"Welcome to Good Morning Studiopolis!" The black cat dressed in a purple suit and tie declared, smiling at the camera. "This is Evan the Cat reporting to you live from our studio, and today we have a lot of things to go over! From how current policies by the United Federation will affect relations with the Islands to the latest reviews of Mammoth Studio's newest picture, Y2K Okay! However, first thing's first: the biggest story of the decade!"
The newscaster motioned to her right and a screen appeared, revealing a picture of Angel Island on the left half while on the right there was a hyroglyph of an Echidna. Underneath, in big yellow letters, there were the words, 'THE RETURN OF THE ECHIDNAS'.
"That's right! It's the story that everyone has been talking about this past week!" Evan the Cat smiled at the camera from ear to ear as images flashed on the screen of giant flying crafts landing on Angel Island. "The return of the echidna race! For many years, it had been widely believed that the species had gone extinct with their only surviving member being the world-famous hero and last Guardian of the Master Emerald: Knuckles the Echidna."
The screen then showed the picture of a furious Knuckles hurling a bolder at an airborne camera.
"However, in a startling turn of events, the echidnas have returned to Angel Island! While the Restoration has discouraged the media's presence on the island, one of Good Morning Studiopolis' reporters managed to snag an exclusive interview with Honey the Cat and the 'Matriarch' of the echidnas!"
The newscaster and studio disappeared, showing a female turtle wearing a yellow jumpsuit and white boots sitting on a chair across from Honey the Cat and Lara-Le. The cat seemed perfectly happy and content with the situation she was in, casually crossing her legs with a small mischievous smile. The echidna matriarch, however, had an uneasy frown on her face.
"First of all, I want to thank you both for agreeing to this interview." The turtle said with a small nod. "I understand that both of your schedules are currently very jam-packed, considering all the relief and organization efforts you are coordinating with the Restoration."
"Glad to be here, April! And I've got to say, LOVE the jumpsuit!" Honey giggled with her hand in front of her mouth. "Yeah, things have been pretty busy but I've managed to find time to make sure I look sweet!"
"And… I am also glad to be here." Unlike Honey, Lara-Le gave a nervous laugh. "This is all very strange… I don't think I've ever been interviewed before."
The cat leaned to her left and patted the woman reassuringly on the hand. "Don't worry! We'll get through this together!"
Nodding, April the Turtle turned her attention to Honey. "Now, Honey the Cat… you are a world-renowned fashion designer and head of a worldwide chain of clothing stores. Tell me, how was it that you managed to find out about the return of the echidnas."
The cat beamed. "Oh, that's simple! You see, a very nice girl named Julie-Su had managed to find herself in one of my stores! She was suffering a bit of a wardrobe malfunction, you see, and I just HAD to help her!" She sighed. "I accidentally thought she was an anteater, and when she corrected me I knew there was something going on!"
April hummed. "Because you had prior experiences with Knuckles the Echidna, correct? During the Fighters tournament…"
"That's right! I may not keep in touch with the guy nowadays, but I know that he was pretty sure he was the last of his kind." Lara-Le winced at that, but if either Honey or April noticed they didn't comment. "So I got the full story from Julie-Su and the bee girl she was with, Saffron, before I decided to pull all the stops so the echidnas could get the help they needed!"
"And we are very grateful for the assistance both Honey and the Restoration have given us." The echidna woman said with a smile. "What would have been a difficult resettlement period has become much easier for all of us."
Now the turtle's attention turned to her. "Speaking with resettlement, that brings me to a question I have for you, Matriarch. Why was it that you were gone? It was widely believed that Knuckles was the last of the echidna species for the longest time."
The echidna woman looked down. "It… is a very long story. We were exiled from this Zone… dimension, I mean, by the last member of the Tasmanian Devil race…"
"Last member?" April asked incredulously. "Forgive me for asking, Matriarch, but are you sure? While the Tasmanian Devil species isn't exactly numerous, they aren't on the brink of extinction."
"I…" Lara-Le closed her eyes. "As far as I knew, yes. It was done as revenge for what some sick and twisted members of my people did to his own. He did it in hopes that we would all perish. Never to return home…"
"But you're here now." Honey assured the echidna woman, her voice soft yet firm. Her normally cheerful face now showing a twinge of concern. "That's what matters."
"Yes." The Matriarch of the echidnas opened her eyes. "And it is thanks to the technology of the Ancients or, as the legends of my people called them, 'Those That Walked Before'."
The reporter frowned. "The Ancients… not much is known about them, outside of the scant ruins found. Even one of the leading academics in ancient literature, Professor Pickle, has said that very little can be found of them in ancient texts. How exactly were you able to find out about them?"
"It is thanks to the older members of my people…" Lara-Le leaned down and steepled her fingers. "Tales passed down to them by their fathers and fathers before them. Of the beings from the heavens who guided the Ancient Walkers and echidnakind through their magic and technology. With them they bended the fabric of reality and even traveled between dimensional planes…"
"Which is why, when you were banished, you were able to make your way back here?"
"That is correct."
The turtle hummed. "That is truly incredible, Matriarch. I would like to continue interviewing you regarding your journey however we need to go on a commercial break. But before that happens I need to ask you one question." She took a deep breath before asking, "Where is Knuckles? He was not on Angel Island to meet all of you when your people returned, and from what our sources tell us the Restoration has lost contact with Sonic the Hedgehog, Amy Rose, and Tails the Fox. Do you believe there is a connection?"
For a second, the echidna woman was silent.
Her eyes were closed, her brows twitching as if she were having a silent debate with herself.
Then she said, "It is our belief that Knuckles is currently trapped within the prison we ourselves were in before our return. Him, as well as his friends. However, that is why we sent Julie-Su out. She was meant to contact Knuckles' friends and comrades so that they could aid in helping him escape."
Lara-Le then opened her eyes.
"And with luck, they will bring my son back to us."
Nobody spoke for a few seconds. April's jaw simply dropped as she and Honey stared at the echidna woman in shock.
Then, Honey said what was on everyone's mind.
"WAIT, YOU'RE KNUCKLES' MO-?!"
The screen switched back to the surprised and shocked face of Ethan the Cat in the studio, while the still image of Honey practically falling off of her chair in surprise as she screamed her final question remained in a tiny window on the top right corner.
"Um… wow. That was… certainly a revelation!" Shaking her head the cat smiled at the camera again. "You can watch the rest of the interview on the Good Morning app or online on our website! Coming up next, we have a sit down on the couch with the president's daughter, Sara, about fashion tips for hybrids! Stay tuned!"
"Knuckles has a mom?!"
Saffron blinked as she looked at Sticks, who was hiding behind a fort of pillows and eyeing the telecra-no, television in suspicion.
"Why are you hiding?" The bee asked, feeling stupid as the words escaped her mouth. "Wait, you don't have to…"
"It's because da shadow government spies through dem, takin' in all da information for da database." The badger shook her fist from behind the fort. "You may have all of 'em hooked, but you'll never take me!"
Saffron let out a sigh and shook her head. She really should stop asking why the conspiracy theorist does literally anything. The answers never made any sense. So she decided to change the subject. "Of course Knuckles has a mom, Sticks. Why wouldn't he?"
The conspiracy theorist rolled her eyes. "Because da Master Emerald created him, obviously!"
"…Huh?"
"Da Master Emerald's got an artificial intelligence inside of it, see? Probably da remnant of some kinda alien starship or somethin'." The badger waved her hand dismissively. "All da echidnas were dead… at least they were here, an' it was now all alone! So it created it's own special little guardian to watch over it! Probably downloaded a ton of knowledge into Knuckles' brain an' that's why he can talk and stuff!" A smug look appeared on Sticks' face. "I figured it all out, and Knuckles can say I'm nuts all he wants but I know da truth!"
