Note: Here's to the latest beta-read by Pybro2.
Tails was shocked, "Woah, how did you do that?"
The mechanic smiled as he explained, "Schematics for the upgrade existed in the robot's subroutines. Just took some time and the right parts and blam! Here it is!"
Lanolin curiously asked, "That seems expensive, where'd you get the funding for it?"
Belle scratched her head, "GUN funding helped."
Lanolin paused for a moment, "They weren't kidding about helping us..." She then pinched her forehead before shaking her head, "And I was almost looking forward to a silent Tangle too…"
Ray had overheard and pressed, "You dislike Tangle that much. She seems so fun though!"
Lanolin frowned, "Maybe if you don't have to deal with her regularly, or in stereo!"
Tails took offense on his brother's behalf, "Sonic is not Tangle. Why do you say that?"
Lanolin glared sideways, "No offense, but all I heard with them around is Tangle and Tangle but sassy. *sigh* At least Neo-Metal can shapeshift." Then Lanolin had a horrifying realization, "She's going to abuse that, isn't she."
Belle glared to the side at the comment too, "...Definitely."
Shortly thereafter, Jewel gave notice to their group, "Attention Diamond Cutters, Tails, and friends, come to the meeting room. I received a disturbing message…"
Shortly after Tails fled Scrapnik, Eggman's first boat arrived. His robots carried him onto the boat, which had Sage floating about. She looked at his current hedgehog body and thought, "Father, wake up! Do we have a taser?" A robot brought one over and launched it at him. This shocked him successfully awake.
He spoke, "Ugh…I'll never get used to having this shrill voice! It's so…infantile."
Sage looked at him, "You'll always be father to me."
Eggman nodded a bit somberly, "Thank you, Daughter." Then he realized, "Wait, Daughter! What are you doing here?!"
Sage looked concerned, "I saw you refer to schematics of Mecha Sonic and and E-117 Sigma. I knew you had to be doing that for a reason and assumed you'd want to set up a new base here."
Eggman chuckled, "Brilliant thinking daughter." He next asked Sage, "Do you have our prisoners?"
Sage looked sadly, "The hedgehog escaped. Teleported out of our handcuffs and terrorized our transport bots. I'm sorry father!"
Eggman shrugged, "And…What about my body?"
Sage froze in horror, She looked at her father somberly, "Oh no! I forgot about that! I was too excited to see your past creations!Sorry father…"
In vitriolic rage, Eggman shouted, "YOU WHAT?!!!!" He began levitating a nearby egg pawn and crushing him slowly into a pile of metal and threw it against the wall with his psychic powers, "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH YOU'VE JEOPARDIZED MY PLANS?!!!!" The duo of Orbot and Cubot entered the room as he shouted, to which he asked, "ORBOT, CUBOT, WHY DID YOU LET HER FORGET MY BODY?!!!! I DEMAND AN EXPLANATION!!!!"
Cubot was confused, "And why would I take orders from a hedge-WOAH!!"
Eggman then used his psychic powers to smack him into the ground for his insubordination, Orbot telling him, "Cubot, that's obviously Eggman. Why do you think he'd use a decoy robot to replace him?"
Cubot spoke in the midst of his constant slamming into the ground, which was leaving dents in the metal flooring of this ship, "YOU! *SMASH* DIDN'T! *SMASH* TELL! *SMASH* US! *SMASH* ANYTHING!"
Eggman pondered these words for a moment as he briefly stopped smashing Cubot into the ground, "What was that Cubot?"
Orbot followed, "Dreadfully sorry sir, but he is right. You kept us in the dark you'd done…this. With how much you hate hedgehogs and your impressive decoy, how were we supposed to know your true body was imprisoned?"
Cubot added, "So…wouldn't that make this Sage's fault?"
Sage looked distraught at this, knowing she'd failed her father and witnessed this display of abuse to Cubot, she begged, "FATHER! I'm so sorry! I promise I won't make that mistake again! I'll do anything you want, just tell me!"
