Bunnie blearily opened her eyes and stared at a ceiling of dirt.
"Ugh…" She sat up, the thin blanket she had falling off of her body as she massaged the temples of her head. Her eyes closed as she tried to will her body to move even more, but every muscle she had screamed of a desire to remain still. "Ah shouldn't have stayed up so late…"
The rabbit turned her head to the right and frowned when she saw that the bed next to her was empty.
"Where'd 'Twan run off to?"
Antoine's room wasn't really a luxurious one. In fact, it was pretty bare. Outside of the bed there was only a small coat rack where he hung his jacket and cape as well as a small table next to the bed that had little pill bottles on them as well as two small picture frames. The only real unique piece of decoration was a torn flag that hung on the wall to the right, red save for a brown acorn in the center of a green circle outlined with gold.
The coyote had noted after she began to yawn that it was getting late and they should both get some shut-eye. She offered to help him get to his room and help him on top of his bed, since she remembered how she'd often needed help getting onto her own bed before she got her replacement limbs. The man protested, but the rabbit insisted and thus the coyote reluctantly agreed.
He helped to direct the Hooligan to his room, and then hesitantly offered her the opportunity to sleep on top of his bed while he slept on his chair.
She walked to the small table and picked up one of the framed photos. It showed an awfully young-looking Sonic, but she was slightly confused as to why his eyes were brown, standing alongside an oddly brown-furred Tails, a purple walrus with a yellow baseball cap, and a red-head furred-chipmunk who wore an adorable looking blue shirt and bow combo.
"Where the heck are her pants?"
Though she could not help but notice the picture was… torn. It looked as if a brown-furred hand was holding up a sword, but the holder was torn out of the picture.
"Why would he keep this?"
Antoine offering to let her sleep the night in his place was touching but honestly a bit of a shock. After all, Bunnie wouldn't have blamed him if he didn't want to see her for a bit while he processed their entire interaction. But the coyote had insisted. Saying that it would be rude of him to just let her wander around an unfamiliar place looking for a place to sleep. That it was his duty to aid those and his status as a gentleman would be endangered if he did not offer her any hospitality.
It really was sweet, but she couldn't do that. Instead she just said to let her have a blanket and a pillow so that she can sleep on the floor. Sure, he sputtered out how it was improper and whatnot, but she had insisted. After all, he needed a bed more than her and it wouldn't be the Hooligan's first time roughing it.
"Still… first time I've been treated like a delicate flower." Bunnie set down the photo and picked up the next one. "It's nice…"
The Hooligan frowned as she stared at the photo of Antoine, now without the scars or the need of a wheelchair, dressed in a fine black and gold uniform standing next to his blushing bride. A rabbit that looked so much like her, just without the dyed-ear tips and with long head-fur tied in a bun. Dressed in a pure white and silver-trimmed dress with a sliver crown that had a pink jewel in the center. On her left robot hand was a gold wedding ring, one that seemed to shine even brighter on the arm made of silver.
Bunnie D'Coolette.
Antoine's wife.
The person… she had been.
"They look so happy…"
The two of them had spent the entire night and most of the morning just… talking. Talking about what kind of person the Bunnie the coyote had known was like, talking about the adventures he had with his friends, and about life on Mobius in general.
It was… enlightening.
And a bit eerie.
Before she had talked to Antoine, she had envisioned the Bunnie everyone kept comparing her to as a perfect little angel. One that could do no wrong, who was a hero through and through that was just so gosh-darned lovable in a way that would likely make Fang gag. Who had it all and lived in the lap of luxury, unlike her…
"And the way that imposter and everyone else talked about her, who could blame me?"
But Antoine… the more he talked about Bunnie, the more she began to see that the old one wasn't that perfect.
She didn't live a completely nice life. She had her crew, sure, but they were living in the woods and constantly fighting against Egg-no, Robotnik, practically every day.
"Still crazy how they actually managed to kill the Doc and then another one from another universe popped in to fill the void."
About how that Bunnie was more than willing to leap into a fight for her friends, but sometimes didn't think things through and end up out of commission.
Antoine had, reluctantly, told Bunnie about the time his evil twin from an alternate dimension took his place and ruined their relationship for a time. That the Bunnie she had thought was perfect was somehow unable to tell that something was off with the Antoine who now was cold and distant, merely chalking it up as the war changing him and not asking any real questions.
Bunnie's brow furrowed at that. If she had been in that Bunnie's place she would have known something was wrong when one of her loved ones just ups and acts like a completely different person!
Sure, Antoine didn't make a big deal about it but she could bet the guy asked himself how the heck nobody noticed something was wrong for an entire year!
And then… the coyote told them about the loved they shared. The feeling of completeness they had when they were together and the strength they found being with one another. About the days and nights they shared as husband and wife, of the love they shared.
It just… made Bunnie feel sad.
