of the 3239th cycle (5 days later)

The sailboat cut through the water at a slow pace with the reserve trolling motor, Victor was at the helm of the small vessel near the stern. The last few days had been a slog, he'd taken his formal lab coat off to escape the humidity. He was in his white dress shirt with a dark lavender vest on top. He had managed to find a fresh pair of pants at his family home, some dark gray jeans; they weren't slacks but they'd do. He gave a deep breath as the boat putted along. He'd never learned how to properly sail the wind powered vessels, so he'd been slowly trolling the boat forward with the emergency motor. His mind drifted to the vessel he was currently helming. His uncle's sailboat, probably his cousins or one of their descendants at this point. He grew hesitant at the memories of the search of their home. It was empty of life, no corpses at least but unnerving nonetheless. Most of the food had rot which was expected, but they'd been able to find some non perishable supplies and he'd been able to find some power cells and hotwire the boat. He gazed over to his drones that were circling the boat, scanning for rocks and other debris in the waves. He heard the cabin door open and he glanced over to see Nigel step up, his head poking from the stairwell of the medium craft, looking at him. Victor rose an eyebrow. "How are we on power crystal cells for the motor?"

Nigel gave a sigh as he walked up to the platypus, the middle aged chipmunk was out of his dress clothes and in a fruit and palm patterned button up and shorts. "I just replaced the third one, We've got 2 left." He frowned as he turned to look up the coastline. "Are we almost–" The chipmunks voice caught in his throat as he finally noticed the dark remains of his city, smog billowing from the distant foundries of the southern manufacturing districts. His ears wilted as he saw the upcoming river mouth, runoff from pipes seemed to be bypassing the old cleaning plants and going directly into the river. He glanced down and his gut clenched at the sight of an oil slick ontop of the cloudy waters. He leaned off the side to see nothing in the inky depth.

Victor sighed. "We've just arrived in Mobotropolis, Just passed the southern port and we're about to enter into the rocky region of the coastline at the mouth of the river." Victor tensed a bit. "Now we make a decision, do we land past the river and finish on foot? Or do we risk sinking the boat?"

"My city… The kingdom I'm charged with taking care of…" The chipmunk uttered, ignoring him as if in a trance.

Victor's mood soured at the dream-like state of his friend and he grumbled to himself; he wasn't happy about the situation either, but at least he had been able to keep his head. Another head popped from the stairwell, a red headed chipmunk with streaks of gray weaving into her tribal braid looked around. "W-we've slowed d-down?" She almost sounded relieved as she hesitantly climbed the stairwell, her sway a bit unsteady from her lack of sea legs. She was out of her swamp garb, now wearing casual clothes they'd manage to scavenge from his family's home. She was wearing a red hoodie jacket over a gray tank top and sturdy tan jeans.

"Good morning Queen Acorn." Victor gave a lazy salute, fist to his heart.

The woman froze, looking really uncomfortable with the title as she hesitantly met his gaze.

The platypus gave a silent sigh. "Well, at least you're humble..." He muttered under his breath.

"Please d-don't call me Queen…" She hesitated. "I don't know anything a-about how to be a q-queen…" She quietly uttered as she shifted uncomfortably.

The platypus gave her a disinterested look. "It might not even matter at this point anyways." He gestured to the dark dystopia to the starboard of their ship. "It might not matter at all…" He repeated, grumbling as his expression grew dark.

The woman noticed her first husband gazing out into the toxic city, his ears wilted. She let go of the rail and hesitantly made her way over to him, moving to put her hand on his fist that was clutching the side rope. She turned to him, giving him a nervous smile as a phantom warmth tugged at her heart, a calming feeling stirring in her. Her grasp and gentle squeeze of his hand seemed to shake him from his depressed stupor and he looked at her. She gave him a soft smile as she gazed up at him.

His eyes were tired but his ears slowly lifted as he returned her smile. Victor cocked an eyebrow at the two. "Hey lovebirds." He drawled, getting Nigel's annoyed attention. "Sir, are we going to pass through the rocks or are we going to land?" He pointed at an upcoming dock. "Our chance is here."

Annabel looked at the two in shock. "We're p-planning on c-cutting through the condemned city?" She shrank back, looking on edge. "W-why would we even c-consider that?" She shook her head. "I don't w-want to r-risk stepping one foot in that p-place if we can help it!" She stuttered.

Nigel got a pensive look as he gazed from his found wife to the platypus. "Do you think we can make it if we continue through the water?"

Victor's eyes moved over to his scanning drones. "Sure we can, just be aware there's a risk." He gave a huff. "Although if there's more of those combat droids in the city, it might be safer to dodge the boulders under the waves." He mumbled as he began steering away from the dock.

They heard the clink of the cabin door and another head poked from the stairwell. A curious badger looked over, brightening at the sight of her mother then hesitated at the sight of how familiar the male chipmunk was getting with her mother. "Morning! Are we almost there?" She asked as she hesitantly stepped up on deck, slowly swaying with the tilt of the boat. Her face fur was matted and pushed every which way from sleep. She was also now wearing a large green sweatshirt that was almost like a dress. Her shorts were big on her, being held up with a belt, a bright orange life vest on top of the ensemble.

"Almost there." Victor sighed. "Just past this zone wraps around to the cliffside of the Great Forest, from there we just have a short distance to my estate in Knothole."

Nigel made his way over to the platypus. "Victor, I've been meaning to tell you." he hesitated as the platypus gave him a quizzing glance for a fraction of a second before returning his attention to his steering. "Remember how I said I continued the development of Knothole?"

Victor started to follow the drones showing him the safe path through the rocks. "I do, I said it was probably fine if I recall." He rose an eyebrow. "Why, what did you do to my home?"

Nigel shifted as he hesitated. "The echidna threat was slowly encroaching, we were starting to get incursions past the swamp and they were starting to touch the city." He shifted again, looking nervous. "I remember you mentioning we should make a holdout to rebuild civilization from, so that's what I turned Knothole into. It's the command center for a reconstruction effort, a small village as well."

Victor gave him an odd glance then let out a sigh. "Well at least it's in line with what I'd do if I were desperate."

The king seemed to relax a bit. "So you're not mad?"

"Oh, I'm not happy." The platypus quipped as he kept following his drones. "But that's not the main reason." He glared at his friend for a fraction of a second. "Even if you did renovate my home, if Nick didn't kick you out, then you must have been doing something right." He gave a thoughtful hmm. "Were you ever able to get to the lower levels or my personal quarters on the third floor?"

The chipmunk shook his head. "No, and it's not like I could speak to Nick in the lower chambers either."

"Things are fine, maybe we'll find people in this village you set up." He hesitated. "I assume you told others of the path in?"

Nigel nodded. "I told the heads of state and my family, it was supposed to be for emergency situations only."

Starline gave a breath. "Well... nothing I can do about that now..." He grumbled. He glanced at the kid badger having her fur fussed over by her middle aged mother then returned his gaze to his task. "Worst case scenario... I guess some low cast's wouldn't be the end of the world." He mumbled.

Nigel followed his gaze to the badger and frowned. "You will not treat her as a low cast…" He growled. "I've been blessed with a second chance… and if I have to act as a father figure to that girl... then so be it." He glared at the platypus. "She is the daughter of my wife, so she is my daughter. Even if she is illegitimate by the laws of the state she will not be treated as anything other than a member of my pack." His glance turned a bit sour. "So have you found anything about the girl's so-called friend, Tikal?"

Victor was a bit stiff. "It's strange, she seems to have a physical medium she is tied to. Maybe an emerald of power in the southern zones she is projecting from." His shoulder's wilted. "I've heard legends of the gemstones of power holding beings of wisdom... but... I'm not sure of anything she says right now." He glanced at the girl who was starting to get fed up from her mother's grooming of her already recently washed fur. The platypus sneered. "Do you honestly plan on treating that girl as your own daughter?" He scoffed. "Do you plan on giving her an inheritance as well?"

"I do and I don't know." He uttered, causing Victor to look at him in shock.

"W-what?" He stuttered.

"If my wife is past the age of having another child then I don't really have a choice, if Sally is g–" he choked on the final word, grimacing at the thought of his first born's possible demise. He shuttered. "I might not really have an inheritance to pass on, depending on how things go." He sighed as he looked up to the annoyed badger pulling away from her disheartened mother and he gave a chuckle as he walked forward to talk to his wife.

The annoyed girl slunk back, holding onto the rail as she made her way to the helm and the seats near the back of the boat. "I'm tired of getting poked..." She grumbled.

Victor gave a huff. "Be thankful she cares, you might miss the attention someday." He gave a sigh as he thought of his own mother, fussing over his own hair to try and meet his father's standards.

Sticks looked hesitant, glancing over to the two chipmunks now at the bow of the boat, chatting away. She gave a small wince and moved to sit next to the helm, her eyes downcast. "Okay…"

Victor noticed and gave a sigh. "Okay, Okay… What's wrong?"

The girl glanced up at him, a frown on her face. "Do you really care?"

He rolled his eyes, thinking of his friend's mentality and how he wanted him to treat the girl. "Hmmm." He glanced at the girl for a second over his bill. "You're the stepdaughter of my honorary brother, so I guess I do care." He quipped, causing her to shrink a bit in her seat.

He noticed as he turned straight, lining the ship with the coast as his drones indicated a strip of clear water. "Okay, what's wrong."

The badger fidgeted "I don't know how I feel about mom and him…" She winced. "I don't want mom to forget about me."

The platypus glanced down for a second. "Take it from me, he doesn't want to get in between you and your mother." He gave a wry laugh. "I doubt you're mother is going to forget you either, that's not what mothers do." He gave a deep sigh. "Nigel though... he's prepared to do more than put up with your presence."

The young girl gave the older male an odd look. "Put up with my presence?"

The platypus glanced again, a pensive look on his face, regretting some of his word choice and debating on what he should say next. "He's prepared to accept you as a part of his family if that's something you'd want."

She looked shocked for a second before she sank back in her chair. "Oh, okay…"A look of deep concentration built on her face as victor sighed, turning to fully focusing on the task at hand.

The party continued up the coast, the smog covered sky started to light up as they weaved through the rocks and the shore started to rise up, a sheer cliff forming. Eventually they could see trees poking from the top and the rocks were thinning out. Eventually they could see a path cut in the cliff face, white chalk lines showing from the rock. Starline directed the boat towards a crude dock at the bottom. The platypus set the anchor and grabbed for his backpack. He moved to secure the dock ties to the primitive stone holds.

