Chapter 6
In a town not too far away from New Mobotropolis, the curator of a museum was currently packing away some of the contents of her museum.
"And that should be the last of it… I really hope she likes it." The young lady said. "Now, all I have to do is wait for…"
CRASH
The loud noise startled the young lady, and she quickly jumped to hide behind her desk. When she took a look at what happened though, she relaxed.
"Oh, there you are. Should of figured that you would of done something like that…"
"Sorry, sorry, I may have been a little… excited about today, and came over as fast as I could." The Curator's friend said.
"Well, I can't say I blame you, there's a good chance that you will be meeting your heroes today." The Curator said.
"I know right! I have dreamed for this day since like, forever!" The taller girl gushed. "I wonder if they are as cool as I always thought they were."
"I am sure they will be. But you have to keep in mind, our first priority is to meet with the Princess, not looking for…"
"Yeah I know. Can I just say that I think it's amazing that the Princess herself invited us? Like, WOW!"
"Well, it's because of how hard we worked to build up my museum that she showed interested in moving it to New Mobotropolis." The Curator explained. "And because you played a huge role in finding the contents of this museum, I requested that you come with me."
"You're the best friend a girl could ask for, you know that?" The taller girl said, giving her friend a hug.
"I know, now come on, let's get going. The Princess isn't going to wait forever."
And with that, the two began their journey to New Mobotropolis.
Meanwhile, in New Mobotropolis
It's been two days since Tails woke up in the hospital. He was recovering steadily, and was doing a lot better now. Everyone was relieved to know that he was now able to at least stay awake and hold a conversation again.
Since he was finally able to stay awake, Mina and Amy decided to go around town, and began looking in the various stores for a get well gift that Mina could give to Tails.
"Why is this so hard?!" Mina groaned out.
"It's because nothing ever seems good enough to you." Amy sighed out. "Seriously, just getting him some flowers would be just fine…"
"Amy, you don't understand, he is like this cause he saved my life, I can't just get him flowers and call it a day!"
"I get that he saved your life, but that doesn't mean that you have to get him something super extravagant like a diamond."
"Hey, that diamond wasn't THAT expensive… I mean yeah, I would lose two concerts worth, but still…" Mina said.
"Listen, I get it, you want him to see how much you appreciate what he did, and you want show how much you like him, but that is going a bit too far." Amy said.
"… Ok, yeah, maybe you have a point…" Mina said before making a realization. "Wait… WHAT?!"
"Oh come on, like it isn't obvious that you like him at this point." Amy said.
"But… but…"
At that moment, Sally walked up to the two.
"Hey girls, why does Mina look so…" Sally asked.
"Flustered?"
"Yeah, that's the word."
"I AM NOT FLUSTERED!" Mina said, looking very flustered.
"It's because I called her out on her crush on Tails."
"Ah, I see. That makes sense." Sally said.
"Not you too…" Mina groaned.
"Hey, you told me that you liked him, remember?" Sally said.
"Oh… yeah, I guess I did."
"Anyways, what's with the look?" Amy asked, pointing at Sally's outfit.
Oddly enough, Sally was dressed in her field outfit from her freedom fighting days, though it was altered to fit her as she had grown since then.
"Well, Nicole told me that there was a bit of a malfunction in the security system in the south part of town, and I thought I would go prepared for anything." Sally said.
"I'm sure that Nicole could figure it out on her own, why do you have to go and look?" Mina asked.
"Well, normally I would agree, but today I am expecting some guests." Sally explained. "The curator of a museum in a nearby town and her friend are coming to New Mobotropolis to talk about a possible move, and I want make sure our security is working perfectly. You know, show her that the contents of her museum will be safe."
"Ok, that makes sense. You mind if we go with you? We could use a break from the shopping." Amy asked.
"Of course! The more the merrier I say." Sally said before leading them to the edge of town.
"This will give you some time to think about what you want to get Tails, ok?" Amy whispered to Mina, who just nodded her head.
Little did they know, a certain rat was watching their every move.
Shortly after, the group arrived at their destination, where Nicole was waiting.
