[A]

Chapter Two

[A]

The Meeting Area of Knothole Village, The Great Forest

Traveling about thirteen meters southward with the Freedom Fighters on foot, Lien-Da and her unlikely companions, who all came to refer to her as simply "Lien" like Sonic did whether she accepted it or not, made their way through the area referred to as the Great Forest until arriving at Knothole itself. Covering a sizable area, Knothole was as modest and low-tech as Lien-Da expected it to be, but she knew that was meant to be the case being a village instead of a city and it most likely had its uses as such in the concurring Robotnik War as Sonic had referred to their conflict by name.

During their trek to the village, Lien-Da had prepared to tell Sonic and his fellow Freedom Fighters an abridged, yet accurate to a point, summary of her story, but was told by the group's apparent leader, Sally Acorn, to get herself examined by a Mobian duck named Doctor Quack at Knothole's medical clinic as well as by the walrus Freedom Fighter, Rotor, who held a brilliant understanding of science that Lien-Da begrudgingly acknowledged. Nonetheless, despite her lack of an accustomed stance with non-echidnas, the castoff Dark Legionnaire decided to play along for the sake of argument.

Following an analysis that lasted a full hour, Lien-Da and Rotor Walrus were finally able to part ways with Quack much to the former's internal delight. While the duck did have an above average understanding of medicine and such, he clearly had no respectable approach to his patients which bothered even Lien-Da. In any event, Rotor directed the echidna to a rather open, yet shaded, enclosure in the village center appropriately termed as the meeting area where Sonic was telling the Princess-in-exile and their remaining cohorts about his "postmortem experiences."

"Kinda disappointing that Robotnik didn't learn of your 'ghostly presence,' Sonic," Sally commented on the subject before adding, "I can definitely imagine a few ways we could've taken advantage of that." While seemingly a Mobian chipmunk of light brown fur, blue eyes, and auburn hair who only wore azure boots that reached up to her knees for whatever reason, Lien-Da understood from Quack's explanation that she carried squirrel blood from her father, the long vanished King Maximillian. All the same, Lien-Da approved that the girl around Sonic's age was competently leading her subjects.

At Sonic's left, the two-tailed, brown and cream furred fox from earlier laughed in response to the royal's words as he said, "I'd honestly settle with laughing at Robuttnik's expense, Aunt Sally!"

The yellow and white furred rabbit with green eyes and cyborg limbs in a pink leotard on Sally's right giggled in agreement, saying in a curious accent, "Ain't that the truth, sugah?"

From what Sonic had told Lien-Da on the way to Knothole, the youngest of his friend circle, Miles Prower, was coined as "Tails" as a result of the mutation that gave him a second tail at birth. As far as anyone knew, Tails's birth parents vanished on the day of his birth when Robotnik first rose to power, which led to him being raised for lack of a better word by pretty much everyone in Knothole like the other orphans. While the fox's age was a concern for Sally when it came to placing him in danger, Sonic as well as Rotor both viewed Tails as having good instincts and technical skills.

The cyborg rabbit, Bunnie Rabbot, however, was a more recent newcomer to the Freedom Fighters, Sonic having rescued her from being completely roboticized several months prior. While Lien-Da could not tell from first glance how well-adjusted Bunnie was to her roboticized body parts, she did notice that the latter had occasionally stared at her own cybernetic implants uneasily.

Immediately after Bunnie, stood a somewhat self-assured coyote with blue eyes, tan fur, and blonde hair in a uniformed blue jacket with a red trim and gold shoulder pads that went with his red boots. From what the Kommissar understood from Sonic's brief introduction of his friends to her, Antoine D'Coolette was the son of a Royal Army General and had an accent that was, in some ways, even odder than Bunnie's. However, it was not hard for Lien-Da to recognize that underneath the arrogant exterior, Antoine carried insecurities that somewhat reminded the former of her own family issues.

At Lien-Da's right, the violet-furred Rotor, who wore a yellow baseball cap and a green bandolier that was used to carry tools while also matching his eye color, cleared his throat to get the others' attention. "Sorry to take our time," he began apologetically before adding, "but we're here!"

"So you are," Sally greeted with a nod.