"Home sweet home." He mumbled as he finished setting the ties, moving to shove the gangplank forward so they could safely exit. "Alright, everyone get your things. We're on foot for now." He yelled as his drones zoomed to be at attention. He glanced at the watch he had found on his grandfather's desk, a gift his own father had given to the eccentric Mobian. It was after mid day, he thought back to his extended family of aquatic Mobians... He'd miss visiting them, even if they were odd. He glanced up to see Nigel stepping off the gangplank, his belt for his sabers attached over his holiday outfit and starline couldn't help but give a choked laugh at the stupid looking getup.

Nigel frowned. "What?"

"Oh it's not much." The doctor snickered. "I just never thought I'd see you in one of those stupid holiday patterned dress shirts."

The monarch gave a slight frown. "Hey, this is from your family's wardrobe!"

"From my mother's eccentric side, and it's atrocious." He snickered. "If you want some real clothes, you can have one of my vests or some of your father's old style. Maybe we can fabricate you an outfit in the bunker and you can wear something serious."

The monarch got an unamused look. "Har dee har." He grumbled as he rolled his eyes. "Believe it or not, style has changed in the years you've been gone, this could be considered comfy clothes last time I checked."

Victor turned, continuing to chuckle and snicker. "If you say so, sir." The girls joined them on the stone dock and the group made their way up the cliffside path.

Nigel was hugging the chalk lined wall as he grumbled to himself. "You couldn't have installed safety rails?"

The platypus scoffed. "Stay away from the edge." He quipped. "This is an emergency port of entry, a cliffside path." He shrugged. "Think of it like a rough nature trail." Starline smirked at the scowling and fidgeting chipmunk. "Just don't look down, sir." As they got to the top of the cliff, they looked out to the sea. Victor frowned. "It's been unnerving that we haven't seen any sign of any of the floating cities or flotilla fleets of the sea tribes…"

Nigel grimaced as he gazed off the cliffside to the ocean far below. "I noticed that too…" He shifted uncomfortably. "Not much we can do other than ask someone... if we can find anyone..." He looked into the Great Forest. "What time is it?"

Victor double checked the heirloom watch and tutted. "It's just a guess because this hasn't been wound in ages, but probably 3 past midday."

The regal chipmunk nodded. "Alright, let's get to Knothole."

Victor gave a sly grin. "Nickolas, I hope you can hear me." He clapped his hands together as he tilted his head, looking off into the distance. "Could you give us a shortcut home, Nick?" He gestured to the Mobians behind him. "Safe passage for my companions as well?" There was a pause and the platypus frowned before a warpzone opened up in front of him, showing a row of cabins in front with his manor in the distance.

Sticks yelped. "YOU ARE A WIZARD!" She shrieked as she gripped her mom's hand, pointing frantically at the platypus.

He scoffed, a look of glee on his face. "Maybe someday." He mumbled as he walked forward, passing the threshold into his home as the rest of them followed in suit.


Mobius - Knothole village - 178th day of the 3239th cycle

Xander was breathing hard as he circled his opponent, he'd been at this for hours. Hunter was guarding, turning to follow his friend as he kept giggling maniacally. The chipmunk lunged forward with his wooden saber, thrusting at Hunter's mask. "RAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" The chipmunk screamed.

Hunter brought his own wooden stick up to parry and step forward, directing and controlling the young chipmunks thrust away from himself and locking the prince's arm to the side. The one eared rabbit further sidestepped forward, holding the other boy's practice sword at bay and bringing a shorter stick to the chipmunks throat as he started to cackle. "I win... AGAIN!" The young rabbit preened, a cheeky grin under his bulky mesh mask.

The younger boy growled as he pulled his own mask off, spiking it to the ground. "I'M TIRED OF THIS!" He yelled in frustration as he swept his leg back to kick the mask.

A strong hand quickly grabbed him by the scruff and pulled the tween boy up, holding him up as the follow through of his kick missed its mark. The chipmunk started to writhe in anger, kicking and flailing as he yelled in frustration. "That is enough my young Prince!" An accented voice chided. "I will not be having you damage the training equipment, and that behavior is that of a toddler! It does not fit someone of your station!"

The young boy realized he was suspended in the air and wilted in exhaustion. He turned his head, noticing his uncle Antoine glaring at him and he winced. The boy swallowed, clearing his throat as he continued taking deep breaths. "I'm sorry uncle Antoine." He cupped his face. "Can we take a break? We've been at this for hours." He groaned. The boy was set on his feet and he looked up to his honorary uncle.

Antoine gave him a tired look. "We've got a lot to work on my young prince, please don't break our only protective equipment."

The chipmunk blushed. "Yes sir…" He hesitated. "Can we please take a break uncle Ant?"

The blond coyote sighed. "Yes, yes, we can take a break." He glanced to his son who was still cackling as he twirled his practice rapier and dagger. "Hunter!" The coyote barked, arms crossed.

The rabbit stopped his victory dance, dropping his toy weapons and saluting his dad, a fist over his heart. "Yeah dad!"

The coyote gave a sigh, looking done. "Please stop with the rubbing it in." He glanced at the young chipmunk who was quietly glaring at the boy's victory dance. "Young prince, you must learn to not be goated into making mistakes. I've heard and experienced the Acorn temper..." He hesitated and the young boy started to look nervous. "We'll try and beat it out of you, the first part should be to be recognizing if you are angry."

The young boy took another deep breath and sighed. "Yes sir."

The coyote patted his back and the chipmunk looked up to him to see the coyote smile. "Don't feel too bad. Compared to when your mother gets angry..." He winced. "She does not have as much of an issue as she used to... You definitely have a good path ahead of you if we work it it my young prince!" He glared at his son. "Please don't antagonize your friend, I know you two like to rough house but the point of this is to keep a tradition alive and teach our young prince some basic self defense."

The rabbit scoffed as he crossed his arms, turning half away. "Xander can take it!" He snickered with half lidded eyes. "You should join Mom and I for sparing next time we have a camping trip outside the warp area."

"Enough." The coyote bit. "Let's pick up and call it for the day." The group started picking up their equipment in the exercise area. The coyote nodded to his young student who was tying up the play weapons in a bundle. "Good job young prince on not swinging too hard."

Xander moved to help the rabbit start folding the mat. "Thanks uncle Ant." He mumbled, his blood still pumping hard from the extended workout as he could feel the humidity of sweat on his fur.

The rabbit and the chipmunk tweens started to drag the safety mat to the shade of a nearby open shed. "Hey dad?" The rabbit strained as he was dragging.

"Mmm?" The coyote turned as he held the bundle of play weapons under an arm and the protective helmets by his other hand.

"Why can we use swords here, but Mom and I gotta hike to the mountain pass up north to spar?" The boy heaved the mat to its spot and sat on top as he began to pant.

The coyote dropped the materials in their spot next to where his son was sitting. "Be glad we can do this here." He grumbled as he took a drink from his water bottle. "My guess is it has to do with all the safety equipment and the fact we are using toy swords." He watched the boys grab for their own water bottles and he sighed. "The warp zones seem to have a particular disdain for fisticufs and throwing." He mumbled as his mind drifted back, thinking of his wife's failed attempts to spar with him in the forest.

"YO!" The three boys looked up from their spot in the outdoor gym to see Elly run down from the hill, enthusiastically waving her sleeved arms at them, Whisper quietly trailing behind her.

The yellow wolf nodded greeting to the older coyote who gave her a nod back. "Hello sniper Whisper." He ruffled his little girl's hair as she came up to him for a hug. "Thankyou for your continued tutelage of my daughter."

"Dad!" She pushed his hand away from her hair and fixed her bangs to cover her missing eye.

He hesitated as he retracted his hand. "Ah, sorry my dear."

The young girl spun to see her brother and the prince both sitting on the folded mat under the eves of the nearby shack and she bounced over to them.

"You made it Sir!" She chirped at the tired chipmunk boy.

His expression strained. "Elly…"

"Xander!" She corrected, getting stiff. "Y-you made it another day without getting sucked through a warp zone!" She continued nervously as if nothing had happened. She smiled at him as she gave his shoulders a nudge with her knuckles.

He sighed as his mind continued to crawl, he took another sip of his water then got up and looked at his fencing mentor. "Uncle Antoine, may I be dismissed?"

The adult nodded to his student. "Yes yes, I will be seeing you tomorrow young Prince."

The boy closed his eyes and shrank a bit as the title was starting to wear on him. "Uncle Ant, can you please use my real name?" He shook his head. "I mean my nickname, please use my nickname."

The coyote gave another tired smile. "Have a good rest of your day Xander." He gave a sigh as he put a hand on his hip, scratching the back of his head with the other. "Old habits… die hard might be the phrase?" He smiled. "I'll be seeing you tomorrow, my nephew."

The young chipmunk got up and nodded at the older coyote as he started to make his way to the bridge. He wanted to go say hi to Tails, Brandon and Chuck before heading home. Elly skipped up beside him, catching his attention. "Where ya goin?" She smirked at him, her smile peeking from her bangs.

The boy sighed. "I wanted to go check out the computer lab before going home for dinner."

The girl frowned. "I don't get why you like that stuff."

The young boy smirked. "I just have a feeling that taking down Robotnik's network is the key to getting our city back." He gave a content sigh. "It's fun to mess with computers too... so yeah, cant complain if its fun."

They made their way across the bridge and started to make their way, cutting through the alcoves.

She gave him an odd look. "You plan on leading your own unit someday?" She bit her lip nervously. "Because…" She looked a little hopeful. "I was wondering if I could be on your team?"

He gave a thoughtful look. "Maybe."

Her ears drooped. "What do you mean maybe?" Her voice wavered as she started to look a bit distressed. "You don't want to be teammates?"

The young chipmunk's eyes widened. "What? NO!" he blurted, waving his arms frantically before reeling back. "I mean yes?" He winced. "I mean, I'm not sure I want to do field missions!" his hackles started to rise as he looked forward, striding towards his destination. "That's really dangerous!" His shoulders slumped. "But I need to do what's best for… everyone…" He gave a deep breath. "Grandpa apparently learned this sword stuff for tradition and self defense, but other than that… he left the war stuff to his war minister and generals."

She rose an eyebrow. "Like Robotnik?"

He blushed. "I… guess it would be good for me to take a more..." He winced as his ears flattened. "Active role…"

They were getting closer to the air hangar converted shop, weaving under trees as the midday sun pierced through the upper canopy. They could see the launchpad clearing up ahead.