Because now she really did know that the Bunnie of Mobius had one thing in common with her.
"When we failed the people we loved… we just saw ourselves as a burden and ran." The Hooligan set the portrait down as her eyelids and ears drooped. "We might as well have been sisters."
Sighing, the Hooligan turned towards the door and frowned.
"Did he leave to get breakfast?" She felt her stomach rumble as if to answer the question and glanced to the floor where the crumpled blanket and pillow were. "Didn't want to wake me up, ah guess."
Still, a small smile settled on her face.
That Bunnie of Mobius… she had been one lucky girl.
"Better scrounge myself up somethin' to eat." With a nod, Bunnie walked to the door and opened it.
Time to greet the new day… and with any luck, it would be the day they moved to free her crew.
Because Bunnie learned something else from her talk with Antoine.
It was that no matter what, Bunnie Rabbot did not leave her friends behind.
"Okay, Tangle. Be cool…"
Tangle the Lemur tried to keep herself steady as she crouched slightly down, trudging along the dark tunnel with the only light source coming from flashlights. One held in Elias' hand near the head of their small party, the other held by Whisper just in front of her.
The lemur knew that she should be comforted with the fact that one of the light sources was so close by, but it just made the darkness behind her and to her sides seem deeper somehow.
"Just relax. You're not in some dark void. You're in a tunnel! A very… small tunnel. Made of dirt. Nice, shiftable dirt…"
She tried hard not to wince whenever she heard the dirt shift up ahead. One of the wolf twins put her hand against the wall after the stumbled slightly on a rock, cursing under her breath.
"A dirt tunnel that can easily collapse… where the air wouldn't even last an hour… and that's so far beneath the surface that digging out is impossible…"
Oh man, she was already sweating!
Tangle didn't fear a lot of things. The dark? Please. It just made exploring places extra challenging! Heights? That got her blood pumping! Water? Sonic may be scared of it, but not her! Bugs? Jewel was her best friend! Bugs were either cool or cute! No in between!
What people called phobias, she called challenges!
…Except for Claustrophobia.
That was her one weak spot.
It wasn't because of some traumatic experience or anything. It was just a fear that Tangle just couldn't shake. It was like a switch in the lemur's brain. Every time she was in an enclosed space she felt nervous. Even getting inside an elevator was like torture for her. Her body got hot while the fear crept into her brain. The walls always seemed to get closer and closer, boxing her in while the air grew thinner. Soon she'd either be crushed or suffocate, and her mind couldn't decide which was worse and…!
"Tangle."
The lemur looked up, and saw that Whisper had stopped and turned around, using one hand to lift her mask and look at her with concern practically radiating from the look on her face.
"I…" Tangle grimaced and said, "…I'll be fine, Whsiper. It's just kinda freaky."
The wolf's brow furrowed before, without a word, she took a few steps back to be right next to the lemur. Then, without hesitation, the mercenary dropped her mask and took her hand.
It didn't take a genius to figure out what Whisper was doing.
The simple act held a strong and firm message in it.
"I am here. You are not alone."
"W-Whisper, I…" Tangle swallowed the saliva in her mouth before she smiled at her girlfriend. "…Thanks."
With a nod, the two continued on. The fear that was gnawing at the back of the lemur's brain subsided with each step, and finally she could focus on what was ahead.
Namely, Sally and Silver.
Nicole had long since returned to Sally's body, partly because she didn't want to compromise the stability of the New Mobius Freedom Fighter's base by taking the nanites that made her body with them. The robian was walking just behind her brother, a frown on her face as she stared at his back. Meanwhile, Silver was walking next to the wolf twins talking to them in hushed whispers.
"Wait, you guys were in the Arctic Tundra?" Silver asked, his eyes wide in shock. "But I… I never…!"
"Tracker in your glove." Lyco… or was it Leeta, said with a shake of her head. "Harvey wanted to keep tabs on you, apparently. Especially in case you went outside of the Kingdom of Acorn's borders."
Honestly, Tangle barely knew anything about the Secret Freedom Fighters outside of what Silver and Nicole told her. From the way Silver described it, they were like a crew of super cool secret agents that fought against bad guys from the shadows. Not doing it for fame or glory, but because it was the right thing to do and the only way they could help.
It was like something from the movies her mom loved!
But… the stuff she had seen over in Studiopolis and was hearing right now painted a far worse picture.
"But spies do stuff like that all the time, right? Spy on the bad guys and track them to their secret base…" The lemur frowned as she held onto the wolf's hand. "So why does it feel wrong now?"
Silver himself looked equally disturbed by the revelation. "But… Director Who believed in me! He recruited me himself! Why… why would he…?"
Leeta… unless it was Lyco… scoffed. "I guess we didn't know Harvey Who as well as we thought."
"What the heck is up with these guys?"
