Note: Here's to another Pybro2 beta-read. Also, as this is going up shortly before, wish you all Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The next morning, Sonic woke up from his bed and went to the table room of the Diamond HQ. He found Lanolin awake, already preparing breakfast. Sonic noted her presence, "Morning Lanolin."

Lanolin nodded, "Morning Sonic."

Sonic stretched, almost forgetting to not do it with the Tail before it hit something, lightly tapping the ceiling. Lanolin had noticed, dreading it before he stopped, "Oh, right, stretching that is a bad idea."

Lanolin poked at Sonic about it, "You're really getting used to having that, huh?"

Sonic got blunt, "It's part of me now, but it will never be mine."

Lanolin was curious, "How so? It acts to your every whim, it's attached to you. In what way is it not yours?"

Sonic explained as he poked a cheek, "It's mine as much as this face. Tangle deserves it back and I will never forget that."

Lanolin smiled in understanding, "It's no wonder you have so many friends."

Sonic then asked about other matters, "Anyone else wake up?"

Lanolin nodded, "Silver went to attend to his garden again. Otherwise, no."

Sonic smiled, "Glad Silver's found a hobby."

Next out was Shadow. He quickly grabbed his own meal and began eating. Rouge followed shortly after. Sonic teased, "You look dog tired Shadow. You gonna wolf down your breakfast?"

Shadow revealed a Chaos Emerald, "Keep it up and I will Chaos Control out of here."

Sonic smirked confidently, "You're bluffing!"

Shadow did one to the table, smugly smiling as he simply stated, "Nope."

Sonic was a little annoyed, "Of course he can still do that…"

Rouge explained, "Don't get your panties in a twist, you did it too remember?"

Sonic was now very annoyed and blushing embarrassedly, "Rouge, stop reminding me I'm stuck as a girl!"

Rouge smirked back, "As soon as you agree to a girl's night out."

Sonic started wrapping himself in the tail as he loudly growled in embarrassed frustration.

Rouge asked Lanolin, "Does Tangle usually do that?"

Lanolin explained, "Only when sad."

Rouge smirked extra wide at that remark, "Oh, poor baby needs a bottle?"

Sonic snarked back, "Yeah, because I only use this tail like Tangle would."

Rouge kept up the wisecracking, "We saw you two. You make adorable sisters."

The tail wrapped tighter around him as he growled again. Shadow smirked in amusement at this.

Amy entered the room and, seeing the scene before her, was concerned, "Sonic, I'm worried you're getting too comfortable with her tail…"

Rouge broke out into a fit of laughter as Sonic groaned from inside Tangle's tail-burrito, "Maybe. But Rouge won't stop teasing me about this…"

Rouge prodded, "It's my form of showing respect. Kinda like you blue-gray."

Sonic asked Rouge, "Don't you have a gem to steal?"

Rouge glared, "Only one, and it's in Eggman's possession. How about we work towards retrieving it?"

Sonic unwrapped the tail and nodded, "Agreed."

Lanolin nodded, "Now that we're all here, let's head to Tails' place and hash out those details."

They all nodded. Sonic making one last request, "Could you contact Mighty for me? Need his help too." Lanolin nodded, making sure to let him know.

Tails had hooked up the mask to his computer for it to analyze before going to bed. He woke up early in the morning to get back to work. He found Tangle having taken Lanolin's form saying, "Now listen here, no fun allowed you got tha-" Right as she noticed Tails, she went back to normal. "Tails, what a surprise. What are you doing this early?"

Tails asked, "Do you have a problem with Lanolin?"

Tangle admitted, "She's my leader for a reason. Still wish she'd loosen up."

Tails shook his head, "I'll be working on that 'spy gear' you suggested. The Mask helped."

Tangle had a neutral expression, "I looked in it too." She sighed sadly, I'm sad I'll never meet her original team. Or her pre-traumaself.

Tails raised an eyebrow, "Okay. Now please be quiet while I work on it."

Tangle took on Whisper's form to imitate her friend's quiet voice/tone, "You got it Tails!"

She lost in her thoughts after doing that, looking at her friend's clawed hands, reassuring herself, Whisper, we will fix this!