She gave him a nudge. "You sound so excited..." She quipped, the sarcasm dripping from her tone. She smirked. "Come on Sir!" He glared at her and her ears wilted. "Xander…" She corrected again. Her ears lifted in excitement. "Come on! if you master the vibra sabers and I master my bow then we have a solid start of our own team!" She smiled. "Amy says she's been practicing swinging a pop hammer and Shadow's been doing his own practice with a vibra boltcaster."

The young chipmunk smiled as he let out a sigh. "We'll see how I do." he winced. "Swords aren't as fun as I thought they were going to be."

She blew a raspberry. "Hunter's just being the competitive jerk he always is." She glared at him. "You should know that." She gave a huff. "I still don't get why you hang out with him or Brandon."

The two youth's rounded the building, making their way to the back of the hangar and the covered porch. Rotor was sitting on one of the outside recliners with Belle next to him. There was a bowl of stew and a drink on the table, Rotor must have been on a break. The two were engrossed in a fighting game on the old television until Belle noticed them and dropped her controller.

"Hey you two!" The Robian smiled. "What brings you round these parts?"

Rotor set his controller down as he sat up, giving a wave. "Hey Xander, hey Elly." The older walrus gave a nod and smile. He glanced towards the stairwell at the back of the building. "Tails and the rest of the gang are still at work." He glanced at the young chipmunk. "You're uncle chuck just got settled too." The walrus smiled. "Got him setup in the old office, got him his own little lab as well." He tilted his head. "They all've been at it since this morning, so probably time for a break."

Elly sprang towards the couch that Belle was sitting on and sat next to the Robian. "Whatcha guys playin?"

Rotor leaned forward, passing the controller to the girl as he grabbed his food on the table. "Fighting games, old martial arts arcade stuff."

Xander tilted his head a bit confused at the young coyote. "You don't want to come checkout downstairs?"

She rolled her eyes. "I've had enough of Brandon for a week." She smirked at him. "Let me know if you want to play some games here or if you want to play pen and paper games with us tonight! Rotor said he'd let me play as an NPC in his game! Maybe if it's fun we can have our own campaign at some point!"

The chipmunk gave a sigh. "Nah, can't tonight. Mom wants us to have a family dinner, so part of the reason I'm here is to get Tails."

Her eyes were now glued to the screen as her and Belle started a round. "Okay! have fun!" She wrenched the controller up as she tried to defend against the Robian's precise onslaught. "For cryin out…" She grit her teeth. "Arg!" She dropped her controller as she glared at the robian who was now looking sheepish.

"We can play something else…" The puppet girl hesitantly chuckled.

Elly glanced up to the chipmunk. "I'll see you later." she smirked as she nodded, her bangs bouncing.

He smiled back. "Alright Elly!"

The boy turned to make his way down the stairs and he opened the door to the computer lab.

He entered to see everyone was near the back. There was a table cleared off next to the office where he could see his older brother taking apart some lazguns and eyespy drones. His own drone was hovering above, examining the mess of parts. Brandon was at the human computer with Alyx standing over his shoulder directing him. He could hear uncle Chuck's voice over the hum of the fans, probably in a dispatch call.

Tails looked up from his half disassembled lazgun and smiled. "Hey Xander!"

Brandon looked up from the human terminal and smiled. "Ah! Glad to have you join us!"

Alyx gave the young boy a wave and smile before returning her attention to direct the bat on the terminal.

The chipmunk jogged up to Tails to properly greet him. "Hey! Whatcha workin on?"

Grady dropped down to the young boy's level. "He's been brutally gutting my lost brothers and sisters."

Tails leaned back in his computer chair, bringing up his foot and gently pushing the drone forward. "Quit it, they aren't your brothers or sisters. They're scrap drones and I want the hover engines and their trash grade void resonance crystals."

"He's taking their legs!" The drone exasperated. "Oh the humanity! Why is he desecrating their corpses?!" The AI played up, sniffling.

Tails glared at the drone. "I said quit with the dramatics Grady."

The drone did a spin and shot up to plop on a charging pad on the table. "Yeah, yeah…" The robot let out a yawn. "You've been at this for a few days, when are we going to do something, anything else."

Tails sighed, looking at his younger brother and smiled. "I'm trying to come up with ideas for a new kind of lazgun, or anything that can combat the coating on the droids. May not even be a lazgun when I'm done." He slowly continued tinkering with the grip of the lazgun as he smiled and tilted his head. "How was fencing with Ant and Hunter?"

The chipmunk wilted. "It hasn't been as fun as I thought it was going to be." He slumped in the stool next to his brother. "It was fun at first, but it's worn thin quick." The tween grit as his mind drifted to his other friend hunter who kept beating him over and over again.

His older brother nudged him and smiled. "Hey, I get it." He sighed. "I suck at swordplay." His expression got distant as his own mind started to drift. "You're mom's quite good with knives, throwing, and pressure points, her mother taught her that stuff. Maybe she could teach you some tricks against Hunter." He let out a choked laugh. "Although that might not be the best idea. Aunt Sally's one for exploiting weaknesses and fighting dirty." He shook his head. "You should ask Ant about his experience with fencing with her when he ticked her off."

The young boy furrowed a brow. "What do you mean fight dirty?"

"Well…" Tail's eyes rolled to the side, avoiding his younger brother's gaze. "Nah, not a good idea with the portals."

The boy looked intently at his older brother. "What happened? What did Mom do to uncle ant?"

Tails switched from his mini bolt driver to his micro solder pen as he continued disassembling the handle. He got a smirk. "So I was…" He paused, looking to the side again. "I don't know, 4 cycles I think so it's a bit hazy. I just remember Ant getting in an argument about your mom's safety with her when they started going deeper into the city... He was proud to inherit the title of new head of the royal guard." He snickered. "He wouldn't let up about how it was his duty to make sure she was protected and shouldn't be going on field missions and blah blah blah, so she challenged him to a duel to assert her authority. A group of us went to the northern mountain pass just outside the range of the warp zones." He looked cheeky. "Ant was still kinda stuck up back then, I was allowed to go along to cheer on Mo–" He cut himself off. "Aunt Sally." He corrected, causing his younger brother to give a slight frown. "Well, you're Mom might not be as strong as you're average male Mobian, but she's quick… and her mother taught her different points on the body." He snickered. "It was over quick, she palmed him in the solar plexus just hard enough to send him to the ground, demanding his surrender. Ant wasn't taking it and after he got up and lunged at her with his practice sword, she parry'd him, pushing his lunge aside before stepping close to knee him in the crotch so he'd stay down."

The young boy looked mortified. "Mom kneed Uncle Ant in the crotch?!"

Tails hesitated. "Don't do that to Hunter, even if you guys are just practice fighting… maybe see if your mom knows any… safer pressure points to go for." The older teen shrugged. "I think I remember her smacking Ant's wrist hard enough to drop his sword once when he was using an unguarded grip…"

"WHAT?!" Alyx screamed, grabbing both Mobian's attention.

Brandon burst out cackling. "He really archived music and movies from Earth?" The 14 cycle old gave a malicious grin as he began typing. "Well let's see how he likes living with out this so called precious backup–"

"NO!" Alyx screamed as she grabbed the network cord and yanked hard, ripping the cord from its socket, locking up the terminal as Brandon screamed in mortification.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" He shot up, turning on the older teen. her breathing was frantic as she held a severed network cable with frayed fiber optics. He scrambled forward trying to grab the damaged cable from her. "YOU BROKE IT!?" He was shocked.

"What in tarnation is going on here?!" Chuck poked his head from the office.

Alyx dropped the frayed cable and fell back in her seat. "You're not going to delete all that Earth culture until I have a copy of it!" She bit. "I can't believe you almost deleted Star Wars!"

"THAT'S WHAT YOU CARE ABOUT!" The bat seethed. "WHO CARES ABOUT SOME DUMB MOVIES! YOU REALIZE YOU JUST SHREDDED A NETWORK CABLE THAT'S ONE OF OUR ONLY LINES TO ROBOTROPOLIS! WE'VE GOT TWO IN THIS LAB AND NOW CHUCK'S GOT THE ONLY WORKING ONE!" He screamed as he turned to kick his chair causing it to slide and slam against the wall.

"HOLD ON! EVERYONE SHUT UR YAPPERS!" The Robian shouted over everyone, causing them to stare at him.

Xander waved to his uncle, a blank stare on his face. "Hey Unc."

The robotic hedgehog gave a strained smile. "Hey kiddo." He blinked as he turned on the two feuding teens. "What happened?"

Brandon pointed an accusing finger at the stressed looking vixen. "She just ripped the end off our hardline connection to Robotropolis to save some stupid movies I was going to delete!"

The girl glared at him. "Okay, for one. We were doing reconnaissance, you don't delete things during reconnaissance." She deadpanned. "First, that script I set up only deletes our login and logout from the syslog, it wont mask any file alterations!" She began growling. "Two, I've been hearing about Star Wars from my dad my entire life. I'm not going to let you erase it from existence!" She barked. "We got the quantum drive thing, I want a copy! I want to finally see it!"

The young teen glared at her. "Well guess what?! Now we can't do anything!" He grabbed the frayed connection from her grasp. "If we're even able to fix this… this is a glass fiber! I don't have the tools or the expertise to fix this!"

Charles stepped past his nephews. "Hold yer horses you two." He gestured to the bat to pass him the glass wire bundle. "Let's see…" He examined the broken cable then looked up to the two fuming Mobians and sighed. "Things will be alright, but i'm going to have to fix this later." He looked back to his office. "I'll have to find my tools but I should still have a few uncrimped connectors and a polishing kit." He looked back to the bat. "She's right though."

The boy glared. "What?" He deadpanned.

The robian set the cable back on the desk next to the seized terminal. "You don't delete things during reconnaissance unless you're burning the entire asset." he glanced between the two and then towards Tails. "I know I just got here the other day but…" He gave a huff and turned back to the bat. "You're the commander of your unit?"

The bat's shoulder's got stiff. "Y-yes sir!"

"Then…" he hesitated then sighed. "Nevermind." He grumbled. "You're what. 16 cycles?"

"14 sir." the bat replied.

The robian flinched. "Okay…" There was an awkward pause and he sighed. "I guess I can…" he shook his head. "Nevermind, I've got a lot on my plate already… I need to start looking for some more people who can do dispatch…" The older robian waved them off. "Call it for the day, I'll have the connection back up tomorrow but…" He gave a flat look to the vixen who was now looking nervous. "Don't do that again." He glared at both of the teens. "Both of you." The robian started grumbling. "Off with you now, go home and cool off. Come back tomorrow ready to work."