Saffron stared at the smug badger in silence for a few seconds.
Then, she let out a groan of despair.
"I can't even tell her that's ridiculous…"
Aurora knew that stranger things which flew in the face of logic existed on Mobius. Like, literal gods that intervened in mortal affairs on a semi-regular basis had been a fact of life!
Who was to say that some kind of intelligence wasn't inside the Master Emerald?
"Not that we should tell Sticks that. She'd have a field day with half of the things from Mobius."
The bee's antennas twitched when the sound of the shower that was muffled behind the closed bathroom door stopped. Knowing Julie-Su, she would be out of the bathroom in a few minutes. The echidna never liked taking that long getting ready.
A part of her hoped she didn't hear the interview. The ex-Dark Legionnaire would have gotten worried about Lara-Le, and she already had plenty on her plate.
"Sure, Sticks. Sure…" Saffron turned her attention back to the television and frowned as she watched a commercial for a series. It was about that trench coat-wearing black cat Mobian with a white muzzle that Saffron watched an episode of last night and liked in spite of the violence and darker content. The voiceover was calling it the 'most critically acclaimed show of the decade'. "You guys have a lot more to watch than we did on Mobius."
Honestly, it was kind of staggering just how much content was on the television. On Mobius, telecrates were used mostly for news and the occasional concert by Mina. Rotor and Tails had managed to come up with a machine that allowed people to play games on them, but for the most part there wasn't much on.
The people on Earth, though? They seemed to have a glut of options when it came to what to watch. News was there, sure, but there was also cooking shows, 'reality TV' which Saffron didn't like, movies, cartoons, and sports!
And that wasn't even getting into the 'streaming channels' which were chock full of options!
…Maybe too many options.
"Who even has time to watch all of that?"
"Da government wants to keep all of you nice and placid so that da psychics they have employed can read your thoughts through the radio waves." Sticks growled. "Would ya turn it off? I don't want them to see more than they already have."
"Fine, fine…" Saffron grabbed the remote and pressed the power button.
"Be sure to buy your Jack Frost plush today!"
"HEE-HO!"
The television then turned off at the image of the grinning and waving snowman just in time for loud knocks to come from the door.
Sticks got to her feet and had her boomerang in her hand. "It's da fuz!" She yelled, her eyes practically wild as she gripped the wooden tool. "I knew they marked who they would get with those Jack Frost commercials!"
"What's taking you girls so long?!" Came the familiar voice of Vector. "We're burning daylight here!"
Saffron winced and flew to the door, opening it to see the other members of the Chaotix. Espio held two plates in his hands which had a waffle slathered in syrup on each. Vector was picking at his teeth with a toothpick with his right hand while his pink tongue licking at his chops and his left fist was still raised mid-knock.
"Heya, Saffron!"
The female bee let out a surprised yelp when Charmy flew in front of her, his face beaming in a friendly grin as he held a plate with a waffle on top.
A friendly grin… and eyes that still didn't hold the love they once had.
"You guys were taking too long so we decided to have breakfast without you! But then we decided to make you waffles before the waffle maker was hogged by the other guests!" Charmy puffed out his cheeks. "I wanted to put whipped cream and stuff on it, but Vector wouldn't let me!"
"Because that's way too much sugar!" The crocodile pointed out, shooting the bee a glare. "You don't need that much junk in your system!"
"But they were free!"
"That ain't any excuse!"
The older bee shook her head and stuttered out. "T-That's right, Charmy!" She nodded and continued. "I know that candy toppings are yummy but you cannot just eat them! They aren't good for you."
The younger bee pouted and looked to the side. "But I wanted it!"
She hated this. She hated it whenever Charmy acted like this. She knew it wasn't his fault, but when he started pouting like a child despite being a…!
"But this isn't Charmy. Not really."
Right. Right. She needed to remember that. He may look like the Charmy she loved but…
"This one really is six, remember? So when he throws a tantrum, it won't be like a stab through the heart. This time he's acting his age."
Saffron's body was shaking as Vector continued to reprimand the bee that was her fiancé in another life. She continued to stare at Charmy, who was oblivious to her gaze.
"You won't have to cry in frustration and self-pity in the bathroom whenever he's asleep…"
"WAFFLES!"
The older bee blinked in surprise as Sticks shot past Saffron and lunged at Charmy, who let out a cry of surprise while Espio merely ducked.
"Gimmiegimmiegimmie!" The badger was now practically stoppering as she landed on the railing and made another go at the breakfast plate.
"Hey, this one is for Saffron!" The boy declared as he dodged to the right. "Espio's got yours!"
"Wait, really?!" The conspiracy theorist landed on the floor and turned her heel to the ninja who was eying her cautiously. "Does it have sugarplums on it?"
The chameleon gave her a flat stare. "No."
"Eh, worth a shot." The badger then took one of the plates and lifted the entire waffle out with just the fork and bringing it to her face, taking a bite out of it while getting syrup everywhere.
It was horrifyingly fascinating to watch.
"Phew! That was close." Charmy then flew to Saffron and handed her the plate with a smile. "Here you go!"
"T-Thank you, Charmy." Cautiously, Saffron took the plate. When the bee turned around to laugh at Vector trying to get the badger to use her knife like a civilized person with zero luck, she looked down in shame.
"I need to stop comparing him to the one I knew."
This Charmy was a boy. A healthy and normal six year old who would act and talk like a six year old would. He wasn't her fiance, even if on some level he was.
"He's happier now. Try and focus on that. Don't let… don't let what happened affect things."
But it was so hard.
Harder than it was for Vector and Espio. There were differences, sure, but Saffron had an easier time seeing the two as being their own people even if there were plenty of similarities.
But with Charmy… it was different.
"And eventually Julie-Su's going to have to go through the same thing."
She would have to be there when the pink echidna met the Knuckles of this world. To make sure she will be okay…
"Alright! Alright, I'm here!" Saffron looked over her shoulder to see Julie-Su, now fully dressed, walking out of the bathroom with a towel hanging over her shoulder. She took the plate offered by Espio and began using her fork to cut the waffle into pieces. "Thanks for getting us breakfast."
"You're welcome." The chameleon said with a nod. "Glad to see you are awake,"
Julie-Su shrugged and took a bite of her breakfast. "Regular showers take time compared to Sonic Showers."
Vector scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right! Bet you just wanted your beauty sleep!"
"Considering those bags under your eyes, you could probably use some." Julie-Su shot back with a small smirk. "Old man."
The crocodile sputtered and shouted, "OLD MAN?! Listen here, I'm twenty! I'm plenty young!"
"Vector's old! Vector's old!" Charmy teased in a sing-song voice, causing Saffron to giggle while Sticks burst out laughing and Espio smirked. "Better start planning for retirement, Vector!"
After a few minutes of eating their breakfast, the Chaotix checked out of the hotel and walked over to their vehicles. But as Julie-Su and Saffron approached the Land Breaker a thought struck the bee.
"We're going to a desert…"
So many bad memories happened in the desert they were banished to. All the people they had to leave behind… the beginnings of Lien-Da's cruelty… the loss of Julie-Su's eye…
"Julie." Saffron said as the pink echidna sat on the bike. "Are you going to be okay?"
"Huh?" The ex-Dark Legionnaire turned her head towards the bee and asked, "What do you mean?"
Saffron said nothing. She knew the echidna was smart enough to figure things out.
Julie-Su was silent for a few seconds and a frown settled on her face. She turned her attention to the road before her and shrugged. "As well as I can be."
