"This isn't happening."
"Sally! Sally, please! Please speak to me!" Nicole shouted, kneeling in front of her with desperation in her eyes.
"I am not here."
"Is she… Is she…?" Tangle was by her side, trying to find some other word than 'alright'. Because no, of course she wasn't alright!
"This is just a nightmare. I'm back in New Mobotropolis. Sonic stopped Mecha Sally and got me back into Uncle Chuck's deroboticizer. I'm just sleeping it off. I'll wake up on the couch with Sonic bringing me a chili dog and telling Muttski not to bug me."
Nicole is shaking in front of her. "S-She's online. But… but she's not responding! Sally, please! I-I know this is a shock but you have to speak!"
"He'll tell me I had everyone worried. That Eggman was close but he kicked his butt before he could do… do… that thing. I'll apologize and he'll say that he knows. Then we'll hug and I'll hold him close and kiss him."
"I don't understand." Whisper was standing over the still sitting Silver, who was clutching his head and looking down with regret etched on his face. "Me and Tangle held Nicole's device, but we didn't have the same reaction as you. If we're in… in Sally's world, then why haven't we gotten our memories from what happened before?"
"Because…" Silver swallowed. "Because you probably weren't born in the previous world. The circumstances of your birth probably weren't done so you weren't around."
"But I remember my life!" Now Whisper shouting, the first time the wolf had ever done it in their presence. Her hand was on her chest. "I remember my parents… my team… the war…! I remember all of that! And that ship didn't look old enough to be abandoned for sixteen years! Me and Tangle… we couldn't have just popped into existence!"
"Once that's done we'll head outside and there'll be a welcome back party waiting for me. Bunnie, Amy, Rotor, Tails, my parents, my brother, and everyone else will be there. Even Antoine. Everything will be fine and I'll cry and I'll… I'll…"
Oh… By the source… this was really happening wasn't it?
"You didn't!" Silver looked up desperately at the wolf. "Time flowed naturally for us, but Sally's ship and even Nicole… they were likely just outside of the time stream, waiting for things to stabilize before materializing in physical form! I remember my life too, without them! But because I also existed in that previous world…"
"A reboot." Tangle whispered to herself. "It's a rebooted world. Like the comics. Like…"
"Tangle, please! Not now!" Nicole shook her head and shouted, "Sally! Please! SAY SOMETHING!"
"…This is real." A cracked voice came from her mouth. Hollow and artificial. "This is real… isn't it, Nicole?"
"Sally…" The holo-lynx grimaced and looked down. Then, softly, she muttered, "…Yes. Yes it is."
Sally said nothing for a few seconds.
"Damn it."
She couldn't feel her own tears. But she knew. She knew they were coming out of her glass eyes and streaming down her metal cheeks.
She bent forward and let out a sob. She smashed the right fist down on the soft earth, which buckled under the strength of the metal fist that wasn't her own.
"DAMN IT!"
Everyone had finally stopped talking, stopped screaming and explaining about how her life was just gone!
"Why?!" She sobbed out. "Why did this happen?! I-I don't understand! I don't understand!"
Nobody answered her. What could they say? Deny the truth? Deny reality?
"I… We fought for so long!" She couldn't even hiccup anymore. She couldn't even cry like a normal person! "Our family… Our friends! We fought and bled and died to stop him! Over and over again, one fight to the next! It never stopped! And we just kept going and going because we thought it would be worth it!" She smashed her fist into the ground and ignored the small explosion of earth. "And we just kept believing that! Even after… even after Tommy… even after Charmy… We just kept fighting! And,… and what happened next?! What did we get?! That monster… he destroyed our home! Mina and the people we protected kicked Nicole out of our second home! He… he turned me into this thing!"
"Sally, you're not…" Tangle began, but she wouldn't hear it.
A half sob, half laugh erupted from Sally's throat. "Look at me, Tangle! I'm a freak! He took me apart and turned me into a weapon! He did it for kicks! And… and do you know the worst part?" She didn't even know why a grin was forming on her face. Was she going insane? "The only thing that kept me going… the only thing that made me keep hope… was that Sonic would come to get me! That he would save the day and I could go home! Treat this all like a horrible nightmare." The sobs were back as she moaned, "And now… now I know I can't even do that. My home is just gone. And… and all my friends… my family… Sonic…"
She lifted the hands that the monster gave her and stared at them. One was still shiny and unblemished, showing the mechanical monstrosity weeping oil. The other was stained with dirt and anguish.
Her friends and family didn't exist. They never existed in this nightmare.
The boy she loved wouldn't even remember her. She'll just be the crazy robian girl to him.
"What… what do I do…?" Sally croaked out. "I don't know what to do… Please… Please, someone explain it to me…"
"Sally… Look at me."
The robian princess of a kingdom that didn't exist looked up to see Nicole's tear-stricken face.
But it also contained something that surprised her.
Conviction.
"We need to pick ourselves up." Nicole said with a calm clarity unlike her. "That's all we can do."
"B-But…"
"Sally, this isn't the end." The holo-lynx shook her head. "Even if this world is strange… the fact we're here is proof that he failed. Sonic did win in the end."
"No he didn't!" She screamed at her friend. "He didn't! Don't you get it, Nicole?! We don't exist! We shouldn't exist anymore!"
Sally didn't want to exist.
Not existing would've been better than this hell.
"But we do. And so do the others, somewhere." Nicole placed her hand on her chest and said, "Our friends… they are out there in the world. Maybe they're like us and remember everything, waking up as strangers in a strange land. Maybe they're like Silver and don't remember our struggles. Maybe they're leading completely different lives. But they are alive, Sally. And it's our job to find them."
Sally blinked in surprise. How? How could Nicole say such things? "How… you don't know that, Nicole. How can you be sure?"
"Because I have faith in my friends. I have faith in the Freedom Fighters." Nicole smiled softly as she continued. "I have the faith that you taught me, Sally. And that is enough. But… I can't do this alone. We can't do this alone. We need you. I need you, Princess Sally Acorn." The lynx reached out and traced her hand on Sally's cheek. "Please… please don't give up. The Sally I knew wouldn't give up."