Eggman still had active palms ready to lift something else, but took a deep breath and deactivated that power, "It's fine daughter. We'll find a way to make this work, I promise."
She flew over to hug her father, "Thank you daddy!"
Eggman met the hug with one of his own, "You're welcome, daughter."
Orbot glared to the side and folded his arms as he tapped a finger until it got Eggman's attention, "That's…awfully forgiving of you…Boss."
Cubot agreed, "We'd have been thrown into the trash if we'd screwed up this bad!"
Eggman, to his annoyance, recognized they had a point, "...Orbot, Cubot, we'll talk later if you want to prove yourselves to…ugh…'daddy'. But, until then, you are dismissed!" The two robots scampered off. He then told Sage, "You too are dismissed. I will call upon you later!"
He proceeded to call two familiar faces: 'Sonic' and Mimic. 'Sonic' immediately struck up a conversation, "Nice to finally talk again, 'father'. Still feel fine being what you hate most?"
He nipped that point in the bud immediately, "As they say, if you can't beat them, join them."
'Sonic' glared to the side in annoyance, "Whatever. You run this joint, I'm here to serve you."
Mimic grumbled in embarrassment, "Thanks for saving me from capture, Doctor Eggman."
Eggman smirked, "Don't mention it. You scratch my back, I scratch yours. You understand how it works by now!" He went on to gloat, "I really owe you. I don't appreciate that mafioso wannabe taking my stuff. But you graciously returned to serve me after I found you."
Mimic spat, "You've made your point. Now, why are you calling?"
Eggman smiled, "A brief discussion to plan our next moves of course. Since my identity has now been exposed, I can't freely infiltrate that dumb 'Restoration' any more. However, since we have me and 'Sonic' and you can shapeshift, and I now have footage of them welcoming 'me' into their ranks…I have an idea. I'd recommend getting some spare gloves to hide your hands, you're Shadow now."
Mimic noted and immediately took Shadows form, "Understood, Doctor."
Eggman prepared a camera, prepared to tunnel the broadcast through VPNs to hide the origin of the video, and began recording a video…
An audio broadcast was aired to the world. No-one was sure how or why it had such reach, but it showed 3 of the greatest heroes their world had ever known: Silver the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Shadow the Hedgehog.
Sonic began, "Hello World, Sonic the Hedgehog here! It's been a while since the world has been threatened, hasn't it!"
Shadow spoke, "Get on with it already, Sonic!"
Sonic rolled his eyes, "Geez, always the spoilsport, huh Shadow!"
Then announced Silver, "Anyways, hi everyone, I'm Silver the Hedgehog! I'm from the future and a new calamity has fallen in my time. It was started by the Restoration, which has fallen to corruption so extreme, they've taken in Eggman! EGGMAN!" The broadcast showed footage of him at Restoration HQ, "The one who last took over the world! And they're getting support from GUN! Maybe you remember them doing stuff like this:"
On screen was footage of a GUN soldier shooting Maria and then another of the infamous "GUN Truck incident".
Silver continued, "If we don't do something about this fast, the world will fall to chaos once again! We need your help: If you see anyone help the evil Eggman, the GUN Empire, or have knowledge of the whereabouts of any Chaos Emeralds, we demand-I mean humbly ask you to let us know at the below places." The screen then showed a number and email.
Shadow announced with sternness, "And don't delay. They could be planning to conquer the world any moment!"
Sonic then announced back, "Well, that was rude you guys. You all know I'm the one they love-I mean trust the most. But, best of luck everyone, we'll come through like we always have! Goodbye!"
Eggman smiled after they'd finished their recording, "Job well done guys."
'Sonic' looked at Eggman in annoyance, "You didn't have to hog all the broadcast time. You know I'm who they most wanted to hear!"
Eggman dismissed it, "I'm the smart one here. You two would have embarrassed yourselves!"
Mimic rolled his eyes, "I'm a master of disguise, I can play anyone!"