"How are you doing, Lien," Sonic addressed the Dark Legionnaire directly before adding teasingly, "Did the 'doctor who must not be named' give you any trouble?"

Lien-Da chuckled as she responded with, "Oh, you have no idea, Sonic."

"Doctor Quack may be a bit off," Sally interjected in an apologetic way, "but he's not called a doctor for nothing, I can assure you." Clearing her throat, she then changed the topic of discussion. "Speaking of, how did the analysis go?"

Taking charge with a nod to Lien-Da's direction, Rotor replied, "Well, as far as the Doc and I could understand with Lien's cooperation, it appears that she got pulled from a whole other Zone different from ours which somehow connected with Sonic's antimatter contact."

Giving it thought, Antoine then asked in his own accented voice, "Zis Zone is different from ze Anti-Mobius Sonic vizited then?"

Recognizing that the word "Zone" was used for alternate universes and dimensions like the Twilight Cage, Lien-Da was curious about what Antoine referenced, prompting her to ask the blue hedgehog, "What does he mean by 'Anti-Mobius,' Sonic?"

"Oh, I once landed in a mirror universe where Robotnik's a good guy veterinarian and the local versions of us are all punks," Sonic answered casually with a shrug.

In response to how Sonic did not seem all that bothered by his experience, Lien-Da turned to Sally, who sheepishly smiled as she said, "Yeah, we have our weird moments like that."

"To answer Antoine's question," Rotor then inputted, "I think Lien's point of origin is more of a pocket dimension compared to Anti-Mobius, yet has different properties all the same."

"As in how it looks, Rotor," Bunnie asked with a tilted head.

"I was actually referring to how it experiences the passing of time itself compared to Mobius," Rotor explained, which prompted Lien-Da to get their attention.

"Both of your friends are correct. My echidna ancestors got transported in what we refer to as the Twilight Cage almost four hundred years ago in Mobius time, yet in that Zone, where my fellows only experience only a quarter of said time, I was born as a fourth generation inhabitant."

Politely raising his hand, Tails then interjected, "This Twilight Cage sounds interesting, but what about Lien's superpower? What do we know about that?"

Holding the back of his head with his right arm, Rotor said in response, "Well, the dimensional transportation definitely embedded the ability to generate lightning in her cybernetics, but neither Doctor Quack nor I could take a closer look without Lien's permission."

The echidna herself could not restrain a scoff at the walrus's words. "As if anyone would submit to such an invasive and risky study."

"Whoa, whoa, Lien," Sonic quickly interrupted when it appeared that the other Freedom Fighters were becoming unsettled by Lien-Da's confrontational stance. "I know that we all might as well be strangers to you, but you can trust us."

"May I offer my own assistance on the matter, Sally," an automated, yet feminine, voice asked aloud, which admittedly surprised Lien-Da herself as she had no idea where it came from.

"Who said that," the Kommissar said in alarm.

Quickly getting Lien-Da's attention, Sally presented a small calculator-like computer from wherever she had it on her person, and said, "Relax, Lien-Da. This is Nicole. We made her acquaintance not so long ago."

Pushing aside her surprise of the existence of an artificial intelligence, Lien-Da felt prompted to ask, "Acquaintance? So who made it, or her?"

Sonic chuckled in a sardonic manner before answering, "If Nicole herself knows, she hasn't told us."

"In any event," Nicole stated in a matter of fact-way before adding, "I am willing to analyze Lien-Da myself if she permits it."

Thinking it over, Lien-Da finally exhaled before giving a nod, saying, "Alright." Just as Sally was about to direct Nicole over her, however, Lien-Da then said, "Wait, before we do that, uh, Nicole, have you considered using an avatar of sorts?"

"An avatar," all the Freedom Fighters asked in confusion to Lien-Da's words, prompting her to add on to her words.

"The handheld is fine, but a form with a face would make it easier for Nicole to relate to others as they would relate to her."

"I," Nicole began to say before finally finishing with, "cannot say I ever considered it."

The A.I. then went silent, which left a concerned look on Sally's face until the computer in her right hand began projecting the hologram of a Mobian lynx that slowly took form. Once done, the holo-lynx was revealed to have brown and black fur, green eyes, black hair adorned with purple and orange beads, and a purple toga was worn over the hologram's clearly female body.