"She still has faith in me." She couldn't even believe it. She didn't deserve it. And yet… here it was, laid out before her. Nicole's pure faith and love in her. "Because… because she wants me to stay strong for our friends."
Their friends… who may or may not exist.
"No… No, they're out there. We can find them."
She had to believe it. She needed to believe it.
For Nicole.
Slowly, Sally nodded and got onto her feet. Nicole followed her and embraced her. Slowly, Sally returned the gesture and held the lynx close.
Tangle, Whisper, and Silver remained silent throughout this.
Wordlessly, they let each other go and the robian crossed her arms, hugging herself.
"I'm okay." She lied. "Let's just get out of here."
Whisper nodded and helped Silver to his feet. She led them away into a seperate field, where a truck was waiting for them.
The driver and his companion were shocked about Sally's appearance and pointed their weapons at her, but Tangle rushed forward and said something to them. The name 'Belle' was mentioned, but Sally didn't really listen or care all that much.
Instead, she climbed into the back of the truck with the lemur, wolf, and hedgehog with Nicole's holographic form remaining by her side.
As they drove Silver looked down. "I'm sorry." He whispered. "I shouldn't have said anything."
Sally didn't respond.
She let the silence do the talking for her.
"You know…" The sheep mobian looked up from her clipboard and stared at the party with tired eyes. "…I figured that after the whole Metal Virus fiasco, things would calm down. But no." The Restoration member shook her head. "We still had to deal with not just Eggman, but Starline and the Deadly Six. Then we had to try and contain that Tenrec and Fennec before they wrecked yet another city just to get to Sonic. And now, lo and behold, you bring this to my lap."
Nicole recognized the sheep mobian from the files she had combed through trying to find the Freedom Fighters. Lanolin the Sheep, both one of Jewel's many assistants in Restoration HQ and field operative.
And the one thing that stood between their group and finally trying to put this stressful day behind them.
"…Lanolin, come on. We've had a long day." Silver shook his head. "Can't you just register Sally and Nicole as new members of the Restoration so they can stay overnight?"
"New members." The holo-lynx almost wanted to laugh. Sally… she had been a leader once. She had fought against Robotnik and Eggman for years and deserved to be treated with respect. "But I suppose none of that matters from their perspective. As far as they know, we are strange newcomers to their organization with no accomplishments to speak of."
"Yeah! You guys approved Belle as a member really quick, so why not them?" Tangle motioned to Nicole and Sally, who was still hugging herself and looking down.
Belle… that name was familiar. Tangle had briefly mentioned that name to their escort, but Nicole had been so busy trying to comfort Sally that she had barely heard. "How does she relate to either me or Sally?"
The Restoration member pinched the bridge of her nose. "Tangle, it's not that simple. Belle is one thing, but from what I can tell she…" she motioned to Sally up and down. "…was built for combat. What if…"
Okay, now it was her turn to step in. "I can assure you, Sally Acorn is not a threat to the Restoration! And for you to accuse her of such things is simply…!"
"Okay! Okay, Nicole! Calm down!" The lemur was standing between her and Lanolin. "Look, I know that Lanolin is being fussy…"
"Fussy?!" The lamb sputtered out. "I call it having some common se-!"
"BUT!" Tangle screamed aloud. "I'm sure that she can see with her own eyes that you and Sally are no threat and would be great members, and that you're both super tired and need a night to just lie down." She looked desperately at Lanolin. "Right?!"
A part of the holo-lynx wanted to keep arguing. How dare this woman accuse Sally of being a threat?! Couldn't she see that the princess wasn't going to harm anyone?! Couldn't she see their pain right now?
…Also, maybe she just wanted to blow off some steam. Was this why organic people yelled when they were angry?
The lamb looked over to Whisper and Silver, her eyebrow raised.
"…Not a threat." Whisper muttered. "Highly skilled in combat and hacking. Assets."
Silver shook his head. "Look, I know for a fact that the Pri…" He grimaced. "I mean, Sally has a cool head on her shoulders. Especially since she broke free of… his hold on her." He glanced over to Sally, who turned away from his gaze. The hedgehog looked down in shame. "Just do this favor for me, Lanolin. Please?"
The assistant contemplated for a few seconds before sighing. "Great. Guess I'm sticking around for another hour." She pointed behind her. "The workshop is to the left. I think Belle's still up. I've never seen her sleep. So if you want some work done you ca-."
"NO!" Sally blurted out, fear etched on her face. "N-No! I don't want to…" She looked down and hugged herself tighter. "Not right now. I don't want to go there right now."
"Sally…" It still hurt her to see her friend like this. To see her so unsure of herself, so confused and lost. "But it's not like I'm much different."
Lanolin was slightly taken aback by the robian's reaction but recovered quickly. "Alright… so you don't want to get re-." She stopped herself and the holo-lynx saw Tangle and Silver were crossing their arms and shaking their heads. Nicole couldn't be anymore grateful for them than at that exact second. "…Okay. Fine. You don't want to go there." The sheep pointed to another direction behind her. "Bunks are at the door at the end of the right hallway. It's where Restoration members used to stay if they didn't have their home rebuilt yet, but for the most part it's now empty. I think only Shadow sleeps there and that's only if he's around."
Shadow the Hedgehog… yet another one of their comrades who wouldn't remember them.
"I wonder how many more there are. Familiar faces, and yet complete strangers…"
Was Mina out there? She had made up with the girl who had spearheaded the movement to expel Nicole from New Mobotropolis. Mina Mongoose had been sick and guilty for what she had done. She had wanted to try and fix their friendship to what it had once been. Nicole was still hurt by her words, but she also so desperately wanted her friend back. They… they would've…
"No. Don't think that way. You cannot think that way. Remember the mission. Remember the plan."