"But…"
"I won't be able to see Sally unless I do this, Saffron." The pink echidna said firmly. "If I don't go then I might miss out on my chance. And…" She looked down. "…And I want to see a friend who actually remembers me. Even if me and Sally weren't really close I…"
"…" Saffron grimaced before she flew to the bike and sat down behind the echidna, wrapping her hands around the girl's waist. "…Alright. But… just know that I'm here, okay?"
"Don't worry. I will."
Julie-Su started the engine of the bike and the radio suddenly came to life.
"HEY Y'ALL! This is the Islands' number one pirate power station, JET SET RADIO!" Came the excited voice from the speakers as the pink echidna made the bike follow Vector's car out of the parking lot. "How are y'all doing this morning?! Hope your coffee's hot and those electrons are flying through your brain! This is your captain, Professor K, giving y'all the low down of what's happening today!"
Saffron had to appreciate one thing about Professor K. His enthusiasm was infectious.
"Now, our top story for today! Something's going down on the Islands! Those high-tech maniacs, the Noise Tanks, have gone completely off the grid! Those fools aren't ones to keep quiet for long, especially when a new motherboard hits the market, so what's going on there?! Did those mad machines all fly off to go to a Mika concert, or are they planning something big?!"
The bee frowned as the news filtered through her brain. Nose Tanks? Was that some kind of gang? If that was the case, a bunch of them going missing was worrying…
"The same goes for the Dark Gaia Angels! Those heavy metal bikers haven't been heard in a while, and it's hard not to hear them considering their bikes like to drown out the super cool tunes of this station!" Professor K continued, and while he still had his jokey and loud tone with every word there was an edge to it. "Two gangs, going off the air at the same time? I don't know about all of y'all, but that sounds like a recipe for disaster! All I can advise is clean out your ears and put one to the ground, because a whole lot of trouble can be heading your way soon!" Then, his chipper tone returned. "Now, with the other one, take a listen to this super cool tune!"
It was then that a electronic tune began to fill the speakers as a voice began to sing,
"Doin' it right, am I doin' right?
Doin' it right, am I doin' right?
Doin' it right, am I doin' right?
Doin' it right, I feel you next to me~!"
As soon as the chorus ended the music began to play, artificial but funky as the wind blew through the echidna and Saffron's hair.
But the worry inside the bee wouldn't go away.
"How are you feeling?"
Tangle looked over her shoulder as she put on her right shoe at Whisper, who had a frown of concern on her face.
Whisper.
Her new girlfriend!
"Still can't believe this is happening…!"
No, wait! She needed to focus!
"Well…" The lemur bit her lip as she stomped her foot down on the floor, securing the footwear before she got on her feet. "I mean, I'm better than I was last night. That's for sure."
The wolf shook her head. "That's not what I mean."
Right. Of course it wasn't.
Whisper was still concerned about her, especially with how she kind of had a breakdown after her nightmare.
Nightmares weren't new for Tangle. Sometimes she did wake up in the middle of the night after a particularly bad one, even if she couldn't remember what happened in them. Heck, some of the finer details of the one she just had were slipping from her like sand in the palm of her hand.
But she knew what it was about.
Tangle let out a small chuckle and said, "Yeah, I know." She walked over to the wolf and stood in front of her. "I mean, I still feel bad. Bad about… y'know." She looked at the door of the medical room and continued. "About how their home is gone. About how the people they loved are gone and how screwed up everything is…"
It was hard not to be.
For a long time, Tangle had chosen not to think too hard about it. It was a tragedy, but it wasn't one she could do anything about. All that mattered was how it affected Sally and Nicole. What mattered was making sure they were alright and felt better. So she had focused on that. Focused on just being there as a friend helping her new friends through their darkest moments.
Like she had with Whisper.
But then Mina came along, Mogul's existence and how that affected Silver, and the whole reveal about New Mobotropolis…
"Felt like I was just a supporting character in a huge adventure. Go in, beat the bad guy, and help people. I just kept focusing on that and was blindsided by how screwed up everything really was."
The words those guys said above… they had gotten to her.
Made her feel so… small. Like the biggest doofus in the world. Someone who only lived because a lot of people didn't.
They ate at her and tore up inside, and it all came to a head in that nightmare.
But…
Tangle reached out and took Whisper's right hand in her left and held it.
"But what you said, Whisper… it cleared some things up for me." Tangle smiled warmly at the mercenary. "I can't help that I'm alive, but it doesn't mean that it's a mistake. All I can do is make sure I live my life and help others. For myself… and for you." She squeezed it softly. "So… thank you, Whisper. Thank you for… y'know…"
She couldn't help but feel her body grow hot as she looked at her friend's small smile. She always thought Whisper looked cute when she smiled, but now she knew there was something… more, behind it.
"This is going to take some getting used to."
She heard a cheer and let out a small gasp as the wisps cheered and crashed into her, enveloping her in tiny hugs along her tail and arms. "Aw man, guys! Stop!" The lemur laughed as she let go of the wolf's hand and playfully swatted at them. "That tickles!"
Whisper giggled, holding her hand in front of her mouth as she did so and Tangle couldn't help but feel her cheeks grow hot from embarrassment.
"What is up with me today?!"
"Eh-Hem!"
Everyone froze as they then noticed the door had opened and leaning against the doorframe was Dr. Quack glaring at them with his one eye.
"I see you've gotten better…" The duck observed in a low tone.
"Y-yeah!" The lemur chuckled, scratching the back of her head nervously while Whisper pulled her mask over her face. "The pain in my shoulder's completely gone! Thanks, doc!"
"Well if that's the case…" He thumbed over his shoulder. "It's time for you to go! I'm not running a hotel!"
"Right! Right!" Flush with embarrassment, Tangle ran out with Whisper and the wisps following right behind her. "Sorry, doc!"
She could see the doctor shaking his head while she passed by him, muttering "Teenagers!" Before slamming the door shut behind him.
"Hehe…" Tangle chuckled before grinning at Whisper. "So much for that, huh…?"
The wolf merely shrugged.
A few awkward seconds of silence passed between them, and Tangle bit her lip.
Before, it was easy to decide what to do next with the wolf. After all, she was her friend and that was that.
Now though?
Now their relationship has become something… more.
When Whisper poured her heart out to her last night, the lemur had been amazed. She had no idea that the mercenary could have loved her. It never really factored into her thoughts.
Tangle had admired Whisper ever since they had met. To her, the wolf was the coolest person she had ever met right next to Sonic and Blaze. An awesome gunslinger who hung out with cute wisps that gave her powers. Sure, she was a bit shy, but Tangle could work with that! It also helped that Whisper seemed to open up to her!
Then, as time went on, their friendship had become something… deeper. While hunting down Mimic, Whisper revealed so much about her past. About her losses and how she didn't want Tangle to become another one.
"Did she like me that way, even back then?"
Maybe it didn't matter.
Sometime during their whole relationship, Whisper came to love her.
And Tangle couldn't help but feel something when she heard the wolf's confession.
Tangle had never had a girlfriend before. In fact, for the longest time she thought she would never get any sort of significant other. Sure, she thought Blaze was cute and cool while Sonic was the coolest guy she ever met, but love? Nah, she didn't feel like that about any of the people she met aside from her parents.
But with Whisper, it felt… different.
"Hey, so…" Tangle fidgeted. "About last night. I know we're… y'know…"
"Damn it, Tangle! Just spit it out!"
"…dating… I guess."
Whisper fidgeted herself, looking to the side while the wisps giggled.
"…Right now isn't a good time to have a date." The lemur walked over and lifted her left hand. "But maybe we can… y'know… start with…" Why was she so freakin' nervous! She needed to get it together! "H-Holding hands?"