'Sonic' side-glanced, "What now then, master?"
Eggman grinned with a signature maniacal grin, "Simple, continue our search and a charm offensive in between. We're the 'heroes' of this world, we'll have them eating from our fingertips."
Mimic suggested, "Easy for you to say! I'm a copycat, not a power copier! How do you expect me to pose as Shadow, especially since your attempt to trap my former comrade in his body failed!"
Eggman smirked and raised an eyebrow confidently, "Don't worry: I got that covered. Go to the base where I killed your old team. I'll make sure you get your own pair of air shoes."
Mimic looked revolted, "You…Seriously expect me to learn how to work those? Are you insane?! He powers those himself doesn't he!"
Eggman sighed in frustration, "Correct. But, I can power them with my special egg-tech batteries. They work as well as his and last the whole day on one charge!"
Mimic frustratedly snarked in his head, Working for Eggman is one big occupational hazard. Why didn't I go flee somewhere far away, I can pose as a human too!...Barely. But, lacking a better option, he agreed, "Understood."
Eggman noticed the setting sun, "It's getting late, we'll join 'Sonic' on the continents in the morning!"
The six in Station Square left Twinkle Park. Amy was holding the KOed Kit, "Now, where did Sonic go?"
Knuckles punched his fists together, "It's getting late, we better search fa-"
Rouge noticed a broadcast notification on her phone, as did Tangle from inside the one she was stuck in. Rouge demanded, "Wait gals & Knuckles. We got a situation…"
As they watched, they were all horrified at what they watched and heard, "There is no way those were the real Hedgehogs!" Declared Amy.
Rouge taunted her, "Oh, says the girl who can't seem to tell hedgehogs apart."
This caused Amy to blush in frustration, "Now is not the time, Rouge!"
Trip came to her defense, "Leave Amy alone! I barely met the gray one, but who was that other black one?"
Rouge pondered it for a moment, "That gray one must be Eggman. The other one looks like Shadow, but I promise you it isn't."
Tangle spoke up, "Must be Mimic. He's a shapeshifter." Then came a call to Tangle from Jewel, "Uh, guys, Jewel's calling me! We'd better listen!"
Jewel's voice came on, and she looked very depressed and defeated, "I'm sad to have to announce this, but we need you all to return to Restoration HQ immediately. You likely know why."
Sticks was dismissive, "No, we can't leave. Sonic's gone missing!"
Rouge countered, "I'm not thrilled to say this, but that Tenrec is fast. She could have taken him literally anywhere…"
Trip agreed with Sticks, "But…He's helped me, and others. How can we leave him now!"
Knuckles thought about it too, "Is she as fast as Sonic?" Rouge nodded, Knuckles sighing sadly, "Then I have to agree. We can't risk losing daylight to a wild-goose chase. Sonic will show up again…He has too."
Jewel interrupted the discussion to add, "Also, we may have to begin enforcing island checkpoints. Eggman's put a humongous target on our backs and Mimic could be anyone at anytime."
From the background, Eggman's voice could be heard crying, "I'm so sorry! I should have never let that robot catch me! I'm a failure!"
Jewel looked behind, "Stop that! You're not the culprit. Sorry guys, Silver's taken this situation hard. And, Tangle, you'll be glad to know Metal Sonic's body is ready and even upgraded to Neo-Metal. Hope to see you all soon! Jewel out!"
Tangle was smiling from within the phone, "Ohhh…cool! Look forward to that. But, what about Sonic? We can't just leave him out there. Who knows what Surge did to him? But, Jewel's my friend and seems distressed…I don't know what to do. What are your thoughts, Amy?"
Amy gave it some deep thought, the idea of leaving the love of her life out to potentially rot did not thrill her. But, if Surge wanted to, he probably was already doing so. Reluctantly, Amy agreed, "I agree with Rouge and Knuckles. Being the leader is hard and a situation this bad requires all hands on deck. We need to head back. Sorry Tangle, Trip, and Sticks."
