[Sally.]
The aforementioned, displaced Royalty nearly jumped in surprise before sighing with relief at hearing her companion's voice. Pulling out Nicole's console, she flipped it open to reveal that ever familiar green speech line. "Thank god you're back Nicole, did those two stop trying to beat one another senseless?"
[They aren't fighting any longer if that's what you mean, although that's only because Naruto managed to dupe Sonic into consuming mass quantities of horse sedative.] The AI explained with the computer equivalent of an exasperated sigh.
"Should have figured," Sally groaned as she massaged the side of her head in a vain attempt to stave off her growing headache. She really wished she was surprised, she really did, but despite Sonic being a good person, he had a hard time thinking things through. He had a problem with an inability to listen to his friend's warnings and fears, often choosing to heroically but impulsively speed ahead instead.
Tricking the hedgehog was basically the only way to get him to hold still for more than five seconds, let alone long enough to actually get him to hear someone out.
"And just how exactly did he manage that?" The redhead asked reluctantly, already dreading the answer.
[...Naruto slipped them in with chillidogs.] Nicole mumbled sheepishly, making her user deadpan.
"Oh, that's just perfect… Sonic's going to be anything but reasonable after that." Sally groaned, knowing exactly how Sonic was going to react when he found out someone had messed with his favorite food. Not a mood she wanted to have to deal with him in.
[I know and I'm sorry but there really wasn't any other options,] The virtual girl explained before her screen changed to show a map. [They're currently in a vehicle Naruto used for the scam, they should be here any second]
No sooner than these words were spoken that a horn honked, getting Sally to reflexively look up. And sure enough, she was greeted to the sight of Naruto pulling up to the curb in an old food truck.
Once it'd came to a complete stop, the primarily blue robot rolled down the window and gave an over exaggerated bow. "Your Chariot awaits, your highness."
Unable to help it Sally rolled her eyes, mentally pleading that that lame joke had come from Sonic's personality peaking through because of the amassed Life Data. "Naruto, right?"
"That's me." The robotic teen said with a nod and a mock salute, making her roll her eyes again.
"Alright quit with the shtick and move over, I'll drive," The Acorn girl said while opening the driver side door, the robo-hog hopping out of the way as she took his place. "How do you know to drive anyway? I doubt Eggman bothered to program that in with all the 'Kill Sonic' junk."
"He didn't, Nicole set up a shell program that put me in... what did Nicole call it again?...oh yeah, auto pilot. Frankly, never seen these things until today." Naruto admitted with a shrug as he slipped into the passenger side seat and buckled up.
"I see. Don't use vehicles like this where you live?" The chipmunk asked curiously even as she nodded in understanding.
"Not really, there's no need for them," Naruto said with a shrug. "Other than basic stuff like modern living conditions, there's not much need for any of this industrial stuff back home."
"Ah, I get it, 'As long as the lights and water work'', am I right? I know how that is." Sally said with a nostalgic sigh, remembering how things used to be in her home of Mobotropolis and then later Knothole after Eggman's takeover. Neither had been behind on technological development when it came to housing, medicine, or things like that but most mobians living there did prefer not to be as reliant on much else for day to day life.
"Yeah." Was all Naruto said as he watched Sally adjust to the makeshift pedal extenders he'd been using so she could get the truck into gear and them moving along. Call it an additional resource, but people could do all kinds of crazy things with chakra like walk on water, breath fire, cut lighting in half, and manipulate the ground under a person's feet. Hell, even the darker aspects of it's application were insanely useful, albeit on a very limited scope.
So why bother making technological advances when you were literally born with the stuff that let you do basically whatever you needed already? It would have just been a waste of time, energy, manpower, and resources.
His thoughts soon drifted off to other things though as he stared out the window, watching the various buildings and people going by every second. "It's a good thing Nicole knew where to find you... I swear...this place is just too damn huge and is too much stimulation..."
"Crowded too, I have no idea how these people can handle being all cramped together like this," Sally muttered in agreement as she navigated through the crowded streets. Not even Mobotropolis, the most populated city in the Kingdom of Acorn, in its prime had nearly as many people living in it as this place. "And if you think finding a way through this mess is amazing you should see what Nicole can really do at her best. Even disconnected from the Grand Mobius Archive she can do over 35000 calculations a minute, and-"
"Long story short: Nicole is amazing." Naruto cut the redheaded chipmunk off, his 'I'm not gonna understand a word of what she says' sense tingling.
Giggling, Sally nodded in agreement. "That is an understatement if I've ever heard one."
"….Thanks for giving me a chance back there," Naruto said after a small pause as he pointed back in the direction of the destroyed warehouse. Or at least he assumed that was the direction based on the loud sirens emanating from that way. "We didn't exactly start off on the right foot and from what I've heard you guys don't exactly have a good history with this… whatever the hell I am now. So again… thanks."
"Oh don't mention it, you saved my life and the only reason you fought us was self-defense. Giving you the benefit of the doubt is the least I can do," The mobian princess said, getting Naruto to nod in appreciation, before she looked down in regret. "Besides, if anything I should be apologizing to you..."
"Huh?" Naruto turned his head to look at her. "Why?"
That made Sally whip her head to stare at the mechanized Uzumaki in shock as her eyes widened and her mouth worked wordlessly. "Wha–? What do you mean "why"? I attacked you and accused you of-"
"Oh, that? Forget about it," The former blonde once again cut the chipmunk girl off as he waved off her apology. "I was pretending to hold your friend hostage so you had every right to freak out and it's not like you actually hurt me or anything. No harm no foul. Just protecting who you care about. I get it. Why should I blame someone for protecting who matters to them? We're good." He reassured.
"…That sounds like something Sonic would say," Sally muttered softly before stifling a laugh as she added. "Well, his better traits when he isn't busy gloating or showboating that is.."
A snicker escaped Naruto's… voice box at that, the synthetic hedgehog pretending to wipe a tear from his eye. "So, old Ogilvie Maurice is more than speed, thrill seeking, and stubbornness, eh?" the robot commented.
"Indeed, he just makes it notoriously hard to see." The redhead nodded, bursting into a fit of giggles upon hearing Sonic's real name again. However, as the humor wore off, she couldn't help but give the transformed teen a few concerned looks when she noticed him staring at his hands again. "You know, this is probably gonna be a long drive and you've probably got a lot on your mind so why don't you switch to rest mode for a bit take a moment to get your bearings?"
"Rest mode?" Naruto repeated with a tilted head, causing Sally to grimace.