"Hey Nicole." Sally said giving her friend a hug.
"Hey Sally, and hello to you too Amy and Mina." Nicole said.
"Hey Nicole. So, what are we dealing with here?" Amy asked.
"Well, earlier today, all of the nanites in this area deactivated. This caused the wall and forcefield to go down in this area." Nicole explained. "After examining the area, I think I have determined the cause, and it is quite troubling."
"And that would be…?" Mina asked.
"An electro-magnetic-pulse."
Mina and Amy's blank expressions told Nicole and Sally all that they needed to know.
"She means an EMP." Sally explained.
"Oooooooooooooh." Mina and Amy said in response.
"But if an EMP went off in this area, who set it off?" Sally asked.
"That is what is troubling me. I can't seem to locate any suspicious individuals in town…" Nicole said.
"Maybe it was someone who is planning on breaking in for something in the near future… but what for?" Amy wondered.
After a moment of though, Mina had an idea. "Wait a minute, Sally, didn't you say that you were planning on meeting with the curator of a museum today?"
"Yeah, but what does… oh." Sally said, having a realization as to what Mina was implying.
"You think this guy is planning on robbing them?" Amy asked.
"Yeah, I think so." Mina responded.
"Nicole, how long will it take to make something to counteract this?" Sally asked.
"I don't know, a couple of hours at most though." Nicole responded.
"Ok, get to work on that. In the meantime, I think I will have Sonic…" Sally started.
Then, all of a sudden, a thick smoke covered the area, blinding the group.
"Nicole! Forcefield!" Sally called over, recognizing that they were under attack by someone.
As much as Nicole tried though, the nanites wouldn't respond. "I think whoever this is set off an EMP!"
All of a sudden, the group heard a yelp.
"Mina?!" Amy yelled out. Deciding to take action, she pulled out her hammer, and began swinging it around as fast as she could, blowing the smoke away.
When they regained their vision, they saw a hover bike carrying a large bag riding away.
"WAIT!" Amy yelled out, giving chase.
"Amy! Catch!" Nicole called over.
Amy caught something that Nicole sent in her direction. After getting a closer look, she recognized it as some sort of tracker. Understanding what to do, she used her hammer and launched it towards the kidnapper.
"Did you get him?" Sally asked.
"Yeah, I think so. Come on! Let's go save Mina!" Amy said.
"Here Sally." Nicole said, handing Sally her handheld. "This will let you track them down."
"Thanks Nicole. Don't worry, we will be back soon. If the Curator comes, tell her that we will be back shortly." Sally said before chasing after Amy.
Meanwhile
"Um… I don't think this is a good idea…" The Curator said as they walked up to what looked like an old hideout.
"Come on, you said it yourself! We are making great time, and this place just REAKS of adventure!" The taller girl said before climbing through a window.
"That's not what I mean. What if it's dangerous?" The Curator asked.
"Then we will take care of it. Come on, have you ever doubted me?"
The Curator just sighed. "Fine, let's make it quick though." She said before using her wings to fly through the window.
"That's the spirit!" Her friend said before they started exploring.
After a while, the two made their way to a large room in the center of the building.
"Woooooow!" The Taller girl said, as she looked at what was in the room.
Gold, jewels, you name it. There was a lot of incredibly valuable objects in a pile in the center of the room.
"You think this place used to belong to an adventurer or a thief?" The taller girl asked.
Just then, the Curator heard a voice.
"Uh… I think it still does!"
The handle to a door then began to turn.
"Hide!" The taller girl said before the two of them dove behind a nearby fallen pillar.
When the door opened, they peeked over the pillar and got a good look at who walked in.
"Isn't that that Nack guy?" The Curator whispered.
"Yeah, I think so. What's he doing here?"
"Well, this is probably his hideout…"
"Oh… yeah, good point."
"We should leave…" The Curator said before turning around, only for her friend to grab her.
"Hold on, let's wait this out for a bit."
"Why?"
"I don't know, just a feeling I have."
The two of them watched as the weasel unloaded his bag.
"Man, I was there planning on robbing some museum that was supposed be moving to the place, but when I saw you? You know I had to take the chance!" Nack said.