The three of them looked somberly, Tangle closing her eyes in sadness, "I understand."
Trip sighed and leaned forward in guilt, "So this is it. Hope Sonic forgives us later."
Sticks patted her new friend on the back, "Don't worry too much, Sonic has a way of showing up when he's most needed."
Then Kit woke up, "Surge? Surge?! Where's Surge and what did you all do to her?!"
Amy candidly explained as she put him down, "We don't know, she ran off with Sonic."
Kit frowned, "I'm off to find her!" And so he sprinted away.
All the group were concerned before taking a deep sigh of relief, Rouge speaking for them all, "Glad it's not another fight at least…"
Amy nodded with the others and spoke, "Tell me about it."
The 6 friends then went back to the plane and were about to fly back to the HQ.
As Amy's arrived back at HQ, Amy had one priority: Get Tangle uploaded into the restored Neo-Metal. Tangle was unsure how to feel about this, but was eager to finally be able to move again on her own. She had been silent about it so as to not distress friends, but her claustrophobia was absolutely in effect with being stuck in a phone. So, she was eager to do this.
They arrived with Belle to the robotic body of Neo-Metal Sonic, asking, "Are you ready Tangle?"
Tangle proudly declared, "You know it!"
Lanolin, watching, sighed, "Just get this over with."
Whisper nodded. And so the upload began. Tangle couldn't describe the next sensation, it was like she was being disassembled and reassembled into a new place. Fortunately, it didn't last very long, as she was now in a blank dark…She couldn't tell what. Tangle started to panic, Did it go wrong?! Am I-? But right then she suddenly saw her vision appearing. She could see everyone in the room: Amy, Lanolin, and Whisper in what she could only assume was even more hidden pain than normal.
She knew she was substantially taller than all of them. She looked at her new hands, trying to get them moving, and shortly enough, they did. It disturbed her a bit. Metal Sonic was creepy enough. But the design of Neo-Metal was next-level. She closed her digital eyes to show she was not some egomaniacal robot.
Lanolin pondered with a hand to her chin, "She seems to be awake. But strangely not-talkative."
Then Tangle spoke, "I'm processing being a robot."
Whisper suggested to her digitized friend, "You know Neo-Metal can shapeshift, right?"
Lanolin glared daggers at her comrade. Tangle, however, happily noted that with somehow gaining red-stars in Neo-Metal's eyes, "I CAN?!" She tried it, initially dissolving into a goo-like substance, and from it she took on a form resembling her true lemur self. She looked at herself, and while she knew she looked like a perfect replica of who she should be, it was very clear that she still didn't feel quite right.
Still, it was close enough and so she ran over to hug her friend, somehow crying obviously robotic shapeshifting tears, "Whisper, I'm so sorry. I dragged you into this mess and let Eggman do this to you. Will you forgive me?"
Whisper blushed at the lemur's hug, hugging back, "Thank you Tangle. I've missed seeing you."
Tangle was confused, "But, you saw me yesterday."
Whisper smiled as she backed away to marvel at her friend, "But not the real you! I'm embarrassed I ever confused Sonic for you. He may share your energy, but he could never match your excited glee. You're one of a kind, and I'm happy to see you matched with your true face."
Tangle cried tears of joy, "Thank you Whisper." Then Tangle tried stretching her replicated tail, and it stopped near immediately, "But I'm not quite myself yet."
Amy walked over to Tangle and put a hand on her shoulder, "We'll make this right Tangle."
Lanolin followed from behind to put one on her other shoulder, "We're one step closer to that at least."
They heard a voice they had all long associated with malice come from across the room, "Oh, you two are so sweet. I'm ecstatic for you!"
Whisper opened her eyes in instinctive anger, scaring the poor Silver stuck as Eggman. He reacted with tears, "Oh, I'm sorry Whisper." He broke down crying yet again, something he had done more than his entire life up to this point. I deserve this.
Whisper put hands over her mouth, "Silver, I'm sorry." She cried again, Why do I keep hurting my friends?