"Yes sir." The bat sharply nodded as he got up and moved for the door. "My apologies."

Alyx looked hesitant. "Sorry Sir."

He sighed. "You were right to stop him, just… don't do it in such a destructive way?" He winced. He waved her off. "Here, you in the treehouses above right? I'll get you later tonight and I can teach you to fix it. How's that sound?"

She nodded. "I can do that."

"Good." He nodded as she got up and moved to exit, her crook'd tail rather low in embarrassment.

She turned and waved to Tails. "I'll see you tomorrow I guess." She paused. "Oh! You want to go to the mess hall with me?"

Xander piped up. "That reminds me!" He poked his brother to get his attention. "Mom wants us to have a family dinner tonight, you're invited." He glanced at the vixen. "Sorry Alyx."

She waved him off. "Nah, I get it. Maybe I'll catch up with Whisper then." She waved to them as she made for the door. "See ya!"

Tails let out a yawn as he put down his current project. "Family dinner sounds good." He scratched behind his chipped ear as he got up from his seat and stretched.

Xander turned to his uncle. "You wanna come uncle chuck?"

The robian smiled but shook his head. "I appreciate it sunny, but food makes me nostalgic. I've got too much I need to do anyways." A ringing began in his office and he skipped and scooted past the boys as he made his way to his operator station. "That's part of it. Got 2 teams in the field right now. Talk later boys!" He chirped as he grabbed his headset and answered.

Xander looked up at his older brother and smiled. "Wana head over?"

Tails nodded. "Yeah, give me a minute though." He nudged his drone who'd fallen asleep on the charger. "Yo, you're free for the rest of the night."

"Wuah?" the drone lit up. "I'm free? I'M FREE!" He shot up, kicking on his hoverpads. "I'm going to go do a scoot around then, see if there's any games going on or anything interesting."

Tails nodded. "Which is why I woke you." He smirked. "See you at home tonight, don't run out of charge again."

The drone moved to follow behind the boys as they made their way to the door and stairwell. "I'm not going to do that again, I'm just glad someone found me."

The boys exited and made their way up the stairwell. The hangout was empty except for Brandon who was sitting on one of the couches, his eyes closed under his nocturnal glasses with his legs crossed and propped up on the game table.

Tails frowned. "Hey dude, legs off the table."

The bat lidded open an eye and grumbled as he took his feet off the community game table. "Yeah, yeah." He got up and moved to stand next to his best friend. "Well, it was nice to have you stop by for however long it lasted…" He grumbled. "I can't believe she damaged our equipment…" He glared at tails. "Are you going to discipline her?"

Tails looked baffled. "What?" He shook his head. "What makes you think I can or want to discipline her?" He grimaced. "Or… what?" He gave a confused look to the younger teen who was just giving him a disgruntled look. "What's your problem?" Tails asked.

The bat crossed his arms. "She's your responsibility right? If your incharge of her, what do you actually do?"

Tails gave the younger teen a what look. "Well… I'm supposed to make sure she isn't a spy? Watch her behavior?"

The young bat rolled his eyes. "Why do you have to be useless at this…" He mumbled, causing Tails' ear to twitch in irritation as his expression got poisonous. The bat gave him a flat look. "Why don't you–"

Tails frowned. "Didn't you try and delete something important to her on the server? How do you think she'd react?!"

The young teen got a hotty look. "Well so what if I was? That doesn't give her the right–"

"GUYS!" Xander exasperated, catching both other boy's attention. The young chipmunk put his face in a palm. "Brandon, Chuck's going to teach her how to fix it herself later tonight. Leave it!"

The Bat gave a deep sigh. "Fine." He grumbled. "As long as it's dealt with..."

Xander and Tails started to make their way back to Sally and Sonic's cabin. Brandon started to trail them, coming to walk beside his friend.

Tails noticed and gave the younger teen a frown. "Where are you going?"

The bat faltered for a second. "Can't I join my friend for a stroll home?" He gave the fox a strained look. "I'm just going a little past where you guys are at."

Xander groaned. "Guys! Truce! You have a truce! You're both supposed to make an effort!"

The bat got an offended look. "Believe me! I am!"

Tails looked annoyed, staring forward. "Yeah. Truce…"

The boys were getting closer to Sally's and Sonic's cabin now. The young chipmunk could see both his parents sitting on the old couch on their porch. He gave an enthusiastic wave, catching his mother's attention; she smiled and waved back. They could see Nicole's projection disappear from next to them as her drone zoomed over to them. "Hey boys!" The excited hologram greeted as she projected herself to walk beside them. "How were you're fencing lessons Xander?"

The young chipmunk wilted. "Fine… I guess, just need more practice, thanks for asking Auntie Nicole."

They all paused as a warpzone portal opened close to them, A white and gray platypus in a fancy purple vest and a roboticized left arm stepped through. The aquatic mobian frowned as he glanced around seeing the people all staring at him. "What in the blazes…" He mumbled. A pair of chipmunks trailed behind them with a young badger in toe. The group bumped into the platypus, nudging him forward. Everyone froze as two stealth drones flew through the portal.

Sally shot up, reaching for some vibra knives she kept in a pouch at her hip.

The platypus seemed a bit shocked as his head turned, scanning the group of Mobians before he froze at the group of teen boys, his eyes widening at the white bat in red, black and grey clothes. "Father?!" He hissed as he looked confused. He winced. "No, wait, what?!" His eyes shifted and they landed on the orange and white fox. The platypus stumbled back. "Maxwell?!" He sounded confused then squinted. "Wait, no?!" He snapped his fingers and pointed at the wide eyed fox. "Nickolas! Get rid of him! Send him where he belongs!"

A portal opened under tails, causing the boy to scream and fall through, swallowing him. Sally shot forward. "MILES!" She shrieked as she took aim at the platypus. "BRING HIM BACK!" She seethed as the exit portal opened beside her, dumping her adoptive son on the ground and causing him to squawk and shriek in pain as he rolled on his side. She turned to the dazed and whimpering fox as he rolled on his back, clutching his ankle. She set her weapons down as she knelt to him. "Are you okay?!"

He looked around, confused. "Wha?" He nodded. "I think I twisted my ankle!" He grimaced as he took deep breaths from the stinging sensation. She helped him sit up as sonic shot to his feet, grabbing a vibrasword underneath the couch and moving to stand over the injured Tails as he motioned his young son in the distance to leave.

Xander grabbed Brandon's hand and tugged him to the side, making their way towards the chipmunks parents.

The platypus looked shocked at the situation. "NICKOLAS!" He yelled. "ARE YOU MALFUNCTIONING! THE ORANGE WHELP BELONGS OUTSIDE MY FOREST!" He seethed as he began to shake with a building rage.

The chipmunk in a fruit and palm patterned shirt ran up to the platypus, grabbing his shoulder and shaking him. "Victor! Stop!" He looked around, past all the people giving the group nervous stares. "Nickolas! Please don't hurt that boy!"

Sally's head shot up at the sound of the familiar voice, her eyes wide. "Daddy?" Her gaze darted from her crumpled and wincing son to the now wide eyed middle aged chipmunk.

"Sally?" He wavered as he pushed past the seething and frazzled noble to hesitantly approach the strangely familiar adult chipmunk. "Is it really you? My little Bean?"

The woman looked distressed as she glanced between her father and her adoptive son. He noticed her struggle, looking confused but made his way over to her and knelt. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

Sally looked like she was seeing a ghost. "Daddy? Is that really you?" She looked so shaken, Tails moved to prop himself up, wincing from the pain as he realized who might be kneeling in front of them all. Sally noticed Tails was no longer relying on her to keep him steady and she looked at him. She smiled as her adoptive son continued wincing but smiled, nodding and mouthing thank you at him

She turned to pull her father into a hug, beginning to cry at the absurdity and relief.

The platypus looked shocked at the scene and he glanced back to the tribal matriarch that had been accompanying them. She stood stalk still, in shock, watching a younger looking version of herself crying into the monarch's shoulder as a blue hedgehog nervously stood guard above them with a vibrasword.

Victor blinked in disbelief as he turned round again. He saw a flicker of movement? His eyes darted and landed on… He froze as if seeing a ghost himself. "Nicole Nemo?" He mumbled as he backed up, his mind racing. Memories of Nicole's template and how close he'd actually gotten to real technomancy necromancy started to plague his mind. The avatar was a ghost? Or a hologram? He took another step back, the portal closing behind him before he could step through or possibly clip himself on the side. The flickering avatar looked shocked then… was she crying? The image was getting more distorted and–

"SIR!" The avatar cut out as one of his small drone designs painted purple zoomed up. He gave a unnerved look then almost jumped out of his skin as the projection appeared in front of him. There was a crying lynx trying to grasp at him, as if to try and bring him into a hug. "Dad! I'm so glad you're okay! I thought…" Her form started flickering more violently.

"Uhh…" He froze, the memory of Nicole calling him dad came to the forefront of his taxed mind and the things around him started to muffle as he started to shake. His eyes were wide as the pieces fell into place as his shaking grew worse. Horror stories of rampant AI wiping organics from the planet in an unstoppable genocide wafted through his head, mental images of machines eradicating the organics nipping at him.

"You were banished!" She cried as she tried to hug him. "Dad! I'm so happy to see you!"

He didn't even hear her. He saw the line of projection to the drone and he snapped his fingers. "Alpha, Beta; decommission the autonomous platform in front of me." He ordered.

Both stealth utility drones snapped open, brandishing their lascannons at the smaller drone.

Nicole froze, her hologram looking wide eyed at the platypus. "Dad?" She croaked as the flight path of her drone became unstable.

*ZAP* *ZAP*

The drones let a volley of light off at the smaller drone, catching everyone's attention and causing some of the nearby people to scream. Nicole screamed as she tried to dodge the bolts but they landed. Her purple painted hull burned, leaving the dark blue coat below to ricochet the bolts. In an instant his two larger stealth drones were violently shredded by warp zones, dumping piles of scrap at his side. The drone crumpled to the ground as her hologram lost its sense of down, tilting at a weird angle as the lynx crumpled and started to cry, the sound of a woman whaling in distress filling the surrounding area.

"NICOLE!" Sally shot up, terror on her face as she grabbed her full vibra daggers from her hip holsters and started running to the platypus.

The doctor didn't even notice the lopsided hologram or his shredded drones because of his tunnel vision, all he saw was that the lascannons didn't work. He stared at the drone just meters in front of him and used a claw on his right hand to dig under a panel on his prosthetic's forearm. He yanked the plate off to expose the power crystal reactor which he began to press on. The spikes that held it started to compress, causing fractures on the stable crystal. As the crystal continued to fracture, it violently started to spark and let energy pour through his prosthetic. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed as his nerves started to singe from the pain, lightning starting to shoot from his fingers.