'Yep, that pretty much confirms it,' She thought grimly when she heard the genuine confusion in the robotic hog's voice. "Think of rest mode like a robot's equivalent of taking a nap. You'd put yourself in a low-power state without actually turning off so your body can still manage important functions."
"Ah… well I could use a break," he admitted, feeling he could use a little downtime. The body he was in might be tireless, but his mind was still getting pressured with the stress of all of these recent events. 'Hey, uh Voice. Do I have a 'rest mode'? And if so how do I use it?'
[Processing inquiry... confirmed: rest mode function available: enabling rest mode.]
'Wait, wha-' Was as far as Naruto got before his body suddenly went completely limp and his eyes dimmed to a barely noticeable glow.
Watching this happen, a heavy frown marred Sally's lips before she turned her attention back on the road. "Damned Roboticization..."
Just the thought of that horrid transformation sent a shiver running down the redhead's spine, memories flashing through her mind of the times she'd personally been subjected to it. Fortunately, as her present, fleshy self proved, it wasn't an irreversible transformation (at least in most cases) and they had eventually found a way to immunize everyone to the process.
But if this Naruto had indeed been robotocized like she suspected, then it was all the more important that she figured out how to get back home right away. The last thing anyone needed was for that metallic hearted madman to have figured out how to make it work again...
[Sally, I'm going to keep an eye on Naruto if you don't mind,] Sally was broken out of her thoughts by Nicole's voice. [He could use a friend right now.]
"Of course, but could you see if you can get in contact with Tails first? You know how he and Sonic are practically joined at the hip." The chipmunk girl asked as her eyes glazed over with fondness at the mention of the fox who saw her as family.
Truth be told she had only just reunited with Sonic when they'd gotten caught up in Eggman's latest scheme. Before that, her and Nicole had been hiding out in that (now destroyed) warehouse for the last few days whilst trying to get a gauge on their current situation they'd found themselves in. It was only thanks to the blue blur that he'd only managed to get enough out of him to know that it was Eggman's fault somehow, although that was hardly a surprise, and that Tails was here too.
[I'll try, but don't get your hopes up, you know Sonic: never tells anyone where he goes and prone to ditching everyone at the drop of a hat if anything gets his attention. Honestly surprised that Tails never got him microchipped or something to solve that problem.]
The two shared a laugh at that.
"He'd have to get him to hold still long enough to do so first," The chipmunk retorted with a giggle even as she rolled her eyes in exasperation, as that was one of the few pet peeves she had with...Olgilvie (she still couldn't believe that Sonic's real name was "Olgilvie Maurice Hedgehog"). It wasn't that Sonic was unreliable, just that he was a maverick who preferred to do his own thing more often than naught and avoided ways others could get into contact with him so he wouldn't feel tied down which often made it hard to find him when there was an emergency that needed his help.
…Okay so he was kind of unreliable…
[I've got a hit on Tail's tech but it's faint, estimating a forty-mile gap between origin point and us at the minimum. Looks like Sonic went ahead on his own again. ] Nicole stated after a few moments. [Unfortunately, I cannot triangulate much more than that due to the high amount of electromagnetic interference generated from all the electronics in this place]
"Naturally…" Sighing in exasperation, Sally rolled her eyes while coming to a stop at a red light, ignoring the weird looks she was getting from other drivers when they noticed her.
Opening his eyes, Naruto was confused as he found himself standing in the middle of Konoha, yet not the Konoha he remembered. The sky was black as night and filled with thousands of vibrant green ones and zeroes that zoomed by at blinding speed while all of the buildings were bright neon red digital wireframe with rough digital outlines. The Hokage mountain was in the distance but all the faces had been replaced by the fat scientist Eggman's image, much to Naruto's irritation. And the ground itself appeared like a giant circuit board, various virtual lines spread out carrying data to and fro across it.
"What in the heck?!" Naruto yelped. What had happened to his home?! Last thing he had done was go into that "Rest Mode" thing Sally mentioned!
"Hmmm...I see. A simulation built by a combination of your memory and the customized list processing functional programming designed for easy manipulation of data strings used by Robotnik in his machines. Fascinating, is it not?"
Naruto was broken from his thoughts at the sudden voice, and when he looked where it was coming from, he noticed clusters of data gathering together right in front of him, causing him to tense up and instictively reach for his kunai holster. However, he soon calmed down once he saw how slowly the pixels were collecting, leaving him with ample time to take a few cautionary steps back just to be safe.
He watched in silence as the particles formed into a wireframe form, hovering a foot or so in the air. Whatever it was it proved to be true as another wave of data washed down over the digital frame, creatign flesh, fur, and cloth. As soon as the process was complete the figure dropped onto the ground, crouching slightly before standing back up and opening their eyes to reveal vibrant green irises.
A female, anthropomorphic, brown lynx; the ends of her long triangular ears were black, and her face featured cheek tufts on her muzzle and a stripe along the bridge of her black nose as well as one under each of her green eyes. She had medium-long black hair with split at the ends that she wore down, and a tail. For attire, she was dressed in a purple sleeveless dress with black and white split tails, decorated with a white trim and a small golden brooch with a purple gem. She also wore black pants, black and white gloves with purple cuffs, and black shoes that had white cuffs with white toes and black soles.
Naruto's eyes were wide as he just… stared at the new arrival in awe.
He wasn't the only one to stare though as the lynx looked back at him with a curious gleam in her eyes.
A human—or Overlander, as they were called back on Mobius—one that was at least at some point in his teens, if she guessed right. This person was tall with nicely tanned skin, marks on his cheeks that resembled three whisker marks on each cheek, and bright yellow hair that was spiky and stuck up in all directions like the spines of a sea urchin. He had on a slim, form fitting orange tracksuit outfit with black on the upper shoulders area and the color extending from around the neck and shoulders, down the front and sleeves, as well as around the waist, a white swirl on the left side, a red swirl crest on the back, orange pants, his black sandals covered the instep and ankles, yet left his toes and heels exposed, and what looked like equipment pouches at his waist and thigh were black. So was the headband he had on around his forehead with a metal plate attached to it that had a swirled arrow symbol that looked like the rough, deconstructed outline of a leaf etched on it.
"So, that's what you actually look like, Naruto?" The lynx asked in a familiar voice before noticing the confusion on the blonde's face. "Oh right, it's me Nicole."
"Nicole?" Wait...if THIS was what Nicole looked like, then did that handheld thing from before function like a radio? That would make sense...but, then how had she gotten into his head before and why did Nicole describe herself as the "personal A.I. companion for Sally Acorn"?
He didn't understand this at all!
…And what did she just say?