Tangle, however, read her friend like a book and spoke, "Stop that." Whisper looked a bit shocked, "Eggman did this. We're all adjusting to this. You didn't mean any harm.
Lanolin nodded, "Agreed. We'll get through this. But for now, we need to get to sleep."
Tangle however, shook her head, "Maybe you can, but I'm a robot who don't need no sleep. I'm going back to Station Square to begin searching for Sonic."
Whisper wondered, "And how will you do that?"
She shapeshifted back to Neo-Metal's form, "I'm Metal Sonic now, remember?" She then started his engine and immediately hit a wall.
Lanolin smirked in amusement, "Saw that coming."
Tangle annoyedly accepted the remark, "Okay, maybe once I'm outside first.
And so she walked out of the HQ, but Jewel caught her first. "Tangle?"
Tangle spoke to her longest time friend, "Yes Jewel? Are you gonna stop me from going?"
Jewel shook her head, "No, we need Sonic back. I just wanted to give you your phone. Got it fixed up by a phone repairman."
Tangle lit up, "OH!…Thank you Jewel. Call me any time you need me!" Tangle lit the engines again as she spoke "See you later!"
So Jewel waved her friend goodbye, taking a deep breath as she knew she'd be sleeping in HQ once again for safety. Wonder where Sonic is. She pondered before finally getting to bed.
It was the next morning, he woke up. Whatever had happened to him was a blur. All he could remember was shocks and more shocks. He got out of bed, and realized he was not only wearing clothes, but that they felt familiar? Weird. But he put aside that thought for later. Next he wondered, Now, what is my name? Could have sworn it started with an S…
Cream then barged in, "Hey, Miss Tangle."
That announcement had alarmed the Lemur, Did that girl just call me Miss Tangle?! He panicked as he looked down at his(?) chest. It looked…strange. He pulled at the sleeveless top and beneath the masculine chest fur he saw breasts that looked like they were anything but his. Still, it certainly did look and felt like they belonged to…him?! But, that didn't make sense. Speaking of buts, did that mean-?! Oh no please not that…Anything but that!
Cream was watching intently to try and parse the expressions on the lemur's face and body, "Uh…Miss Tangle. Are you all right?"
But this question was ignored. The alarmed lemur then looked at his(?) butt, and it confirmed her worst fears. There was a very long and stretchy tail back there. That was pretty nifty. But, there was nothing male to her. Boyish, perhaps, but this body was verifiably female. She freaked out even worse as she wrapped the tail around herself, I could have sworn I was a boy…Oh cruel world, why do you play tricks on me?! The tail wrapping grew tighter for a few moments until she accepted her fate and depressedly groaned. The shocked lemur asked the rabbit, trying to hide the pain of this revelation, "Uh, what was my name again? I can't seem to remember anything right now…"
Gemerl clarified for the gender-confused lemur, "TANGLE THE LEMUR. IS THERE SOMETHING WRONG MISS?"
She denied it as she grumbled from in the tail, "No. Just…confused is all."
Gemerl tilted his head having registered the statement, "ARE YOU ABSOLUTELY SURE?."
She spoke from inside the tail, "Really, Gemerl, it's fine." She then unwrapped herself. In a desire to rediscover more about who she truly was, given her limited memory had failed her catastrophically, she asked the rabbit, "Could you tell me what you know about me?"
Cream gave a courtesy nod, "Oh…Miss Whisper told me so much about you! You're sweet, kind, fearless, excitable, love adventure, self-sacrificing, and tough! I'm thrilled to meet you!"
The lemur thought about what she had been told, Sounds right to me. She noted aloud, "I can recall that name, but can't quite place her face right now." The lemur shrugged, "Ah well. As for now…I need some excitement to get my mind off my troubles. Cream, are you ready to join me on an adventure?"
Cream's eyes lit up, "That sounds fun!"
Gemerl was confused, "WHAT TROUBLES?!"
