Disclaimer - I do not own sonic or any other characters. They are property of SEGA and anything sonic the hedgehog affiliated with it.
As the sun rose over Mobius a few days later, its light reflected off of a clear dome of energy. The force field that encased the city of New Mobotropolis was once again operational. Now being run by a team of technicians, with Tails and Rotor managing them. Fortunately, none of the power stations were damaged during the attack. All they had to do was restart each station, which went off without a problem. But the inhabitants were still stirred up for obvious reasons. For the first time since New Mobotropolis was built, the attack a few days ago was the first time the city's force field had went down ever…
And to a larger extent, the first time they had ever been attacked in the city by Eggman. The damage was catastrophic, and they still had a long way to go before everything that had been damaged was rebuilt. After Eggman was defeated the citizens wasted no time voicing their concerns to the princess…every day...
Even right now at Castle Acorn guards surrounded the castle and Sally as she addressed the citizens in the Royal press room. Cameras flashed, and it was noisy as reporters begged for their questions to be answered. Though the many Royal guards in the room made sure everybody stayed a safe distance away from Princess Sally.
With a frown on her face, Sally stood at a podium glancing around the room looking to answer reporter's questions as best she could. She pointed at a reporter in the middle of the room.
A frustrated yellow female reporter cat yelled "Why was there no warning? There's always a warning!"
Sally sweated. Her face held upset but she grabbed the microphone in front of her and pulled it closer "For reasons I cannot disclose, I can only say a horrible accident has happened to NICOLE."
The entire crowd and the news crew filming it, and whoever was watching gasped in shock. NICOLE was common knowledge, as without her they never would have survived Eggman at any point. The citizens were quite fond of Nicole as well. She was always sporadically spotted around the city checking it. Sometimes Nicole would materialize in the middle of a public area or any public area in the city. The news that something bad had happened to Nicole made everyone even more distressful.
"What happened!" a male reporter blurted out; a green feathered duck. His outburst cut everyone else off and the room briefly went quiet and all eyes landed on Sally.
Sally apprehensively responded with a frown "I'm sorry I cannot tell you now…I have to get to work getting preparations to repair the city. Thank you for your time."
Sally swiftly turned around and walked to her left, and a guard opened a door for her to walk through. The reporters went into an uproar at her response, but the guards kept them under control as the door shut behind her. Once safely away from the people of the city Sally let her body loosen. She glanced behind herself watching the guards close the door and hearing all the noise from the press room get muffled. Her hand gripped the nearest wall that led to the main hall of the castle. She sighed closing her eyes as she walked down the marble floors of the hall she was in. She couldn't let them know what happened to Nicole. The only people who knew of Nicole's physical existence were people who worked for the New Mobotropolis government. People like Sierra and the scientist and those who worked in the castle. And them obviously…
The people that had seen her at the school may have thought that it was computer Nicole walking around. If the citizens found out what Nicole did they would become hysterical. They knew Nicole was the only thing between them and Eggman. That and she had always protected the city. If they knew she wasn't around anymore…well she didn't want to think about that…
They would also ridicule Nicole. That's not to say the Freedom Fighters weren't though either…
The Freedom Fighters were highly upset at what Nicole had done and the damaged she had caused. Sally shook her head; this was too much to think about right now. She opened her eyes with a frown on her face as she walked into the main hall looking like a wreck, and took a seat in a random chair near the wall near her. It was just as noisy in the main hall with guards escorting criminals around and castle employees moving papers around all the desks. Guards ran pass her on the giant red carpet draped across the middle of the floor throwing orders at each other. She closed her eyes again drowning out all the noise around her. Even with all these things on her mind she still thought of him. Then she smiled and the loud voices of the other people in the main hall were completely drowned out.
Whenever she thought of Sonic it was easy to get lost in her imagination. Her thoughts about him eventually drifted to her recent breakup with him. She had asked Sonic to stop fighting again and join her and be by her side, but Sonic turned her down yet again...