He looked down at himself and his eyes widened upon finally noticing he was in his normal body again.
"I...I'm...?" He sputtered before throwing his hands up with a cheer. "I'M NORMAL! I'M ME AGAIN! AHAHAHAHAHAH! YES!"
Well...that answered Nicole's question about what he looked like, at least. She shook her head, amused by his excitement and relief. Not that she could blame him, he was glad to be himself again, at least within here.
"Yeah! I'm me! I'm… wait…" Just as quickly as it came Naruto's good mood vanished when he raised his right arm and looked at the unmaimed limb, recalling how he and Sasuke had both lost their dominant arms in their final fight. Sasuke lost left arm, and Naruto had lost his right… 'So how do I have my arm again?'
No sooner did this thought cross Naruto's mind that said arm suddenly changed, transforming from the fingers up from a solid limb into a translucent wireframe like Nicole had been. Within seconds the effect had enveloped his entire hand and started to travel up his wrist.
"Wha… what the fuck!?" Naruto shouted, trying to grasp the limb, only for his hand to pass right through the distorted area like it wasn't even there. Panicking, he grabbed just above where the effect had reached and-
"Naruto! Naruto stop!" The blonde was once again snapped from his thoughts as Nicole grabbed his arms holding them apart as she stared directly into his eyes. "You've got to calm down. We can fix this, but you need to calm down."
"But my arm-"
"Isn't real, none of this is real," Nicole stated, causing Naruto to pause. "As I said before this is a simulation, an illusion, that is based on your thoughts."
"My… thoughts?" The whiskered teen repeated, his panic slowly replaced by confusion as he took in the lynx's words. And with that information came a realization that made him want to facepalm, hard. 'Of course, I'm in my mindscape. How did I not realize that?'
"Yes, anything that you think is supposed to happen will happen in here," Nicole said, snapping Naruto back to reality (dreamality?) while cupping Naruto's cheek, gently rubbing a thumb over his whiskers in what she hoped was a comforting gesture. "Which is why you need to calm down, please."
Nodding, the human closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, before opening them back up and looking down to see his hand was back to normal again. "That's better."
"You got the hang of it already? That's… impressive." Nicole muttered, honestly surprised how fast Naruto had adjusted to what he'd learned.
"Truth be told I've actually got experience dealing with weird mind stuff, long story." The blonde admitted with a shrug, getting Nicole to nod in understanding.
However, there was a particular detail about Naruto's panic attack that concerned her deeply. "So… you believed that you didn't have an arm?"
"Yeah, it got blasted off during my last fight before… whatever caused this to happen happened," He stated with a shrug as he fiddled with said arm, before moving on to checking the rest of himself. All of it felt so real, which just made it sting all the more that it was merely a figment of his imagination. "I'm surprised you didn't know, I thought you went through all my memories."
"I did, but I had most of that information put into compressed storage after realizing how intrusive it was of me to do so."
"Ah… I appreciate that," Naruto said, his lips quirking upwards a tiny bit, which made Nicole's do the same. "So um, any ideas what exactly caused this mess exactly?"
Or at least it did until she was asked that question.
"I have and based on the information currently available so far I've come up with two possible theories." Nicole stated, making Naruto frown.
"I'm not gonna like either of them, am I?" He asked dully.
"I doubt it," The holo-lynx stated with a shake of her head. "The first is that you were captured by Eggman at some point and robotisized before having your brain transferred into this new body."
" 'Robotisized?' " Naruto repeated in confusion, making Nicole sigh as she raised a hand, causing several images to appear. Half were of more anthropomorphic people, including Sally and Sonic, whilst the other half were robot duplicates.
"It is a process that transforms organic beings into machines, originally intended to help people who were gravely injured beyond what conventional medicine could save," She explained, her lips curling into a frown as she dispelled the images back to bytes. "However, Eggman perverted the invention, using it to transform innocent people into mindless robotic slaves to do his bidding. We eventually found a way to permanently reverse and immunize almost everyone from the process, but he has continued to tinker with it with thankfully limited success."
Naruto looked at her, his expression one of being unsure as if he should be horrified or disgusted by the news of what that Robotnik man did. Quite frankly, he was both in every sense of both of the words.
"And if he got it to work on me that'd be bad for everyone I'm guessing," It wasn't a question but Nicole still nodded as if answering one. "Okay, please tell me option B isn't as horrifically depressing."
"...That you are an Engram. A virtual neural duplicate of a living being." She muttered softly as her gaze dropped to the ground. 'Just like me…' she thought to herself, her origins were still a bit of a sore spot for her.
"Uh, can I get that in plain English please?" A very confused Naruto asked with a raise brow, making Nicole roll her eyes good-naturedly.
"A digital neural engram, or simply construct, is the construct of consciousness of an individual which has been copied into coding form on a biochip. The core idea is to implant a digitized psyche into a new host, at which point it would automatically expand into the host using nanotechnology; using and based off of the concept of personality transferal by converting the data in the human nervous system into a digitized engram and stored as a construct on the biochip."
As the lynx was speaking, a dawning look of horror and realization slowly appeared on Naruto's face as he looked down at himself once again. Before he knew it the blonde had fallen to his knees when his legs seemed to turn to rubber beneath him. "So you're saying... I might not even be really me? That I'm just some copy?"
"It is… possible yes," Nicole admitted reluctantly, before quickly adding, "But keep in mind that these are just theories, based off assumptions and estimations without any hard evidence yet."
"Possibilities... right, just guesses?" Naruto reiterated hopefully, getting Nicole to nod with a comforting smile that got him to calm down.
"Exactly, guesses, educated guesses but guesses nonetheless," She told him, striving to meet his emotional turmoil with reason while rubbing his head, imitating what she'd seen Sally do for Tails whenever he was upset. Thankfully it seemed to work, at least a little, as the virtual blonde slowly relaxed in her grasp. "For all we know I could be completely wrong. Anything can work in theory and possibility, after all. And you don't seem like someone to give up until you know the truth for sure, right?"
"…I'm not gonna run away and I never go back on my word," Naruto muttered softly under his breath, slowly pushing himself back up onto his feet as he gained a determined look. "Because that is my nindo; My ninja way."
"That's more like it." Nicole said with a smile, patting the blonde on the shoulder. "In any case, the only one who can really answer these questions for sure would be Dr. Robotnik himself."
"Yeah, like that's ever gonna happen," Naruto scoffed with his arms crossed. "Besides, that guy's just another moron trying to overcompensate if you ask me. I doubt he'd have answers to give even if we could get them out of him."