She wouldn't blame them for being depressed. Everything about the reboot and being caught in a war to free the city from an evil madman would take their toll. But with how Elias was acting… how the twins were acting… and everything with Hershey…
…something was really wrong here.
"How much farther, Elias?" Sally asked her brother, who turned his head to her and actually smiled for once.
"Not too far. I know that it takes a while but this is to maintain security."
"From who?" The robian asked, her brow furrowing. "Elias, if something were to happen to the Freedom Fighters in their base you would have a harder time reaching them to provide support. And your base could provide housing and shelter for those that really need it in an emergency."
He shook his head. "Unfortunately we have a lot of stuff in our base that we can't risk getting into the wrong hands. If one of the Raiju ninjas were to sneak in, it could jeopardize everyone."
Tangle raised an eyebrow at that. "What could they have that would be really bad for Naugus and his goons to get their hands on? Some sort of super weapon?"
Before she could ask, the light source ahead grew brighter. Elias turned off his flashlight while Mach rolled on ahead to a door, which opened as he approached. "We're finally here."
"Phew!" Without thinking, Tangle bounded ahead while dragging Whisper with her. The wolf let out a small cry as they passed the twins who let out surprised yips and Silver who floated to the side. Sally was practically spinning on her heel while Elias let out an annoyed grunt as the lemur planted both her feet on the now solid not-dirt floor. "Ah! Fresh air… in a sense!"
Tangle took a deep breath through her nostrils and let out a sigh.
"Smells like lemon." She turned to the Mecha Sonic and gave him a thumbs up. "Thanks for showing us the way, Mach!"
Mach stared at her hand for a second before staring at her face. Slowly, the robot clenched his right hand and mirrored her action, causing the lemur to grin.
"Hey! Looks like the guy might be alright after all!"
"Guys!" Sally stepped through the door next and frowned at them. "Don't go running into places without permission!"
The lemur raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"
When did Sally start lecturing her like a mom?
"You're the one who insisted on bringing them along." Elias grumbled as he stepped past his sister and looked at Mach. "Go back to Sir Charles."
With a quick nod, the Mecha Sonic sped down the hallway without a word.
"I know." Sally sighed and closed her eyes. "But they are my friends, Elias. Without them… I wouldn't be here."
The squirrel said nothing in response to that.
"This place really hasn't changed from what I remember." Silver said as he stepped inside with the twins, a small and uneasy smile on his face. "Still kinda boring."
"Yeah, unfortunately Harvey wasn't taking any of our decorating advice." Lyco… Leeta… the blue-wearing one snarked. "Our rooms are way better."
Sally lifted her head as if an idea struck her. "Well, why don't you guys show Tangle & Whisper around?"
Everyone stared at the robian in shock at that declaration. Why? Why was Sally suddenly proposing this?
And none were more confused than Tangle herself.
"Wasn't she all for having us be with her for meeting her dad?"
"I've been thinking…" Sally approached the lemur and wolf, looking over her shoulder at Elias who was frowning. "…and Elias is right. Meeting my mother and father again… this is kind of a private family thing. And it'd be awkward if you were there."
"…Right. Point taken."
Honestly, she felt dumb about it now.
"But without you guys coming…" The princess smiled at them. "…I wouldn't have had the strength to see them again."
Suddenly, she brought them into a tight hug, Tangle's face was pressed against the robian's right metal cheek while Whisper mirrored her to the left.
It was… nice.
"Something isn't right here. Keep your eyes and ears open."
That harsh whisper from the robian broke whatever warm fuzzies the lemur was feeling inside of her.
Before the lemur could say anything, the robian released the hug and smiled at them. With a quick nod, Sally turned on her heel and walked towards her brother, who had a troubled frown on his face as she approached. "Let's go see Mother and Father, Elias."
"Right." The frown then turned into an excised smile as Elias pointed down his hallway. "Right! They're right this way!"
"Come on, guys." Silver grinned as he approached Tangle and Whisper with the twins in tow. "It's time we got a grand tour of the Secret Freedom Fighters base!"
"Yeah…" Tangle frowned as she looked at Whisper, whose face was unreadable behind her mask. But she could tell the wolf was tense as they followed the hedgehog and twins. "Right. Lead the way, oh great Agent Ace."
The lemur looked over her shoulder at the rapidly disappearing Sally's back.
"You can feel it too, can't you Sally?"
Maybe they were being paranoid.
Tangle hoped they were.
But… if they weren't…
…then things have gone beyond just 'wrong' in this city.
"What on Mobius…?" Saffron muttered behind, turning her head to stare at the sign they just passed under. "Why…?"
"Because whoever or whatever's here, they're marking their territory." Julie-Su responded simply while speeding up the bike and turning slightly to the left. "Not that different from Eggman or the Dark Legion."