He claimed he did not want to be royalty, and she had admitted she had overreacted a bit. Their little argument not long ago which had led to this little bump in their relationship wasn't bad. But there was a core difference keeping them apart. And since this was the second time she had essentially asked him to get married, she felt regret because of things that had happened in the past between them…so many things she couldn't count them…
But somehow they had pushed forward, and she had been slowly inching closer and closer back to Sonic by just being friendly with him. Sally's surroundings came back to her, and her eyes shifted around the room. She bit her lip...maybe a little flirting too…
Then she grinned and got up from her seat and walked over to a random secretary sitting in the sea of desk sitting at her desk typing into a computer.
The female squirrel stopped writing immediately and stood up and bowed to her "Yes Princess!"
"Have Sonic sent to my office, tell him it's important." Sally said with a smile, and she nodded and walked away. The secretary blinked in surprise and left to find Sonic...
Three floors up from where Sally currently was, Rotor, Nicole, Tails, and Sonic were in the main control room. Tails and Rotor had gathered up whoever they could with any computer knowledge, even if they weren't programmers. They needed a full staff of people to run the city's computers now, not to mention having enough people to rotate. The technicians couldn't work twenty-four hours. The ones that didn't know much about computers were being trained. Twelve technicians sat around computers while Tails and Rotor guided them.
One of the techies sitting on the far right was not paying attention though. He lost his concentration when he saw Sonic enter the room, followed by Nicole. His thoughts began to scramble seeing this. He was told that something bad happened to Nicole, and that she was not operational anymore. Yet there she was not ten feet away; she stood behind Sonic hiding.
But he knew that couldn't be because Nicole was a computer program. He had even seen Nicole a few times, one time she materialized then de-materializing at a restaurant while he was with his girlfriend. As these thoughts ran through his head he felt someone tap his shoulder. He jumped in shock to see Tails shaking his head in disappointment behind him.
"Initialize an array." Tails said with a frown.
The techie blinked a few times then turned back to his keyboard and typed feverishly. Tails watched as he wrote four values of type int, then insert the brackets and waited for the array. Tails rubbed his chin nodding silently in agreement.
"Now access the values." Tails said raising an eyebrow.
Rotor looked up from one of the tech trainee's computers and noticed Sonic and Nicole had just walked in the room.
Rotor walked over with a halfhearted smile "Hey guys! What brings you by?"
Sonic frowned crossing his arms "I need to know if either of you can watch Nicole for a while? I have to help with some of the cleanup of the city."
"No can do Sonic, Tails and I have are hands full since..." Rotor looked at Nicole, and she looked back at him confused still hiding behind Sonic "…The computers are down so I can't leave here anyway. I have to be here every day all the time in case something goes wrong. Plus Eggman has been right back to trying to hack us again already! I haven't even set the security protocols yet." Rotor said with a frustrated face.
Sonic sighed in defeat as his ears bent back and his face held frustration as well "Alright..."
Tails was done with his tech trainee for the moment and turned around "Raise your hand if you KNOW what you're doing." Tails said looking around the room at the tech trainees.
Every tech trainee kept their hands lowered, it wasn't every day that any of them would be working on such a huge network. They had no idea of the in's and outs of it as Tails and Rotor did.
Tails smirked "That's what I thought…you!" he pointed at a techie in the middle of the room "Let's check area two of the force field, see its levels and see if they need adjusting."
Sonic uncrossed his arms looking slightly less frustrated "Well let me get out of your hair Rotor." he turned to look at Nicole, turning to leave and Nicole quietly followed "Let's go."
Rotor nodded at them and walked back over to his newly fashioned desk and picked up his mug and sipped his drink. He watched Nicole follow Sonic out of the room, and he felt a little angered. He would not lie, what Nicole did was amazing but also caused a lot of damage. She had let Eggman attack the city putting everyone in danger so she could do her plans…
And it put him in a very stressful position. He was now in charge of her position…which was running New Mobotropolis…
The very thought was daunting…
He was now responsible for the security of the city, the force field, and all the technologies the city ran on. It was too much to count…
The amount of things Nicole did to run the city was much more than any living being could handle. He knew there was no way he was going to be able to run all the things Nicole did…
He leaned back in his new black fancy office chair thinking of some way he could get out of this huge responsibility. When Nicole was a computer she did ninety nine percent of the work, all he had to do was ask Nicole, and she would do the rest.