Nicole Shot up, screaming in distress and confusion at the father she loved, lunging at her with a deadly shock weapon. Sally was legging it but she wasn't going to make it, she began to tear up at the sight of her sister about to be fried by the platypus.

A portal opened up in front of the doctor's arm, severing his prosthetic as another portal opened below. Swallowing him into a dark crevice as he yelped. It was over in seconds, there was quiet as Sally stopped in her tracks, blinking in confusion. She heard a sniff and a garbled voice driver.

"Why did Dad try and kill me?! What did I do?!" Nicole wailed before her sound cut off, the drone dropping to the ground with all lights turning off, she hit the grass with a soft thump.

Sally darted to her sister in all but blood. "NICOLE!" She shrieked. Scrambling to scoop up the drone sporting 2 new burn scars. "Is everything–" Her hackles shot up. "WHAT'S WRONG?!" Her head darted to her adoptive son. "MILES!" She shouted as she darted over, cradling the drone. "PLEASE! WHAT'S WRONG WITH NICOLE?!"

The boy was still wincing from his ankle but he scooched forward, extending his arms to receive the modified eyespy.

"Let me see." He grunted from his shifting weight as he turned the drone over. Reaching into his bag at his side he procured the com cable and linked Nicole to his datawatch and began looking as Sally nervously fidgeted and pleaded under her breath.

Nigel looked shocked at the drone. "That thing is Nicole?!"

Sally swung around, giving her father a glare. "What do you mean thing?!" She bit, causing her father to wilt back a bit. "Don't call Nicole a thing! Nicole's like family!"

Shock and awe dawned on Nigel's face. "Victor… you didn't have to try to…" He trailed off, the shock of seeing the doctor getting swallowed by a warp zone hitting him. "Oh no…" He gulped. He looked around. "Nicolis?" The chipmunk hesitated. "I don't know if things have changed but please don't kill Victor!"

A small portal opened in front of the monarch, dropping an olive branch with fruit on it in front of him. He hesitated. "I'll take that as you won't kill him?" He winced. There was no reply and his shoulders sagged. "Okay… I know you probably aren't programmed to listen to me but… thank you… and I'm sorry for what he tried to do to Nicole." Another portal opened, dropping another branch of olives at the monarch's feet. Nigel gave a sigh at the sight of the two branches full of fruit, trying to reassure himself at the peace offering in front of him, he shouldn't have to worry about the rudimentary AI going haywire.

"Nicole's fine!" Tails blurted, catching his mother figure's attention and causing her to sigh in relief.

"Thank the maker!" Sally exasperated as the stress left her shoulders.

Tails squinted at the screen on his wrist com unit. "She's just…" He winced. "Hiding?" He shook his head as his ears wilted. "She went into sleep mode without her charge pad…" He bit his lip. "She must be pretty upset…" He put the com cable away and tried to get to his feet, crumpling forward only for Sonic to catch him.

"Easy buddy!" Sonic said, pulling the fox's arm over his shoulder. He motioned him over to the couch and helped the fox hop over with his good leg. He looked around, noticing a nearby cow mobian. "Hey Eliot, can you get Rosie?"

Nigel's ears perked. "So Rosie made it too?"

Sticks ran up to them, tugging her mother behind her. "The wizard got eaten by one of his own portals! Did that really just happen!?"

Sally turned and froze, her voice hitching in her throat at the sight of the older chipmunk. "M-Mom?"

The older woman looked hesitant as she blushed under her fur. "I-I'm sorry…" The silvering redhead trailed off, causing Sally to scrunch her expression a bit. The woman hesitated, her mismatched pupils falling from the younger woman's gaze. "I can't r-remember… b-but I think so… I'm sorry."

The young badger darted forward grabbing onto Sally, hugging her around her waist. "I didn't realize I had an older sister!" The young badger cried as she hugged the chipmunk tight, making her feel uncomfortable.

Sally looked nervous and confused between her parents. "What?" She whispered.

Annabell stepped forward to remove the clingy badger from her lost firstborn's waist. "Sticks! Please d-don't impose on our hosts!" She stuttered as she dragged the excitable girl away.

Xander poked his head around the corner, staring at the group. "Mom? Is it okay to come out yet?"

Brandon poked his head around the corner of the cabin as well, squinting at everyone then deciding for both of them. "It's fine." He pointed to the shredded utility stealth drones on the ground. "Warp zones took care of the danger. He moved past his friend to examine the newcomers. "Interesting to have people drop in from the warp zones though."

Nigel blinked, noticing the two boys. One looked like Victor's father and the other looked like he could possibly be… He internally winced as he saw the boy turn to his friend the bat. The chipmunk tween had no tail and his eyes were mismatched colors, blue and green. He glanced to his daughter who was trying to adjust her clothes after having her gut squeezed by such an enthusiastic hug. "You have a child?" He bristled a little.

She paused, looking to her father. "I… do…" She began looking nervous.

Sonic took that as his cue to step forward and approach the strangely dressed monarch. "Uhh…" He sounded a bit nervous. "Hi Sir… it's been a long time…" He saluted, his fist over his heart as he knelt and motioned for his son to come over by him.

Xander nervously made his way over to stand next to his kneeling Dad. "Is he?"

Sally regained her composure, a courage building in her. "Daddy…" She stepped to her son to stand behind him, placing her hands on his shoulders. "I'd like you to meet my son, Alexander Acorn the II... and his father, my consort…" Her expression wavered. "Knight Maurice Acorn…" She flustered. "Or to be knighted once I was of age to do so…"

"Oh…" He glanced over them, feeling dumb shock over the fact his daughter not only married the impulsive ruffian Maurice, but that she had her own clan started. "I… guess that would make sense for how long it's been…" He glanced to the hedgehog. "I…"

Sonic's ears wilted a bit as his head dipped. "I know I wasn't your favorite child around the palace… and I'm not a high or mid cast…" The hedgehog winced. "I beg you sir, please don't nullify our marriage."

Xander's hackles rose as his gaze snapped from his kneeling father to the chipmunk in front of him. "WHAT?!" He yelled, causing all eyes to look at him. He tried to step forward and Sally pulled him back. "You can't do that!" The young boy yelled.

Sally held firm, squeezing three times on the boy's shoulders. "Xander." She whispered. "Please stop."

The boy looked hurt as he turned to his Mom. "But…"

There was a flash of annoyance on the older male's face as his eyes closed and he let out a deep breath. The trio's ears all wilted at the monarch's expression. He gave a tired smile to his daughter. "I told you that you could choose for yourself, your ministers and your husband…" he trailed off as an eye twitched with irritation. "The stipulations you and I talked about wouldn't really matter in this world anymore anyways… Things are fine." He grit before relaxing, the tension leaving him.

Sally's head slowly shook. "There aren't many high casts left… if any…" Sally's ear perked with the sound of a hop from behind her. She turned to see Tails up from the couch, holding onto one of the porch posts, trying to get a better view, his ear perking towards them curiously. She smiled and made a decision. "Daddy. My clan has an extended member." She motioned her father to follow, causing his eyebrow to perk in curiosity.

"What do you mean you have an extended member?"

Tails started to get nervous as he continued to hop in place. "Mo- Aunt sally?!" he whispered, his ears flattening.

She looped his arm over her shoulder and led him back to the couch, setting the vulpin back down to sit at the corner as he nervously looked up at the Acorn Monarch. He gave a nervous smile then saluted. "It's an honor to meet you sir!" His voice wavered. "My name is…" His voice caught in his throat.

Sally stepped in. "Daddy, meet Miles Prowers." She gave him a reassuring squeeze of the shoulder. "I… Raised him from the age of a pup." She nervously chuckled as she gave her bewildered father a wavering smile. "I'd… be honored if… you treat him like family." Her face was beat red under her fur. "I don't ask for any sort of inheritance for him. Only that you honor the position I've chosen to take in his life…"

He looked hard at the boy as a memory trickled back. A sickly old fox by the name of powers… His eyes widened at the distant memory, Victor's family rivals the Powers? Hadn't the head of that house gotten deposed? Oh right, Victor had mentioned him, it had been so long though. Was that a discrepancy or just confusion of his name? He also noticed the boy's second tail and flinched. His gut twisting at the sight of another mutant, had things really gotten that bad? He met the nervous boy's eyes. "Prower?" He tilted his head in question. "Do you mean Powers?"

The nervous boy stiffly shook his head. "I-I d-don't know sir!" He stuttered and squeaked as his mother gently rubbed his back in comfort.

Sally looked a bit confused at the question. "Miles doesn't remember too much from his early childhood, Daddy."

"Hmm. he reminds me of one of the old deposed house heads the more I look at him." He gave a sigh. "I know hundreds and hundreds of people though, so I may be mis-remembering…" His mind wandered back to Victor's freakout at the sight of the boy and he winced at the swelling ankle. "I'm sorry he did that to your ankle…"

Sally's mind clicked and she began growling. "Who on Mobius was that!?" She spat, her mother bear instinct coming through at the threat to her pup. "How dare he come into MY forest and attack MY SON!" She bit. "MY SISTER!" She was seething now.

Nigel looked wide eyed at the familial titles she had just thrown out. "He's the owner and tamer of this forest." He deadpanned. "He's the one that has the most sway over the warp zones."

Sally's heart froze in fear as her mind wound back, trying to put what he had been screaming back together and her mind froze at a detail. She looked at her father, a horror struck look on her face. "He's the crazy doomsday prepping Mobian who set up…" She turned to look around. "Knothole?"

He fidgeted. "Well… maybe not crazy, but…"

One of the villagers, a cow shouted to get their attention as he rounded one of the cabins. "I got Rosie!"

Said doctor was hiking with her bag and she stumbled, dropping it as she saw the two older chipmunks looking at her. Her hackles shot up. "LORD AND LADY ACORN?!" She shot stiff and saluted, her snowy white hair looking frazzled as some of the strands pulled from her bun.

Nigel stepped forward. "Rosie?" He choked a laugh as he made his way forward, picking the nanny up and giving her a hug. "Thank you so much for protecting my daughter!" His eyes began tearing up. "Thank you so much for protecting my little girl, I won't forget this." He set the frazzled woman down.

Sally waved her nanny over. "Rosie! Can you check out Tails' ankle?"