It was one of the things taught to her during her Dark Legion training. Once new territory was secure, all Legionnaires needed to work to establish visual markers of who the new rulers were. Posters, banners, and even graffiti. Graffiti tended to be the easiest to set up, since paint was often a lot easier to get than either posters or banners on short notice. It helped to firmly entrenched in the minds of the locals that they now belonged to the Dark Legion, and things were likely to stay that way.
The next best thing for Lien-Da and her ilk was Legionization. Grafting their oh-so precious technology to the people they captured made them feel like they 'enlightened' the 'savages'. That they were following the ideals of Menniker, and showing that their way was the best one to the Brotherhood of Guardians who wouldn't have cared either way unless it was an echidna getting legionized.
And even then they would've spent Aurora knew how long just kicking back in Haven bickering about it.
When she reached the driver's side of the Beat Monster she glanced at Vector with her right eye. The crocodile was frowning as they approached the town so she asked, "Got any idea what we're in for?"
"Not really." He admitted, using one of his hands to scratch the back of his head. "Graffiti and speakers that play music? Gotta admit, that isn't something we've dealt with before…"
"Not even on a job?" Saffron asked honestly, causing the detective to shrug.
"Some punks doing graffiti isn't that big of a deal. Or at least not big enough of a deal to call us or any of Sonic's other friends. Heck, sometimes they even make some really gorgeous murals!" Vector grinned. "Honestly you should see some of the graffiti pieces hanging around the Emeraldville Ruins! Really freakin' beautiful."
The echidna didn't know about that. Heck it surprised her that Vector seemed to actually consider graffiti to be art! It certainly wasn't back on Mobius!
"I doubt that the message on the town sign was done for artistic merit, Vector." Espio chided, his body tense and waiting to spring into action. "We are likely to encounter some sort of enemy once we enter town. Be prepared."
The chameleon didn't need to remind Julie that. Heck, even now she was slowly releasing her grip on the handle with her right hand.
"Need to be ready to get my blaster in a second."
Slowly, they entered the town through the main road and saw something that disturbed Julie-Su.
Namely that nobody was outside.
What once would've been a rather quaint little village had gone through a radical and very recent change. Windows and doors were shut tight, not allowing any way to look inside the various shops and apartments. A collage of colored messages were sprayed on the exposed walls, ranging from simple phrases like 'Jackin' In' to 'It's a Wonderful Chemical World'. A cutesy song filled the air on loudspeakers that were propped on the edges of rooftops, and just behind them were large antennas that had black panels pointing towards the sun, which only added to the Ex-Dark Legionnaire's anxiety.
"Okay." Vector said, vocalizing the thoughts going through the echidna's head. "This is officially gettin' pretty creepy."
"Yeah." Julie-Su nodded before pointing towards the side of the road. The crocodile nodded and they parked, getting outside of their vehicles and looking around. "This isn't Eggman's style."
She should know, she's met several different versions of him during the Exodus.
The echidna glanced at Saffron, who looked pale as she turned her head from side to side. "T-Then where is everyone? E-Even if Eggman isn't the one who did this, they should be here somewhere!"
The Ex-Dark Legionnaire nodded, stared at one of the shops, and issued a mental command to her cybernetic implant.
THERMAL VISION: ACTIVATED
She closed her right eye to get a better look. Yes, she could see the yellow, orange, and red blobs huddled inside, crouching underneath where the windows would be. Some were even taking tentative peaks outside.
"They're here." Julie-Su deactivated the thermal vision and reached for her blaster. "But whatever did this to their town really spooked them."
It reminded her too much of what the inhabitants of the zone did when she along with the Dark Legion came in, making their intentions very clear after they wiped out their defenders to take everything of value.
"At least now I'm not the reason why it's happening."
"But then what's with the music?" Saffron made a face as she massaged her artificial antennae. "Is it a calling card?"
"I like it!" Charmy shouted with glee. "It's catchy!"
"They're tryin' to stimulate da brain worms in their sleeper agents!" Sticks glowered at the speakers. "Give it a few seconds and all da agents will be crawlin' outta da windows to get at us like Zombots!"
"Zombot?" Julie-Su raised and eyebrow and looked at Saffron who shrugged. "What's that supposed to b-?"
"Sticks!" Espio shouted, startling both Julie-Su and Saffron enough to turn around and see the chameleon glaring at the badger. "Do not even joke about that."
The echidna looked at Espio then to Charmy, who seemed to have been drained of all his previous good cheer and was rubbing his left arm. He looked as if he was ashamed and afraid, two things that she'd never seen Charmy react with.
Even the badger looked regretful. Rather than argue or go on a useless conspiracy-laden ramble with Espio like she would normally do, Sticks averted her gaze and looked down. "S-Sorry Espio…"
"Charmy, what's wrong?" Saffron flew towards the bee, reaching out to him. "Did something happen o-?"