'Tangle', however, was having none of it as she put hands on the back of her head, "I don't like dwelling on the past: I prefer living in the present. And in that present, I'm just a girl who loves adventure." She gave a wink, thumbs up, tail thumbs up, and grin. Then she ceased her pose as she took another look around and pondered, "Now I wonder what Big would want to eat this morning." She snarked, "I'm guessing fish."
Cream winked, "Guess we'll find out Miss Tangle."
The female duo began to run out excitedly, eagerly awaiting whatever breakfast would come. Gemerl however flew into 'Tangle''s path before she could leave, "HOW DO YOU KNOW OUR NAMES?!"
'Tangle' pondered on that for a very brief moment before shrugging, "Have the gift, I guess." And so she then continued running out.
Gemerl, however, noted this weird development, NEW DIRECTIVE: KEEP AN EYE ON 'TANGLE' FOR HINTS OF ANYTHING OFF ABOUT 'HER'. AND TALK TO BIG ABOUT THIS LATER.
As they ran out to Big, he was grilling what else but some Fish over the campfire, "Good morning you two. How are you this morning?"
Cream smiled, "Doing great Big!"
'Tangle' then looked at Big's tail and her own back and forth, commenting, "Hey, we nearly have matching tails!" Tangle then glared confidently as she demonstrated proudly, "Probably can't stretch like mine though!"
Big shrugged, "Everybody's different. Such is life."
'Tangle' mused, "Such a simple guy. I like that about you Big." She ran over to hug him, using the tail as well, "Always there no matter how chaotic life gets."
Big raised an eyebrow, "Have we met?"
'Tangle' admitted while getting comfortable in his fluff, "I have no idea!"
Big was blushing in confusion and asked, "Uh, could you release me please? A girl I don't know hugging me is weird."
'Tangle' backed off apologetically, "Sorry."
As Big finished cooking the fish and split it up, they began eating. Big asked his recovering new friend, "What brings you out here, Tangle?"
She just shrugged, "I don't remember what I was doing besides getting zapped by some girl. Whatever it was, I'm sure it wasn't too important!"
Gemerl pressed, "HOW CAN YOU BE SO SURE?"
'Tangle' scratched the back of her head with an uneasy grin and closed-eyes, "No use crying over spilt milk."
Cheese was a bit confused while Cream nodded, "You're even more like Mr. Sonic than I thought." That name rang a loud bell in 'Tangle''s mind, but before she could ask anything, Cream then squee'd, "How did your date with him go by the way?"
That caught the lemur off guard, blushing awkwardly, "Uhhh…What?"
Cream, however, being a young but energetic romantic, couldn't help herself, "Oh…Right, amnesia. But you two have so much in common!"
That got 'Tangle' curious, "How so?"
Cream gushed further, "Same love for adventure, same eagerness to help friends, and more. Regain your memories and you'll understand, trust me."
'Tangle' mused to herself, I don't fully remember this 'Sonic' fellow, but he sounds way past cool!
Big announced to the girls, "Fish is ready!"
And so they ran over to eat. As they finished, 'Tangle' thanked him, "Thanks for breakfast, Big!"
Big chuckled, "No problem!...So what now?"
Then 'Tangle' declared once they finished and cleaned up, "Is it even a question! It's adventure time!"
Cream cheerfully agreed, "Sounds great Miss Tangle!"
And so the two began heading into the forest. But, before Big could follow, Gemerl put a hand on Big's back, who looked around to ask, "What is it Gemerl?"
Gemerl confided his concern, "I DETECT SOMETHING OFF ABOUT TANGLE. 'SHE' SEEMED TO HAVE A COMPLETE MELTDOWN WHEN CREAM CALLED HER 'MISS TANGLE'."
Big shrugged, "She was hurt bad. Let's give her time."
Gemerl reluctantly nodded, "UNDERSTOOD." So the 4 headed off, sure to have an exciting time.
May 11, 2024 Update: replacing "Ms." With "Miss" and other small updates