"Guys, I still say you can stick around at my place." Tangle snapped Nicole out of her thoughts and brought her back to reality. "I mean, it's not that big of a mess…"
"She saw your room, remember?" Whisper reminded the lemur, who blushed a bit.
"I-I can clean up!"
"Not right now you're not." Lanolin pointed at Tangle's sling. "You're going to see the doctor thats on duty right now. I'm going to have to write your injuries in the report and when Director Jewel reads it…"
"But Lanolin…!"
"We'll be fine." Nicole smiled at the lemur. "You need to focus on healing, and you've done more than enough for us today."
Plus… as much as Nicole liked Tangle, she'd prefer to be alone with Sally for the night.
They needed to be alone.
Whisper seemed to pick up on the subtext of her speech and grabbed her friend's left hand. "Come on." She practically dragged Tangle with her while the lemur whined about medicine and doctors, leaving the four alone.
"I'm going to get going too." Silver turned on his heel. "I… have a lot to think about. A lot of memories to sort through." He put his hand on his forehead and muttered, "Master Edmund… Master Mo… Mog…" he grimaced and shook his head. Taking one look back at Sally he said, "I'm sorry. I… I didn't mean for any of this to happen."
With that, the psychic floated off the ground and flew away. To where, Nicole didn't know or care.
"Perhaps that's unbecoming of me."
She couldn't exactly blame Silver for what had happened. The hedgehog had obviously suffered from some head and perhaps even brain trauma from his trip from the future and then got a rush of memories from his previous life. He was rambling and explaining just to make sense of what was happening to him, what had happened to the world.
The truth about the situation of their reality would've come out sooner or later. Sally or Nicole would've figured it out in the end, perhaps even before they met Blaze.
"But we could've kept lying to ourselves until then. And he… he took that away."
And that just made Nicole feel even more terrible.
"No. Don't focus on that. Focus on what's important. What's happening right now."
Live in the moment like Sonic would.
"Stop by the admin office for your Restoration IDs and papers tomorrow morning." Lanolin cupped her hand while walking off. "HERSH! I'm going to need some help with this stuff! I know you're doing overtime too! Where the heck are you?!"
"Come on, Sally." She motioned to her friend. "Lets go."
Wordlessly, Sally followed the holo-lynx and they followed the lamb's directions to get to the bunkers. Opening the door they saw the rows of plain mattresses with thin white sheets set atop of wire frames. Only one looked remotely slept in, with a partially open bag of coffee sitting on the small nightstand next to it. A sticky note was set on top of it.
Get your own place, "Faker"! If you're going to crash somewhere you should at least clean up after yourself! - S
She recognized that handwriting anywhere.
"Sonic…!" Painful memories of her friend, the friend that still existed here but wouldn't recognize her or the woman who he had loved and who had loved him back, came to her. The files containing all the pictures she and Sally had saved of their times together were requesting to be opened, and she denied each of them.
"Why… Why don't we sit down, Sally?" She motioned over to a bed and the princess did as she was told. Sitting on the bed opposite to Sally, Nicole looked at the robian. "We can begin our search tomorrow. Perhaps if Shadow returns then…"
"Nicole. Can I sleep?"
The question startled the artificial intelligence. She stared at the robian, whose eyes looked so tired.
"W-What?"
"I've been through hell today. I just want to sleep, I know I need to sleep. But I don't feel tired. Not really." The princess looked down. "…I can't sleep, can I?"
Nicole's hands clenched into fists before relaxing. "I… I can activate sleep mode, which would deactivate most of your functions and put you in a low power mode so that…"
"No, no I don't want that." Sally laid down on the bed and looked at the ceiling. "Nicole, would you mind just staying here? And… and if I talk, will you listen?"
She remembered that night so long ago, when they were under the stars and lying on a grassy field. Where she had told her friend about how lucky she was, being able to breathe and feel and touch…
And now Sally was robbed of all of that. Because the monster wanted to destroy them. To destroy their heart.
"If I had broken down with her back then… I would've destroyed it."
"Of course, Sally. Of course."
Nicole and Sally laid on the beds staring at an unfamiliar ceiling.
Nicole remembered Sonic. She remembered Tails. She remembered Rotor, Bunnie, Antoine, the Acorn family, the Chaotix, Julie-Su, Mina…
Nicole made sure her volume was on mute.
Silently, she began to cry.
"Damn it…" Silver cursed himself as he floated down into his garden. Miraculously, it and the shed he had built for himself during his time in the past were still here. "Damn it, I'm such an idiot!"
What the hell possessed him to spout out that crap?! What kind of idiot just tells Princess Sally Acorn and Nicole that their home, technically, no longer existed?!
What the hell was he thinking?!
"I wasn't, that's what!" Angry at himself, the hedgehog used his psychic powers to open the shed door. It slammed open, the lock breaking and hitting the floor. He didn't even care. He strode into the shed and used his powers to take a bean bag from the shelf to his right and set it on the floor. "I just said the first stupid thing that came to my head! And now… Now Elias' sister is…"
It was strange, having two sets of memories. Usually, whenever Silver went back to change the past and returned to his present, he wouldn't get any memories of the 'corrected' timeline. Instead he would find himself in an unfamiliar city, greeted by some people who he didn't know saying they were friends and being told events that didn't exist until he got there.
The worst of it was his parents. Specifically how they would actually change whenever he returned from his missions.
Sometimes, his friends and parents would remain the same. Sometimes they would just disappear out of existence and be replaced with new ones. Honestly it had freaked him out the first time it happened, but now he was strangely numb.
Because of this, Silver usually took a 'fake it until you make it' approach. He would laugh off any confusion he had and say that he had to study for a test or something. Then he would run off to the nearest computer and try to research what the hell happened in the new timeline.
Having no new memories caused a host of problems. It was like he was studying for a test that was now the entirety of his life.
But now… now he had memories of his previous life. Of friends he had made, like Princess Sally's brother Elias Acorn. Of being a part of a team, the Secret Freedom Fighters. Of his old life as a Knight of Kronos in-training…
And it felt like it had happened to him… but also to a completely different person.