For a few seconds, Tangle felt like an idiot. Was she moving too fast? Was this too much? Was it too sappy?!
"Gah! I'm such a freakin' idiot! Kill me! Kill me now!"
Then, Whisper reached out and tentatively grasped her hand.
Whisper's face was hidden, but even Tangle could tell the wolf was smiling underneath the mask.
"I… would like that." The mercenary said softly. "Thank you."
Slowly, a grin spread from ear to ear on Tangle's face. Her head was swimming and butterflies were in her stomach.
"Great!" She giggled before pointing out. "Now then… let's go and see how Sally and the others are doing!"
She wouldn't tell them about her and Whisper unless asked. It would feel wrong if she did so. After all, Sally and the others were going through so much.
Still, the lemur wanted to jump up and scream out what was going through her head right that very second.
"I GOT A GIRLFRIEND!"
She couldn't wait to tell Jewel when she got back!
Walking through the halls was certainly a new experience.
Tangle could practically hear her own heartbeat as it thrummed in her chest. Her entire body felt hot with each and every step as they went down the halls while her mind raced to remember the route back to Rotor's room.
People were starting to get up, rushing down the hallways carrying destroyed gear or sheets of paper, probably reports or messages to loved ones still up on the surface.
A million, trillion thoughts were racing through her head.
Most of them were very stupid.
"Oh man… I wonder if anyone is noticing us."
"How should I break to Sally and the others if they asked?"
"Is Whisper doing okay? Oh god, what if I'm embarrassing her doing this?!"
"I wonder what we can eat for breakfast…"
The lemur shook her head and grimaced. What the heck was she doing? She needed to focus! Everyone here has way more important stuff to worry about!
Indeed, the other islanders they passed by barely seemed to be noticing them. But rather than look solemn like before, now they seemed to be smiling and had a bit of extra enthusiasm in their step!
"Did you hear?" A male dog asked his ferret companion. "He's here!"
"Makes sense!" The ferret declared with a laugh. "His sister has finally come back! Of course he would want to see her!"
Tangle raised an eyebrow at that. "Sister?"
Wait, were they talking about Sally?
Realization dawned on her in an instant. "Right! Right, Sally mentioned having a brother!"
"We have to look strong for the king!" A porcupine shouted, thumping his chest with his fist as Tangle and Lemur passed him. "Otherwise, he'll lose faith in us!"
"I'm glad…" A female armadillo sniffled. "I-I still can't believe he's safe… Without him I would've… would've…!"
A small smile formed on the lemur's face. "Sally's brother must be a cool guy if so many people have faith in him…"
It was… nice.
A good king who was fighting with the people to retake the throne from the bad guys.
Had a nice little fairy tale charm to it.
A familiar bob of purple hair then caught her eye and the small smile turned into a full-on grin as she shouted, "Mina! Yo!"
She waved her right hand while dragging Whisper along, moving in closer to see Mina was in a line with three little kids, an old woodchuck, and Silver.
Mina blinked and looked at them before smiling. "Oh! Tangle! Whisper!"
Silver grinned and saluted at them. "Morning! How are you guys feeling?"
"Great!" Tangle declared as she skid to a stop. "What are you guys in line for?"
"Breakfast…" The small kitten moaned while looking down.
The smell of fried eggs and burned bread then hit Tangle's nostrils, and the lemur's stomach growled.
"Right, we didn't have breakfast yet…"
No! Later!
"I'm getting really sick of eggs." The bear rubbed his stomach. "I miss cereal…"
"They don't even have bacon to go along with it!" The tiger cub kicked at the floor. "It sucks!"
"Language!" The woodchuck chided before she turned to Whisper and nodded. "Glad to see you had a good night's rest, dear. I was worried you were going to stay up far too late reading at Jeremiah's library."
"It's fine." Whisper muttered next to the lemur. "Used to staying up late."
"Now, dearie…" The woodchuck lifted her finger and gave the wolf a stern look. "That just won't do! You should have a set sleep time so that you can wake up bright-eyed and bushy tailed in the morning!"
Tangle winced. "Man, she reminds me of my nonna…" Shaking her head she asked, "Have you guys seen Sally around? We're trying to find her."
"No, haven't seen her." Silver shrugged. "Was going to visit after I got some breakfast."
"Alright." The lemur nodded. "We'll go check in that workshop place, then!" She paused then asked, "Uh… where is it?"
Mina chuckled and pointed to a hall to the left. "Down that way."
"Right! Thanks!"
"Bye Miss Whisper! Wisps! Miss Lemur Lady!" The three kids chimed in, and Tangle let out a mental squeal at their little voices.
They just sounded so gosh-darned cute!
Saying goodbye to the six, Tangle and Whisper continued on their walk holding each other's hand. After a few minutes of silence the lemur teasingly asked, "Miss Whisper?"
"Kids I met yesterday. They know Mina." The wolf replied with a shrug. "Played with the wisps."
"Aw man, I wish I could have seen that!"
Those little rug rats probably looked adorable playing with the aliens! And Whisper… she probably had the cutest smile on her face!
"Mother and Father… they're here too. And they cannot wait to see you again!"
Tangle blinked at the unfamiliar voice. Her head turned to the source and saw that it came from the door she recognized as the workshop's. Hard not to mistake it with the symbol of a gear and wrench carved on a piece of wood over the door.
She turned to Whisper. "Was that someone you met?"
The wolf shook her head. "No."
Shrugging, the lemur and wolf walked over to the door. Once Tangle was able to see inside, she saw that the place was packed with people!
Sally, Nicole, and Rotor were there but there were also three other guys that Tangle had never seen before. Sally was hugging a squirrel with red hair fur wearing a pretty cool red and black outfit, and to the side was a pig wearing a coat similar to Antoine's but who looked as if he had been smacked in the face or something. Next to him was an old fox guy wearing a black eyepatch covering his left eye, and Tangle couldn't help but think he looked kind of familiar…
No, wait! Focus!
"Oh hey!" Tangle shouted, walking in with Whisper. "There you guys are! Wow, are you having a party here or…?"
The squirrel then turned to her and looked down at her, an annoyed expression on his face. For a second, she was pretty confused. What was this guy's deal?
Oh! Right! She was probably interrupting something. Better introduce herself.
"Oh, 'Sup! My name's Tangle! Tangle the Lemur! And this is Whisper!" The lemur inclined her head at the wolf, who said nothing but she could feel the mercenary's body grow tense like it usually did when she met new people. Then, the Restoration member reached out with her right hand at the squirrel, ready to shake. "Nice to meet you!"
Rather than that annoyed expression smoothing out and him shaking her hand to introduce himself, it turned into a glare. One that shocked the lemur. It wasn't a glare that people shoot at someone for interrupting a conversation, which is an overreaction sure but not uncommon. Rather, it was one gave to someone they just couldn't stand.
Or to a piece of filth that was stuck on the bottom of their shoe.
"Seriously? What's up with this guy?"
She hadn't even talked to him for five seconds!
Still, Tangle kept up her awkward grin and held out her hand. Maybe he would realize he was being a jerk and shake it?
"Elias?" Sally asked, her voice tinged in nervousness. "Is everything alright?"
"Wait, Elias?"
THIS is Sally's brother? The good king everyone was talking about?
This jerk?!
"Fine." Elias spat out before turning back to Sally. "Everything's fine."
"Hey!" Tangle shouted, bringing down her hand and glaring at the squirrel. "What was that all about?! I was just saying hi!"
"Mother and Father really want to see you, Sally." The squirrel continued as if he didn't just hear her shout at him. "I came here to bring you to them. Father… he…"
The lemur's jaw dropped. Was this guy for real?! "Don't just ignore me, jerk!"