He also thought about taking another crack at the files from the future. He couldn't take a look at it anytime today though. Rotor rubbed his temples, he felt anger towards her because of what she did and not the reasons she did it. He dipped his head back and guzzled the rest of his drink and sat it on his desk, his face full of frustration. It was going to be a long day…
Sonic and Nicole walked out of the main control room, and to the elevator which they rode three floors down to the main hall. They walked through the main hall near the back exit of the castle and Sonic contemplated how his day was going to go with Nicole tagging along. He might not even be able to help with the clean up today; the citizens could not see Nicole for obvious reasons. Which would mean he would be alone with her all day again.
Lucky for him Nicole slept here at the castle. He stopped near a few offices and turned to look at Nicole, and she looked around herself as if she was lost.
Nicole did kind of act like she did when she was a computer…
She didn't have all the same mannerisms, but they were really close. She was very quiet, but she could still speak. It didn't seem her ability to learn had been damaged much either. She also retained her experiences her body had before she entered it, so she wasn't experience-less.
She was sensitive...and that more likely had to do with the fact that mentally she was young…
Her behavior had really started blossoming the last few days too. And she wasn't as shy as they originally thought she was. She spoke with confidence, certainty, and occasionally somberness.
Sometimes he wondered why she talked that way, but it kept slipping his mind…that this was the same Nicole he was standing next to...a machine…a computer...that he had knew her as for most of his life as …
It was the reason she behaved the way she did…because it was her...
But this new her was not completely right in the head. She had amnesia...well sort of...
Dr. Quack diagnosed her with a Dissociative Disorder. Nicole did often have trouble with her memories obviously, but she didn't really have past memories because she was kind of literally just born. You couldn't have amnesia if you didn't have memories to remember in the first place. She had memories that she dumped into her head from her computer self, but she had no living memories other than the short time when she was awoken before she entered her body. She didn't have amnesia outright, but she also had memories which she could not remember. For obvious reasons Nicole had impairment when it came to recalling her memories due to whatever she had did…
Whatever her plans were they had destroyed the city and put innocent people in danger. Sonic guessed her reasons for doing what she did were well thought out. He doubted that she would have done all that without having a good reason…no matter how bad it was and how much damage it had caused…
Dr. Quack did say that her mental issues were mostly minor…
Hopefully, these things were not permanent but only time would tell as Nicole grew…mentally anyway…physically she was that of a young adult…
The others had watched her a few times but Sonic had been watching her most of the time. Everyone was busy and Sonic not having many responsibilities himself had the most free time so Nicole was assigned to him. He guessed he had to wait and see what she'd do and how she would grow and develop.
Sonic began to walk again and Nicole followed, but this time she spoke with a curious face "Sonic?"
"Hmmm?" Sonic turned and glanced at her with a raised eyebrow.
"I am hungry can we get food?" Nicole asked him with a curious face.
Sonic thought it over for a second, and he smirked a bit "Yeah, let's go to the lunch room and grab a bite to eat. Then we gotta stop by my place, I have to get something,"
"I want vanilla cream!" she squeezed her hands together, and a big smile came over her face.
Sonic smirked walking in the opposite direction he was a minute ago "Nope, Sally said you have to eat real food. I promised."
"Ok…" she said still smiling.
He ignored her pout, and Nicole followed him as they walked back into the noisy main area of the castle with all the desk and guards running around. Taking in criminals and paper pushers doing legal work. These last few days she had been remembering how to talk and other things…
She couldn't explain it but her thoughts were muddled with Sonic every now and then…
She hated when she got like this because it was hard to focus. She felt happy when around him or when she thought of him. She did not completely understand why she felt this way but at the same time she kind of liked it.
They neared a hallway close to a few elevators when Sonic stopped walking, and a secretary ran up to them out of breath "Sonic the Hedgehog. I've looked all over for you. I just saw you were close on the security cameras. Princess Sally has requested your presence in her office. She has said the matter in question is of great importance."
Sonic smiled. He guessed she was ready to talk now "Alright, thanks."
The secretary smiled and nodded at the both of them as she walked away. Sonic grinned; since they might be alone he could possibly get some things settled with her.
He waved for Nicole to follow and she did losing the pout on her face. Her face became curious again as she caught up with him. She clenched the purple robes she wore. Sonic saw in the corner of his eye that she was being reserved again. She had stayed quiet as they reached the hallway he was heading to.