"I-I'm fine!" Charmy suddenly declared, a bright smile suddenly appearing on his face. "Just surprised is all!"
The female bee frowned and bit her lip. Even Julie-Su narrowed her eyes. Something wasn't right about this.
What the heck were Zombots?
Was it related to that Metal Virus thing?
Before either Saffron or the echidna could question any further they heard Vector shout, "Guys! You better come and see this!"
"Ooh!" Charmy began to fly off, a confident and eager grin replacing the uneasy smile he had on before. "Is it bad guys, Vector? Please tell me it's bad guys!"
"Charmy!" Saffron chased after the male bee, reaching out with worry stricken across her face with Sticks following close behind. "Don't fly off all of a sudden! Wait for us!"
The ex-Dark Legion ran beside Espio and glanced at him before asking, "You gonna tell me what that was all about?"
"I will once we have time." The chameleon replied without any hesitation. "For now we must…"
They turned the corner and skid to a stop once they saw Vector, Saffron, Sticks, and Charmy all gazing at the wall. Turning, Julie-Su looked up…
"…What the heck is she wearing?" She muttered to herself.
It was a graffiti mural of a female green-furred pronghorn for sure, but it was one that looked like she'd gone through Legionization. Two bolds were on her cheeks, and both black eyes were open. However, three horizontal yellow lines replaced the pupil on the right, converging as if giving the impression of a wink while the left eye had a yellow star replacing its pupil. She wore a frilly aqua green dress with a white hem and poofy short sleeves. little gold-colored eggs lined her collar, and her hands were drawn at the center of her chest forming a heart shape. Drawn at the bottom of the pronghorn's frilly dress that only Amy could love was a mess of green lines that converged on a message that said in stylized words 'Trancified'.
"Is that an idol?" Espio muttered, rubbing his chin in thought. "She's not one I recognize…"
Julie-Su glanced at the chameleon. "Idols?"
"Girls that Espio likes." Charmy giggled mischievously. "He looks at them on the computer when he thinks we're not looking!"
"They all wear frilly dresses, dance, an' stuff!" Sticks gagged in disgust. "He's got terrible taste!"
The echidna had to hold in her laughter. She never imagined Espio, any Espio, actually being into girls before but now knowing this is what he's into…!
"T-That's enough!" Espio shouted, embarrassment clearly showing on his face. "I do not…!"
"Hey, it's better than those 'gatcha' thingies that he sunk so much of our rent money into that one time." Vector commented, a smirk forming on his own face. "Remember that, Espio? Cute lil' 'Fina-chan'?"
"That's… I…!"
The dam broke. Julie-Su burst out laughing.
It was just too damn funny!
"Oh Aurora, this is rich!"
Even Saffron was descending into a fit of giggles!
Honestly… this was nice.
It had been a long time since she had laughed like this.
Wiping away a tear, she looked back up at the mural and frowned. "What's that?" She pointed at the center of the heart the pronghorn was forming. Inside it was a white grid had a mass of random square shapes inside. But on the top left and right as well as the bottom left corners were slightly larger black cubes.
"A QR code?" Vector scratched the back of his head. "What's that doing here?"
The echidna frowned. "Must be something common on Earth." Shaking her head she stared at it long and hard. "Is it like an art piece or…?"
Suddenly, her left eye's vision became engulfed in static. She let out a cry of surprise while reaching up with her hands, covering her artificial eye with her cloves.
"Julie!" Saffron was by her side, putting both of her hands on her shoulder. "What's wrong? Did that code do something to you?"
"I-I…!" Suddenly, the static was gone. Blinking with her right eye, she lowered her hands and stared at the bewildered bee and Chaotix. "I… I don't know."
What the heck just happened?
Was Saffron right? Did that code do something to her eye's software?
"I better run a diagnostics and…"
"E-Excuse me."
The two of them looked to the right and saw the door to the building across from the mural was open, and a young female brown-furred mouse peeked out from the crack.
Swallowing her fear the mouse asked, "A-Are you with the Restoration?"
"We work with 'em! We're the Chaotix Detective Agency!" Vector stepped forward, his left hand on his chest while motioning to the rest of them. "And Sticks."
The badger let out an indignant, "Hey!"
Vector ignored her and simply focused on the woman in front of him.
"Now… what seems to be the problem here, Mrs?"
Finding the mess hall had been a challenge.
Bunnie had no idea who designed this place, but they were either an idiot or a mad genius. Every hallway seemed to blend into one another thanks to looking the same. There weren't signs or anything, and one wrong turn could lead her into the other end of this underground complex.
"Guess that's a good thing if one of 'em kung-fu lynxes shows up." Bunnie grumbled to herself, her brow twitching in irritation. "But it ain't for me!"
It also didn't help that all the people here still acted like she was some kind of ghost or like the old Bunnie! It made them act all awkward, stammering or running off with the lamest excuse before they gave her some half-hearted directions. It made what should've been a simple trip to the dining area into a journey!