Tails took much of the rest of the morning putting the device together. Tails worked to make it so that it fit in Tangle's ear, but also had a sight out to see whatever her eyes can see. Fortunately, he had Tangle around able to take her old form, so he asked, as she still had Whisper's form, "Tangle, I need you to be yourself again."

Tangle gave a thumbs up as she returned to her true form. Tails tested it. The footage showed the area in front of Tangle. He smiled, "We'll need Sonic to fully test it, but it's looking promising."

After another 10 minutes, that was when a knock came on the door. It was the Lanolin with the girls, Tails answering, "Glad to see you guys." They entered as Tails asked Sonic, "Could you try this on?"

Sonic smiles, "Sure thing!" Sonic let him put it on his ear. He tested it with one of Sonic's favorite songs, Sonic beginning to rock-out to the beat, even starting to use the tail like a pretend guitar. Once it stopped, everyone in the room was looking at him, making him feel very awkward. Sonic just shouted to Tails, "Uhhh…Good news Tails, it works."

Tangle teased him, "I do it for songs too." She stuck her tongue and winked, "You're taking after me."

Sonic had a dread filled expression, "Oh no…I need to get out of this body!"

Lanolin nodded, "Fortunately, that's what we're here for."

Tails quickly noted, "Wait, we need Knuckles too."

He went to wake Echidna, who was predictably grumpy to be awoken, "Tails, did you need to wake me up now?"

Sonic bluntly countered, "Buck up. You're not the one whose name's getting dragged through the mud!"

Knuckles shrugged, "Right."

Sonic then cut in before Lanolin could start the meeting, "So, Knuckles, you ready to start sparring?"

Knuckles smiled, "You bet!"

Another knock on the door came, upon answering, they found Mighty and Ray, "Hey again. You rang?"

Sonic smiled, "Hey Mighty, Knuckles and I were about to spar. Wanna join us?!"

Knuckles was dumbfounded, but went to give him a pat on the back, "Hey Mighty, it's been a while. How'd you get here?"

Ray gave a teasing explanation, "I ran into Sonic as Tangle. Mighty was totally crushing on him too."

Mighty frustratedly explained, "How was I supposed to know?!"

Knuckles then did a seductive eyebrow wiggle, "I don't blame you Mighty, Sonic makes a hot girl doesn't sh-"

He found himself grabbed by the mouth again and Sonic delivered his slingshot punch to his face, sending him flying out of Tail's house. Sonic bragged with smug narrowed eyes, "How's that for 'hitting like a girl'?"

Knuckles was a bit dazed, then he shook his head, "Not bad. But that was a cheap shot!"

Sonic kept up his smugness, "Says the 'hurhur ur a gurl' comedian. Geez, come up with something new already, Nipple-hands."

That infuriated Knuckles as Mighty and Ray tried very hard not to burst into laughter, "HOW DARE YOU!"

As he rushed over to deliver a punch, only to have it get caught by Mighty, "Not now you two, save it for the battlefield."

Tails also tapped Sonic's shoulder, "And before you go, I need to download Tangle into your phone."

Lanolin showed concern at this, "Are you sure you want to do that, Tangle?"

Tangle nodded and did a clenched fist with her tail to make clear, "We need our bodies back, Lanolin. If that means mentoring Sonic directly, I'll do it."

Lanolin nodded, "Best of luck, Tangle."

Sonic smiled, "She'll be with me."

Tails downloaded Tangle into the phone. Tangle tried speaking to Sonic speaking through the phone, "Hey everyone! Can you hear me?!"

Lanolin nodded, "Loud and clear!"

Tangle asked Tails, "How do I connect to the earpiece?"

Tails nodded, "Just need to pair it and…Bingo. Now try it!"

Tangle noticed a new view appear to her, she looked and found a switch to talk through it, "Does this count as talking to myself?"

Sonic giggled, "Yes it does. Ready Tangle?"

She replied, "Ready!"

As he ran outside, Tangle mused, "If I'm Tails' big sis now does that make us siblings, Sonic?"

Sonic thought about it and smirked, "Maybe." He then ran back out to Knuckles and Mighty, "Now let's get out there!"