Oh?" The holo-lynx's eyebrow rose att the very Sonic-like words about Ivo Robotnik. "Care to explain why you say that?"
"Easy, Nicole: how smart does someone have to be to think of ways to hurt people?" Naruto asked pointedly. " That obese load of lard claims he's a genius, yet from what I've heard all he does is make fancy overcomplicated ways to hurt people just because it makes him feel superior. Anyone that can so much as swing a fist or bash something with a rock could figure out how to do the exact same thing."
" I see…" Staring up at the blonde, Nicole had to admit that she saw the point in Naruto's logic.
Eggman, despite what his appearance might suggest, was actually an immense intellectual, certifiable genius with an IQ of 300, or even more. On the extremely rare occasions that he'd been working on the side of good, even if it was only when his own skin was on the line or when the planet he wanted to rule was under threat from someone other than himself (of which she could count on one hand with fingers to spare) the man had proven to be incredibly capable at helping others. And yet he chose to ignore it in favor of wanting to take over the world time and time again.
The more she thought about it, the more Naruto's view seemed validated: Doctor Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik was just a narcissistic sociopath trying to overcompensate in the name of his own ego by conquering the world.
Moreover, Robotnik had apparently been unaware that Naruto had been installed into the Hyper Metal Sonic, Model Mark Omega body instead of the intended artificial intelligence system in the first place. Which made it incredibly unlikely that the 'load of lard' as it were was even aware of Naruto's existence in the first place.
The two were pulled out of their conversation when everything suddenly started shaking like a magnitude 9.5 earthquake. Stumbling, Naruto reflexively grabbed Nicole and held her close as he dropped to the ground, covering her body with his protectively. Thankfully though, since everything was virtual, nothing was actually damaged by the shaking, leaving the pair unharmed once it stopped.
""What was that?"" They asked at the same time, before blinking in surprise when they finally realized their faces were mere centimeters apart. So close that-
"BAAAAAAAAASSSTTTTTTAAAAAAAARRD! DEFILEMENT! TRICKY! DECEPTION! SACRILEGE! DEBASER! POLLUTER! TAINTER! VENGEANCE! YOU DON'T MESS WITH THE HOG'S DOG!"
"Oh, son of a bitch…" Naruto swore before everything was enveloped in a blinding light.
Naruto jolted as he found himself back in the truck, and more importantly back in his metal cocoon of a body.
"When I get out of here I am going to smash you into so many pieces not even Egghead will be able to put you back together again!"
"Oh great, he's awake." Naruto grumbled, pinching his nose when he heard his organic counterpart's enraged shouting coming from the back. And judging by the way the truck was shaking and the crashing sounds, he was rebounding around everywhere using his spin dash.
"Will you stop that, Sonic! You're going to knock us off the road!" Sally snapped, banging her fist against the back of the driver's cabin as she struggled to keep the vehicle on track from all the constant shaking. "You're locked in the back of a food truck loaded to the brim with chilidog ingredients! So why are you still complaining!?"
...
...
"...Holy sweet chili con carne! Come to papa!" The hedgehog cheered before the clanging of pots and pans was heard from the back. Either Sonic was cleaning up the back of the truck, or making chili dogs of his own. Probably both.
"Wow, I knew that stuff could come in handy later but… I didn't think it'd be that effective." If he could, Naruto would have sweatdropped at how fast Sonic's mood had flipped and how easily he'd been assuaged by his favorite food despite literally just being drugged by them barely over an hour ago.
"No kidding," Sally sighed with a shake of her head, a mixture of exasperation and amusement on her face. She had suspected that was why Naruto kept the food truck despite it being abysmally slower than he could run compared to Naruto's speed as Metal. It kept Sonic distracted while they could focus on their next move.
Speaking of which…
"Hey Sonic, you wouldn't happen to have a place for us to stay, would you?" Sally asked once it hit her that they were effectively homeless at the moment. They couldn't just keep driving around aimlessly like this hoping for the best, they needed a destination, preferably before they ran out of gas.
"Actually yeah," The hedgehog called back over the sound of cooking. "Me and a few others have been crashing with a new friend, they're over in the Thorndyke's place down in Station Square."
"Station square, Thorndyke, got it," The mobian girl said as she started fiddling with the trucks inbuilt GPS, silently thanking that this world used the same time of writing as her own. "Wait, you said others, as in more than just you and Tails are here too?"
"Of course, do you really think Lard Robuttnik would've just dragged us into this mess of his?" The speedster retorted sarcastically.
"Fair enough," Sally muttered with a shake of her head whilst Naruto hummed in agreement, "So who else ended up here?"
"As far as I know, Amy, Cream and Cheese, and Knuckles, although that knucklehead is off doing his own thing... being a grump and a party pooper as always."
"I would hardly call a guy with a JOB and a commitment to taking it seriously a "party pooper", Sonic!" Sally called back in annoyance.
As a member of royalty and someone who aspired to be a good queen who was there for her people, Sally was keenly aware of the responsibility that came with it. Because of that, she understood more than most why Knuckles taking his responsibility as a guardian seriously was so important to him, even if it caused him to come off as cold and standoffish. So she made it her business to refuse to let the echidna be slandered just because of his sense of obligation.
Another thing that upset her was hearing about Cream being here but not her mother Vanilla. Sure she knew Cream was capable of taking care of herself in a scuffle if needed, but she didn't want to imagine how stressful it could be for a six year old girl to be separated from her mother like this. And that was not even mentioning how worried Vanilla no doubt was about her.
"Whoa...fresh Pepper X?! No way! That thing's scoville rating is considerably higher than the Dragon's Breath rating. Pepper X comes in at 3.18 million Scoville heat units, while the Dragon's Breath pepper gives you 2.48 million. Both, though, eclipse the current official hottest pepper, the Carolina Reaper's 1.4 million to 2.2 million heat units! Oh man...whoever's truck this is, they are playing hardball with their chilidogs!" Sonic suddenly cried from the back, then he laughed. "Somebody tell me I can meet whose ride this is! I definitely can say I like them!"
"That's… actually a good question," Sally muttered, turning to Naruto with a raised brow. "How exactly did you get this truck?"
"Oh that, I helped a guy move some stuff in return for a scratch it lotto ticket that turned out to be a 4.08 billion dollar grand prize winner which I then gave to the previous owner of this truck in exchange for both the truck and enough chilidog supplies to last a regular person a whole year." The former blonde explained with a shrug, causing a silence to fill the food car.
…
"Seriously?/Seriously?" Both Sally and Sonic asked at the same time, equal amounts of incredulousness and disbelief in their voices.