Directing her gaze to Lien-Da, the holo-lynx then asked with Nicole's voice, "Is this 'avatar' acceptable?"

"Very," Lien-Da responded in a tone mixed with approval as much as awe, and the Freedom Fighters shared her sentiments.

"You look great, Nicole," Sally praised with an approaching hand that passed through Nicole's holographic body. Quickly becoming sheepish, the Princess then said, "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to phase through you."

The holo-lynx, however, showed an understanding, yet small, smile as she said comfortingly, "It's alright, Sally. Perhaps under better circumstances, we can work on making this appearance more tangible?"

"I like the sound of that," Sonic commented with a rather eager grin as he added, "just as I like the way you look, Nicole."

Nicole then looked embarrassed as she replied, "Thank you, Sonic," and then shortly added, "You appear to be very appealing yourself."

"Okay," Bunnie then interjected, which Lien-Da appreciated for some reason even she could not quite tell, "ah believe we're gettin' off course, sugah-hog, so let's let Nicole do her thing."

The aforementioned holo-lynx then adopted a befuddled look while Sonic scratched the back of his head uncertainly. "Oh, of course," Nicole finally uttered before directing her gaze and sensors on Lien-Da. After a quick scan and analysis complete with a comprehending expression, she then announced, "Rotor is correct. Lien-Da's cybernetics are equipped with the ability to generate lightning, but it also appears that the more she uses said power, the more it will become a part of her very being, like Sonic's superspeed is to him."

Humming in thought, Lien-Da then asked, "Is there a potential danger I should know about?"

Taking her time to answer, Nicole replied, "For now, I recommend that you gradually test your newfound power and see how well it connects with your emotional state. Any impatient moves, though, might prove to be errors of judgement."

Thinking over the advice, Lien-Da finally nodded in acceptance, saying, "That sounds reasonable."

"Ahem," Antoine uttered with the intent of grabbing everyone's attention before politely bowing and saying, "pardon my questioning, but perhaps it is best to go over zis 'Dark Legion' our new guest mentioned earlier?" Turning to Lien-Da specifically, he apologetically added, "I mean no offense, Madame, but ze name itself sounds villaino."

Unbelieving her ears for a moment, Lien-Da slowly came to say in response, "Wait, you think the Dark Legion's name has a vanilla flavor to it?"

"What," the coyote remarked in bewilderment, and quickly became aggravated when his fellows began laughing at the situation.

More self-controlled than the flesh and blood Mobians, yet showing an amused expression all the same, Nicole then said for the sake of explanation, "What Antoine meant to say was that Lien-Da's organization seems to have a villainous alignment, if the name seems to imply anything."

"That is what I said," Antoine grumbled to himself as Bunnie patted his back in a supporting way.

Thinking over her words carefully, Lien-Da folded her arms with a nod as she said, "Well, if you must know, the history of the Dark Legion is a long and complicated one intertwined with the Floating Island's, if not the entire echidna race's itself. So, before we go there, I would like to ask you all this. What do you know of the Floating Island already?"

Raising his hand to answer, Tails replied, "Well, a while back, Sonic and I were trailing Robotnik by plane when we found the Floating Island along the way. It was kept afloat in the sky by a Chaos Emerald and the only guy we saw living there was the Guardian, Knuckles, who said he was the last echidna on Mobius."

With a shrug, Sonic added, "He seemed like an okay enough guy, if a bit too distrustful and eager for a fight, even for me."

Before Lien-Da could begin her echidna history lesson, however, her eyes caught Sally's facial expression, which carried an atmosphere of nostalgia and concern that escaped the notice of the other Freedom Fighters, but not the Kommissar herself. Intrigued by what immediately came to her mind, Lien-Da adopted a casual tone of voice as she showed the gloved palms of her hands as if she was responding to Sonic's comment. "I suppose I can't be surprised that the House of Edmund is as unchanging as ever."

"The House of who," all but one of Knothole's Freedom Fighters wondered in confused unison while Sally looked up in surprise as Lien-Da expected she would.