"But I'm now here, thank Gaia."
Bunnie looked around with her hands on her hips, observing the people that were still in this makeshift mess hall.
The tables looked as if they were whatever could be scrounge up. Simple wooden things to stained glass and metal coffee tables three people had to crowd around. The chairs themselves were the same, being comprised of wood or plastic with a majority of them being fold-out. Very few people were still here, probably because it was late in the day. But most of them just slowly ate their simple bread and egg sandwiches, an almost haunting lost look in their eyes.
"Then again, I would be pretty depressed if I was fighting a war I was nowhere close to winning."
"Oh! Bunnie!"
Bunnie paused and looked over her shoulder to see Mina sitting at a table, waving her hand excitedly while the other pointed to an empty seat. Her Wisp was there as well, mirroring the mongoose's action.
It was actually kind of cute.
Shrugging, the Hooligan walked up to the mongoose and set herself down.
"Surprised to see you here." The rabbit drawled out while scooting herself in. "Even more surprised that yer botherin' to invite me here."
"The kids are with Rosie right now." The mongoose replied with a shrug. "They're still being educated, even down here."
"Kids?" Kids were actually down here? Honestly, that was pretty darn shocking. Who the heck would bring kids in a place like this? "Wait, why are you hangin' out with kids? Is one of em' like your brother or…?"
"No! No…" Mina shook her head fervently. She sighed and looked down. "A couple of years ago on Mobius… my mom was roboticized."
The Hooligan tensed slightly. Robotization… there was that word again. The thing that apparently had cursed the Bunnie of Mobius with her own Gaia-forsaken mechanical limbs. An ominous word… one that filled her with so much dread.
Once upon a time, she couldn't have even imagined what a fully roboticized True Folk would look like.
But hindsight provided her with two examples.
One was the hedgehog badnik that was apparently Sonic's father.
The other… was the chipmunk princess badnik.
"I didn't have any family besides her, and… well… I was in a pretty bad place for a bit." Mina continued while the wisp, Bowie, cooed as he rubbed her shoulder with one of its tentacles. "I met Sonic when he stopped me from going into Eggman's base alone…"
"Wait, you tried to get into the Doc's base all on your lonesome?!" It was pretty baffling to hear, especially since this little slip of a thing only recently started fighting. The girl wasn't a fighter before everything that went down in Studiopolis, that was for sure. If she was, the Hooligans would've had a harder time nailing her. "Were you crazy or stupid?"
The singer's cheeks flushed. "A bit of both, I guess." Her expression grew darker. "And maybe… well…" Another shake of the head. "Anyways, after that I met the kids. Rory, Snaggle, and Sasha. Like me they lost their parents and we just, y'know… connected. Even after I got back my mom I made sure to keep in touch with them. Besides Sonic… they were kind of the light of my life before my mom came back." She paused before a bitter smile returned to her face. "And now I'm back to hanging out with them. Now that my mom, band mates, and boyfriend are…"
Bunnie grunted and tipped her cap. A part of her heart even twinged in sympathy. While her folks could be dead in a ditch somewhere for all she cared, the rabbit would have to be a filthy liar to not admit those early days without her uncle or aunt were some of the worst. She had been thrust into a world that seemed so strange and lonely. She could not or would not let family back into her life and she had no friends.
Sometimes she even cried at night.
"Well at least you got other people than Sugah-Hog to hang around with now." Bunnie pointed at the mongoose with her left index finger. "Which begs the question on why yer willin' to hang out with me. Ah tried to get you for the bounty, remember?"
As if on cue, the little wisp glared at her accusingly. Amusingly, the rabbit could sense that the little guy was getting ready to launch himself at her. Looks like that whole tidbit of their little Studiopolis adventure had not been given to the tiny alien.
Mina, meanwhile, shook her head. "Well… part of the reason is that I woke up late. Sally and the others left to meet with King Elias. And Rotor is now sleeping so I didn't want to wake him up." The mongoose then looked at Bunnie straight in the eyes and said, "The other… well… I guess that despite how you act and what you've done to me… I can't help but feel sorry for you."
The rabbit blinked. "Excuse you?"
"You act like the Bunnie I knew… that everyone here knew… but you aren't her." The mongoose explained. "People keep acting like you are her… and it's even hard for me to separate the two of you in my head even though I barely knew Bunnie… but you aren't her. And what Naugus and your uncle…"
"That thing is not my uncle." The Hooligan hissed. "Don't you begin actin' like…"
"Sorry! Sorry." The singer raised her hands in surrender. "…What they said back in the throne room and what that guy said to us in the car was so messed up." She bit her lip before continuing. "I… I still hate what you tried to do to me. And I can't imagine what you did before this but I couldn't just leave you alone. I…" The mongoose shrugged, a small sad smile on her face. "…I guess I'm trying to do what Sonic would do."