As those three left, Lanolin was speechless, but shrugged. Then the wisps flew out and grabbed Whisper's mask, to which Shadow reluctantly agreed to take it back. Lanolin, watching, suggested, "I'm guessing you need training too."

Shadow reluctantly nodded, Rouge suggesting, "We always have GUN's shooting range."

Shadow agreed, Lanolin asking, "I need to go too."

Shadow glared, "Why?"

She elaborated, "In case we get called in by The Restoration."

Rouge and Shadow reluctantly agreed. Lanolin asked, "Do you want to go with us or Sonic, Tails and Amy?"

Tails shook his head, "Neither. I need to take Metal Sonic's body to Belle. We need every advantage we can get."

Lanolin pondered, "How would that work?"

Amy guessed, "Tangle could pilot it?"

Lanolin glared to the side, "There's a disaster waiting to happen."

Tails admitted, "Sure, but how else do we beat Sonic's powers wielded against us?"

The thought scared Lanolin, as she had been on the receiving end of it in the cave, "Fair point Tails. Call or text as needed!"

Tails winked as Amy waved them goodbye, the three groups now fully going their own ways.

Mighty led his friends to the clearing where Sonic had met him two days prior. Sonic noted, "This seems familiar."

Mighty nodded, "It should, it's where we reunited."

Tangle spoke, "Oh, I know this place. Jewel and I would practice swinging with her help."

Sonic smiled, "Heh, no kidding."

Tangle spoke to Sonic through the earpiece, "Sonic, you and Mighty could make a great power couple too…"

Sonic opened a text and wrote so Tangle could see, "Please don't. I had a nightmare about that..."

Tangle read it and was genuinely apologetic, "Sorry Sonic, we'll fix this!"

Sonic nodded. Ray asked, "What were you doing, Sonic?"

Sonic put the phone away, "Talking privately to Tangle."

Knuckles poked at him, "Keeping your naughty thoughts between you two, huh?"

Sonic rolled his eyes, "Yeah, totally. But we're not here to tease, we're here to fight!" Sonic took a fighting stance.

Mighty, however, asked Sonic a question, "Actually, Sonic, could I hold your phone?"

Sonic wasn't prepared for that request, "Why Mighty?"

Mighty blushed as he asked, "So I can talk to Tangle."

Sonic elbowed him with a wink, "Sure."

That flustered Mighty, "...Thanks, Sonic."

Tangle had no mouth but could almost be heard smirking, "Pleasure to talk, Mighty."

Sonic got back into a fighting position, tail making a hand and motioning Knuckles to come at him.

Knuckles happily complied, running at him. Tangle was watching, Sonic asking, "Tangle, any advice?"

Tangle said frankly, "Watching you fight first."

Sonic dodged, having learned from previous fights to not let the tail get grabbed. Knuckles tried but narrowly missed. Sonic then grabbed the area right behind his stop to launch his increasingly signature move as Tangle, the "Slingshot Punch". It found its mark again, sending Knuckles skidding across the ground.

Knuckles wiped his face, "That again? Credit where it's due, that hurts. But if that's your best…You're in trouble."

Sonic asked Tangle, "Thoughts Tangle?"

She agreed, "He's right Sonic. I badly want to try it. But…direct hand-to-hand combat isn't how I win fights."

Knuckles smirked, "Here we go again!" He rushed at Sonic, Tangle suggested, "Try a tail swipe!"

Sonic processed it, spinning and sweeping Knuckles' legs. It trips him, but then Sonic tries another anchor before the "Slingshot Punch", only to punch the tail on its anchor as he tries to launch. That hurts enough to throw Sonic off of the punch windup, Knuckles grabbing his waist. "Told you you're in trouble. Think Fast!" Knuckles then threw Sonic over the trees in the nearby forest.

Tangle guided, "Sonic, grab a tree with my tail!"

Sonic disputed, "Got it!" He grabbed one, using it to slow his descent, stopping just enough to release and land safely.

Tangle congratulated him, "Nice job, Sonic."

Sonic ran back to the battlefield, Knuckles respectfully nodding, "Good recovery."