"Who's he talking to?" The Taller girl asked.
"This is probably going to be the best pay day in a while! I know that your sponsors will pay the big bucks to have you back..." He said before walking off to the side, revealing…
"IS THAT MINA MONGOOSE?!" The Taller girl said a little too loudly.
"SHHHHHH!"
"Huh? Who's there?!" Nack said, drawing his gun.
"Oh no…"
"Don't worry, I got this!" The taller girl said.
"Be careful!" The curator said as the taller girl jumped onto the fallen pillar.
"Ok weasel! Get ready to tangle!"
Meanwhile, outside
Sally and Amy had just arrived at Nack's hideout.
"You sure this is the place?" Amy asked.
"Positive."
"Alright, well, let's get in there!" Amy said, using her hammer to bust down the door.
What they saw though caught them both off guard.
Nack was in there with Mina, meaning he was the kidnapper, but they weren't alone.
"Is that…a lemur?" Amy asked.
Sure enough, a female lemur was in the process of fighting Nack, while a beetle was watching from the side. This Lemur, looked very familiar to the princess.
"Whoever she is, she looks to be on our side! Let's help out!" Sally said before running in, having decided to not talk about the lemur she had met eight years ago, Amy following not too far behind.
"Oh you have got to be kidding me! What now?!" Nack said, pointing his gun at the new intruders.
Seeing her chance, the lemur suddenly stretched out her tail, and wrapped it around Nack's arm.
"What in the woooooooooooorl-" Nack said as he was suddenly lifted up and slammed face first into the ground, knocking him out.
"Whoo! Nice distraction girls! That was great ti-" The lemur said before getting a good look at the two girls.
"Oh… my… GOSH!" She said before rushing over. "Princess Sally AND Amy Rose?! What are the odds that I would bump into you two here?!"
"Uh…"
"Tangle! Show some respect!" Said the beetle who was currently in the process of untying Mina.
When she finished, Mina stood up. "Thank you so much you two."
"No problem!" The lemur said.
The beetle then walked over to Sally and kneeled down. "It's so good to see you again Princess."
"Oh! You're the curator that I was supposed to be meeting today! Jewel, right?" Sally said. "And that would make you the friend she told me about."
"Tangle the Lemur, at your service!" Tangle said with a salute.
"I am honored that you remembered Princess." Jewel said.
"There is no need to be so formal, and please, just call me Sally." Sally said.
"So, what were you two doing here anyways?" Amy asked.
"Well…" Jewel said before going into detail as to what led to them exploring the hideout.
"Seriously, what are the odds that we would bump into you three here?" Tangle said, having just finished tying up Nack.
"That aside, you handled yourself really well Tangle, great work." Sally said.
"Thanks, I got a lot of practice using this thing while out exploring." Tangle said, pointing to her tail, which currently looked like it was giving them a thumbs up.
"Exploring huh?" Sally asked.
"You know how I told you that Tangle played a huge role in me finding what I keep in my museum?" Jewel asked, earning a nod from Sally. "Well, when we were kids, me and Tangle used to go into nearby forests. Tangle looking for adventure and me to make sure that she didn't get herself killed."
"Hey, I got a lot better about avoiding danger over the years, didn't I?" Tangle said.
"Yes you did, but I still worry." Jewel said. "Anyways, we found most of the gems that I keep in my museum during those adventures."
"Well, that sounds exciting." Amy said. She then looked over to Mina, and noticed that she was looking very down. "Hey, what's up?"
"This really isn't my week, huh?" Mina said.
"Huh? Did something happen? Other than, you know, the whole getting kidnapped thing?" Tangle asked.
"Well, a couple of days ago a good friend of mine got hospitalized trying to protect me…" Mina started.
"Oh no! Are they ok?" Jewel asked.
"Yeah, he's fine now, but I wanted to show how much I appreciate what he did for me…" Mina started.
"And show him how much you like him." Amy said, earning a glare from Mina and a chuckle from Tangle.
"Anyways, long story short, we couldn't find anything…" Mina said.