"Elias, what's going on? What's gotten into you?" Sally seemed just as shocked at Tangle was at her brother's rudeness. "She was just introducing herself and Whisper!"
"They aren't important." The squirrel waved a dismissive hand, and Tangle's eye twitched from the sheer fury boiling inside of her.
"Your Majesty!" The fox guy was bristling in anger as well. "That is uncalled for!"
However, the squirrel seemed to ignore that as well and focused solely on his sister. "What's important is that Mother and Father ar-!"
Sally's shocked expression turned into a glare."They are important!" The robian pointed at Elias and said, "Those are my friends, Elias! Without them, I never would have made it this far!"
"Yeah!" Tangle shouted, going into the room and standing next to the princess. "What's your deal, dude?! I just met you!"
"My deal?!" Elias seemed to be grinding his teeth as his body shook. Now he was looking at her, but those eyes contained something beyond simple distaste. It was something dark that even scared Tangle a little bit. "My deal is…!"
Then, the squirrel seemed to realize what he was about to say and where he was saying it. He looked at the lemur and wolf before looking at Sally, shutting his eyes and grimacing before muttering, "I'll be outside and down the hall with Lyco and Leeta. We came here to bring you to Mother… and Father while you still could." He turned around and stomped away, not saying another word.
When he was gone Tangle clicked her tongue and shouted, "Sheesh! What was his problem?!"
"I-I don't know!" Sally shook her head, pure disbelief in her tone as she said, "He's never been like this before!"
"Who knows?" The pig spat out. "King Elias has been acting irrationally ever since we came to this world!"
Tangle turned to him and narrowed her eyes. "Okay, I don't think I like this dude."
"And he thinks he's the only one that's lost loved ones? We all lost…!"
"Hamlin, that's enough!" The old fox guy grabbed the pig by the arm and half dragged him to the door. He did however nod at Tangle and Whisper and said, "I am very sorry about all this. We will be in the meeting hall. I think we need a moment to cool out heads." He gave a sideways glare at Hamlin, who looked down with shame written on his face. The fox then looked directly at Whisper. "Hope to see you there, soldier."
With that, the two walked out of the room.
Nicole turned to Rotor, who was looking down and asked, "Lost loved ones? Who are they…?"
The walrus shook his head. "It's not my place to say, Nicole."
Tangle frowned and grimaced. "Should've expected this…"
What did she expect? That everyone down here would feel the same way about people born on Earth?
It figured that there were plenty of people down here that were just as angry and confused as those up top.
Sally turned towards her, the robian's expression full of shame. "Tangle, I'm so sorry about this. Elias was never like this before…"
"It's cool." Tangle held up her right hand to stop the apology. "You can't help what your brother thinks."
The robian grimaced. "Still…"
Crap, now Sally was feeling bad! She needed to change the subject quick!
"So how about that? Your mom and dad are down here!" Tangle grinned from ear to ear. "You must be pretty happy!"
However, rather than agree, Sally just closed her eyes. The lemur didn't get it. Shouldn't she be happy?
"I… suppose." The robian sighed. "I mean, I am but… well… A lot has put things into perspective for me and…"
Before Tangle could ask what she was talking about it she shut up. It really wasn't her place to ask…
Still…
"And I… I want to see them but…"
"How about we go with you?" Tangle blurted out, causing the princess to blink. "To see your parents?"
"Huh?"
The lemur grinned and thumbed over to Nicole. "Me, Whisper, and Nicole can come along for the ride! Y'know, lend moral support and stuff! I mean, you might need it! Plus, who knows? Maybe your folks would want to meet us too!"
She doubted it, but hey! First time for everything!
Besides, it was blatantly clear that Sally needed it more than anything. Especially since she was so on the fence about seeing her parents. It would be nice of her to have some friends along for the ride!
Even Sally seemed unsure about this, judging from the thin line across her lips. "I… guess that would be nice. But what about my brother?"
For once, Whisper surprised Tangle.
"Screw him."
The lemur blinked in surprise, staring at the wolf whose face was unreadable behind the mask. Then, she burst out laughing and pulled the mercenary into a hug. "Wow! Whisper, where did that come from?!"
"I didn't like the way he looked at you." Came Whisper's simple response. "So screw what he thinks."
Tangle laughed even harder at that.
Man, her girlfriend was so cool!
"Guys, come on…" Sally moaned. "That's still my brother. Even if he's acting like such a…"
"Did something happen between you two?" Came Nicole's sudden interjection. "I can't help but notice you and Whisper seem… closer than before."
Tangle and Whisper froze and looked at each other. When the wolf gave a hesitant nod, Tangle grinned as she looked at the lynx and threw her arm over Whisper's shoulder.
"Well, a lot of stuff happened last night and…" Her cheeks felt red hot as her tail threw up a peace sign. "Whisper and I are now together-together!"
For a second, nobody said anything.
Then, Nicole let out a shrill squeal of happiness as she leapt towards them and, to Tangle's shock, felt a female body hug them. "Really?! Oh, this is such wonderful news! I noticed the way Whisper looked at you but I never thought…!"
"Wait, you noticed how she looked at me?!" Tangle felt her cheeks grow hotter from embarrassment. "Was I really that dense?!"
"Don't worry about it!" Sally laughed and used her hand to rub Tangle's head. "I'm happy for you guys! Right, Rotor?"
"Uh…" Tangle couldn't help but notice that the Walrus was looking at them oddly. "Yeah. Yeah, it's really great!" A smile grew on his face. "Good for you!"
The lemur raised an eyebrow about that.
"What the heck was that all about?"
Silver grimaced as he took another bite of the hard-boiled egg he had gotten from the mess hall the people here had set up. "Ugh. Hard boiled eggs and a piece of bread every morning? No wonder people here are sick of eggs."
Though the gray-furred hedgehog had to admit, it could've been worse. They could've been forced to eat field rations like he and the other members of the Resistance had been during the war.
Those days hadn't been fun. Eggman and Infinite seeming to predict their every move, the badnik forces so numerous and overwhelming that not even his powers could significantly turn the tide, believing that Sonic was dead and the hope they could save the day without him diminishing every single day…
…the tasteless and disgusting field rations being their only abundant food source certainly didn't help morale in the Resistance.
"And that was just from six months." Silver popped the rest of the egg into his mouth and chewed. "Mina and the others had to live with that for practically their entire lives."
He was kind of used to his life being thrown in constant chaos. Something always seemed to go wrong in the future, forcing him to return to the past to try and find some way to fix it. He was able to relax sometimes, but there was always a new thing to look out for. Some new fight he needed to be in.
But that paled in comparison to being stuck in a war.
Silver never really experienced one, and neither did his Mobius self. They always lived in the aftermath of such a catastrophe, always picking up the pieces and trying to find some way to retroactively fix things.
But the war here, on Earth, had been his first taste of it. It was stressful and calling it depressing was an understatement. The psychic hedgehog wouldn't wish that on anyone.
So seeing everyone down here acting with some strange sense of normality to the entire situation was a bit surprising.
"Blaze would probably say that they are also hurting, but only on the inside."
The psychic's brow furrowed and his hands clenched into fists. He was still frustrated knowing that his friend was now in the hands of Naugus and his men. Somewhere up above, they probably had her in a special cell doing who knew what to her.
"And that's the real question. What are they doing to her?"
Were they trying to use her as bait for them? Were they going to try tapping into the source of her powers, the Sol Emeralds? He didn't even want to imagine what a madman like Naugus would do with them.
That caused Silver to freeze and his eyes widened. "Wait… what if he did? And that's the reason why the future is all messed up?!" Mogul had warned him in the future that the Mad King was the cause of all this! But then… would he have gotten Blaze regardless of what Silver did? He shook his head in frustration. "I wouldn't have to worry about this if I had just paid attention!"