[Indeed, it was quite an interesting scene to witness.] Nicole confirmed from her handheld, which only made the gobsmacked look on Sally's face deepen.
"What? It was either that, or me and him would have stayed stuck in a death race at hypersonic speeds with the potential crossfire being a population of over two million. Looking at it based on your own morals, can you say I made the wrong choice?" Naruto said pointedly.
[Very true. Also, Sally, I've connected to the Global Navigation System of this vehicle and located a Thorndyke Manor within Station Square. Plotting the most efficient route now.]
At her words, a holographic road map was projected from the handheld, displaying the aforementioned route, including live playback of their current position.
"Oh," The chipmunk girl muttered dumbly, before snapping out of her stupor completely as she blinked a few times. "Thank you, Nicole, that's apprectiated."
"Yeah, great job Nicole-chan." Naruto added with a thumbs up, causing Nicole's screen to change into a smiley face emoji.
[It was no problem.]
"Hey, wait a second… Sally is that Metal out there with you!?"
'Was wondering how long it'd take him to figure it out,' Sally thought with a snort. "He prefers to go by Naruto, but yes."
"What?! Why are you-"
"Don't even start it, Maurice!" The princess cut in, pointedly using Sonic's real name to make sure she had his attention. "Had you bothered to actually stop for a moment and listen before, you would have been able to learn that Eggman, in his never–ending desire to kill you, programmed Metal too intimately with your Life Data. If anything, Robotnick literally made another problem for himself! Robotnick said it himself: the current Metal Sonic he built contained all the life data of all prior units. And with how all of that life data they were loaded with came from YOU, he basically became a copy of you! "
"I what now?" Said 'copy' asked with a tilted head while Sally quickly held up a finger to her lips in the ever iconic 'shush it' sign.
"Just go with it." She mouthed silently, which made Naruto's head tilt even further before he just shrugged it off and nodded.
"...Wait...so, what you're saying is that the new robo-faker has TOO MUCH of me in him?!"
"According to Nicole, yes. And she was actually inside of Metal Sonic's systems, remember?" The Acorn royal stated, causing the flesh and blood to groan in exasperation. Oh, great! He hadn't even thought of considering that!
"So that whole time, I was basically just arguing with myself and beating myself up? Man, does that mean I should be mad at me for using my love of chilidogs against myself?...You know what? I'm just gonna stop before I give myself a headache..."
"It wouldn't have come to that IF you had listened instead, Sonic. You've got to think fast to be fast, instead all you did was assume and it caused that fight when the new Metal just wanted you to chill out. So, as mad as you are for the chilidogs, who caused it to get to that point?"
"Alright! I get your point Sal, you can quit rubbing it in already!"
"Ah, don't be such a sour puss… Ogilvie." Naruto chipped in, before both he and Sally burst into laughter when a loud bang rang out from the back followed by several muffled swears.
Shooting another sideways glance at the metal hedgehog beside her, the chipmunk snickered to herself. Someone who could get Sonic bent so out of shape so easily...Sally could think of a few people who would like that.
-Several Hours Later-
"Damn, now that is a fancy place." Naruto said as he took in the view before him.
"That's an understatement." Sally muttered in agreement, although not sounded nearly as awed as the transformed blonde. The truck they were in having been parked just outside a large fence that separated them from the Thorndyke Mansion.
Said Mansion was a building with several luxurious buildings and structures covering the enclosed acres of land. The mansion itself was a two-story, white building with several black windows, balconies, a red roof and its front door area was sheltered with four pillars supporting the shelter onto the main road via steps. A small pond was located in the middle of the front door area. The mansion was surrounded by a large flat turf embarked with small trees and hedges and there was a pathway leading to the outdoor swimming pools and a sheltered pathway leading to the garage. The road leading from the garage was styled like an airport's runaway with palm trees located on its sides.
And if you were wondering where a certain blue speedster was… yeah, he's still making chilidogs back in the truck. Big surprise there.
"Rather excessive though, isn't it?" Naruto wondered out loud. "I mean, why would anyone need that much living space in the first place?"
"You're asking the wrong person, I grew up with an entire castle for a home." His redheaded companion admitted with a shrug, making the robotic hedgehog sigh.
"Eh, maybe it's just me then, growing up I only had a small one-bedroom apartment," He said, his voice gaining a softer nostalgic tone as he rubbed his chin. "It wasn't anything fancy and admittedly not in the best part of town, but it was home."
"Perhaps." Sally said casually, although internally her interest was peaked when the transformed blonde spoke more about his history. Even with his synthetic voice she could still feel the emotion in his words as he talked about his past, lending all the more credence to Nicole and his claims. "So shall we go say hello?
"Ladies first... I'd get the door for you, but if the others Sonic's friends with see me before you explain I'm not with Mr. Egg McEgo...well... " Naruto trailed off as he scratched the back of his head.
Snickering at the insulting nicknames Naruto kept thinking up for Robotnik, Sally patted the robotic teen's shoulder with an understanding smile. "I get it, it'd be best if I let everyone know what's what first lest we end up with another Vegas incident."
"Thanks." The former blonde nodded in appreciation, stepping back so the princess could take the lead.
As she grabbed the gate door to open it though, Sally noticed something in the corner of her eye near the garage. A biplane, mostly blue colored with yellow highlights and a logo of two fluffy tails plastered on various parts. However, it was who was washing the vehicle that truly got her attention, a blonde anthropomorphic fox cub with oddly enough two tails instead of one.
'Oh sweet irony.' Naruto thought when he saw the multi-tailed vulpine as well, because of course there was. Not that Naruto saw anything wrong with it, heck, if anything he found it comforting, but it did bring to mind his friend, Kurama, and the rest of the nine-tailed fox's siblings. Naruto found part of himself already wondering if the kid would gain nine tails total upon reaching full maturity...
The former blonde didn't get long to mull such thoughts over long though as Sally kicked the gate open and rushed ahead.
"Tails!"
The fox's ears twitched at the shout before he whipped around, sky blue eyes widening in shock.
"Aunt Sally!?" Tails exclaimed as he gawked at the incoming chipmunk, almost unable to believe it. Furiously rubbing at his eyes, he blinked several times before reaching up and pinching his arm.
Whelp, he was definitely not dreaming because she was still there and furthermore running right to him!
"Aunt Sally!" The twin tailed fox cried out joyously as he jumped into the incoming chipmunks's arms.
"Tails! I'm so glad you're alright!" Sally exclaimed while hugging the fox tightly, both of them laughing happily with tears in their eyes.
"You too, auntie!"