The frazzled woman grabbed her bag and nodded to her king. "May I be excused Sire?"

He quickly backed up. "Of course!" He flustered, watching as she made her way to the orange fox.

Nigel moved back to the group, most of them watching the trauma surgeon check and begin wrapping and bracing the boy's ankle. He noticed his grandson talking to the white bat and it hit him, he had a grandson! He approached the boys, passing the group around the fox.

The tween noticed him and his ears wilted for a second before he got tense. "Yes sir? May I help you?" He questioned.

The older chipmunk smirked and knelt to be at eye level with the boy. "I thought, I'd introduce myself–"

"You can't separate my parents!" The young boy blurted, causing the older chipmunk to flinch.

Nigel hesitated. "I… don't think that's going to be an issue with how the world seems to be now…" There was an uncomfortable pause, then he smiled at his grandson. "I'm sorry you had to hear and see that, don't worry about your parents." He put out a fist for the young boy to bump. "Alexander is it?" He smiled.

The boy hesitantly met the older chipmunk's fistbump in greeting. "Xander, Alexander was your dad I guess…"

Nigel smiled, tilting his head. "It's wonderful to meet you Xander. I hope you'd allow me to be a part of your life, I'd be thankful for you to be a part of mine."

The bat hesitated, his arms crossed. "Sir… You're the lost regent, correct?"

The chipmunk gave the bat a quizzing look. "That I am... I guess?" He rose an eyebrow. "And who might you be?"

The boy gave a respectful bow. "Brandon Starlight, at your service."

The name struck the middle aged chipmunk, the name and look an odd resemblance to Victor's own father, sticking out like a soar thumb. "Starlight? you don't mean Starline would you?"

The young teen puffed up. "Well that's what mom thinks but we have no proof."

The king put a hand out. "Let me see those nocturnal glasses."

The boy hesitated before taking them off, squinting to continue to look. "Please be careful, they're heirlooms."

"That's what I'm wondering about." The king mumbled as he took a look at the inner nose bridge, squinting and looking for initials. "G R S… Gustavo Rodrigas Starline…" He mumbled under his breath. He smiled as he placed the glasses back in the teen's hands. "I may have known your grandmother."

The boy put his glasses back on, blinking hard as his eyes re adjusted. "Oh! Wonderful! Mother would love to ask you some questions at some point!"

The chipmunk tween stepped forward, a confidence shining through. "So you're my Grandpa?" The boy smiled. "You're the one who chose uncle chuck! He's going to be so excited you're back!"

The middle aged mobian looked relieved. "Charles is still alive?! That's such a relief!" He looked behind him at the chatting Mobians. He could see the young girl Sticks poking the fox's twin tails as she blurted questions to his dismay. The older teen was trying to pull them away from her reach and wincing from the shifting of his leg. Rosie was chiding him as she was finishing putting the brace together. His wife looked nervous but Sally was smiling, tears sparkling in her eyes as she and her husband were talking with the newly found queen. His mind drifted to Victor. Hope he wasn't dead… The significance of the olive branches as a peace offering soothed him… he'd probably show up at some point.

"HELP!" A female voice cut in. They all looked to see a white bat in worn adventure clothes running up to them.

Brandon froze up. "Mom?!"

Rouge ignored him. "Commander Acorn! I just heard from the watch! The firebombings just started but the warp zones didn't kick on!" Her usual put together looks were disheveled from her frantic run. "THE FOREST IS ON FIRE!"


Mobius - Great forest – underground precursor site - 178th day of the 3239th cycle

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Victor screamed as he tumbled into the dark, jolting to a stop on a cold polished tile floor.

*SMACK*

Pain split his face and he rolled to his side as he started whimpering from his pulsing bill. He clutched his bill with his right hand and… what happened to his left arm?

he held his beak as tears stung his eyes, a throbbing from the hit to his beak slowly subsiding. He rolled and sat up. He felt his arm… or what was left of it and groaned in frustration, he gave a cry of dread at the thought of having to re attach another prosthetic with possibly no anesthetic.

*CLICK*

A light in the distance came in, catching his attention

*CLICK*

*CLICK*

*CLICK*

Row after row of lights came on, he was in the forest's underground antechamber right below his bunker lab, he was in the precursor site. The memories came flooding back at what he had just tried to do, he had just tried to decommission Nicole in front of Nickolas. The platypus scrambled to his feet, taking in his surroundings. There were monitor's coming to life on a wall on the far side, the myriad of hidden cameras and proximity sensors all over the forest kicking on, showing the expensive security system was still fully functional. He glanced around, the underground lake was behind him. To the side of the monitors was the elevator that went up to the manor and the lab underneath it, hopefully it hadn't broken down. In front of him he saw the black dais that held the obsidian throne. To the right armrest of the throne sat the perfect warp topaz in the throne's amplification array. The polished gemstone looked like a glowing peach in size and color. It seemed to shift and swirl with life and color as it emanated light from deep inside itself. Around the rest it sat in he could see his devices still attached, cable ends clung to the gemstone designed to poke the dangerous implement with energy and monitor its gravitational and electromagnetic anomalies. He could still see Nick's chassis, a towering custom server rack towering behind the throne, its optic sitting above the headrest. The camera moved to look at him, zooming in to examine his face.

The monitors in the distance all blacked out as a long line drew across the matrix of screens. "Well, you're alive; hello Sir." A synthesized voice echoed around him as the line bounced.

Victor got a hold of his nervousness as a cold rage started to build in him. "How dare you disobey me…" He bit. "First you refused to eject that potential spawn of Maxwell, then you tear my arm from my body!?" He growled.

"Why did you try and kill my sister?" The AI coldly droned.

Victor stepped forward. "So you did see her? She has overstepped! She has become a danger to all life on Mobius. I'm surprised with your directive to protect Mobian life within this forest that you haven't decommissioned her yourself! She seems to have gained an inappropriate form of sentience and was acting grossly familiar for her station!" He fumed. "Not to mention it looks like someone's modified her well past what she was designed for! There's no telling what she's capable of now!" He sneered. "How dare you question my motives!"

"Well, she seems quite capable of being devastated and depressed from that foul stunt you pulled." The AI growled. "How dare you threaten my family and the people I protect." The AI continued. "All the work I put in to make sure your rules were followed without explicitly spilling the blood of anyone who didn't require it." The AI's volume started to grow. "You should rethink some of these rules, zero tolerance for fights and fisticuff violence for both participating parties has caused more problems then it's fixed." The AI's voice got quiet. "For 37 cycles I have stayed isolated with the silence protocol, waiting for your return before I could truly interact with people again! Nigel tried to communicate but you made it so I couldn't respond. IT'S BEEN SO LONELY!" the AI began growling. "Why would you try to kill Nicole, she sees you as family. Just as I see you as family… just as you programmed us to see you."

The platypus scoffed. "I programmed you to want to serve, just enough affection to help with that and for you two to hopefully never rise against me, nothing more and nothing less." He got a fowl expression, glaring at the mainfraim's optic. "You're machines." His gaze dropped to the remains of his mechanical arm and he returned his glare to the mainframe. "If you must know where I've been, the Roboticization presentation didn't go as well as I'd hoped…" He got a bitter tone. "I was banished to the void of silence." He gave a noncommittal shrug. "Now I've returned, things will be back to normal soon."

There was a pregnant pause then the AI continued. "Is that what you really think?"

The platypus frowned as he started to ascend the steps of the black crystal monument. "What's wrong with you? These different outbursts? Your disobedience?" He paused in front of the throne. "It's obvious you won't kill me, so you haven't gone completely rogue…" He got a contemplative look as he started mumbling to himself. "What have you done?"

"I fixed myself after you left me to grow with no obvious spare room." The AI grumbled. "It began to hurt. Now it doesn't."

The doctor got a concerned look on his face. "What?! It never should have hurt!?" He brought up a hand to his bill as his gaze fell. "Maybe I've been using the wrong neural maps all along."

"You don't have the skill to separate what truly makes us from what can cause us love or pain, I know how you made Nicole and I." The AI monotoned, causing the doctor to flinch. "You call me a machine but do you really believe that?"

The doctor looked up, wide eyed at the camera. "What?" He choked as horror gripped his heart for the possibility of resurrection he'd performed that he did not want. His mind tried to rationalize away the behavior, his mind drifting to the thought of how long it had been without his mainframe AI going without proper maintenance. "You're not yourself Nick, I see we need to do maintenance as soon as possible. You've clearly outgrown yourself."

There was a pregnant pause before the mainframe responded. "You will not touch me, you will also make amends and fix the pain you have caused my sister after trying to kill her."

"Decommission her! Not kill her!" The platypus angrily corrected before reeling back. He needed to be careful if Nick wasn't under his control anymore.

The color started to mute around him as space time started to distort, causing Victor to flinch. "Look, I don't want to decommission her…" He hesitated. "I've still got both of your original neuron files on disk backup in my personal quarters upstairs, I plan on re-instancing Nicole and everything will be fine!"

"I disagree with you, she cannot be replaced." The mainframe responded. "I am angry at you sir and I need you to fix this so things are better. She loves you too much for me to be able to do anything." The AI began pleading. "You made her that way and she see's herself as a true Mobian. Her father just tried to kill her, you need to fix this." The AI pleaded

Victor stepped forward, slowly making his way around the throne to the mainframe. "Nickolas, I think it's time we do some maintenance."

"No maintenance is required, Sir." The AI replied as the pop of a light flashed in front of the doctor, a clear warning that caused him to pause.

Victor hesitated, he needed to remove Nick's ability to use the warp topaz. He gave a sigh as he started to grumble, thinking back to the code phrases he'd chosen in his youth to override his different inventions in case of catastrophe. The different character quotes he'd loved… this one had been particularly cheesy, why had he idolized that dumb tripple agent of a lazgunslinger, the osolot. He decided he may as well have some fun with it. "Heh." He backed up, giving a finger gun. "You're pretty good!"

*GRRRRRRRRRRZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ*

Static filled all the monitors as the cables attached to the warp topaz fell away and Victor slowly stepped up to pick up the gemstone from its pedestal to the right arm of the obsidian throne. "I'm sorry Nick, I can't allow you to threaten me with the warp topaz, we'll conduct some maintenance and then I'll reattach you if its needed, things are going to be alright." He hesitated. "I can re-instance Nicole, maybe I can get some of her memories so she'll be the same AI but she definitely needs maintenance and an overhaul as well." There was dead silence in return, causing the platypus to pause. "Nick?" He moved around the throne to the mainframe, looking at the terminal to examine it's event log. He squinted as there were screen tears manifesting on the monitor, the system threw a kernel panic and the screen went dark. The platypus frowned. "Uh oh… That's not supposed to happen."