And that was the real rub of all this. He hadn't kept his guard up. He should've known that he probably would've been the first person Naugus and the others would have taken out aside from Blaze! His powers could've turned the entire tide of that fight! Heck, they probably could've beaten Naugus and retaken the castle if he had just paid attention!
"And now because of me… Blaze is…!" His eyes began to sting and the psychic wiped at them. "Just add another one to my long list of screw ups!"
Silver knew that the remnant of the Mogul from his previous self's future believed that none of what happened was his fault, but that didn't really change things. On Mobius that was still him who uselessly went around accusing Sonic and his friends. It was still him wasting time going at things alone until Harvey Who picked him up and let him join the Secret Freedom Fighters. It was the Silver of that world who realized the obvious answer far too late.
He couldn't help but feel partly responsible, no matter what his former master said.
"Hey, isn't that…?"
"Silver!"
The psychic blinked and looked up. Just a bit further down the hall were two nearly identically pink-furred wolves, one wearing a black and blue uniform while the other one wore a green and black uniform.
"Wow they're tall."
For a second, he didn't recognize them.
Then, a memory from a lifetime ago surfaced, and a relieved smile broke out across his face.
"Lyco! Leeta!" He ran over to the two, who were frozen as they stared at him approaching. "Oh man, it's good to…"
He then froze and his smile turned into a frown.
Another memory surfaced that killed his good mood.
Namely that Lyco and Leeta Wolf were there when Hershey the Cat tried to kill Mina.
He still didn't know what was going on with that. The Secret Freedom Fighters he was a part of never would have done something like that!
Well, that wasn't exactly true. He was pretty sure that if the team had a shot at killing Naugus they would've taken it.
He couldn't exactly judge them either. For some weird reason… he could understand that desire to eliminate the cause of all the misery at the center of their lives.
And it wasn't just because his Mobius self had been willing to kill the traitor of the Freedom Fighters to fix his future.
Leeta Wolf was the first to step forward, grinning awkwardly at him. "H-Hey!" She waved and the hedgehog couldn't help but see it was stiff. "H-How's it going, Silver?"
"…Fine." He replied cautiously, eying her and the other wolf. "It's fine, Leeta."
"What are you talking about?" Leeta let out a cry as she pointed at herself. "I'm Lyc-!"
"Stop." He sighed and held up his hands. "Stop, I fell for this once, Leeta. I'm not falling for it again."
The memory was hazy, but the twins did pull this stunt on him once. Switching up their names and pretending to be the other twin just to mess with him.
"The worst part is that if it weren't for the colors of their clothes I couldn't tell someone which was which, even if they put a gun to my head."
The twins gaped at him and glanced at one another, shock written across their faces. "It…" Lyco nervously swallowed. "It really is you."
He blinked. "Wait, so that was a test?"
Her green-wearing let out a relieved laugh. "I mean, yeah. We can only really pull that trick on someone once!"
Silver looked to the side awkwardly. "It probably could've worked again if they kept at it…"
But before he could think any more of it, he felt himself being picked up and pulled into a hug. His vision was filled with blue while the wolf said, "You don't know how much of a relief it is for you to actually remember, Silver." The psychic looked up to see Lyco looking down at him with watery eyes. "When… when you actually called us by our names we were shocked but… but we were so relieved! We…"
"Sis." Leeta tapped her sister on the shoulder, but her eyes were equally watery. "The guy needs some air."
"Oh! Right." The twin let go of the hedgehog, who let out a gasp as he stumbled on his feet. "Sorry, Silver."
"I-I'm fine!" Silver waved her off and shook his head. "I'm glad you're relieved but…" He paused and his mouth formed a thin line. He had so many questions. So many things he needed answers for. But first… "…Lyco. Leeta. I'm not the Silver you knew. Not really."
He needed to get this out of the way. It'd save a lot of pain later.
The hedgehog put his hand on his chest. "I was born and raised in this timeline. When the world changed, I got a new history. One that I did live through." He looked from Lyco to Leeta and continued. "I got the memories of my life on Mobius, but that was the Silver you knew. I'm…" He looked down. "Different."
Even though the line felt blurry.
Even though a part of him cried out, saying that these were his friends.
In spite of his heart aching when he thought of the masters he never really had…
"Silver…" Leeta took a deep breath before letting it out. "We knew."
He blinked and looked up. "Wait, what?"
"We didn't just stay in New Mobotropolis since getting here, and Hershey wasn't the only one allowed outside." Lyco rolled her eyes. "The other members of the Secret Freedom Fighters have been making research trips and going on missions ever since we got here!"
Her twin nodded and said, "And Uncle Chuck did some research too. Finding out what had happened… who were people that were reborn in this world and who was born here… that kind of thing." She sighed and said, "That's how we figured out you, along with Sonic and the others, didn't remember anything from Mobius. That stuff was wiped out of your head completely after…." She paused and began to shiver, a haunted look forming in her eyes. "…after…"
A put of fear began to form in Silver as he stared at the normally confident and playful member of the Wolf Pack. What was this? Why was she so… afraid?
Did the Super Genesis Wave affect her that much?
"Sis!" Lyco was by Leeta's side, shaking her and saying, "Sis, it's fine! We're here now, remember?" Leeta seemed to look at her twin nervously, like a frightened child, who gave her an uneasy smile back. "I-It's fine. We're fine. Elias and the two of us are here now."
"Right…" The green-clothed wolf gulped and nodded. "Right. Thanks, Lyco."
"What was…?"
"Nothing, Silver." Lyco disengaged from her sister and looked him directly in the eyes. "It was nothing. Nothing happened. Nothing happened. Nothing…"
Suddenly, the wolf bit her lip and stopped her mantra. It was so hard and so sudden that Silver worried that the wolf had broken skin, but if it did it was inside the mouth.
"What the hell…?"
"A-Anyways…" Leeta smiled awkwardly at him, pretending nothing had just happened. "Yeah, that's kind of how we figured out your whole deal. By the time the war hit we…"
"Wait, the war?" Silver couldn't believe this. What worry and fear he had felt for the two was blown away by the shock of what he had just heard "The war… with Eggman? With Infinite? Y-You mean you were going out before that?" Then, anger began bubbling from within and he shouted, "And you guys didn't tell us anything?!"
"We wanted to!" Leeta protested, shock written across her face. She didn't expect him to get angry at her. "Silver, you wouldn't believe how much Lyco and I argued with Harvey at meetings but…!"
"But nothing!" What relief the psychic felt for seeing them was pushed aside. He couldn't believe this! "You guys could have reached out to Sonic and the others all this time for help! We would've helped you without a second thought! We could've saved New Mobotropolis before the war even began! What the heck was…?!"
"Don't yell at my sister, Silver!" Lyco got in between him and her twin before pointing down at him. "Look, we get it! You're upset and angry, but don't take it out on us! If you want to yell at someone, yell at Harvey! He said we couldn't risk you guys making things worse here!"
The gray-furred was now practically shaking with frustration as he glared at her. What the hell had happened after the Super Genesis Wave?! What had happened to the two of them?! To the Secret Freedom Fighters?!
But…
"She's right. Getting angry right now won't solve anything." He took in a deep breath through his nose, held it in for a few seconds, before letting it out slowly. "They think they finally got their teammate… their friend back… and I'm just yelling at them."
Now wasn't the time or place to do this.
Silver closed his eyes and said, "…Alright. Alright, I'll ask him. I'm sorry for yelling."
Though he didn't feel completely sorry.
When he opened them he saw the wolf twins looking at each other with soft gazes of sadness and understanding before they turned back to him. "Don't worry about it." Leeta responded with a nod. "We get it. This whole situation is all kinds of screwed up."