"Edmund," the Princess of Acorn could not help but let out her uncertain statement without realizing it. "I don't recall Knuckles, or his father mentioning they had a family name. It doesn't -," Sally's thinking aloud was quickly abrupted when she noticed the surprised looks her friends were giving her right then. "I, well," her sheepish attempt to mend her words was quickly replaced with a defeated sigh and a narrow-eyed look in the female echidna's direction. "I gave it away and you took the advantage immediately, didn't you?"

Showing a smile that clearly was not innocent at all, Lien-Da advised, "Perhaps you should remember to mind your bodily reactions whenever you decide to take up full time diplomacy?"

His gaze fully on his team's field leader, Sonic was the first to question, "Sal, you met Knuckles and his dad before me and Tails landed on the Floating Island for the first time? Where was I when this happened?!"

Quickly directing a calming gesture to the blue hedgehog, Antoine said, "Sonic, allow me to ask," then turning to Sally's curious stance, he got on one knee and begged, "My Princess, please tell me, where was I when you first became acqueented with echidnas?!"

"All of you relax," Sally snapped in reprimand, which quickly quieted the hedgehog and coyote alike, and then exhaled while managing her stressed face before beginning her tale. "It was before the coup and before I met any of you. At the time, my father had taken me to a vacation of sorts on the Floating Island, where he engaged in talks with the Guardian at the time, Locke, while I befriended the Guardian's own son."

Interested in whatever involvement the missing King Acorn had with the Guardians, Lien-Da was about to direct some questions to Sally before Sonic beat her to the punch, saying, "So you and Knuckles of all people are childhood sweethearts?"

About as unimpressed by Sonic's clear jealousy as Lien-Da herself was, Sally replied, "Please, Sonic, I haven't seen Knuckles in about ten years, and it's not like five year olds realistically fall in with each other at first sight outside of ridiculous fictional stories."

"I'd listen to that cold, hard logic if I was you, Sonic," Lien-Da added on with an agreeable nod, keen on not mentioning the ludicrous Soultouch concept more so than usual. "Either way, personal grudges, especially of the irrational kind, have no place in the greater scheme of things." Turning her gaze to Sally, she then decided to change topics before either Sonic or Antoine could continue the inane discussion. "Still, Sally, do you know what your father's interest in the Floating Island really was at the time?"

"Excuse me," Sally replied questionably, but not in aggravation, which was a good sign to Lien-Da as far as she was concerned.

"A fanciful vacation may sound nice," Lien-Da began to say before adding, "but surely such a royal figure would have a greater motive to visit the then Guardian than to ask for permission for his only child to relax on the Floating Island away from the surface's warring period."

Giving the question some thought, Sally's face appeared to be a frustrating blank until she ultimately sighed and said, "I'll ask someone who knew my father longer than I if he had a hidden agenda for vacationing there then," she then turned her gaze to Lien-Da and added, "after we learn things about the echidnas we hadn't known until now."

Chuckling to herself, the Kommissar rhetorically asked, "You're not letting me off the hook so easily, I take it?"

Showing a somewhat vicious smirk of her own, the Princess answered, "You had your fun with me, so it's only fair that I get some information out of you in kind."

'What remarkable potential you have,' Lien-Da thought to herself as she saw the eager for achievement look in Sally's eyes, which admittedly impressed her.

"What's going on with those two, Sonic," she heard Tails whisper to his brotherly figure, who could only shrug in equal bewilderment much to her amusement.

Clearing her throat, Lien-Da then directed her eyes all over the Knothole Freedom Fighters and began to tell them what she considered to be all they needed to know. It would be most beneficial for her to leave out the "villainous" details, after all. "It all started roughly six hundred years ago from this day in the continent of Downunda. At that time, the echidnas had lived in a vast and prosperous city of their own technologically advanced design known as Echidnaopolis for several generations," Lien-Da's lecture was interrupted by Tails's raised up hand, prompting the female echidna to sigh before saying, "Yes, Tails?"

A bit awkward at the moment, Tails slowly asked, "Not to judge on your people's naming sense, Lien, but wouldn't the city be named 'Echidnalopolis,' or something?"