He glanced behind himself and pointed at the chairs behind her next to the wall "Have a seat Nicole, I'll be right back then we'll get a bite to eat."
Nicole's expression stayed neutral, and she followed his command "Yes Sonic."
Sonic nodded and she watched him walk away swinging her feet back and forth. But she suddenly frowned a bit; she had noticed Sally's and Sonic's closeness. From all she could recall she was upset that she couldn't remember her past, and that she wasn't knowledgeable about anything. Because in her gut she knew Sonic and Sally were closer than she would like to admit right now…
In Sally's office…
Sonic and she discussed all manner of subjects. The start of their conversation was serious and the main order of business they discussed was obviously Nicole and the loss of her presence in the city. They were dealing with what she left behind…
The damage that Eggman had caused around the city in the attack a few days ago was considerably bad. He had caused enough damage to where they would be rebuilding for a while. It set them back a bit as they had been doing good against him so far. Not counting all the cleanup they were going to have to do, and they had to deal with this new Nicole…or the same…they weren't sure…
With Nicole not running the city they knew things were about to get a lot harder without her. The thing was, Nicole had offered to help them when they first met her years ago in the Knothole. If not for her, they surely would have perished under Eggman's rule. She had saved them…but now she was gone…
Sonic and she both agreed on the anxiety they felt with Nicole not running things again. They were sure that everyone else felt the safety blanket that Nicole had provided to them by protecting them was ripped away. They didn't know how they were going to function without her. Nicole had run everything, stopping all the technological threats and providing them security with her nanites. The citizens were already mad, they had been very vocal since the attack and wanting to know what happened to NICOLE. It didn't look like their anger was going to die down anytime soon either as they could not let the people know what actually happened to Nicole. And they would be upset by that as well. So far they knew the citizens were going to be disgruntled for a long time coming; what had happened with Nicole was major. They sure weren't going to let the citizens know Nicole was gone, they'd surely freak out even more. Heck they sort of were too…
And they talked a bit more about things going on around them but soon their conversation drifted off into other territory…
Her own chair had been pushed a distance away from her desk "Eggman is rumored to be at Chemical Plant Zone. You have to talk to the consul later about the details of the information, but until then you have to take Nicole. If I can't find anyone Nicole will have to stay with you all day until you bring her back to the castle tonight." Sally said with a relaxed face as she sat comfortably on Sonic's lap in his chair; she stroked his quills.
Sonic nodded and questioned her curiously "Hey Sal?"
"Hmmm?" she said with a smile.
"Remember a few days ago when I said I wanted to talk?" he said with a small smile and his arm slinked around her waist.
Sally blinked her eyes as she remembered "Oh yes…what did you want to talk about?"
Sonic briefly darted his eyes away from her "Us…"
Sally looked a bit surprised, but she grinned still playing with his quills "Oh…"
Sonic looked embarrassed looking back at her smile; he couldn't help but do the same "I liked it better when I called the shots."
"You still can Sonic." Sally said turning his head towards her and her gentle smile.
Now he looked surprised as she looked into his eyes, she cooed and said with a tender smile on her face "Come stand by me..."
Sonic's heartbeat increased and his eyes were still wide "Sally...we can't…"
Sally put a finger to his mouth "I need you."
Sonic gulped not wanting to let this happen again, and he whimpered out with a frustrated face "Sally..."
"I know we've had some missteps Sonic…but don't you think we've learned from them?" their faces grew even closer.
But Sonic couldn't forget their rocky history. By this point they had been on and off for years, and it bothered him now. Things like her time with Khan still bothered him…
Sonic then pushed her away and stood from his seat with a frown, and he turned his back to her "I can't just wash it away Sally…"
Sally then looked irritated "When are you going to let go of the past Sonic?"
He kept his back turned and he remained silent and Sally's face softened "Sonic, I acknowledged my mistakes...I don't want to lose you to something so petty…"
She then got up and walked over to him and turned him around. She placed her hand on his shoulder "Sonic…"
Sonic sighed looking her in the eyes with a serious face "I need to think about this..."
Sally nodded with an upset face and let her hand slide from his shoulder. Then Sonic silently nodded with a frown still upon his face as he walked to the door ready to leave with Sally close behind him.