A small chuckle escaped from Bunnie at that. The funny thing is that she could totally imagine the hedgehog doing what Mina was doing. She never gave the guy any real reason to try and reach out to her. In fact, she took advantage of those moments more than once.
But she had no doubt that Sonic would have been here, offering her a seat at his table.
"Sugah-Hog sure has an effect on people here."
"You don't know the half of it." Mina giggled. "You know, before Ash I had the hugest crush on Sonic."
"Really?" Bunnie raised an eyebrow, a teasing smirk growing on her face. "My, my. What did lil' Amy have to say about that?"
"Huh? I dunno. Amy didn't hang out with us much back then." The mongoose shrugged while the rabbit gaped at her. The Hooligan couldn't even imagine the little hedgehog not having an opinion on a potential rival. "She was in a totally different grade back when we were in school."
"Sugah-Hog went to school?!"
"Oh! Dame Bunnie! Zere you are!" Before Bunnie could press on the sheer ridiculousness of the concept of Sonic the Hedgehog going to school, she turned her head to see Antoine racing towards them in his wheelchair, a tray of eggs and bread perched precariously on his lap. "I had arrived in our room with your breakfast when I found you to be gone! It was ze miracle zat I found you!"
"You're too kind, Sugah-Twan!" Bunnie said with a giggle before she turned her head to Mina, who was gaping at her with flushed red cheeks. Even Bowie seemed to have a pair of his tentacles set on the sides of his face, as if he were that painting of a guy screaming.
The rabbit rolled her eyes.
"Oh come on. Ah don't move that fast."
"I still don't know why you brought those two along, Sally."
Sally frowned at her brother as they continued to walk down the hall. He was frowning at her, his eyes filled with disapproval as he waited for an answer.
"It's different than how he acted when he was King."
Back then, Elias would only go into 'king mode' as Sonic would put it when he was in front of the Council of their father. He needed to act like a stern leader, one that couldn't afford to let personal feelings get in the way of judgment.
But here? Here he was doing that in private.
It wasn't an act he was putting up for the sake of appearances.
"I told you before, Elias." She calmly explained. "It's because without them I wouldn't have felt comfortable with meeting Mother and Father again. They are my friends."
"You knew them for a few days at most." Her brother shot back, and Sally felt her hands clenched into fists. "You shouldn't need those two Genesis Births who you barely know to see family again."
"Tangle and Whisper are the ones who helped to free me. They aren't 'Genesis Births'." The princess replied, trying to keep herself calm. Genesis Births… that name sounded so much like the 'Shades' label that Naugus thrust upon them. "Without them I would still be in the Death Egg with that… that thing still controlling my body an-!"
SALLY, DON'T.
Nicole's voice reverberated through her head and she stopped herself. A tiny picture of her friend was frowning and shaking her head.
IF YOU KEEP UP WITH THIS LINE OF QUESTIONING, ELIAS MIGHT BEGIN TO SUSPECT WHY YOU SENT TANGLE AND WHISPER AWAY. HE WILL THINK THAT YOU WANTED THEM TO STAY WITH YOU FOR THIS MEETING.
That caused Sally to freeze and twist her lips in a grimace.
Everything about this place had felt wrong to her. From the way Elias and the twins acted to hearing how the Secret Freedom Fighters were operating. Something was going on. Something that Elias wasn't willing to tell her about, and she wanted answers. But she knew that in all likelihood Elias might not tell her himself.
Which is why she had Tangle and Whisper go off on their own while putting on a convincing act in front of her brother.
"Right." She took a deep, useless breath that he couldn't feel and said, "Sorry, Elias. It's just that being controlled by Eggman screwed me up a lot. I'm just really grateful for what Tangle & Whisper did for me."
The tension in Elias' frame evaporated at that, and now he had the decency to look ashamed and regretful. He looked at the ground and said, "We never stopped trying to find you, Sally. Even if your memories had been rewritten by what Eggman had done, we would've been relieved that you were still alive."
A part of the robian was relieved at that news. That her brother didn't give up on her, and was still looking for her.
But another part of her was relieved that even if she was rebooted, Elias wouldn't have kidnapped her new self.
She couldn't imagine how scared and confused that person would've been if she had been brought to this place and was told she was a princess of an entire kingdom that no longer existed.
"Thank you, Elias." She said truthfully with a smile on her face. "That means a lot."
It really did.
It reminded her of the brother she knew.
Eventually, her brother turned to the right to face a door and opened it, revealing a private library filled with hardcover books. And in the center of it was Harvey Who, sitting on a small chair with an open book in his hands.
The owl had changed since the last time the princess had seen her all those years ago, back when she and Sonic were helping the head of the Secret Intelligence Division sabotage Robotnik's various operations and Wheel of Misfortune schemes. He had contacted for their assistance due to how close they were to the dictator's base of operations which he was using as the launch point for his plans, and they were more than happy to help.