"Because you were only looking at super valuable stuff like that diamond…" Amy quipped.
"… and then I got kidnapped…" Mina said.
"Well, I can't help with that first problem, and I already solved the third one, but maybe I can help with the gift." Tangle said.
"Really? How would you do that?" Mina asked.
"By taking you on an adventure of course!"
"You sure you two will be fine going back by yourselves?" Amy asked.
"Don't worry, Sonic will be here in a bit to help us take Nack back." Sally explained, putting her handheld away.
"What?! Sonic is going to be here?! Uh… can we wait a bit before we leave?" Tangle asked.
"Tangle, I know how much you look up to him, but I am sure you will be able to meet him soon enough. You should get going so you can make it back before it gets dark!" Jewel explained.
"Yeah, you're right." Tangle groaned out. "We won't be too long, so we will see you there soon."
"Ok, be careful you three." Sally said.
And with that, the three girls were off.
A little while after they left though…
"It's a good thing you didn't mention whether or not Tails was coming by the way, if he was, we wouldn't of been able to get Tangle to leave." Jewel said, catching Sally's attention.
"Why's that?" Sally asked.
"Well, Tails is the freedom fighter that she idolizes the most." Jewel explained. "She said something about her thinking that what he does with his tails is 'the most amazing thing ever.'"
"Wait… did we not tell you?" Sally asked.
"Tell us what?" Jewel asked.
"Our friend that's in the hospital IS Tails!" Sally said.
"…oh."
The plan was simple, go into a nearby forest and find a good gemstone that Mina could give to Tails, though Tangle didn't know it was for Tails.
"So, you have been in this forest how many times?" Mina asked.
"At least once a month since I was five." Tangle said swinging from tree to tree with her tail.
"So you know your way around here really well then, huh?" Amy asked.
"Yeah, but even if I get lost, there is always…" Tangle started.
She was interrupted by a rustle in a nearby bush.
"Hold on!" Amy said, pulling out her hammer. "Someone, or something, is there."
"Oh! Speaking of!" Tangle said as she landed. "Don't worry, they're friends of mine!"
Shortly after, a young wolf stepped out from the bushes. "H'lo Tangle."
"Girls, this is Whisper. She likes to hang out around here and guide people who get lost out of the forest." Tangle said.
"Well, it's nice to meet you Whisper." Mina said, extending her hand to the wolf, who seemed to shy away. "Uh… was it something I said?"
"Don't worry about it, she's just really shy." Tangle explained. "Hey Whisper, we are looking for a gemstone for one of their friends who is in the hospital, got any ideas on where we could go and look?"
Whisper stood there in what appeared to be in deep thought. After a moment, she pointed to her right.
"Thanks a bunch! I'll see you later Whisper!" Tangle said before leading the girls.
"Good luck." Whisper said with a wave.
"So, what do you think we will find? Rubies? Sapphires? Emeralds?" Tangle asked.
"I'm thinking sapphires." Amy said.
"I am thinking rubies, but I am hoping topaz." Mina said.
"Oh I get it, cause it matches your colors." Amy said.
"You know, I just thought of something. A gemstone is valuable and all, but why do you think it would be a good get well gift?" Tangle asked. "I mean, I only suggested this because you brought up that diamond before."
"The same reason that flowers are a good get well gift. They just are nice and calming to look at." Mina explained.
"Ah, ok. I guess that makes sense." Tangle said. "What's this guy's name anyways? He has to be pretty special if he caught the eyes of a pop star!"
"Oh, did we not tell you, it's…" Amy started before she bumped into Mina's back. "Uh… what's up?"
Mina just pointed in front of her and said "Look."
When the other two looked at what Mina was pointing at, they were greeted by the sight of a beautiful waterfall.
"Wow…" Amy said.
"This is perfect!" Tangle said excitingly before walking towards the waterfall. "There are always caves filled with goodies behind these things!"
"Are you sure about that, or did you just see that in a movie?" Amy asked.
Before Mina could begin following, she noticed a weird shadow in front of her. Looking up, she saw the source of the shadow.
"LOOK OUT!" Mina yelled as she used her speed to push Tangle out of the way of the falling object… or rather, falling person.