As they stood by the door she got Sonic to face her again "I do love you Sonic…I swear I mean it..." Sally then wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. It was a light kiss that only lasted a few moments but when she broke away it didn't look like it convinced Sonic. If anything it looked like she had swayed him, if only just a little, his face was confused.
Sonic held a frustrated face "…I'll let you know after this craziness with the city is over…just give me a little time…"
Sally smiled at him once again and he held a softened expression as he quietly left the room, taking a quick glance back at her as he left.
Once he was gone she closed and planted her back against the door. She did not lie when she said she loved Sonic. She meant it…this time anyway…
At one point in time she had mixed and confused feelings about him. That's probably were most of their past problems came up. Sometimes she had liked other guys more than him…essentially friend zoning him…
If he ever found that out he surely wouldn't be happy and it might be the breaking point of their relationship. Yeah she had stringed him along…for a long time in fact…
He was always so persistent in getting her she kind of put him off…
But she had found out over the years the guys she were attracted to were just jerks, and would never be as good as Sonic. Sally sighed frowning a bit and walked back to her desk. She just hoped her ignorance and immaturity would not halt her from getting Sonic. Now that she saw him for how good he'd always been...
When Sonic returned Nicole got up from her seat looking a bit bored, and they went to the back exit of the castle again and Sonic picked her up and ran to his house. Nicole watched the city go by in a blur, not really knowing anything about the destroyed environment around herself, not knowing that she was the reason behind it. She stayed quiet and Sonic held a frown most of the way until they reached his house because he knew Nicole was inexperienced with the world. She did not know the circumstances and who she was, so it would be harder on her….
A few minutes later they reached his house, but it was not how it was yesterday. Sonic yelled pulling on his ears with a distressed face "What the heck! What happened to my house!"
A giant beam had smashed his house into nothingness. A few construction workers working on his neighbor's house spoke up "Sorry about that Sonic. Our equipment failed, and you can guess what happened next." the male bear grinned rubbing the back of his head.
Sonic groaned staring at his house "That means..."
Nicole smiled looking at his destroyed house "You have to stay at the castle..."
Sonic squinted his eyes in irritation at the construction workers then quickly looked back at his flattened house. Sonic ran over to his flattened house stepping through the debris "Is that my comic book collection!"
"That's my cd collection! How am I going to make it through today without my jams! Awww man!" Sonic whined kneeling down and picking up what was left of his stuff.
Nicole watched Sonic from the sidewalk smiling. She was told that many people didn't have homes anymore. They didn't tell her why most of the city was destroyed, but she had a room all to herself. Sally had told her that it was for security reasons. Every few days the scientist would come to her room doing physical checkups on her and ask her questions. She knew most of the other rooms in the castle had been filled too. She knew first hand, since they kicked her out of rooms she randomly waltzed into. She did feel a little down about how mean they were when they kicked her out of their rooms, but it was a lesson learned.
But she was knocked out of her thoughts by the construction workers. They all whistled at her, and one called out to her "Hey Nicole!"
Sonic stopped searching through the remnants of his house when he heard the construction workers call Nicole. He stepped out of the debris still frowning. The people weren't supposed to know about Nicole…
And he was just about to grab Nicole and make a run for the castle when Nicole surprised him...
"Hello!" Nicole waved back at them with a big smile.
Sonic stopped moving and he looked surprised when he heard her speak. She sounded just like when she was a computer…
Everything from her mannerism to the way she responded to them; it was just another eerie reminder of what had happened. But he still had to get her out of here without them noticing; they still thought she was a hologram; if he picked Nicole up they would know something was up.
"Hey watch out!" Sonic yelled to the construction workers pointing behind them all.
They all turned around but saw nothing, but they all heard a whooshing sound as they turned back around and Nicole and Sonic were gone in a cloud of dust. And with a panicked face Sonic didn't look back as he ran to Castle Acorn without stopping. Nicole's eyes were wide at the fast speed he was moving. When his house was standing Nicole was hidden, she did not have any interactions with the citizens. He just hoped Sally could find him a place, surely he wouldn't be placed around Nicole. He was watching her all the time already…
Sonic and Nicole reached the castle shortly and looked for Sally. After a bit of searching they found her, but they couldn't talk to her now because she was busy in some political dealings gathering and routing resources for the city's repair. He had to speak to her about his new living arrangements.