Watching all of this sidelines, Naruto would've smiled if he could at the rather heartwarming scene. As he focused more on the fox kit however, his vision was taken up by a familiar glowing octagon that focused on the fox's face.
[Subject: Mile "Tails" Prower. Threat Level: S. Priority Target: Terminate with Extreme Prejudice.]
'Oh, shut up, Voice. He's no threat to me right now. Doesn't even know that I'm here.'
[Lack of detection noted. Revised course of action: surprise attack. Capture or Terminate.]
'I told you to shut up!' The blonde exclaimed internally, thankfully causing the interface to disappear and leaving him to his thoughts once again. 'They sure seem close…'
[I believe that's what you'd call a massive understatement.] Nicole's voice rang through his mind this time, making Naruto mentally flinch a little in surprise. [Tails calls her "Aunt Sally" as a form of endearment. I've heard it's quite common in some places where some children address their parents closest friends as aunts or uncles despite no blood relation. And Sally plays the role of a mother, protector, and caregiver in Tails' life.]
'Oh...no need to explain Nicole, I know exactly what it's like.' The mechanical teen thought with a soft nostalgic chuckle. He had been just like those two with people like Iruka-sensei, Tsunade-baa-chan, Shizune-nee-chan, Ero-sennin, and the others he had come to deem as "precious" to him. 'Those two...their bond and feelings with one another are so deep that there's no need for blood ties to make them family.'
[An incredibly astute observation, Naruto.] Nicole praised. [Let's allow them to enjoy this.]
'No arguments here.' Naruto would have smiled if he had a mouth. Everyone deserved moments like this. It made life worth living.
"Sonic!" Sadly though the moment would be cut short regardless as everyone's attention jolted to the front door of the mansion when it burst open with a loud shout before a pink and red blur shot out that was headed straight for Naruto.
Not having time to think, the former blonde instinctively lashed out with a kick as soon as whatever it was got close. The instant his foot made contact though, time seemed to slow to a near halt for a moment to reveal that the blur was in fact a pink hedgehog in a red dress. She had a look of pure joy on her face, even as Naruto's metal foot collided with the underside of her chin.
"WAAAAAAaaaaa...!" Then in a blink she was gone as the force of the kick sent her rocketing straight up into the sky with a startled scream of pain and surprise.
…
"...Uh, that wouldn't have happened to have been a friend of yours, would it?" Naruto asked Sally sheepishly as he pointed to the sky, making the chipmunk facepalm with a groan while Tails stared at the robot hedgehog in shock from her arms.
"That is not how you make a good first impression Naruto…" Sally muttered dully as more people rushed out of the house to see what the commotion was. This included a human boy with brown hair in a red shirt, a short elderly human man in a lab coat, a mobian bunny girl with soft cream colored fur wearing an orange dress, and a blue doll… thing that floated around the bunny girl's head.
[Subject: Christopher Thorndyke. Threat Level: F. Zero Priority Target: Terminate if Necessary]
[Subject: Chuck Thorndyke. Threat Level: F. Zero Priority Target: Terminate if Necessary]
[Subject: Cream the Rabbit. Threat Level: E. Low Priority Target: Capture if possible, Terminate if Necessary.]
[Subject: Cheese the Chao. Threat Level: E. Low Priority Target: Capture if possible, Terminate if Necessary.]
'Okay seriously, that's really getting old. Nicole, could you possibly do something about these constant 'Terminate' notifications?' Naruto asked mentally as the Voice came back again along with personal files on all four of the newcomers. While he appreciated having names to faces, he really did not need to hear someone telling him to kill every person he met.
[I'll see what I can do but no promises,] The Holo-lynx stated, already hard at work if the various boxes full of code that popped into view next were to go by. [Eggman pretty much hardwired murder into every circuit in here.]
'I noticed…'
"What in the heck? Is that… Sonic?" Whilst Naruto was having this little debate, the now named Chris was at a loss at what to think when he saw the robotic duplicate.
"Oh no! It's Metal Sonic!" Cream cried out in fear before quickly quivering nervously when said robo-hog's gaze turned towards her. Cheese immediately swooped in front of her protectively, shouting 'Chao' several times in what seemed like a warning manner, although it was obvious to everyone that it wasn't exactly effective. "He's one of Eggman's most dangerous robots ever!"
"Another one of Eggman's robots huh?" Chuck asked rhetorically before pulling out a large wrench from his coat. "Well if you think you're gonna cause any harm here than you got another thing coming! Hiyah!"
Charging straight at Naruto, he swung his wrench with all his might right at his big blue head… and missed completely when Naruto simply side-stepped the attack. And unfortunately for the old man, he ended up tripping on a decorative rock, causing him to fall flat on his face.
"Uh, you okay down there, jiji?" The former blonde asked curiously before stepping aside again, this time to avoid the charge from Cheese as the chao zoomed by with a furious war cry. At the same time, Chris hurried over to his grandfather's side in concern.
"Get back, you jerk!"
"No, wait Tails!" Sally called out as she tried to keep a hold of her adopted nephew, only for him to easily bust out of her grip when his iconic tails started spinning like a turbine. This also had the added benefit of rocketing the blond fox straight at Naruto with a flurry of punches, forcing the robotic hedgehog to zip back and forth to avoid them. "Ugh, so much for avoiding another incident..."
"Hey! Could you cool your jets please? I'm not here to fight." Naruto stated, holding his hands up in surrender even as he continued to avoid the ongoing two sided assault from Tails and Cheese.
"Not fight?! You just punted Amy into the sky!" The former shouted out as he pointed up in the direction said pink hedgehog had flown off, causing the robotic teen to pause for a moment.
"Uh… in my defense, she came right at me out of nowhere. I only had time to react."
"Don't even try it, Metal, we're not gonna fall for any of your tricks!" Tails stated while spinning in place and finally managing to land a hit by slamming his tails into the robotic teen's chest hard enough to send him skidding back several feet. "Now what are you really doing here and where's the real Sonic?!"
"Oh, you mean Olgie? He's back at the truck stuffing his face with a hundred grand's worth of-" Naruto started to say, idly jabbing a thumb towards the front gate where said truck could just be seen sitting on the curb. However, the ninja turned robot was cut off by Tails nailing him in the chin with an uppercut, a bright red cannon formed around the fox's fist mid-punch. A bright yellow glow emanated from the barrel before blasting out a sphere of condensed energy that slammed right into Naruto's face, knocking him up in the air.