"Can I even call Elias my friend?" Silver sat himself on the bean bag and massaged his temples. "I… I lived a whole other life. He met the old Silver… but wouldn't that old Silver also be me?"
Damn it. How did this work?
"And if I was that Silver…" Then he could just add this latest screw up to the list of them he had already accrued.
He had failed. He failed to find the traitor of the Freedom Fighters. He had failed as one of the Secret Freedom Fighters in expelling the wizard king Ixis Naugus from New Mobotropolis. He had failed in stopping Eggman and this world was the result.
"There was a white light and…"
Magenta light ate at the walls of reality. The sky, the ground, buildings, people… all of them disintegrating as the light touched them. Leaving a void of black nothingness in its wake.
Some were writhing on the ground, changing species as if the channel was changing in reality. Each of them crying in agony in a legion of voices.
Only Silver remained the same. Using his powers to run. To run and try to block out the people crying out for help. He knew. He knew something went wrong in the past. That was the only explanation there was for what was happening. He had to go back. He had to stop whatever it was that caused this. But what could've caused this? What could've…?
SILVER.
A voice, ancient and wise, spoke in his mind.
SILVER. I AM SORRY. I NEVER INTENDED FOR THIS TO HAPPEN.
"Who… who are you?!"
YOU MUST STOP HIM, SILVER. THE MAD K-
There was a gurgle, as if the voice was fading in and out of existence through a bad TV signal.
-ORRUPTED CRYSTAL. TAKE IT. YOU MUST FIND SALLY ACORN AND TAKE IT. THEY SHALL FOLLOW HER TO A BRIGHTER TOMORROW. FIND HER, MY SON.
Silver screamed as reality faded in and out in front of him. The magenta light spreading around his vision.
A figure was sitting cross-legged in front of him. A massive and old mammoth that held a tiny golden ring in his fingers.
He could smell the blood coming out of his nose as he tried to focus on this one thing.
FIND HER… AND FIX THIS FOOLISH OLD MAN'S MISTAKE.
The mammoth threw the ring up and it glowed a bright golden light.
And the next thing Silver knew, he was crashing into a chili dog card at Emeraldville Ruins.
He didn't recognize the voice back then.
But now…
"…Master Mogul." He muttered, putting his hand on his forehead. A feeling of longing blossomed in his heart. His old master. The one who had set him on his original quest to find the traitor of the Freedom Fighters. He had returned. But… "I wish you told me more."
Bitter tears fell down his cheeks.
"I wouldn't have made so many mistakes!"
He noticed a piece of paper at the edge of the work table. Leaning up, he picked it up and read the message.
Hello, Mr. Silver! It's Belle! Belle the Tinkerer! I know we never met, but I'm taking care of your garden! Well, I'm the latest one but still! Blaze and Cream told me you went back to the future, which is really cool, but just in case you come back I just want to let you know that I've made sure to keep things nice and pretty! No weeds here! Hope to see you, well, in the future! - Belle
Despite his inner turmoil, Silver couldn't help but smirk at the message. He looked over to the open door and all the healthy plants, herbs, and vegetables. "At least someone's taking care of you guys."
However, his eyes went back to a certain name.
"Blaze…" His eyes widened. "Is she still here?!"
The last time he saw the princess of the Sol Dimension, she had helped him make stuff actually grow in Victory Garden. She occasionally visited this Zone, but they were rare and usually for business rather than pleasure. Still, he enjoyed her company and she apparently did as well. But he had thought that after their little gardening session, she went back to Amy for what she came for and left.
But if this note was any indication, she might be back in this Zone!
"She can help us get some answers." Silver got up and stormed out. "Real answers about what happened with the Super Genesis Wave!"
What he told everyone back there… That was his best guess of what had happened. A guess spurned from half-remembered information from a lifetime ago and research from the future he skimmed.
Some of it was even conflicting. Like was that younger Sonic actually from a different Zone or just a time-traveler like him? The accounts were never clear on that.
But what he said… It hurt Sally. Hurt Nicole!
"If we can just talk to Blaze, we can find out the truth. And maybe… maybe she'll give them some hope!"
But as he stepped through the door he remembered two things.
One: he had no idea where Blaze was staying even if she was in this Zone.
Two: it was the middle of the night.
Grumbling, Silver went back to the shed and sat back in his beanbag chair.
"Too bad I can't speed up time. That would make things simpler."
They had spent the night simply talking about the old days.
The days before Nicole had gained sentience. When she was simply the hyper-advanced computer used by Sally and the Freedom Fighters of Knothole in their war against Robotnik.
It was strange talking about those adventures. She had records of them in her memory, but the way Sally had described them made them seem so… innocent.
They fought against the first iteration of the deadly Krudzu one day and the next they were distributing foil embossed covers with the indent of Sonic's face. They went off to destroy one of Robotnik's chemical factories and the only consequence was Sally's hair being blonde for a short period of time while her fur was pink for even longer.
It was as if during their childhood, their battle against Robotnik and his forces was a game. A game where nobody got hurt, not really, and in the end of the day they could just head back to Knothole. They would be able to sleep it off for tomorrow's next big adventure.
But mortal minds played tricks with memories. Even Nicole knew this.
She knew, from the reports that Sally had recorded through her, that her friend had been scared that they were all going to die at the hands of the Krudzu. That she had cried when she washed off the chemicals and her fur remained pink, thinking that she was going to be like that forever. Nicole read in her files that when Bunnie first joined the Freedom Fighters, the rabbit had been just as shaken and afraid as Sally was right now and only went to action when the Burrobot threatened them all.
"But it is better for her to remember them that way. Better for her to think of her childhood like that."
The holo-lynx only wished she had been there to help her friend through those times.
"That stupid princess throne took up so much space in the old underground hideout." Sally chuckled and, to Nicole's relief, a small smile was on her face. "Sonic gave me so much sass about it. Like how it made the base too girly or made my head bigger, and I told him that it boosted morale by letting everyone know the princess was safe. And do you know what he said?"