Sonic and Nicole sat on chairs lined in a row against a wall in the noisy main area of the castle, with all the guards and castle employees running around them. Sonic sat with his legs crossed and a neutral expression, while Nicole swung her legs back and forth in the chair next to him. Nicole also held a neutral expression as they sat for at least twenty five minutes until Sally showed up with a clipboard in her hands.
She saw the two and smiled as she bobbed her head into the direction she was walking. She had a small group of assistants, three females dressed in nice attire behind her writing things down on their clipboards as she talked. Sonic and Nicole got up and followed Sally and her group of assistants in a circle around the main hall.
With Sally sending certain assistants down some of the many halls, and once they were all gone Sally looked down at her clipboard and started writing again. Sonic then smirked feeling a bit silly at the moment, mimicking Sally, putting his hand on his hip and moving his mouth silently. Nicole giggled lightly holding her hand over her mouth trying to suppress her laugh. Nicole had stopped laughing when Sally clicked her pen and looked up at Sonic with a stern smirk. Sonic blinked in surprised stopping his impression of her and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, and he coughed into his hand.
"Heh..." he rubbed the back of his head with a big grin.
Sally smiled at the two, and they walked over to the elevators. Once they were all inside an empty one Sally finally spoke pressing the button for the fifth floor "I wasn't expecting to see you two for the rest of the day. What did you need to talk about?"
"I need a place to stay. I was wondering if you could see if there's any place in the city available." Sonic asked her with a curious face.
Sally looked confused raising an eyebrow "What's wrong with your place?"
"It's smashed…" Sonic grumbled with irritation.
Sally looked bemused "It's smashed? What happened?"
Sonic sighed closing his eyes "You're asking the wrong person."
Sally smirked placing her hand on her hip glancing at Nicole out the corner of her eye; she was looking at the flashing buttons on the elevator door "You have to tell me what happened." she snickered but frowned right after "And that's a no can do Sonic. The shelters in the city have already been filled for days. Why would you want to stay at a shelter anyway? I would make sure you're here at the castle, plus you're gonna have to tell me how your house got smashed." Sally snickered again.
"I didn't want to add any more work to the people here at the castle." Sonic said trying to be polite.
"Oh please Sonic. We would not have you anywhere else. Right Nicole?" Sally looked at Nicole with a smile.
Nicole looked away from the flashing buttons on the door and looked at Sally with a big smile "Yes."
Then the elevator door opened and Sally spoke as they followed her "I was going to this floor to check on a certain guest, but since we're here we can go check with the guest room manager."
The three stepped onto the plush carpets of the fifth floor and walked down the extravagantly dressed hallway, the entirety of it red. The hallway was lined with vases filled with flowers on carved stone post, up and down the hall until they reached a desk with a female lemur behind it.
"Hey Claire." Sally spoke with a happy face.
"Princess Sally!" she stood and bowed "What an honor. How may I serve you?"
"Could you tell me if there are any more rooms open?" Sally asked her curiously.
"I must check Princess. Just a moment..." the lemur nodded with a determined face.
Sonic, Sally, and Nicole waited patiently while the guest room manager searched for any open and available rooms. It only took a moment before she spoke again "Ah. Here we go. There are no available rooms, all rooms have full capacity."
Sally frowned looking over at him "There was one open earlier today, sorry Sonic."
"Dang it." Sonic crossed his arms with a frown on his face.
But the guest room manager spoke again "Well actually…" they all looked at her as she typed into her computer again then looked back up at them "There is lady Nicole's room..."
Sally quickly dismissed that idea though and she shook her head. Sally chuckled and Sonic gave her a sarcastic look "You could bunk with me until you get on your feet again."
But Nicole spoke up surprising them all with a stoic expression "I do not mind…"
Sonic and Sally looked at each other blinking their eyes in surprise. She sounded exactly like her…old self…her computer self….
Sonic once again was just stunned that she was carrying mannerisms from her old self. Sally had seen bits and pieces of it, but she saw it even more clearly right now and as the more Nicole grew. And Sally did sort of agree with Nicole. It would look strange if she, the princess, invited Sonic to sleep in her chambers despite their relationship present and past. They didn't need rumors floating around.