He let out a bitter laugh. "You don't know the half of it. Try living with two lifetime's worth of memories in your brain."
The blue-clothed wolf pointed at him, "That's something we wanted to ask you about. How did you get your memories back, Silver?" She lifted her left hand and pointed to her brain. "Uncle Chuck said that it should've been impossible. You lived a whole different life and everything!"
Before Silver could answer, a new voice spoke up.
"That's something I would like to know as well."
The psychic hedgehog turned his head to the left and his eyes widened as he saw Elias Acorn walking towards them.
In his memories from his previous life, Elias was a kind man. Even when things got serious, there was always something… noble yet humble about him. He felt like a king whenever Silver looked at him.
But the squirrel approaching him… wasn't the same king.
"E-Elias?" Silver asked, shocked at what he saw. Elias' usually neatly combed hair was a mess. His fur wasn't much better, and it looked like his uniform had seen better days. And his eyes… they seemed to bore into him with an intensity unlike the man that was the old Silver's friend. "H-Hey…"
He stopped and crossed his arms. "Agent Ace." He said in an even tone. "It's… good to see you."
"Agent Ace? Not Silver?"
It didn't sound like Elias was happy to see him…
"But like Lyco and Leeta, I'm also wondering how you were able to come back." Elias continued, staring right into his eyes. "Nothing in Sir Charles' research said that was possible."
"I-It's because of Nicole." He found himself answering, and for some reason a part of him cursed at revealing that so casually. "Blaze mentioned it. That her PDA was filled with energy from the Genesis Wave. I guess when I touched it…" He chuckled and pointed at his head. "…it just brought everything back, y'know? But, Elias, I'm not…"
The squirrel stared at him and Silver's mouth shut. This was way too weird. This wasn't the Elias he 'knew'. Everything about this entire interaction felt so off. It was like he was being interrogated instead of being asked questions from the king!
And then he noticed it. Elias' body stiffened and his arms seemed to grip the sleeves of his uniform tightly before he relaxed. Then, the former king turned to Lyco and Leeta before asking, "Where's the Silver Sonic?"
"Silver Sonic?"
Lyco scoffed. "Who knows. We told that creepy thing to buzz off and leave us alone."
Leeta nodded in agreement. "It kept staring at us."
"That's…" The former king groaned before shaking his head. "…I'll go and find it."
Without even glancing at Silver, he circled around him and walked off.
"Elias!" The gray-furred hedgehog reached out. "Wait, I…!"
Lyco's hand clamped on his shoulder and he turned to look at her frowning face. "Don't, Silver." She whispered. "Elias… is going through a lot."
"What? Why…?"
"His wife and daughter aren't here." Leeta muttered, looking down. "They weren't… in the city."
"Oh…" Silver felt cold. "Oh… Elias…"
He looked at the king's retreating form and couldn't help but feel sadness. Elias never talked about his wife and daughter much while he was in the Secret Freedom Fighters, but he knew about them. He knew how much the guy loved them from the few times he spoke about that.
To lose them… for them to just be wiped away from existence…
"We… try to help him." Lyco insisted. "And not just us! Everyone in the Secret Freedom Fighters! But it's just too much, y'know? Too much to… just accept…"
"Hey! It's you guys!"
The psychic turned around to see Sally approaching with Nicole by her side as well as Tangle and Whisper behind her. Tangle was pointing at the wolf twins with an accusing finger and shouted, "You're the fake Eggman henchmen!"
Leeta seemed flustered at the accusation. "T-That wasn't our idea!"
The lemur continued to glower up at the twins, who seemed uncomfortable at her gaze and looked elsewhere.
In fact, they seemed to be doing everything they could to not look at Tangle and Whisper.
Before Silver could think about that Nicole said, "Lyco. Leeta." Rather than her voice being filled with the usual warmth, it was filled with apprehension as she asked, "It is a relief to see you again but… why?"
That one word asked a lot of things.
Why did they try to kidnap Mina?
Why did they become accomplices in her attempted murder?
Why hadn't they asked the Restoration to help them here?
Lyco looked down and spat out, "Ask Harvey and Hershey. What happened with Mina was their bright idea."
"…I think I will." Sally said coldly. "I don't appreciate it when someone I trusted decides to authorize a kill order on one of my kingdom's citizens."
The wolves didn't say anything to that.
A few seconds of awkward and tense silence passed between them.
"…You guys are tall." Tangle commented before turning to Whisper. "Is it a wolf thing? Are you going to get super tall when you get older?"
"No." Whisper replied from behind her mask. "Unusual for wolves."
"Huh." The lemur scratched her head. "Must be a Mobius thing."
A few more seconds of awkward silence passed,
It was then that Silver noticed something missing. "Hey." He pointed at Tangle's hip. "Where's Nicole's PDA? Don't you usually carry her everywhere?"
"Oh, I wanted to stay with Rotor and keep an eye on him." The holo-lynx smiled softly. "He needs his rest, and when he wakes up I'm hoping we can work together on something right away. Something that might get us some answers."
Silver sighed. "Answers would be pretty good right now."
It was then that they heard the sound of wheels rolling against the ground. They looked towards the end of the hall to see Elias was approaching with…
"What the heck?" Silver let out a gasp. "Is that a Mecha…?!"
"It's cool!" Tangle was in front of him waving her arms and smiling desperately. "It's cool! That Mecha Sonic… er… his name is Mach! He's a good guy! Apparently they took out Eggman's programming and he's a good guy now!"
"Really?" When Tangle gave a desperate nod he let out a small chuckle. "Man, Shard must be feeling bummed out about not being the only Mecha Sonic on the team."
He blinked when he didn't hear anyone chuckle at that.
Tangle, Whisper, and Sally he could understand. But Lyco, Leeta, and Nicole?
He looked at them and saw all their downcast expressions. A pit of worry formed inside his stomach.
"What happened to Shard?"
"Sally, what are they doing here?" Silver looked back at Elias who was now glaring at his sister. "I'm trying to bring you to see Mother and Father, remember?"
Sally returned her brother's gaze and replied, "Yes, I remember. And if I'm going to see them I want to introduce my friends."
The psychic was stunned when the squirrel swung his arm to gesture at Tangle and Whisper. "This isn't something that should involve them! This is our family, Sally! We're finally going to be together and…!"
"And if you want me to come, they will have to come as well."
Elias' teeth gnashed together. His brow furrowed with rage as his hands clenched and unclenched. Silver could see that Lyco and Leeta were looking at each other, equally worried about the former king's behavior. Meanwhile, Tangle and Whisper seemed to be stiffening and shifting their stances ever so slightly.
Then, slowly, Elias unclenched his hands and let his arms droop to the side. "Fine." He spat out before shooting Tangle a glare, who stuck out her tongue in response. "But they better keep to themselves."
This really wasn't the Elias a part of him knew.
The robian's expression softened as she looked into her brother's eyes. "Elias… please. What's happened? Please, just tell me…"
"…" Elias closed his eyes, an expression of pain forming on his face before it softened and he turned around. "…I can't, Sally. I just can't right now." He walked over to Mach and said, "We're returning to the base."
The badnik nodded and turned around before slowly rolling down the hall, and as one they followed.
And as Silver walked, a single thought passed through his head.
"What secrets are the Secret Freedom Fighters hiding now?"
"Almost there."
Julie-Su had been repeating that mantra for what seemed like an eternity.
Her leg muscles ached and her head was still swimming from the blow that the butt of the rifle that hit her on the head. Her body was drenched in sweat and yet her mouth was almost as dry as her surroundings.
Around her she could hear the groans of the echidnas.