"No, what?"
"He said 'Yeah, we know! Who're you tryin' to remind, Sal? Yourself?'"
They both laughed at that. It was the sort of line Sonic would give. Childish and simple. Full of an innocent attitude and disdain for anything 'uncool'.
That was Sonic the Hedgehog.
The Sonic in their memories…
"Is he even like that here?" Nicole sometimes wondered about that. "I hope so. It wouldn't be Sonic if he wasn't."
But she couldn't be too sure.
This was uncharted territory.
They heard the sounds of birds chirping before light crept through the window behind them. Glancing up, the Robian sat up with her hands on her lap. "Nicole… Thank you. For everything. I… I needed that."
"No problem, Sally." The AI didn't mention how for the first hour or so, she had been weeping with her volume on mute. She didn't say anything about how she had screamed in rage and anguish over their lost friends and loved ones. She didn't mention any of that.
Or how she hadn't even been listening for the first few seconds Sally began to talk about her first meeting with Knuckles, years before Sonic himself would encounter the supposedly last Echidna.
"I'm just glad you are back again." She said, smiling at the robian. "That's all I could ask for."
Sally looked as if she was about to say something but instead shook her head. Swinging her legs off the edge, the princess got to her feet and asked, "Are you doing alright with power?" You've been away from your device for a while."
"It's quite alright. I have simply…" Nicole's eyes widened, realizing what she was about to admit. What she had unconsciously done to remain by Sally's side. "I-I was just…"
The chipmunk robian looked down at herself and her eyelids lowered. "…You were using me as a power source, right?"
"Sally, I'm so sorry. I should've asked you permission before I…"
"It's fine, Nicole. Really. It is." Sally walked over to the bed where Shadow was sleeping at, making a beeline for the coffee bag. "You… you just needed the extra power so that you could be there for me. That's it."
"Sally…" She looked down in shame. Damn it, why hadn't she thought about asking first? Was her friend going to hate her now? Like Mina had? Like all the citizens of New Mobotropolis?! "S-Sally, I didn't mean to…" Nicole's eyes widened. The note! "Sally, wait! Don-!"
But it was too late.
Sally had plucked the note from the coffee bag and was reading it. Her face was completely blank for a few seconds, and in those seconds the holo-lynx feared a relapse. That Sally would begin to shake, to fall to her knees, and weep remembering the reality they were now in.
Instead, the princess had a small nostalgic smile spread on her face. "Yup. Sounds like Sonic." She set the note back onto the coffee bag. "Never took Shadow as a slob, though."
"Sally?"
Her friend looked over her shoulder and the small uneasy smile remained on her face. "I'm… I'm okay Nicole. I'm…" She sighed and shook her head. "No, I'm not really okay. I'm still… processing all this. But I can't just curl up into a ball and cry." She turned around and continued. "I need to get out there. If I don't… we'll never find them."
It wasn't the type of speech Sally would usually give. It was small and simple, lacking a lot of the fire that the leader of the Freedom Fighters usually put behind her words.
But it was a start.
A smile crept onto Nicole's face as she said, "Right. Lets g-."
The door slammed open, startling both the holo-lynx and chipmunk robian. Sally's feet were shifting, as if preparing for a fight.
However, that tension disappeared when they saw a familiar lemur bounding through the doors.
"Mornin' Sally! Mornin' Nicole!" Tangle declared with a grin. "How's it going?"
"Tangle!" Sally smiled as she relaxed. "You're up early."
Whisper was following in the lemur's wake, her mask obscuring her face again. "Told her to stay sleeping. Wouldn't listen."
"I've always been an early riser!" Tangle rolled her eyes. "Not that the doc didn't try! Those pills he gave me knocked me right out! Next thing I know I'm waking up in my bed!"
"Had to carry her." The wolf explained. "Fell asleep at the examination table."
"Like a princess!" Tangle giggled.
Nicole couldn't help but notice how the sniper shifted at the remark and looked to the side.
"Well, well…"
"And your shoulder…" Sally pointed at the lemur's shoulder. "Should you be running around with that?"
"Oh!" Tangle ruled back her sleeve to reveal a relatively thin cast wrapped in black damages. "Yeah, the doc told me to not to use it too often and that I'll have to take painkillers but I should be fine in a couple of days!"
"Still…" Sally's mouth formed a thin line. "…I really think you should rest a bit more to heal up."
"No way! Not when we're going off to find your friends!" The lemur grinned. "I made a promise, after all! And I keep my promises!"
…Honestly, that was another thing that Tangle shared with Sonic. A stubbornness to help out his friends even when he should be cooling his heels and having his injuries healed.
Sally seemed to be thinking the same thing. Sighing, she shook her head. "Seriously." The smile returned to her face. "Still, I appreciate it. But we can't go just yet."
"Huh? Why not?"
The smile on Sally's face disappeared. "I need to get my Restoration member ID and paperwork. And…" She hugged herself and muttered, "…and I need to… fix myself."
That came as a shock to the holo-lynx. Where had this come from? Sally never mentioned it last night. "You want to be repaired?" She was by her friend's side, but Sally didn't meet her gaze. "Are you sure?"
"…I won't be good to anyone if I break down." The robian's hands gripped tightly on her elbows. "And… and I don't want to look like this anymore. To have these hands. I don't… I don't want to look like his weapon."
Nicole had nothing to say to that.
None of them did.
After a few seconds of silence, it was surprisingly Whisper who broke it. "Need to tell her about Belle."
"Oh!" Tangle stood up straight. "Right! Jeez, I almost forgot!" Chuckling to herself, the lemur scratched the back of her head with her tail. "W-Well… It's great that you want to get yourself fixed up! But we gotta tell you something, and you gotta promise to be cool."
Sally and Nicole looked up at the Restoration member in confusion. In one voice they replied, "…Okay?"