As if on que, Cheese dove from the sky, crashing into the robo-hog's back with a surprising amount of force for a critter so small, knocking him back to the ground hard enough to crater the lawn. Not wanting to give him a chance to catch his bearings, Tails fired several more shots at the downed duplicate, kicking up a large cloud of dust and smoke.
…
"…Did you get him?" Chris asked when a whole minute went by and nothing happened, the boy helping his grandfather back up to his feet as they and the others watched the debris settle down intensely.
"Please, if Metal was that easy to take down, Eggman would have given up using him years ago." Or at least they were until Sally spoke up, getting their attention.
"Oh my gosh, Princess Sally!" A surprised Cream exclaimed, immediately rushing over to the chipmunk's side with sparkling eyes as all previous fear just vanished in an instant. "When did you get here?"
"I'll explain in a second, sweetie, and how many times do I have to tell you to just call me Sally?" Sally asked rhetorically as she gently ruffled the bunny girl's head with a soft smile, before turning back to the still clearing cloud. "You alright, Naruto?"
''''Naruto?'''' Cream, Chris, Chuck, and Tails all unknowingly thought at the same time as they followed the redhead's gaze. Before any of the quartet could verbalize this confusion though, the robot they'd just been beating on stepped back into view, not even a scratch on him despite the beating he just took.
"Oh, just peachy, it's always a delight getting beat up for no reason." You could practically taste the sarcasm oozing from every word as Naruto flicked a clump of grass off his shoulder. Seeing everyone aside from Sally tensing up and ready to keep going, he sighed in exasperation while holding his arms up in the air. "Look, I surrender, happy now?"
"Oh please, you really expect us to buy that, Metal?" Tails asked incredulously with his arm cannon already charging back up to fire another salvo.
"Hold up there, Tails," Thankfully for Naruto before they could continue trying to pummeling him. a familiar blue blur suddenly zipped across the property. Coming to a stop between the robotic doppelganger and his would-be assailants, Sonic gave his iconic smirk as he carried a plate of freshly made chilidogs in one hand and held the other one up in a classic 'stop' manner. "As much as I'd love to watch you give tin head another walloping; I have to ask ya to cool your jets, he's… ugh, can't believe I'm saying this...on our side."
…
"Excuse me? Did you just say what I think you said?" Tails asked disbelievingly, his cannon folding up into seemingly nothingness as he looked at his closest friend like he'd gone insane. When the speedy hedgehog simply nodded his head, the multi-tailed fox tuned to his aunt with a look that clearly screamed 'What the heck is going on?'.
"It's a long story…" Sally sighed.
-One Explanation Later-
"…And that's about how it went down." Sally stated before taking a sip from a cup of coffee, having just finished recounting the events of the last few hours. For the sake of comfort, the group had moved into the mansion as she'd spoken and they were all now settled in a lovely drawing room.
The princess herself was seating on a luxurious looking couch alongside Cream and Cheese to her left, Tails to her right, and Nicole sat out on a coffee table in front of her. Meanwhile, Chris was in a recliner off to the side with Sonic and Chuck standing next him, the poor boy sweating like crazy with a bright red face after taking a bite from a chilidog the hedgehog had given him whilst his grandfather chugged milk for the same reason. Finally, Naruto was on the opposing side of the room standing over a large towel as a plump maid with curly brown hair meticulously scrubbed the dirt and grime off of him.
"There ya go, all nice and clean." Said maid, otherwise known as Ella, said happily once she finished getting the last few spots off.
"Thank you ma'am, and again, sorry about the hole in the yard." The blue robot said with a small bow, which she waved off with a smile before going off to attend other duties. Specifically fixing said crater still smoldering on the front lawn.
"So just to summarize, Eggman found you and Nicole hiding in a warehouse, used you to lure Sonic into a trap while he was on one of his runs, then tried to attack you with his newest version of Metal Sonic, only for him to end up immediately turning to your side instead?" Tails asked rhetorically, one of his brows cocked and continuing to rise higher and higher with every word. "And at no point during any of this did you stop to think "Hey, this seems suspiciously convenient, maybe this yet another of Eggman's traps"?"
"It did cross my mind, several times actually, but considering he saved my life and has yet to attack anyone outside of self-defense then I'd say he deserves the benefit of the doubt," Sally stated with a shrug as she took another sip. "And besides, Nicole says he's legit and she's personally been inside his systems."
[Indeed, I can say with one hundred percent certainty that Naruto means us no harm.] Said holo-lynx chipped in as her screen changed to a thumbs up symbol.
"…Alright, if you say so." The edge still in Tails voice belied his underlying suspicion, which Sally couldn't blame him for, but at least he was willing to give a chance.
"Hey Sal, you left out the part where he drugged me with poisoned chilidogs and locked me in the back of a truck." Sonic said, shooting the robotic copy of himself a dirty look as he spoke. Yeah, he was gonna hold that chilidog trick against him for a long, LONG time. However, when Sally gave him a stern look back, Sonic held his hands up in mock surrender and sighed.
"I said I was sorry about that but you didn't leave me any other choices since you weren't exactly in a listening mood." Crossing his arms, Naruto rolled his eyes with a huff.
"You still messed with my dogs, nobody messes with my dogs." The speedy hero stated, tossing an entire chilidog into his mouth for added emphasis.
"Awww what's wrong Sonic? Does the widdle hedgehog need a nappy again cause he's cranky like a toddler and wouldn't let anyone else talk?" Sally asked mockingly in baby talk, getting Sonic to look away with a red face, refusing to meet the princess's gaze.
"You are not gonna let that go, are you?"
"Not for a long, long time… Olgilvie."
''''Olgilvie?'''' Once again all the occupants in the room aside from Sonic, Sally, Nicole, and Naruto were left confused by the princess's choice of words. And that confusion only grew when they saw the ever confident Sonic actually flinch upon that word being said.
"Anyway, onto more pressing issues," Sally cleared her throat as her tone suddenly grew more serious. "Tails, please tell me you've got a lab set up already."
"Of course, Chuck helped me get it all set up right after we got settled in, why?" The young genius asked with a raised brow at the seemingly random question.
[Because it is most prudent that Naruto be analyzed right away.] Nicole answered for the redhead. [It is only a matter of time before Eggman figures out that something is amiss. And considering how past versions of Metal Sonic have attempted to overthrow him before, there is an eighty one point thirty six percent probability that he has installed safety measures within Naruto to ensure that doesn't happen again.]
"…Say what now?" The former blonde in question asked with a raised brow.
"Odds are Eggman has installed one or more kill switches in your body to deal with you if you proved out of control." Sally simplified for him, getting the robotic teen to freeze.
"Oh… that's bad."