Sonic prepared the attack again, and this time Knuckles grabbed the tail from the anchor point, whipping Sonic into an arc in order to slam him into the ground. Sonic panicked as he took the full force of the slam to the ground. Sonic took a moment to stand up, "What was that for, Knuckles?"

Knuckles was viciously blunt, "You keep trying that same trick. Yes, it hurts, but it's easy to interrupt. Why do you keep doing it?"

Mighty took a moment to talk to Tangle, "Yeah, why is that, Tangle?"

Tangle answered, "Interrupt the fight, it can't be fixed with sparring!"

Mighty ran in, "Stop!"

Knuckles and Sonic stopped, Knuckles asked, "What is it?"

Tangle went into detail, "Sonic, you need some more training. Knuckles and Mighty, how about you spar for a bit!"

Mighty smiled, "Yeah, it's been a while Knuckles, show me what you've learned!"

Knuckles grinned wide, "You got it!"

The two of them ran into the forest, Sonic asking, "You interrupted me. What am I doing wrong, Tangle?"

Tangle asked, "Did you ever practice fighting with my tail?"

Sonic started sweating, "Not really. I'm used to homing attacks and bouncing on enemies."

She facepalmed her digital form inside the phone, "No wonder you rely on that technique. But, that's why I'm here." Tangle sighed and suggested to Sonic, "See these trees? Try wrapping each one in a circle!"

Sonic ran around them as fast as possible, Tangle adding, "Now squeeze them!"

Sonic complied. Even compared to things he'd already done with it, this felt weird. But after doing that, he noticed squeeze marks on the tree. Sonic admitted, "Huh, nice trick!"

Tangle noticed a boulder nearby, "Wrap your tail around that!"

Sonic complied, Tangle adding, "Now lift it!"

To Sonic's astonishment, it did, Tangle finishing, "Now smack that bigger boulder with it!"

Sonic once again did as told, seeing the boulder shatter. Sonic took a moment to smile proudly, "Neat! But, this isn't my tail."

Tangle then chose to correct her body's unwilling occupant, "No, it's our tail!"

Sonic was a bit surprised to hear that, "What do you mean? This will always be your tail."

Tangle agreed, "Sure, but you've made it your own too. It's so cool seeing your speed-focused mindset using my tail. You have much to learn, young grasshopper. But I'm learning some things from you too!"

Sonic smiled, "Thank you Tangle. It will be returned, I promise!" Tangle appreciated the thought. Sonic asked, "What was that about 'much to learn'?"

Tangle further elaborated, "You don't have to throw yourself into danger constantly. Find ways to fight with my tail from a distance. Save that 'Slingshot punch' as a finisher or as my body's 'homing attack'." She then geeked out, "I'm so glad you taught me I can do that!"

Sonic nodded, "How about we go back and spar again?"

Tangle disagreed, "One last thing, use your learned mobility skills to rap as many trees in a minute!"

Sonic launched the tail to start, "On it!" He kept the tail Anchored to one tree, using hands and arms to keep the momentum and wrap them. By the time the minute was over, Sonic had wrapped 10 different trees. Tangle was impressed, "Not bad. Now give them a squeeze." Sonic did so, finding it so strenuous as to start panting.

"Didn't realize it took so much energy." Sonic admitted.

Tangle giggled, "It does, but you'll get used to it. This is very helpful against giant robots to lock them down!"

Sonic took a moment to relax, "Thank you Tangle. How about we go back to sparring?"

Tangle agreed, "Sounds like a plan."

Sonic came back, and the duo were giving it a big show, not taking it easy but not trying to break each other. Sonic shouted, "Hey guys!"

They stopped, "Ready for round two, Sonic?"

Sonic shook his head, "No, how about us now, Mighty!"

Mighty agreed, "You got it Sonic!"

Ray shouted, "Good luck guys!" Sonic left Ray the phone.

Mighty got ready to prepare a spindash, Tangle noting, "That's a huge opening, try 'Slingshot Punch' on that!"

Sonic did it, sending Mighty flying into a wall, "Oof. Interrupting my Spin dash, Sonic? Wow that-!" Sonic delivered a follow-up tail punch sending him further reeling. He finished the sentence, "-Was rude!"