Sally nodded with a smile "That's actually a good idea, you can be closer while we're doing all these reconstructions." Sonic looked apprehensive but nodded in agreement, and Sally then looked at Nicole "Go ahead and show Sonic his new living quarters."
Then a phone rung in Sally's blue jacket pocket, and she fished it out and looked at it. She immediately pressed a button on it and answered it facing the phone away from her mouth "I'll see you two later." Sally smiled looking at Sonic with a sly look "I'll talk to you later too."
Sonic looked a little sheepish, and he grinned "I'll catch you later Sally."
Sally nodded as she turned away from them and answered her phone as she walked down the hall "Hello…"
Claire giggled at the Princesses interaction with Sonic as she quietly went back to her work. Nicole looked confused by Sally's and Sonic's interaction, but she ignored it. She was just happy to spend more time with Sonic.
"This way." Nicole said with a big smile as she began walking in the opposite direction of Sally.
Sonic shrugged unable to win today. Even though he didn't like the idea much he followed Nicole down the hall. He enjoyed his personal space but he had to give it up temporarily right now. The guys and himself also noticed it seemed Nicole still had a thing for him. That and he spent so much time with Nicole already just watching her every day, that he needed a break from her every now and then. He also didn't want to stay with Sally either because he knew that she would pounce on him, and he would most likely give into her. At least with Nicole he could dodge all of Sally's advances while he made up his mind...
Meanwhile in the tropical forest deep in the south of Mobius...
The remaining members of the Destructix argued with their employer, Dr. Eggman. In a small wooden hut they discussed their payment being in dispute since none of Eggman's objectives were completed. They conversed with him on a medium-sized video screen.
"All we managed to do was cause a little destruction! I wanted to demolish that entire rodent city while they were vulnerable!" Eggman screamed looking very angry.
Sleuth looked just as angry "You said you had the Freedom Fighters distracted! Where were you?"
Eggman roared back "I was busy! That blasted squirrel threw the entire city at me! I had no time!"
"Two members of my team are incarcerated; we can't go on without them." Sleuth Dawg said with an upset face.
Eggman frowned "Not my problem and there's no payment. You breached your contract when you failed to live up to the level of destruction promised." Eggman looked off screen with his angry face "Snively! Cease transmission!"
The four remaining Destructix remained quiet as the screen in front of them went black, knowing that without Eggman's payment they could not hold the team together any longer. They needed money to run the hideout and maintain their supplies. They were already out of food…
Sleuth then growled and smashed his fist into the monitor and broke it "Its over…" Sleuth removed his fist from the broken screen and turned around to look at the others with an upset face "I've received some personal money from my other endeavors, so I'm going to Casino Night Zone." Sleuth then stalked into his room.
The remaining team members looked puzzled, and Flying Frog hopped to the exit with a silly grin "I guess I'll go to the marshlands. This mercenary stuff isn't paying too well."
Sargent Simian shrugged stretching his arms "It's off to the Caribbean Jungle for me. I think I'm just going to relax for the rest of my days."
But Lightning Lynx looked incredulous, he looked around at his teammates who didn't look the least bit concerned "Are you kidding! It can't just be over like that!"
"Where are you going?" Flying Frog asked still grinning as he turned around looking at Lightning Lynx with his hand on the door.
Lightning Lynx's eye twitched "You idiots took me away from my home for this thing you call a team!"
But Sargent Simian glared at him "Stop whining and live your life. People get used, deal with it."
Lightning Lynx growled as he balled his fist "I wanted to be with my clan!"
"What did I just say?" Sargent Simian said brushing him off with a look of annoyance.
Sleuth walked out of his room chuckling, and Flying Frog, and Sargent Simian laughed heartily "Bride of Conquering Storm? You want that hell-cat of a woman? God she had to be the most unpleasant cookie I have ever met! And I've met the devil."
Lightning Lynx's blood boiled and his face was furious as he pointed at Sleuth "Do not speak of Storm that way!"
"Oh yeah? What are you gonna do lightning?" Sleuth countered grinning and crossing his arms.
Lightning Lynx gritted his teeth "I'll make you stop!" he looked around at all of them "It is your fault that I'm not by Storms side!"
Sargent Simian shook his head in confusion "I can't believe you would defend that overly aggressive tomboy."
Before Lightning Lynx could respond Flying Frog giggled near the door "Her attitude disgusts me! Hehehe!"