With Lien-Da put off by the question, Antoine then cut in with his own viewpoint. "I am forced to agree with Tails on zis. Would an 'L' not be required for such a name?"

Letting out a chuckle, Sonic quipped, "When Antoine here says there's something not right with the pronunciation of things, then you know there's a problem."

Rotor was quick to interject before Antoine could snap in response to Sonic's joke. "For what it's worth, I did hear that the old Overland up north has a city or two named Megaopolis, but all the same, I'm forced to wonder why the Floating Island is called just that and doesn't have a proper name of its own."

"Uh, fellas," Bunnie said to get the boys' attention before adding, "maybe it's best to save the questions after the storytellin'?"

With all four male Freedom Fighters noticing Lien-Da's unamused reaction to how they diverted from her historical explanation, they could only offer sheepish grins and go silent.

"Naming discrepancies aside," Lien-Da remarked with a visible eyeroll, "it was in Echidnaopolis six hundred years ago that a married couple of scientists named Kayla-La and Jordann discovered that a celestial entity that history remembers as the White Comet was on a direct course to impact the city itself. Unwilling to let their home be destroyed, the pair had enlisted the aid of their fellow echidnas and even the local community of fire ants to acquire twelve Chaos Emeralds and dig a great clearing through the city's surrounding landmass respectively, followed by harnessing the power of the twelve Chaos Emeralds to levitate said landmass just before the Comet hit the planet. Hence, Downunda's Great Crater came to be on where the Floating Island was once part of Mobius."

Seeing that she held everyone's attention and that they were indeed saving questions for later, Lien-Da continued. "For the following two hundred years, the echidnas of the Floating Island endured their lives adrift in the air, yet many yearned to bring their home down to Mobius, which is where two brothers, Edmund and Dimitri, who were also scientists descended from Kayla-La and Jordann no less, came in to offer a solution to the problem. They proposed the use of a Chaos Syphon to gradually absorb the Emeralds' energies to safely rejoin their homeland with their home planet itself," her lesson then drew off, however, as she said, "which apparently, did not go as planned."

Catching the unsureness in her voice, Sally brought herself to ask Lien-Da, "Apparently? You make it sound like you don't know what happened then yourself."

"To be honest, if there were hidden facts to what occurred then, the Legion hadn't learned them when I was last with them," Lien-Da admitted with a shrug. "Nonetheless, as a result of whatever incident that had happened, the twelve Chaos Emeralds of the Floating Island were reduced to just one remaining to be put under the protection of Edmund as the original Guardian, his brother Dimitri died somehow, and because of their 'realizing of the hubris of science,' " Lien-Da air quoted with her fingers in anger at that last part before finishing her words with, "the echidna politicians had decided to forego the technological heritage of our people whether anyone liked it or not."

"Yeesh," Rotor commented in a disgruntled way that his friends seemed to share in, which gave Lien-Da an uplifted spirit somewhat. "I get that science can be used dangerously in the wrong hands, but one could argue that even if we took all the Robotnik-styled 'improvements' made to Mobotropolis, we still wouldn't have the old capital back."

"Not to mention the advances in medicine and transportation that technology brings," Nicole added in agreement. "To think that a civilization would forsake such necessities has an air of illogic that cannot be ignored."

"Yeah, would we even have chili dogs in such a society," Sonic said lightheartedly before adding in response to the dry looks everyone was giving him, "I'm just kidding, guys! Mostly."

Pushing Sonic's joke aside, Sally turned to Lien-Da, saying, "Still, destroying all echidna technology sounds like a hefty goal, even if it would explain why Echidnaopolis wasn't on the Floating Island in my youth."

Making a quick chuckle at the Princess's deduction, Lien-Da replied, "To be fair, even the ban's most steadfast supporters didn't have the heart to destroy all the advanced technology. Instead, they stockpiled and catalogued it all in an underground location called the Grand Conservatory."

Bunnie's nose crinkled in disapproval with a palm over her face. "Oh, mah stars, that sounds even worse. Can y'all imagine what would happen if crooks got their mitts on the more dangerous gizmos?"