"Belle…" Tangle kicked at the floor. "She's like you, Sally, but also kinda not? I mean, she's sorta like a robot…" She put up both of her hands as if trying to push back an invisible force of hostility. "…But not a bad one! She's really sweet and cute, and she's mostly made of wood so she's actually more like a puppet! Her nose honks and she makes toys! She's super good with machines and helps out the Restoration a lot! Oh, and she hates being called a Badnik so don't call her that, okay?"
The two former Freedom Fighters stared at Tangle.
The lemur nervously grinned back at them.
Slowly, Sally asked, "I'm sorry… but you're saying that there's a sentient puppet hanging around this base?"
Well… at least this day was going to be interesting.
"Hi! This is Tails! Sorry, but I'm very busy at my workshop or on another adventure with Sonic, so if you can just please leave a…"
"Damn it!" Silver hung up the phone and set it on the table. Amy had got it for him while he was in the past, a clunky little touchscreen thing that actually had to be spoken to in order for calls to be made, and that's if he didn't punch in the number himself! He forgot how backwards the past could be at times. "Where the hell is everyone?!"
He had begun making calls as soon as he woke up. First to Sonic, then to Amy, and now Tails. None of them picked up. Well, he didn't have much faith that Sonic would pick up. Apparently the guy always kept his cellphone in the place he stores his stuff and checks his phone once every couple of days. Tails would take a while but he usually returned calls around the end of the day. However, Amy was usually very reliable when it came to calling back or replying to a message.
And she hadn't uttered a single peep since he attempted to call her.
"Are they all on an adventure or something?" Silver scrolled through his contacts trying to think of who could possibly be with Blaze right now. Shadow? No, Blaze didn't really interact with the loner hedgehog. Knuckles was a possibility, but he didn't have a phone. "This is going to be a problem…"
He needed to think. Where could the guardian of the Sol Emeralds be?
"The note…" His eyes widened. "Cream!"
The rabbit child didn't have a cellphone of her own, but he did have her house's phone number. It was how he usually was able to get in touch with Amy if he needed to speak to her immediately rather than wait a few minutes.
He pressed on the contact and put the phone to his ear, tapping his foot impatiently. "Come on… come on…!"
The rings ended and a slightly tired voice asked, "Hello…?"
"Ah! Vanilla!" Silver smiled at the sound of Cream's mother. "It's Silver, one of Amy's friends!"
"Oh! Mr. Silver…" Vanilla the Rabbit yawned. "Good morning. It's rather early, you know."
The psychic winced at that. While Vanilla sounded her usual friendly self, there was an edge of consternation in her tone. "Y-Yeah, I'm sorry. It's just really important. Is Blaze there?"
"Blaze… Oh! You must have heard she was on vacation!" The rabbit woman sighed on the other end of the line. "I'm sorry, you just missed her."
Blaze was on vacation? She got to have vacations? He had thought that her duties as guardian was a full time thing! "Really? Do you know where she went off to?"
"Oh yes. She was rather interested in seeing Studiopolis. Something about wanting to see the media of this dimension?" Vanilla giggled. "I didn't really understand it myself, but she sounded rather eager!"
"Studiopolis… right." Great, at least now he had a destination in mind. "Thanks, Vanilla. You're a lifesaver. Sorry for waking you up.'
"It's no trouble, Mr. Silver. Just try not to call so early next time."
Muttering a final apology, Silver hung up and walked out of the shed. Using his psychic powers, he floated up into the sky and began to fly towards Restoration HQ.
Hopefully this will help him to atone for his mistake.
"One of them, at least."
"Cheese!"
Sally couldn't help but crack a small smile at Tangle's shout from behind the sheep Mobian, Lanolin. The Restoration member let out a squeak of surprise as the camera she was holding beeped and the light flashed.
"Don't do that!" The sheep turned back and glared at the lemur. "You scared me half to death!" Grumbling, she went over to a table on the side where a small card was being printed.
"Man, what's got you in such a cranky mood?" Tangle scratched the back of her head. "It's just something you say after 'three'!"
Okay, as funny as this was Sally needed to nip this on the bud. She could already tell that the sheep was already on her last nerve. "Tangle, please. She's just trying to do her job." She glanced at Lanolin and tried her best to look apologetic. "Plus… we probably didn't give her much time to sleep."
"Eight hours is the recommended amount of sleep a mortal being should have." Nicole chimed in from the PDA on the lemur's waist. "If we take into account the hour you claimed it would take to process our paperwork last night, you would have received five hours."
When they had left the bunks her friend had retreated back into her former device. The robian couldn't help but feel guilty about that. Nicole obviously still felt terrible about using some of the power that was used for her… this… body.
And what made it worse was that Sally herself didn't know what to think about it.
Should she be… hurt? Scared? Happy to help Nicole? Understanding?
She really didn't know, but she wanted to be the latter. Especially when her request was so… so selfish.
Lanolin groaned. "Tell me something I don't know! I'm running on coffee and the desire to get paid at the end of the week right now!"
Everyone in the room shifted uncomfortably at that. The harried sheep certainly knew how to make people feel guilty.
"Sorry." Whisper muttered. "Didn't mean to."
"Yeah." Tangle kicked an imaginary stone. "Our bad."
The Restoration member sighed and walked up to Sally, two cards in hand. "Here are your Restoration membership cards. Try not to lose them, as they give you access to our bases and resources. Plus they tell the other members to, y'know…"
"Not shoot me to kingdom come." Sally finished in her head, a flash of anger and deep sadness filling her at the same time. "I'm going to have to flash this a lot, aren't I?"
The princess reached out with her right hand. "Th-."
Then she paused when Lanolin flinched and was reminded that she didn't have her right hand anymore.
She had a claw.
One meant to rip and tear the flesh of her friends. Meant to tear through wood, stone, and steel in case the target was hiding somewhere. Meant to hurt them more. Like she had hurt Amy. Like she had hurt Tails. Like she had hurt Sonic. Like… Like…
"Sally! Sally, it's okay!" Nicole was right by her side again, her face filled with worry. "You're not hurting anyone, alright? They… they simply need some time getting used to you."