"Indeed, which is why we need to get you to Tails lab right away," As she spoke, Sally set her cup down and picked up Nicole before walking to up to Naruto's side. Gently placing a hand on his shoulder, she tried to give him the most comforting look she could. "We need Tails to open you up and see-"
"Whoa! Hold the phone! No offense but I am NOT letting someone I just met root around inside my body, especially not one who still thinks I'm the bad guy!" Naruto cut the mobian princess off, shrugging away her hand as he took several steps back. "I may be a trusting guy, but I've got limits."
"Naruto, I know this is scary but there's no time to argue about this, if there is a kill-switch then Eggman could use it at any time." She tried to reason with him, her hands held up placatingly while slowly walking towards the robotic teen.
Sadly her attempts were for not as Naruto just zipped over to another part of the room faster than she could blink. "Then just have Nicole turn it off or something! But you are not cutting me open!"
[It's not as simple as that Naruto.] Said AI's voice rang through his head once more. [I've ran a full diagnostic and found several components that have been isolated into separate networks, I cannot access them without a direct hardline.]
"Well my answer still stands, you aren't cutting me open."
"Naruto please." Sally pleaded with him as she tried to approach him again to no avail.
"No!"
"Ah let him be, Sal, if tin head wants to live his life with a literal bomb ticking away inside him then I say we let him." Sonic said, earning himself a hard glare from the princess.
"Not helping, Sonic," She muttered balefully before shaking her head and giving Naruto an apologetic look. "Sorry Naruto, I really didn't want to do it this way. Now Nicole."
[I'm sorry about this Naruto.] Nicole said before several lines of codes started flittering across Naruto's vision. [Initiating total system override, full servo lockdown activated.]
"Hey! What are you-What the f-!?" Naruto started to say, only to cut himself off when his entire body suddenly went completely rigid. "Why cant I move?! NICOLE! WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!"
[This is for your own good, initializing rest mode.]
"What?! No! Don't you dare! I don't… want… to… diiiiee…" The former blonde's voice trailed off with a distorted whine as his eyes dimmed, leaving him completely inert.
'He is going to be so pissed when he wakes up…' Sally thought with a sigh, already dreading that inevitable headache she'd have to deal with in future. However, she put those thoughts on the back burner for now as she grabbed Naruto's shoulders and tried to move him. "Hnnng! Hnnnng! Ugh, could someone help me move him to the lab?"
Emphasis on tried…
"I gotcha Aunt Sally."
"Here let me help too."
As Chuck and Tails helped the redhead carry the inert robo-hog to the latter's lab, Cream watched on from the sidelines with a sad and sympathetic look. "Poor guy, he sounded so scared…"
"Yeah, hope he's gonna be okay." Chris muttered in agreement, also feeling bad for Naruto.
"Eh, don't worry about it, he'll be fine, you guys," Sonic told the pair with a shrug. "We all know Tails is the best mechanic in the world, he'll be done before that fake me even knows what happened."
"I guess so…" Cream mumbled softly, watching the group in concern for a bit longer before wandering off to another part of the mansion.
After almost half an hour of lugging, Sally, Chuck, and Tails finally found themselves in the fox's lab, standing over Naruto's deactivated form strapped to a worktable.
"Alright, here we go." Biting his lip softly, Tails carefully lifted off the faceplate to Metal Sonic's head and focused a light inside at the protective cases underneath. With a screwdriver in one hand and a ratchet in the other, he reached in and, after a slight hesitation in case there were any unseen boobytraps he might of missed, gently undid the inner hinges.
There was a muffled click and a hiss of air as the plates within released and slid open, revealing the mechanical hog's delicate inner circuits within.
"Fascinating, I've never seen such complex circuitry before." Chuck admitted with an awed gaze as he beheld the marvel of technology laid out before him. He liked to think that he was a pretty smart man, possibly one of the smartest if he was feeling boastful, but he could barely even understand a fraction of what he was looking at.
Fortunately Tails seemed to as he didn't hesitate to grab a different set of tools and continue working.
As he was about to reach in though, a small flicker caused the fox to flinch back worriedly... only to relax when he saw that it was just a tiny sized hologram of Nicole as she looked over the interior. "Jeez Nicole, almost gave me a heart attack."
"There, that's the chip." The virtual Lynx stated as she pointed to a modest sized but otherwise unassuming looking circuit near the center. "Now, be very careful. My analysis indicates that chip is what houses Naruto's entire personality matrix, even a slight-
"I know Nicole."
"I'm aware of that, Tails. However, this is no ordinary situation. Eggman essentially trapped an innocent person and forced them to become the living A.I. of his most dangerous robot. One false move in the slightest, and you could end up killing someone because of that."
"I know, I know, relax Nicole, this isn't my first computer deconstruction." Tails muttered with a roll of his eyes. Still, he understood her reasons. But it was because of the fact he understood them that he didn't want to be distracted in the utmost slightest.
Grabbing Nicole's handheld device and holding it up to the exposed chip. As soon as it got within touching distance, several tiny wires snaked out of the side and latched into the circuitry while the holo-Lynx disappeared from sight.
[Connection established, data 100% stable, ready for disconnection from main system.] Her voice rang out from the device, getting Tails to nod as he set down his screwdriver in favor of a pair of tweezers.
"Alright, disconnecting in three..." He held the tweezers up to the circuit board, "Two..." He carefully slipped one part between the plastic and wiring, "One."
With a soft pop, the chip was free before almost immediately being sucked into Nicole's console, the screen flickering a little before showing a status bar.
[Acclimating data... scanning for discrepancies... zero found... initializing.]
{Uh... where am I?} Naruto's voice called from the device groggily, the screen briefly switching to a soft orange color with the numbers 7610 on it before they vanished and the screen reverted to green again.
Sighing in relief, Sally took Nicole's handheld and left the laboratory, she just hoped Nicole could keep her new guest from worrying about what was happening to him outside of the screen.
-Meanwhile-
Cream and Cheese were outside in the gardens, immersing themselves in the beautiful beds of foliage and flowers that were all so carefully tended to perfection. The orange clad bunny was just enjoying the lovely aroma of a freshly bloomed violet when her ears started to twitch before she curiously looked up at the sky.
"…aaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH-" Cream blinked as a screaming pink blur dropped at high speed straight into one of the pools, creating a huge splash of water that drenched everything nearby.
A moment later, Amy rose from the pool, utterly soaked and a murderous glare on her face visible through her wet hair.
"Alright! Who's the wiseguy that just earned themselves a one-way ticket to the hospital!?"
"Oh good, Amy's back."