Despite herself, Lien-Da laughed at the question and said, "You make it sound as if that hadn't happened at all in the Conservatory's entire history." Clearing her throat, she then decided to go back on her lecture, saying, "You see, it didn't take long for discontent to emerge among Echidnaopolis's citizens regarding the government's confiscation of their technology. At the starting stages, this movement of echidnas dressed in robes that concealed their identities and met secretly at night, making plans to remove those in power who threatened our way of life by force if necessary."

"Ze Dark Legion," Antoine guessed correctly, which prompted a nod from Lien-Da.

"Giving the circumstances of our origin and cause, it felt like an appropriate name to get the point across to Edmund and those on the Council who stood with him." Showing a conspiratorial smirk, Lien-Da then said to the Freedom Fighters, "I can almost see you adopting a similar name of your own if it meant terrorizing Robotnik."

"Freedom Fighters aren't terrorists," Sally snapped as if insulted much to the concern of her friends. "We act for the good of all of Mobius and value all life!"

Unimpressed with the somewhat pacifistic approach, Lien-Da remarked, "Should Robotnik ultimately destroy all Freedom Fighters, then it's likely you'll be remembered as terrorists that failed to defeat his world order. Even more, striking fear in your enemies is essential in war. Unfortunate, perhaps, but no less needed."

Seeing that things were getting on edge, Rotor stepped in-between Lien-Da and Sally, and diplomatically suggested, "Calm down, girls. I think we all understand where the both of you are coming from!" Turning to the Princess, he said, "Sally, remember that talk we had about me building guns if it meant taking down Robotnik, even though guns weren't exactly welcome in the Kingdom of Acorn?"

With reluctance, the chipmunk stood down and admitted, "I suppose that's a fair comparison, Rotor."

Foreseeing that the walrus was about to turn to her next, Lien-Da was quick to say, "The Dark Legion may be considered terrorists in the eyes of some, but it was not my intent to mock your own group. I merely believed we had some common ground in one form or another."

Slowly nodding in acceptance, Sally replied, "It appears I should work better when seeing things in a grayer perspective. I'm sorry for speaking out of turn."

Accepting the apology with a nod of her own, Lien-Da then decided to get back to describing history as she saw it. "When the Dark Legion took root, our founding Grandmaster was a young man named Menniker of the House of Dimitri," seeing the curious looks of her hosts, she quickly diverted from the topic to explain, "In echidna society, it's common for a prominent male to become the namesake of sorts for their own family branch, kind of like the aristocratic circles of most Mobians. Edmund and Dimitri were both born to the House of Byron named after their father, and when each brother gained social renown as adults with marriage and children included, their names came to be used for households as well." Seeing Tails raise his hand again, the female echidna actually laughed softly as she answered, "Yes, Tails, which means your associate, Knuckles, is a descendant of the very first Guardian, even if Edmund was always a scientist and civil servant, but never a warrior."

Catching on to Lien-Da's last sentence, Antoine solemnly asked, "You mean Edmund was one of ze first to perish to ze Legion?"

Seeing that the other Freedom Fighters had quickly become solemn themselves, Lien-Da suppressed a groan, and with care, said, "I can imagine that Menniker himself would've preferred a less bloody path in a better time and place, but yes, the Legion he himself founded killed his uncle. All the same, when it seemed that victory was within Menniker's reach, his cousin, Steppenwolf, had learned to harness Chaos powers of his own to banish the entire Legion to the Twilight Cage, which, as we've already gone over, doesn't follow the same rate of time as Mobius, and as the name implies, has the same appearance as space itself."

"Huh," Sonic uttered in a stumped kind of way, "how did the Legionnaires survive all the way to your time?"

Lien-Da considered mentioning the Legion's "neighbors" in the Twilight Cage, but opted to keep it simple. 'Some things aren't exactly worth talking about, anyway,' she thought to herself sardonically before answering Sonic's question as best she could. "It wasn't easy, I can tell you that much, Sonic. The Twilight Cage has enough asteroids, so to speak, to serve as base locations and a good chunk of the Legion knows construction and engineering, so housing was never a problem, and we've kept a tight training regimen to keep our senses sharp against any who would threaten us. Making sure everyone was fed was a different story. In time, though, Grandmaster Menniker was able to obtain the means to enable transportation back to the Floating Island, even if the Legion's returns were hardly, if at all, in the same era."