"I-I…" Sally put her right hand on her head and grimaced. "Damn it…"
She hated this. Hated making Nicole threat over her as if she was a little kid. Hated freezing up like this to a normal reaction. Hated seeing those scenes of Mecha Sally hurting her friends over and over again in the back of her head…!
"How long is this going to last?"
"I'll take those." Whisper was by the sheep's side, palm open to receive the cards. "No pockets."
"Yeah, we're gonna have to fix that…" Tangle rubbed her chin in thought. "Though with the way she is now…" Shaking her head she looked over to Sally. "You need a minute?"
"No. No, I don't." Sally's hands clenched into fists and she went to the door. "I just want to go to the workshop and turn this stupid body into something that won't scare everyone!"
Why was she shouting? Who was she trying to convince?
She opened the door…
…and was face to face with a ghost.
A black and white cat, wearing a familiar red vest and blue ascot. Green eyes that sparkled in the artificial light and reflected Sally's face in them.
"…Hershey?" Sally whispered, her artificial eyes widening in shock as she gazed at the cat.
Once a member of Drago Wolf's crew, Hershey St. John had shown herself to be a true patriot to the kingdom by becoming a member of the Royal Secret Service and an ally to the Freedom Fighters. Through her help and bravery, Hershey had fought against Eggman's forces and had managed to catch the eye of her husband Geoffrey.
The same man who told Sally and the entirety of New Mobotropolis that Hershey had died!
The cat blinked in surprise. "Yes? Have we…?"
"Hershey! It's you!" Sally couldn't help it. She pulled the cat into a hug. "I can't believe it! You're back! Geoffrey said you were dead! He told us that you died when…"
"M-Ma'am! Please! You're hurting me!"
Cursing herself, Sally let go and backed away. She noted the indents in Hershey's vest and fur and winced. "Sorry! I'm just… I'm just so happy…!"
"Hershey St. John?" Nicole seemed to be equally stunned by the cat's appearance. "Y-You were listed as Killed In Action. How…?"
"Wait, you know this lady?" Tangle asked, looking back and forth between Nicole and Hershey. "You mean she was a part of the old world too?"
"Hersh?" If they were confused, Lanolin was even moreso. She looked ready to bolt away from this craziness. "You know what this is about?"
"I…" The cat bit her lip. "I'm sorry Ma'am. Have we met somewhere?"
Sally's eyes widened. Hershey… didn't know her? "H-Hey. Come on, Hershey. I-I know this is a bit of a shock, and I'm roboticized, but it's…"
Right! Right! The memories! Turning around, Sally's hand shot out and snatched Nicole's PDA from Tangle's hip. The lemur let out a sharp cry, but she didn't pay attention to it. Instead the chipmunk robian turned back to Hershey smiling and said, "Touch this! It'll all make sense!"
Before Hershey could even respond, the princess thrust the PDA into the cat's chest and her hands instantly went up to grab it by the sides.
"Yes. Yes, now her memories will come back. She'll remember me. She'll remember me and Nicole. We can be together and talk this through. We can hug and talk about what had happened to her. Why she disappeared. Why Geoffrey went crazy and joined Naugus. Why we're all here and I won't be the only crazy one ar-."
But her wild train of thought slowed down when she saw the lack of reaction on Hershey's face.
She held the PDA… but there didn't seem to be a spark of recognition on her face. No proclamation of lost memories returning.
Nothing.
Sally's body shook as Hershey, not her Hershey, slowly took the PDA and handed it back to Sally's hands. "I-I'm sorry… I think you mistook me for someone else." The not-Hershey turned on her heel and quickly strode away.
Nobody said anything for a few seconds.
"Sally…?" Tangle walked up cautiously and gave her a nervous smile. "M-Maybe this is all a funny coincidence and she just looks like your friend. Maybe…"
"Nicole." The robian looked down at the PDA. The PDA that was supposed to give everyone back their memories. "It didn't work."
"…It is possible that the Hershey we knew did indeed die. And because of it, when the world… changed… this version of Hershey was born and is essentially an entirely new being." Nicole was making this up. Even Sally could see that. She was just saying things to make her feel better. "Sally…"
The princess looked down at the PDA and then looked at Tangle's side.
Specifically the thin knife-like cut on her hip and the small stain of blood on her fur.
Sally's eyes focused on the tip of the right claw's index finger and the small dot of blood there.
"I caused that. I caused that by trying to… to…"
"Would you guys please explain to me what the heck that was about?!" Lanolin shouted, her hands on her hair and looking about ready to freak out. "Why were you acting like that to Hershey?! What's this about the world changing and…?!"
"Not important." Whisper rushed forward and took both Tangle and the unresisting Sally by the wrist before dragging them out of the office. "Have a nice day."
"Wait! Wait, what about…?!"
Whisper was surprisingly strong and fast, because soon they were in the hallway with a decent distance between them and the administration.
"…You can stop pulling now, Whisper." Sally muttered. "I can walk on my own."
The wolf didn't say anything. She merely stopped and let go of the robian's wrist. The princess then gently handed back Nicole's PDA to her while the holo-lynx appeared to Tangle's right, her attention entirely on Sally.
"I'm sorry for scratching you." She gripped the right arm of her body with her left and looked down. "I just wanted the PDA. I wasn't thinking. I…"
"Hey, it's no sweat. I got cut up all the time while exploring the forest when I was a kid." Tangle shivered. "And the spikes…"
…The worst part was that she couldn't tell if Tangle was making that up or if she really did just wander into some stray spikes.
"What the hell did I just try to pull?" Sally asked aloud. "I'm such an idiot."
"You're not an idiot!" Nicole protested. "Sally, I was just as shocked as you were! I really thought that she was…"
"And what if she was?!" The princess spat out. "I tried to force those memories into her, Nicole! I didn't ask permission! I didn't try to convince her! I was just so desperate to have just one of my friends back that I didn't care what they would think!"