"BARK?!"
"So, I think we have come to an agreement." Sally said, extending her hand.
"Yes, I believe we have." Jewel said, shaking the Princess's hand.
"I wonder how the girl's search is going…" Sally said. "I hope they make it back soon, the sun is starting to go down."
"Knowing Tangle, they will get back right as the sun sets." Jewel said.
Sally thought back to the other Tangle again, and remembered what she did to protect the other Tails. "Yeah, I guess your right." Sally said as the exited the room, only to be greeted by Sonic.
"Hey Sal! You two done?" He said.
"Yes, I believe that we made an agreement that will make everyone happy." Sally said.
"Sounds great! Now, I was going to head over to see Tails, want to come with?"
"Of course, how about you Jewel?" Sally said.
"I don't see why not." Jewel said as they started making their way to the hospital, but not before Sonic pulled Sally aside for a quick conversation.
"So… you tell them about the other… well, you know?" Sonic asked.
"No, not yet. I think it would be best if we kept that a secret for now." Sally said.
"Now that I think about it, our Tails never met the other Tangle, right?" Sonic asked.
"No, he didn't." Sally said.
"So… do you think that they will… you know?"
"I don't know… the way things are looking right now, probably not." Sally said. "You remember what Miles said, this timeline is drastically different from his, so it is likely that they will never get together."
"Ok, that's good, we don't want a love triangle on our hands." Sonic said.
"Agreed."
"First Nack, now Bark! Who's next? Bean?!" Mina shouted out as she leapt out of the way of Bark's attack.
"Hate to break it to ya, but I haven't seen Bean in months!" Bark said as he began to throw a punch, only for it to be stopped by Tangle's tail. He then grabbed the tail and swung Tangle around, and threw her into the nearby river. "If you have had enough, just leave."
"Not a chance!" Amy said, having snuck up on the polar bear and whacked him on the head with her hammer. Mina then charged into him at full speed and sent him flying into the nearby cliff.
"Now, if YOU have had enough, you will come with us!" Mina said.
"What she said!" Tangle said, floating along in the water.
Bark tried to get up, but he couldn't. It seemed like the damage he took was too much for him.
"That's odd…" Amy said. "Bark is a lot tougher than this, he shouldn't actually be done yet…"
"Why does it matter? He's down, a criminal, and he attacked us! Let's tie him up and take him back with us." Mina said, approaching the bear with some rope that she brought from Nack's hideout.
Then, the unexpected happened. A large group of Chao came out of no-where and got in Mina's way.
"Huh? What are these Chao doing here?" Amy asked.
"What are you guys doing? Get out of here!" Bark commanded.
"I think there was a misunderstanding here." Said a new voice.
The girls turned around and saw Whisper approaching them.
"What do you mean?" Tangle asked, pulling herself out of the water.
"Come with me." Whisper said as she led everyone into a cave behind the waterfall, with Bark struggling along.
"See, told ya there would be a cave." Tangle said as Amy rolled her eyes.
After a couple of minutes, they arrived at their destination.
"Whoa." Tangle said, amazed at the sight before her.
"A Chao Garden?" Amy asked.
"This has been here for quite some time. I have been trying to guide people away from this place for a while, but sometimes people are… persistent." Whisper explained.
"And that's where I come in." Bark said.
"So you have been protecting this place?" Mina asked.
"Yeah, I owe these little guys a lot." Bark explained.
"I don't know the details, but a couple of weeks ago I found him unconscious in the middle of the forest. I decided to take him here to recover, and the Chao helped." Whisper explained.
"So you have been here keeping this place safe ever since." Tangle said.
"Yeah, pretty much."
"And you attacked us because you thought we would cause trouble." Amy said.
"Well, I knew you two wouldn't cause trouble, but I never met this girl." He said pointing to Tangle. "And I didn't want to take any risks."
"So it was all just a misunderstanding…" Tangle said.
"So… what are you going to do with me?" Bark asked.
"Well, you have caused a lot of trouble for us in the past…" Amy said. "Buuuut… you are doing a lot of good by staying here, so I think that we can just leave you."