"Is Menniker still alive," Nicole ventured to inquire.

Shaking her head as an answer, Lien-Da verbally added, "No, he fell in battle with a later Guardian long ago, which prompted his son, Moritori Rex, to take leadership of the Legion back in the Twilight Cage, which is where things got rather interesting to say the least."

Exchanging a curious glance with Antoine, Bunnie was the first to ask, "Interestin' how?"

"And am I right to presume ze power of ze Grandmaster is hereditary," Antoine added his own question.

Responding with a laugh, Lien-Da replied to Antoine first, saying, "Technically, I suppose any Legionnaire with the right competency could be eligible for the title and responsibilities that come with it, but so far, only those of Menniker's bloodline have been referred to as Grandmasters, even if everyone in the Legion has to earn their ranks all the same just as I did." Seeing the questioning looks she was getting from the Freedom Fighters, the female echidna shrugged as she added, "So yes, just as the Dark Legion began in Echidnaopolis as an insurrectionist faction, the Twilight Cage gave its leaders the opportunity to adapt as a military dictatorship mixed with a technocratic cult."

"That's comforting," Sonic could not help but remark with sarcasm at that revelation and his friends did not look happy either.

Bunnie herself seemed to have been getting the idea to Lien-Da earlier statement as she asked with a frown, "So this Rex fella made the cyber implants needed, even if they weren't really needed?"

Lien-Da shrugged again. "There are some who can be excessive about it, but think of it like this. If I wasn't equipped with the implants to handle antimatter, I would've assumed I was all alone when I arrived in Robotropolis when there was really an invisible and normally inaudible hedgehog in the same room as me."

Sonic himself hummed in thought at that before ultimately smiling in defeat. "Touché."

"Yeah," Tails agreed unsurely with Sonic before turning to Lien-Da, "but, Lien, did you get those specifically installed because you knew something like that would happen, or because you felt like hoarding stuff that looked cool?"

At the fox's question, Lien-Da chuckled in acknowledgement. "Fair enough, little man." She then chose to get back to revealing details that would optimistically not come back to bite her. "It was through his own implants that Moritori Rex was able to observe this Zone from within the Twilight Cage and learned that Echidnaopolis was going through changes of its own. You see, when the Floating Island came to be, the echidnas were not only stranded in the air with themselves, but also with a race whose militarism puts even the Dark Legion to shame, the dingoes of Cave Canem, who were more than happy to steal the technology of their foes and even declare nuclear war if it suited their goals."

"Nuclear war," all of the Freedom Fighters exclaimed in shock.

Showing a grave nod, Lien-Da said, "It was about two hundred years after the Grand Conservatory was constructed. The dingoes, in their madness to deal with the 'echidna threat,' stole warheads that would surely have destroyed Echidnaopolis as well as inflict poison on the Floating Island's remaining inhabitants had the Guardian at the time, Hawking, hadn't used the technology forsaken by his own ancestors to employ two defensive measures. One was an energy shield that deflected the warhead's explosive effects and the other was a mass teleportation device that sent Echidnaopolis, Cave Canem, and the other settlements into their own pocket dimensions, which protected their people from the radioactive waste that Hawking and his fellows spent a century cleaning up."

Nodding in understanding, Sally commented, "That explains why Knuckles is the only echidna living on the Floating Island now. The city of his heritage as well as another force of echidnas are in two different Zones from our own." Her look then adopted curiosity again as she turned back to Lien-Da and asked, "Still, Lien, what kind of accident could've happened in the Twilight Cage that caused you to be transported to Mobius at this time?" Forcing a smile that she clearly wanted to appear as well-intentioned, the Princess added, "You've already told us much about your people, now how about you yourself for a change?"