Sonic bluntly confessed while walking up grinning smugly, "I fight fair, I lose."

Mighty nodded, "Understood." Mighty jumped at Sonic, which Sonic used the tail to deflect, Sending him back into the wall, "Interrupting every time I go into a ball. Clever."

Sonic taunted him, "Can't dodge when you can't see!"

Mighty ran up face to face, "Then let's fight up-close!"

The two fought in a battle of kicks and punches. Both deflecting and dodging masterfully, but eventually Sonic started taking more hits. Tangle reminded Sonic, "Don't forget your fifth limb!"

Sonic sheepishly admitted, "...Right." He jumped and wrapped Mighty in the tail. Once tight, Sonic slammed him in an arc, Sonic making sure he landed on his shell to minimize damage.

Mighty was impressed, "You learned a lot from Tangle, didn't you?"

Sonic smiled, "She knows her body best."

Mighty then got back up, still ready for more, "Ready for more?"

Sonic shook his head, "Nah. Let's head back to Tails'. We aren't here to needlessly tire each other."

As they headed back, Tangle had Sonic practice loops around branches, better simulating the arms of a big badnik. Knuckles and Ray were amused as Mighty found it and his talks with Tangle cute.

Shadow was at the gun range. He put on the mask reluctantly so he could listen to the Wisps. Green flew out to explain each wisps function. "So Pink wisp is-" But Shadow had already fired her trigger. Shadow tested it and noted the result: scratched metal. These floors were built tough, so Shadow knew that could do some serious damage.

Green was a little surprised, and continued, "Okay, now for Cyan, you trigger that-" But Shadow already fired the wisp. Once it got back, Green was frustrated, saying, "That's a full shot. Try some partial blasts now."

Shadow frustratedly spoke from behind the mask, "Maybe tell me that first." He tried it, taking multiple shots at the body target. Shadow noted it for later.

Green went on to the next wisp, "For Rocket, DON'T FIRE RECKLESSLY!" Shadow nearly had pulled that trigger before being shouted at. Green continued, "Keep your distance, the blast radius with them is huge." Shadow fired it far away, seeing it for himself.

Green started, "As for b-" Shadow had already triggered it, "Oh, right, you used that already."

Blue wisp flew out and requested, "Please stop using me as your end argument button."

Shadow reluctantly agreed, "Understood." He then took a moment to test the power of the hammer.

Then blue flew out, "Lastly, green's isn't a weapon but no less important. Allows for floating down safely like a parachute."

Shadow tested it out just to see what that looks like. The wisps flew back in and he took a good look at each function of the Variable Wispon, making sure to remember each wisp's use, "That was fast. Now…" Shadow began testing out various combinations of techniques, such as Chaos Control into Hammer, a vantage point, behind cover, and sniping from far away.

Rouge and Lanolin were watching, Rouge snarking at how quick the demo was, "That's it? That was fast."

Lanolin kept her wit, "Helps when he has fire-arm experience."

Rouge winked, "I can tell we'd make a great team."

Lanolin dismissed Rouge with clear annoyance on her face, "Keep dreaming."

Amy and Tails had entered restoration HQ, delivering Metal Sonic's body to Belle. Belle greeted them, "Oh, hi you two. What brings you here?"

Tails explained, "This." Amy pulled out Metal Sonic.

Belle was horrified, "Oh sawdust, what are you doing with…Him?"

Amy then brought Belle up to date, "Metal Sonic stole Sonic's body, Tangle was left stuck in it. We need you to repair it."

Belle was alarmed, hands on her face, "Is Tangle still alive?!"

Tails quickly reassured her, "She's fine. Just digitized and freed from that body."

Belle gave a digital sigh, "That's a relief. Where is she now?"

Tails answered up front, "Helping Sonic learn her body's abilities. But, can you please repair Metal Sonic?"

Belle clenched her teeth, "…I'll do my best."

Tails and Amy waved goodbye, "Thank you Belle! We owe you one. As will Tangle!"

Belle waved as they left, "Goodbye!"

Before Tails and Amy could head home, the 3 groups got an important message from Jewel, "Attention All Restoration Members: 'Sonic' has been spotted in Central City!"