The three teammates got a hardy laugh from Flying Frog's statement. But Lightning Lynx had, had enough and dashed over to Sleuth and socked him in the jaw knocking him on the floor. When Flying Frog and Sargent Simian saw this they went onto the offensive donning upset expressions and Lightning Lynx did a back flip and landed right in front of Sargent Simian and charged at him. Sargent Simian growled and swiped a backhand at him. Lightning Lynx tried to dodge him, but he was sent flying through the air and crashing into the wall behind Slueth.
Sleuth had jumped up rubbing his sore jaw and ran to Lightning Lynx pushing him back to the floor as he tried to stand and attacking him. The other two Destructix members joined in pummeling Lightning Lynx. No-one could hear the screams of Lightning Lynx in the desolate area where their base was located, a small wooden cabin, in the middle of the forest. The unbridled frustration of being torn away from his object of desire by his so-called friends and teammates never left Lightning Lynx's mind as they beat him. He would always want Conquering Storm, and nothing would change his mind about her. He planned to go to her….
Even though he knew as he got beat, his banishment was still in effect, and she was not one to take lightly…
Back at New Mobotropolis, it was starting to get around evening, and Nicole was showing Sonic his new place. The second they walked into the room Sonic felt constricted. The room was decorated in beige wallpaper and nice plush carpet. The single bed, Nicole's bed was dressed in elegant covers and there was a small dresser and tv on top of it, and a small chandelier which were the lights for the room. Sonic also noticed that there was only one bed.
"Hmmm…I guess Sally must have forgotten there was only one bed." Sonic said scratching his head with a curious face.
Nicole nodded at him with a neutral expression remaining silent. Sonic shrugged as he turned to leave the room "I gotta get this sorted out."
But before he could there was a knock on the door. Sonic looked to Nicole with confusion and she looked just as confused as him as he went over to the door and opened it.
"Sonic!" Mina screamed with a happy face as he opened the door.
"Mina? What are you doing here?" Sonic asked looking surprised and he smiled.
"Well when we got here we met up with the others, but I was told you were put up in the guest rooms, and I came to see how you were doing. " Mina frowned and didn't notice Nicole behind Sonic "…I heard what happened to New Mobotropolis. I tried to call but I see why I couldn't. What happened to Nicole?"
And Nicole hearing her name walked up next to Sonic and glanced curiously at this yellow woman. She looked familiar….
When Mina saw Nicole she covered her hand with her mouth and then looked at Sonic and he slowly nodded his head. Mina said no more, and she looked back at Sonic curiously "We need to catch up. Are you busy?"
Sonic looked unsure "Sort of…I have to go get a bed sent to this room…"
Mina nodded with a smile in understanding, but Nicole spoke up, and they both looked at her. Nicole spoke with a smile "I can get the bed."
Sonic raised an eyebrow in surprise "What? I can't let you do that..."
Nicole nodded with confidence and a smile "I can."
"Are you saying you can handle finding me a bed alone?" Sonic asked her with a grin "Someone's becoming proactive."
"Yes." Nicole said again nodding her head.
Sonic smirked "Are you sure you'll be ok?"
"I will do it." Nicole squeezed her hands together smiling at him.
Mina giggled "She is so cute!"
Sonic glanced at Mina "She's becoming independent so fast."
Then Sonic hesitantly turned to walk out the door "I'll be back soon. Remember, don't leave the castle and come back to your room when you're done." Sonic smiled at her as Mina walked out the door behind him. Mina waved to her as-well and Nicole waved back and the door clicked shut.
Nicole stood in her spot for a moment still smiling. She felt a bit nervous about going out and getting Sonic what he needed. But she was starting to see that she not only liked being around him…she also just liked him…
And she hoped one day she would get the same attention from him that she gave for him. She didn't mind getting his bed for him because she thought it would make him happy. Which it did as far as she could see. With resolution on her face she walked over to the door and opened it. She stepped into the hall with a smile on her face, looking to her left and right. She went to her right. Maybe the guest room manager could help her…
Well it looks like Nicole has no idea what's going on around herself. How will Nicole grow? What does Sally have planned? Will Sonic find out Sally's secret? What is Rotor up to? Why is Mina in town? What happened to Lightning Lynx? Find out next time! Later.