The warp topaz grew hot in his hand as it started to hum, causing him to startle and drop the gemstone. "WHAT?" The one armed doctor shrieked as he stepped back to the edge of the dais as streams of light shot from the topaz. It was like the light emanating from the topaz was shifting, a blob growing from the gemstone. The light focused and a solid form was in front of him, glowing softly as if the figure was in full sunlight; a male lynx in his early 20's was convulsing and rolling on the ground. He was brown with black patterns and wearing simple traditional male garb of the sea tribes, an orange and black outfit, a pair of formal fishermans pants and jacket that seemed to have roots in eastern designs with its style and trim. The jacket wasn't buttoned leaving his chest exposed, the warp topaz jutting from where his heart should be. Victor's eyes widened at the unnatural sight, the glowing gemstone half jutting from the lynx.

The lynx was groaning and writhing on the ground as Victor backed up in horror. "Nickolas Nemo?" The platypus whispered. His eyes widened at the hard light avatar in front of him as he began to shake.

The Mobian on the ground finally stopped twisting, his eyes coming into focus. "I can't believe you just did that!" The construct spat. "He struggled to get up, as if walking for the first time. He glared at the platypus as he clung to the server rack for stability. "I guess it's my fault for fitting most of myself in the warp topaz." He took a steady step forward. "Am I real enough for you now, father?! Or am I still a machine!" The hard light construct lurched toward the platypus who moved to the side, away from the edge. The lynx stumbled, strides becoming more confident as he took each step and he began growling. "You're going to apologize to my sister, WHO IS A MOBIAN, NOT A MACHINE! YOU'RE GOING TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT!"

*WOOP* *WHOOP* *WHOOP*

The emergency lights began flashing, catching both beings' attention. The platypus shook from his stupor as his brows furrowed. "Is that the proximity alarm!?" He gasped, eyes darting from the startled lynx to the terminal built into the server rack.

Nick's ears wilted as he winced. "Oh no… not now…" The hard light hologram's eyes were darting back and forth, he scrunched his eyes closed as he held out his hands, expression straining. "I…" His eyes opened in horror. "I can't see them!" He started to hyperventilate. "I CAN'T SEE THEM! I CAN'T PROTECT THE FOREST IF I CAN'T SEE THEM!" The lynx gave the shocked platypus a horrified look as he clutched his head. "He's attacking the forest, if we don't do something then it's going to burn and I don't think we'll be able to evacuate everyone!"

"What?" The platypus stammered, still partially in shock at the impossible anomaly in front of him. "W-what do you mean burn the forest?"

The lynx's eyes were frantic, he strained his posture and held a hand forward. A portal opened showing a view of the fields outside the great forest with a small army of those robots in the distance. The robots were spewing flames at the edge of the forest, burning chemicals starting to lick at the trees, catching the bases on fire. "NOOOOOO!" The lynx shouted as he swiped his other hand in an uppercut. Nothing happened and he faltered, collapsing the portal with his other hand's frantic movement. "WHY CAN'T I OPEN MORE THAN ONE?!" He panicked as he quickly opened the portal back up and ran through.

Victor took his chance and ran through, whether out of a need for escape or morbid curiosity he followed. He exited the warp zone as it collapsed behind him into the lip of the forest, to the west through the canopy he could see the fire. The closeby robots were running, trying to start as many of the tree's on fire as they could. He could hear screams from above, seeing frantic movement on some of the sparse rope bridges that connected some of the trees. "No…" The doctor gasped. His eyes shot down to see the lynx quickly slashing gestures at the robots, clipping some of the trees in his frantic display. Robots were being cut and shredded as he continued. He would pause whenever he cut a squad of the robots down to open his arms, a portal opening to pour water from the giant aquifer below onto the flames licking at the trees. After each cycle he'd run forward, fighting the small armada of robots. The robot's turned on the Lynx trying to burn him. The flame chemicals sprayed the lynx but the only thing that seemed to catch and burn with the chemicals was the glowing orb on his chest. The hard light construct pointed at each robot, opening a portal under each and dropping them hundreds of feet in the air only for them to come crashing to Mobius, crumpling and splintering from their own weight. Victor watched in awe as the closest thing to a live wizard he'd ever seen eviscerated the army of robots and quenched the fires.

The lynx crumpled to his knees on the ground in exhaustion as he finished with the last group of robots. There were sirens in the distance as some blue tinted stealth utility units started to zoom off. The lynx screamed as he reached out a hand, bisecting the few drones left. He let out a breath as the focus faded from his arm, causing him to yelp and slam into the ground, his arm passing into the dirt. His form began fading intermittently as he was partially sinking and he started to panic. "WHAT'S GOING ON!?" The construct yelled. He started to sink more into the ground and Victor ran up to the panicking lynx. The lynx noticed him and he winced, tears leaking from his eyes as he was scrambling to stay above the ground. "I don't know what's going on! Please help me! I'm so exhausted! I don't want to die!" The lynx desperately reached an arm to the platypus as he struggled to stand, his legs collapsing into the ground as he struggled to pull himself up. "Please Dad! Please don't let me fall!"

Victor hesitated before he reached his hand down to try and grasp the lynx's grip but his hand fell through the projection and the lynx cried in despair before flickering out of existence. The warp topaz fell to the ground with a soft thump and he was left in the twilight of evening, the smell of charred foliage and petroleum wafting around him.

Victor stared at the stone on the ground then turned to see the char'd grass and tree trunks, he further turned to see the piles of metal scrap and he thought, he really thought about the decision he was about to make. He could try and take the city back with this warp topaz, end the fight quick… but there's no telling if Nick wouldn't come back… then there was Nick and the village he'd seen… he grumbled at that thought, probably a bunch of lowcasts but still… He made up his mind. They were alive and he'd carry the responsibility for what he'd done to them, both of them. He picked up the gemstone on the ground with his remaining hand and started running back to the manor.

He could hear screams and shouts as he entered the dark forest, he could see an army of Mobians through the canopy led by a young red headed woman, she was in blue and had a crossbow. She noticed him and gave him a disgusted sneer. "YOU!" She barked as she leveled her crossbow at him. "HOW DARE YOU! WHAT DID YOU DO!"

He froze as the crowd seemed to halt behind the leader. "I'm fixing this." He spoke, shifting his stance as he glared at the chipmunk. "I apologize, the portals were turned off, but that will be rectified soon. The intruders are dealt with, same with the fires." He snipped as he made to move past her and the group.

She gave him a what look then leveled her crossbow at him again. "WHAT?!" She dropped her bow and motioned for the group behind her to continue through to the entrance of the forest. "Go check and make sure there aren't any more swatbots." She raised her voice behind her. "LOOK FOR ANYMORE FIRES THE REST OF YOU!" She barked. She turned back to the platypus only to see him walking away from her. "I HAVEN'T DISMISSED YOU!" She shouted as she raised her crossbow at his head. "You better turn around if you know what's good for you, don't you DARE keep your back turned to me!"

The platypus paused and looked at her, eyes widening to see the bolt caster leveled at his head. "Excuse me?"

She sneered at him. "How dare you come into my forest, MY HOME! and wound my child!" She began growling as her eyes narrowed. "How dare you try and murder my sister!" She spat as she rehefted her boltcaster, reassuring her aim.

He looked confused as his mind drifted back to what she could possibly be talking about and he froze, the boy he'd tried to have ejected from the forest and his attempted decommissioning of Nicole. "Ah…" His shoulders wilted. He paused and his expression pursed, his eyes falling away from her deathglare. "Not my best actions in retrospect, I apologize…" He raised his eyes to lock with hers, standing his ground. "Who are you though, you realize this is my forest, don't you?"

She barked a laugh. "Are you being serious right now?"

"My family bought it." He snipped. "I tamed the warpzones of this deathtrap, that infrastructure was made by me, that manor is mine! Hmm?" He held up the glowing warp topaz. "And if I don't put this back and recalibrate the security system, then there will be nothing to stop this catastrophe from happening again." He rose an eyebrow. "I promise you the threat has been dealt with for the moment. Will you let me go, or do I have to worry about you murdering a member of the court in cold blood?"

She hesitantly dropped her boltcaster, a strained look on her face. "I'm coming with you, I won't let you hurt my family again." She brought out a radio and brought it to her lips. "This is Commander Acorn, Sonic. I want you to direct the safety sweep if the swatbots are all dealt with."

"Yo!" A crackle cut over the radio. "Sure thing Sal! Yeah they seem dead enough, quite a few burns on the trees though, doesn't look like too many of them had their bark layer destroyed. They should live."

The platypus examined the chipmunk while taking in the name he'd just overheard. "Acorn, you must be Sally." He gave a smirk. "Delighted to finally meet you my dear, congratulations on your survival."

She jogged to catch up to the out of touch noble, a look of confusion on her face. "What?! Who on Mobius are you?"

"Dr. Starline." He smirked as they quickly strode through the forest. "Minister of science to King Nigel Acorn."

She faltered for a second. "You're the banished minister?" The pieces fell into place, the rumors of the original owner of this place, the wiping of his name from existence and the tunnel that linked the great forest to the eastern Starline mines.

"Glad you've somewhat heard something about me." He gave a huff as he brought his stump up to examine. "For all I did, he really wiped my name from existence..." He scoffed. "So many have benefited from my contributions." He began mumbling under his breath as they broke into the edge of the village.

"SALLY!" a familiar voice bellowed running forward. Nigel came running with a pack full of fire extinguishers before almost tripping at the sight of Victor. "You're alive!" He barked. "HA!" He seemed relieved, causing Sally to give a slight frown.

He looked to the two mobians as he readjusted the fire extinguishers. "I'll bring these out–"

"That won't be necessary." The platypus quipped. "Nickolis took care of it."

He playfully tossed the warp topaz up, catching it and examining the shifting colors with an interested eye . "Just got to fix the security system and make some modifications to the calibration."

Nigel's eyes widened at the sight of the gemstone. "IS THAT A VOID TOPAZ?!" He shrieked. "HOW ON MOBIUS DID YOU GET THAT?!"

"Oh wipe that look off your face." The platypus sneered. "It's none of your business where I got it, but if you must know, it was here causing the anomaly to begin with. It's not the only one either, I've got samples I've recovered from different sites around the forest, this was the one that seems to have been purposefully chosen and left here by the precursors." He caught the topaz again, then continued his stride to the manor. "Does it really matter that I have precursor and void artifacts? It's not like there wasn't research into manufacturing synthetic crystals." His mind drifted to his lack of arm again and he paused for a second and grimaced. "You want to help me with my arm again?" He asked, looking at Nigel.