"Please… please some water!"
"Let us rest! Haven't we gone far enough?!"
"Why… why is this happening to us?!"
"Why did that man send us here?!"
It pained her, hearing all of them suffering. Not understanding that they were mere collateral for Thrash's vendetta against the ghosts of cruel madmen.
"Keep moving!" One of the Dark Legionnaires guarding them at the side shouted, motioning with their blastar onwards. "Do you want to leave this cursed Zone?! Well, this is your only option! Be grateful for Kommissar Lien-Da's desire to keep our race alive!"
To her right she could hear Saffron let out a tired and pained moan as she flew next to the pink echidna. While ahead of her, Remington huddled close to Lara-Le who held the bundle that contained Kneecaps.
But to her right, Wynmacher swayed like a branch in the wind.
Julie-Su knew why. The man had given his own water rations to his wife and child. A good man. A good father. One that the ex-Dark Legionnaire wished Knuckles had from the start.
He would not last long. Her eyes and the cold calculation from her Dark Legion training knew that.
And as if on cue, the blue-robed echidna swayed to the right and fell on the ground.
"Wyn?" Came Lara-Le's choked gasp before she turned to her fallen husband. "WYN!"
Julie-Su could hear Saffron begin to turn, but her right arm shot out and caught the bee by her hand. The girl turned to her with a horrified and pained expression on her face, and the pink echidna could do little more than shake her head.
Lara-Le began running towards Wynmacher, only for Remington to catch her by the arm. "Let go of me!" She yelled at the constable. "He's my husband! We have to…!"
"Do you want Kneecaps or Knuckles to be without their mother as well?!" Remington hissed out, causing Lara-Le to freeze. "Matriarch, we cannot…" he bowed his head. "We cannot save him. He… he sacrificed himself for you. Do not waste his gift."
Lara-Le looked at the black-haired echidna with utter fury before looking at Julie-Su with pleading eyes.
Begging her to save her husband. To save Kneecaps' father. To save the man Knuckles respected for her sake.
Julie-Su bowed her head in shame.
Lara-Le let out a sob and allowed herself to be pulled by Remington, continuing their lonely march.
She heard Lien-Da's laugh.
Julie-Su looked ahead and saw the Kommissar of the Dark Legion looking over her shoulder, sipping on a small container of water with a pleased smirk on her face.
"I'll kill you."
The pink echidna's teeth grit while her left hand clenched into a fist. Her head throbbed from exhaustion, dehydration, and hate.
"I'll kill you." Her mind repeated like a mantra. "I'll kill you. I'll kill you. I'LL KILL YOU. I'LL KILL YO-!"
"-ULIE!"
Julie-Su blinked, cursed, and steered the bike back into her lane. Shaking her head, she focused on the road ahead of her.
"Fine! I'm fine!" She shouted, trying to stop her racing heart as her hands gripped onto the handles of the bike. "Everything's cool, Saffron."
Though that was a lie. They both knew it, too.
The desert wasn't a place of good memories for either of them. It reminded them too much of the day where everything had been taken from them. Where they nearly lost all hope and the only way they could keep it was trusting the word of a madman and losing their freedom to a wannabe tyrant. Of all her people that they needed to leave behind to die in some zone they likely never could return to now.
Because it was gone.
Gone just like the Mobius they knew.
The pink echidna could practically see the frown on Saffron's face as she said, "Maybe I should drive for a bit."
"This bike isn't exactly built for bees."
The ex-Dark Legionnaire quickly glanced at the car that was ahead of her. "Still can't believe he actually calls it the Beat Monster… what am I saying? It's Vector. Of course he'd call it that."
Sticks was turning around to look at her with her hands held horizontally over her brows to shield her eyes from the sun. Charmy was swatting her shoulder, probably telling her to sit down. Vector and Espio were acting cool, but she didn't think for a second that they weren't keeping an eye on her.
"They'd be stupid not to. Especially after everything that happened at Cream's place."
Sure, they acted like everything was cool now and they were sympathetic, but she was still the girl who lost it. The echidna that had a breakdown and ran away when her crazy head couldn't keep coming up with lies to their current situation. Who was now driving a vehicle just behind them…
It hurt, but she understood.
Espio especially was sympathetic to her and Saffron's plight, and he understood their pain after they had explained what happened to Charmy on Mobius, but she didn't doubt for a second that he was still keeping an eye on her. Probably thinking that there was more to her and Saffron's story that they were leaving out. He was a detective here, so of course he'd still have questions.
"And they're questions I don't want to answer."
Julie-Su frowned when they turned at an exit and began to slow down while going down a road.
"If… If this was still Mobius, how much would I have told them? How much would I have told Knuckles?
The pink echidna had long since believed that when they returned to Mobius, she would've told them everything. It was just too much to hold in. She needed the comfort of her friends and lover, for them to assure her she was back and nothing had changed.
But would she have told them everything?
"Even I knew that if I told them what happened to Lien-Da… what me and Saffron did during our exile… nothing would really be the same." Things would have changed, and that scared Julie-Su. "It's probably why I never really thought about it. I just focused on getting us back to Mobius."
She wanted to believe her friends wouldn't have cared. That they would have been shocked, sure, but they loved her and her crimes were small compared to that love.
And the same went for Knuckles. That the love they shared was too great to be affected by this. That her ugly cybernetics were just a part of her and didn't diminish anything.
"But… was that something I knew would happen? Or was that just a crazy dream I had…?"
She'd probably never know now.
"Overload~!"
Julie-Su's ears twitched. That wasn't coming from the radio.
She looked down and confirmed it. The touch screen indicated that there was no signal, and yet music was hitting her ears.
"Too much information, i can't handle this~!"
Gotta turn it up~!
To be unreachable~!"
"What the…?" She muttered and looked up before squinting.
There was the village up ahead. A small place with only a few buildings for businesses and a few homes with what looked like a parking lot next to a train station. They were coming up on a wooden arch that had a sign.
"Buy some time~!
For what it's worth it's really on you to decide~!
You own a key to queendom~!
Music can make time stand still~!"
But the sign was defaced, the message 'WELCOME TO MIRAGE DUNES TOWN' was now hidden from view underneath white and blue graffiti that looked like nonsense at first glance. But her eye's software instantly began to decipher it.
TRANSLATION: NOISE DESTROYS!
"You can say hi, (You can say hi)~!
Just by listening to same tune~!
You can say hi, (You can say hi)~!
By looking into each other's eyes~!
You can say hi, hi baby, hi~!
Just by listening to the same tune~!
You can say hi~!
By looking into each other's eyes~!"
And as the music continued to play from speakers that were haphazardly slapped onto the sides of the sign they passed underneath, Julie-Su's eyes narrowed.
"What the heck did we get ourselves involved in?"
And yet… a small grin began to from on the ex-Dark Legionnaire's face.
Whatever it may be, there was a distinct possibility she'd be punching someone who deserved it.
And honestly?
That was just what the doctor ordered for her.
To Be Continued…
Notes: Phew! Actually managed to finish this one! It was bugging me and I wouldn't be able to focus on some personal stuff unless I finished this, so here it is!
Yeah, lots of heavy stuff including writing Tangle & Whisper as a couple for the first time! I really hope I did a good job with that. Romance isn't really my forte but I wanted to convey the real awkwardness that comes from two people dating for the first time and not really knowing the 'rules'.
And yeah, in regards to the songs let's just say Bomb Rush Cyberfunk had an influence. Plus I sort of felt it was appropriate considering how the Noise Tanks are going to be involved with Julie-Su's bizarre adventure.
Anyways, hope you liked it!
Please be sure to leave a review and also add to the TV Tropes Page!
Until next time…