Put on the spot, Lien-Da went with the approach she had decided to take much earlier, and curter than she would have preferred, answered, "I serve in the Dark Legion as a lieutenant under Grandmaster Luger, his father Moritori having fallen in battle with Tobor, the son of Hawking, long ago." Technically, it was not a lie as the word "lieutenant" was often used to refer to a deputy leader as much as an official rank, Moritori's status was accepted as deceased outside of the House of Dimitri, and all the same, Lien-Da had less interest in discussing Luger as her father than ever before. "I was testing out a new weapon that would atomize its targets when it suddenly burst after just one use, and the next thing I knew, I ended up in Robotropolis."

Trading glances with his friends, Rotor was the first to comment with, "The atomizing thing sounds about right, but aren't there more details?"

Bunnie agreed. "Yeah, sugah, don't ya have friends or family worryin' about ya back home?"

In response to Bunnie's probing, Lien-Da clenched her hands into fists and would have reacted poorly if someone had not noticed.

"Chill on the questions, buds," Sonic interjected while approaching Lien-Da and placing a comforting hand on her back. "I think we've learned enough and if Lien here isn't ready to talk about other stuff, we shouldn't force her to." Beaming a charming smile at the uncertain echidna, he added, "I trust her all the same."

Offput by Sonic's admittance, Lien-Da was rendered speechless and felt as if something about the hedgehog himself was drawing her in like a black hole.

"I concur," said Nicole, which reminded the Kommissar that she and Sonic were not the only ones there. The A.I. continued to say logically, "We can concern ourselves with matters both practical and personal another time. For now, I believe we should formally ask Lien-Da, if she would care to join us."

"I already made my decision much earlier, Nicole," the female echidna cut in once she found her voice. Adopting a more easygoing expression, she then said, "Given the circumstances, I believe cooperation between us would be most beneficial," turning to Sally, she held her right hand out and added, "if you will have me."

Seemingly well-receptive to the offer, Sally accepted the hand and shook with her own as she said, "We would be happy to have you fight with us, Lien, if you don't mind me addressing you as such."

Showing a knowing smile to Sonic, who had his own grin as well, the echidna replied, "I can live with that, Sally. You might learn some things from me in kind."

"I'm looking forward to it," Sally said in earnest. Breaking apart the handshake, she then declared, "In the meantime, gang, maybe you can help our newest member find a place to rest, while Nicole and I contact you know who."

"Who, Sally," Nicole asked in confusion, even though Lien-Da could guess the Princess was referring to the associate of her father's she mentioned earlier.

In response to the question, Sally showed an amused grin to her friends and remarked, "Who indeed!"

The other Freedom Fighters laughed at their field leader's words as she walked away elsewhere with Nicole in hand, leaving Lien-Da to ponder what prompted her new teammates into a humored riot.

Antoine was the first to recover from his laughing fit before saying, "Goodness, that never gets old."

"You said it, Antoine," Tails agreed, equally in good cheer.

Having a vague idea that she witnessed an inside joke play out, Lien-Da could only ask dryly, "Am I supposed to be worried about the words 'what, when, where, why, and how' then?"

In response, the Knothole Freedom Fighters laughed even harder, which did not answer Lien-Da's question, rhetorical though it was, at all.

"Ah'm sorry, Sugar-Lien," Bunnie attempted to apologize in the middle of her giggling craze.

"We promise to explain later," Rotor said, even as he failed to restrain his chuckles.

"I gotta ask Harv that when I have the chance," Sonic gasped as he tried to catch his breath.

"Harv, huh," Lien-Da ultimately commented with a drier look than beforehand.

[A]

It looks like I went further in-depth with Archie Sonic's echidna history as abridged by Lien-Da than I thought I would. I initially planned on including scenes that would have Sally meet with "he who must never be unmasked" and then march forward to the events of her miniseries, but I figured a little over six thousand words was enough for this chapter.

In any event, I felt encouraged to update An Atomizing Appearance after seeing a good review of it on FanFictionNet, so I hope you like it and that you do not mind the ways Bunnie and Antoine communicated as written. I had to listen to how Google Translate would pronounce English words in a French accent to make the latter work as best I can, and I handled Bunnie's cowgirl dialect in a way my gut told me to do it, so please go easy on how it was depicted.

Have no fear, I intend to make a third chapter and more to An Atomizing Appearance at some point in time, but for now, I will move along gradually. I do have multiple things I want to do, after all, as I am sure you can understand.