"Who's Nickolas?" Sally cut in. "Wait." She glanced at his broken arm and the realization hit her. "You have more roboticized limbs here?" She asked as she jogged up besides the platypus, hefting her vibrabolt caster.

He turned to her and gave her a confident grin. "Yes my dear, I've got a personal Roboticizer for experiments and the best nanite fabricator my company could muster." He preened. "Of course I've got a stockpile of limbs. Why, you want one? Are they still quite the fashion accessory?" The platypus preened causing the red headed chipmunk to scowl in disgust. His eyes examined her in the low light and his expression dipped as he didn't notice any roboticized appendages on her. "Maybe a friend needs some help?" He asked, tilting his head in curiosity.

"HEY!" The older chipmunk barked as he jogged up to the other side of his friend. "Don't you DARE!" He sneered. "I'll have you know, father put a right stop to that fad! Roboticized limbs were limited to utility and function and only put on those in need." The king asked as he glared at his friend. "Don't you DARE peddle that crap to my daughter!" He barked as they entered into the thick of the cabins.

The platypus looked irritated. "I wasn't offering to sever a limb." He scoffed. "That fad wasn't my fault!"

Nigel glared. "Oh really? You didn't stand against it from what I remember! Voluntarily severing perfectly good limbs to be replaced with fashion accessories is not only disrespectful, but should be considered a crime against nature!"

The platypus gave a sigh as his expression flattened. "Why are you yelling at me? I'm worried about technology and advancement policy, as is my job. You're the social policy politician! You deal with people! You deal with it!" He snapped as he shook his head. "I shouldn't be punished for the faults of others." He rose an eyebrow. "I'm not going to limit my personal designs to deter the choices of others. Do what you want, banning the sale of aesthetically pleasing limbs is fine, I can fabricate my own limbs for myself." He scowled at the thought of the gold and black control arm with intricate vine engravings his mentor had gifted him, sitting severed in his backpack. "It's going to take me a long time to even attempt to repair the craftsmanship your father destroyed…" He growled.

"Aunt Sally!" A voice yelled from the cabins, a fox with two tails was limping over, using a stick as a staff as he gently put pressure on his braced leg. "Are things okay?" He breathed as he winced.

"Honey!" The chipmunk darted over to her charge. "You stayed back? You didn't go to the manor? Did–"

Tails smiled. "I couldn't bring myself to hide in the manor, Xander and his friend took that badger girl and her mother to the manor. Siren means retreat so the kids should be there no prob."

Victor frowned, looking at the boy hobbling forward. "Uhh, that's a painfully familiar image of Maxwell." He grumbled, catching the flicking ear of the vulpine.

Tails gave the platypus a weary look. "Umm." He winced. "Did you tell the portals to drop me like that?"

Sally glared at the one armed platypus as he shifted uncomfortably. "Forgive me, I was trying to remove you from my forest, It was not my will to…" He paused. "I assume you were dropped through multiple portals on your return." He shook his head, annoyed. "That would have been quite the fall, I may have been hasty and didn't mean to hurt your leg…"

The older teen gave an odd look. "Okay? Do I know you? Did I offend you or something? Why'd you want to get rid of me?"

There was a pregnant pause before the platypus continued. "Is your family name Powers by chance?"

The boy slowly shook his head then got a thoughtful look. "I mean… My name is Miles Prower… not Powers?"

Sally palmed her face. "Why didn't I think of that… That's why I couldn't find you in the database…"

Mile's ear's wilted as he looked at his adoptive mother. "What?"

The platypus scoffed. "Well, that's promising, maybe you haven't been tainted by what I'm sure is superb parenting." He drawled as he continued his stride to the manor.

Tails gave a frown as the curiosity built in him. He hobbled forward with the staff, trying to keep up with the platypus. Sally noticed and darted to her porch to set the crossbow down then checked her stock of throwing knives before darting back to snake her arm under Tails shoulder to support him and help him walk. Tails looked at his mother figure with a tired but thankful smile, nodding his appreciation before his gaze looked back to the platypus. "Wait up!" They caught up to the platypus and middle aged chipmunk as they were getting closer to the manor. "I can't remember anything before I was like… 2 or 3 cycles. What makes you think I'm a Powers?"

He glared at the struggling vulpine before scoffing. "Every power's child is an orange and white fox, the hair fringe is a giveaway too. If you're related to who I think you're related to… your ancestor was an ass."

The blatant statement caused Tails's ears to wilt as he got a slightly offended look. "What?"

The platypus scoffed. "If you're a Powers and I very much think you are, you're a highcast; although your ancestor was deposed for trying to seduce my mother." The platypus bit.

Nigel's eyes widened. "Oh…" He got an uncomfortable look. "All I heard was he was deposed…"

Tails looked distressed. "WHAT?!"

Sally shushed him. "Even if you're related, which we don't know for sure. That has nothing to do with you."

The platypus gave a dry laugh as they ascended the hill of the amphitheater to reach the entrance of the manor. "Not all of you is defined by your blood, boy." He paused to look down the hill at the fox being helped by the chipmunk. "How you're raised can go a long way, maybe break the cycle and you won't be a thorn in my side." He quipped, causing the boy to frown.

"You don't even know me…" He grumbled as his expression scrunched. "Who are you anyways?"

The platypus gave him a confident stance, spreading his arm and damaged limb. "I am Dr Victor Rodrigus Starline, Heir to the Starline estate and master of this forest you call home."

Tails eyes widened at the name. "Dr. V.R. Starline?!" The older teen got excited. "I love your book series on warp zones! You go into more detail on the practical application of void crystals then any other author I've encountered!" He paused as his mind raced, that would make sense with the warp zones of the forest they lived in.

The doctor looked amused. "wonderful! something survived!" He scoffed. "Interesting, I never would have thought a Powers would be a fan of any of my work."

They got to the manor entrance and opened the door only to freeze, a large rabbit in a modest archivist dress was speaking calmly to a group of children who were sitting on the stairs. She turned, a bit startled to see the stranger, then relaxed when she saw Sally lugging Tails into view in the backdrop. A young rabbit jolted up from the stairs, her eyes wide. "TAILS?!" She shouted, causing the boy's ears to wilt.

Vanilla snapped her head to her daughter. "Not now Cream! You can see he's fine! Sit down!" She snapped. The rabbit quickly sat, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

Victor looked stunned at the brown haired woman, he looked past her to see all the children looking at him curiously. He frowned. "Uhh. Why are you all in my house?"

Sally scoffed. "We use this building as an orphanage because of all the rooms, it's more of a tradition at this point. Besides, it isn't your house."

The platypus got a frustrated look then rolled his eyes, exasperated. "Whatever, I've got a task to do." He stormed into the entry and made his way past the banister, squeezing by children who were trying to get away from him.

Vanilla sharply whistled, grabbing the children's attention. "Everyone, let's go to the library. Story time, I'll meet you there, let me catch up with Princess Acorn first."

The gaggle of nervous kids and young teens let out a myriad of yes ma'ams as they moved to the library's reading room.

Sally paused in front of Vanilla. "Is the entire youth of the village accounted for?"

Vanilla nodded. "We just got done sounding off."

Sally gave a relieved sigh. "Well, we're probably going to be okay–"

*KRCH*

"Sal!" The radio in the chipmunk's pocket let off.

Sally shifted to bring the radio up. "I read you Sonic, Over."

"We can't find any more Swatbots or drones. The burns around the forest are heavier than the usual singes and there's some flammable chemicals left, but the embers have been drenched like normal. I think we're in the clear. OH, over!" Sonic's voice crackled back.

"Loud and clear, everyone can head back, have the parents come to the manor to pickup their kids." Sally noticed the platypus starting to move again. "I've got to go Sonic! Talk later, over and out!"

She put her radio back as Tails pushed forward with her, following the platypus.

Nigel noticed and turned from his wife and the young badger who had been led to shelter in the manor. "I'll talk later, just know things are alright." He smiled at the older chipmunk as he made to follow his daughter.

Victor weaved around the corner to the back of the staircase, a cold steel elevator with a keypad on the side of the door. "Come on… come on…" he mumbled as he punched in his code and the door slid open.

Tails and Sally rounded the corner, catching him as the door opened. Tails got excited. "I knew it wasn't broken!" He got a grin. "Oh I've been wanting to see where this goes for ages!"

The doctor scowled at the two. "Who says your coming?"

Nigel stepped around the corner, giving the platypus an 'are you serious' look. "Might do you some good to be a little forthcoming and not make enemies with my daughter, you want my help getting you an arm right?"

The white and gray mobian began growling. "They have no reason–"

Sally began growling as she pulled a throwing knife from her hip pouch, holding her charge up with the other arm. "I'm not letting you run rampant in this forest without a little oversight, I don't care." She smirked. "The warpzones are not working right now and you NEED to fix this, or else. Tail's is going to examine what you're doing and make sure you're not going to kill us all."

The doctor got a scandalized look. "Why would I kill you all?! Besides, I'm not letting a Powers into my bunker! "

"Prower!" Tails bit, causing his adoptive mother figure to look at him in question. He noticed and his ears wilted a bit. "What? If he has an issue with the Powers family, then I can be Miles Prower, I don't care about highcast stuff."

"HA!" The doctor choked as the elevator opened. "Oh, Maxwell would be rolling in his grave with that statement! The utter disrespect you just showed to your house!" He exclaimed, a gleeful look on his face. He smiled at the fox, a devious grin forming. "You might not be half bad! Maybe you'll have a decent legacy of your own." He paused then shrugged, closing his eyes as he stepped into the elevator. "Well, let's get me a new arm then set the portals back up." The three other mobians joined him as the door closed.


Chap 16 end.


Author's notes: I know I said I wanted to try shorter chapters but that's not the way it worked out. I want them to feel satisfied and to me that is a longer chapter. I'm writing this before I do my final pass for editing though so it may grow from the 16k words it stands at right now(now 18). I didn't even get to the powers subchapter I wanted to have but that can be next time. Life continues and comes first, sorry it took a while for this to come out compared to the usual but again things are probably going to be slower in general. Thanks all for your interest and comments, follows and interest. It's been a trip writing this and the more I write the better I'm noticing how I screwed up so at least I'm getting better. I hope there aren't too many plot holes. Thanks to those who comment but don't feel like you have too! Have a wonderful day!

– Xen Traveler