It was a horrible realization. One that made Sally sick to, if she still had it, her stomach.
She wanted Hershey back… but she didn't care about the person in front of her.
In that split second, she treated the cat as if she were some empty receptacle for her to pump in memories of a real Hershey.
As if she were some sort of machine… waiting to be programmed to act a certain way.
Like the monster did to her.
The realization also seemed to dawn on Nicole as well. She took a step back, her eyes widening in horror as she muttered, "No. That's not… We're not trying to force anyone! We just… we just want them to remember and…!"
"Guys! Calm down!" Tangle stepped in and shook her head. "Okay, look, this situation is complicated. And I do understand. Kinda." She looked up with deep and compassionate eyes. "I know that you're both… Y'know. Scared. And lonely. You want your friends back." She looked down. "You're not bad people for wanting that. And I know you have a chance to make your friends all remember who they once were."
"I know that." The princess thought to herself bitterly. "I know that. But that's not the point!" Before she could say this out loud, the wolf stepped in.
"The PDA is a tool." Whisper pointed at the device. "You can't use it out of desperation."
Sally glared at the wolf. "Desperation?"
"You don't know how much you can use it." Whisper clarified. "If you just use it on every person you recognize, it can stop working when you want someone really close to your heart to remember."
"Damn it. She had a point." It was a pragmatic look at the situation. Yeah, neither she or Nicole really knew how long that this would last. How many times Nicole's PDA would reawaken memories. "But what happened…!"
"I was getting to that!" Tangle shouted, getting in front of the sniper to block her from Sally's view. "Nicole… Sally… you're not bad people for wanting to make your friends remember the previous world. But you need to try and get to know them first! It's like you said, Sally! You need to get them to agree to try it out!"
"But…" Surprisingly, it wasn't Sally who was asking the question. It was Nicole. "…But what if they don't want to do it, Tangle? I… I don't want to force them to do anything. But…"
Sally's mind finished Nicole's thought immediately. "But it would be torture for us to have them not remember us."
The lemur gave them a sad smile. "Then… you can become friends with them all over again."
"…What if they don't want to be friends with us?" Sally asked, despair filling her voice. "What if they don't want anything to do with us?"
"You said that you were all friends with Sonic, right?" Sally and Nicole nodded. Tangle grinned. "Well… you think any version of your friends would be jerks like that?"
The answer instantly appeared in her head.
"No. No they wouldn't be."
She glanced at Nicole, who nodded in agreement. "Okay." The princess told the lemur. "We'll… just take this as a learning experience, I guess."
And pray that the PDA would actually work next time.
"Great!" The lemur pointed forward. "Now that's settled… Let's go see Belle!"
They walked forward, Tangle and Whisper taking the lead while Sally and Nicole hung around in the back.
She didn't want to go to the workshop.
But it needed to be done.
Sally's mind wandered to Hershey, or this world's version of Hershey.
"I hope… I can apologize to her later."
And maybe, just maybe, they can become friends again.
The steel chain link fence shook as Hershey vaulted over it and strode out of the Restoration HQ's grounds. Nobody was watching her. This was the small blind spot in the HQ's defensive perimeter. One that few people knew about, because it had only been created just recently.
After the Metal Virus hit, a lot of infrastructure was damaged and the Restoration scrambled to try and rebuild. Some things were bound to fall through the cracks, and the blind spot was one of them. The security cameras weren't calibrated correctly so when they turned in the direction of her exit they looked at the sky. Meanwhile the electric fence was still on the fritz, so there wasn't any danger there.
Still, with how meticulous Jewel was about things the blind spot would likely be discovered within the week.
Hershey had told Jewel that she had to handle some personal matters. That her husband had arranged for an electrician to check out their house but he got caught up in work and wouldn't be there to oversee the man. The director of the Restoration accepted this and let her go to handle things.
Thankfully, an hour was all that she needed.
After twenty minutes of walking through the forest, Hershey stopped and leaned against a tall oak tree. She closed her eyes and tears started to roll down her cheeks. "Sally…"
For a few seconds, she leaned against the tree crying to herself. She cried for the lies and their consequences, no matter their good intentions.
But soon, she steeled herself and wiped away the tears on her sleeve.
Kneeling down, Hershey lifted a small portion of false grass to reveal a pair of wireless headphones and microphone. Placing the headphones on her ears, she brought the microphone close to her lips and muttered, "This is Agent Priestess, reporting in. Is anyone there?"
For a few seconds there was nothing but static.
Then, the voice of a young man came in.
"This is Agent King. Go ahead, Priestess."
Hershey winced. Honestly, she wished that the founder was the one answering. "I bring news from the Risen Phoenix. The… The Fallen Acorn has been discovered. And… and spring has come again."
The code was simple. Simple because the likelihood was so slim that they almost believed it wouldn't happen. No need to make the message complicated.
"She… my sister?!" Agent King shouted from the other end. "You found her?! How? Where?!"
"Agent King!" A wise and old voice said in the background, gaining in volume with each step. "Remember your training! We cannot afford to be make mistakes, especially now!"
Hershey didn't wince, but she felt some sympathy. It's not every day that a younger sister written off as dead reappears.
Her fellow agent wasn't cut out for this life.
Even if he knew the necessity of it.
"Continue your report, Priestess." The director ordered. "If spring has come, has summer as well?"
This part was the worst. "No. Not summer. Only spring."
"Damn!" She heard something crash on the other end of the line. "Damn it!"
The director sighed and muttered, "I'll talk with Agent King. Your orders right now are to keep an eye on the Fallen Acorn and report her activities."
"Understood." Hershey St. John's hands gripped onto the headset. "No more false kings."
"No more false kings."
To Be Continued…
Notes: So yeah…
This chapter was already turning out longer than I had initially planned. And there was still a whole fuckton more stuff I had planned. So when I saw a natural end point to split the two halves I had to take it.
Still, I figured this would be a fine little end scene for you all to chew on.
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