Bark seemed to be relieved at this. "Thank you so much, is there anything I can do to repay you?"
"Well, there is this one thing…" Mina said.
"Oh yeah! The whole reason we came here!" Tangle said, causing Bark to look confused.
"We came here looking for a gemstone to give to our friend as a get well gift." Amy explained. "Anything good that we can use around here?"
"Well… I was using this… but I think I am good enough to give it to you girls." Bark said as he walked to the middle of the lake. He then reached into the water and pulled something out. He then walked back over to the girls and handed it to Mina.
"Is that…?" Tangle asked.
"Yeah, I think it is." Mina said.
"Looks like the winning guess was an emerald girls."
The sun was just about to set when the girls returned to New Mobotropolis. Amy noticed that Nicole had managed to fix the hole that Nack made earlier in the day.
"Well, that was a fun day." Amy said.
"Says the one who didn't get kidnapped…" Mina said.
"Or chucked into a river…" Tangle added.
"Ok, maybe it wasn't as fun for you two…" Amy said.
The other two girls just laughed at this.
"We're only messing with you Amy." Mina said as they approached the doors to the hospital. "I really hope he likes this…"
"Why wouldn't he? Trust me, he is going to love it!" Tangle said.
Shortly after, they arrived at Tails' room.
"Hey! We're back!" Amy said she opened the door and saw Sally and Jewel in the room.
"Oh hey Amy! Good to see you!" Sonic said.
"Oh hey So-" Mina started.
"IS THAT SONIC THE HE-" Tangle interrupted before stopping when she saw who is in the bed. She then became an absolute stuttering mess.
"Oh, you must be Tangle!" Tails said. "Nice to meet you!"
"T-T-Tails is your friend that got hurt?!" Tangle asked Mina.
"Uh… yeah? Did we forget to tell you that?" Mina asked.
"Uh, YEAH!" Tangle responded. "Wait a minute… does that mean that Tails is the one who you…"
Mina then rushed to stop Tangle from talking. "Yes! Tails is the one that we went to get a gift for!"
"A gift?" Tails asked.
"Uh yeah… just a way of saying thank you for saving me from Metal Sonic." Mina said.
"He saved you from METAL SONIC?!" Tangle yelled out.
"Anyways, I think you are going to like it." Mina said as she pulled out the gift, the yellow gem shining in the room's light.
"Wait, you girls found a Chaos Emerald?!" Sonic asked.
"Yeah, it's a long story. We'll tell you about it later." Amy said.
"If we use this, it should help speed up your recovery." Mina explained.
"Wow… thanks so much!" Tails said, accepting Mina's gift, both of their faces slightly red.
Tangle just watched as all of this unfolded.
"Jealous?" Jewel asked.
"Uh, no?" Tangle responded. "Just because I idolize the dude doesn't mean I am crushing on him."
Sonic, who had been listening in on the conversation smiled.
'Love triangle averted…'
"Huh, I never would of guessed." Jewel said.
The two then just watched as everyone in the room conversed.
"Yeah, I say today was a pretty good day."
End of Chapter 6
This is just a reminder that I am doing this story for fun.
So, Tangle, Jewel, and Whisper are in this story! Whisper will be back quite a bit later, but Tangle and Jewel are going to be around for a while. In case it isn't obvious, there will not be a love triangle with Tails, Tangle and Mina in this story. The Tails and Tangle pairing is going to only be in the other universe.
Speaking of Tangle though, fun fact, this is the very first chapter of anything that I have written that features the character! Yeah, I wrote this chapter that long ago!
Anyways, this was a long chapter huh? This legit took me a whole day to draft up. Going into this, I legit wanted this to be the "Tangle Chapter." I also decided to make it all about the girls, cause I thought that would be fun. I really don't know much about Nack and Bark though, so I just kinda winged it when writing them. If you are wondering about Bean though… I dunno, maybe he will show up, maybe he won't.
Anyways, this is the the longest chapter I have ever written. I have mentioned how I wrote a chapter for this story that is longer than a lot of my other stories, and this is it!