He had even offered them candy when they finally met face to face.
Harvey Who had seemed so much happier back then. He joked with them while earnestly congratulating them for all they had done.
A part of her couldn't believe this was the same man who ordered Mina to be killed should an extraction fail, or ordering his men not to contact the version of Sonic and their friends who existed in this new world.
"Ah, Princess Sally." Harvey smiled as he shut the book in his hands, the title The Long War emblazoned on its cover. "It is good to see you."
"Director Who." She said evenly, trying hard to remain respectful. "We need to talk."
The director frowned before he nodded, his eyes and sagging shoulders conveying a deep sense of sadness before he said, "Yes, we certainly do." He then motioned behind him. "But first, I believe that you will want to see your parents."
"Then why did Elias bring me…?"
"We have to keep the former King and Queen closely guarded and under constant care." The owl explained before he got up and set down his book, walking towards the book case behind him. "The facilities in this base are more advanced than those contained in the Freedom Fighters' own. And then…"
Harvey hesitated for a second, one of his feathers touching the spine of a tome titled We.
"…There is your father's own health to consider."
"What?" Sally's eyes widened before she looked at Elias. "What does he mean? Is… is Daddy…?"
Elias looked down and muttered, "Sally, since you've been gone he's…"
Before he could finish, the director brought back the book and the book cases opened inwards…
…and revealing two other faces she had once accepted she would never see again.
Elias, Harvey, and even Nicole were saying something, but she couldn't hear them. Instead, she stumbled forward as her eyes took in everything.
Her mother was standing up, as if she had been waiting for her to come. Her eyes were wide and tears were streaming down her cheeks.
Her father, laying down with his eyes closed. Looking so old and frail… even frailer than when she last saw him.
"-ally?"
Sound was returning to her ears as she practically lurched forward, embracing her mother in a hug.
"Sally!" Alicia Acorn cried out, sobbing in relief as she hugged her daughter back. "Oh baby… my little baby. I-I can't believe…!"
"I know, Mommy." Sally sounded like a little girl as she embraced her mother, not the confident leader she once was. And who could blame her? How could anyone expect for her to remain calm in a situation like this? "I was so scared. So scared that you and Daddy were… were…!"
Her mother… a woman that she had lost once. Who she had believed died during the Great War at the hands of the Overlanders. When the princess had learned that her mother was alive, her heart leapt with joy. Especially when she learned about Elias and his survival too. Once, she had thought her family was shattered and broken forever, and then for a brief glimpse it looked like it would be together again.
But then so much had happened. So much that prevented them from truly being a family. The war against Eggman, the royal duties and responsibilities that kept them busy, Sonic's 'death', the near-marriage with Patch…
"Which she stood by and just let happen, telling me to suck it up and…"
No! No, that didn't matter!
Her mom was here again and… and…!
"Y-You're not scared?" Sally hesitantly asked, pulling away and looking her mother in the eyes. "That I'm a robian?"
"Of course not." Mother said, reaching up and wiping something from Sally's eyes. Black stained her mother's thumb and she said, "You're still my beautiful daughter, Sally. No matter what that madman did to you. And Sir Charles will surely fix what has been done to yo-!"
"S-Sally…"
The old and tired voice reached her ears, causing the princess to freeze and look at her father.
The father, who once upon a time bounced both her and Sonic on his knees, shifted in his bed. His eyes were shut, but it seemed as if he was struggling to open them.
"Daddy!" Sally rushed to his side, got on her knees and reached for his left hand. She couldn't feel his warmth, but she could see how withered and frail it was. "Daddy, I'm here! I-It's Sally! I'm here…"
A part of her hated this. She wasn't a little girl. Heck, she had to grow up far quicker than she should've in the war against Robotnik.
It was why she grew to despise how her father, mother, Geoffrey, and the other adults treated her. Like she was some delicate little flower to be shoved into the castle and wait out the war while the 'adults' handled everything, as if all that she had done while they were away didn't matter.
She had wanted to say so much to him. To talk to him about everything. To finally talk to him about the past and what it meant to her.
"And yet, here I am… crying in front of him. Calling him Daddy like a little girl…"
"Sally… my girl… my daughter…" Slowly, those eyes began to open. "Did you come to play…?"
"I-I…" She swallowed and tried her best to smile, even if she knew black tears were falling from her eyes. A part of her yearned for her father to see her, even if she knew that this might be one of those times where he didn't really see her. Those times scared her. To hear her father speaking but seeing that he was somewhere else completely. Another part of her would've preferred it if he didn't stir at all. "Y-Yes, Daddy. I'm here to play…"
Those eyes fully opened and he blinked up at the ceiling. Then, he turned his head to face her…
…and his face twisted into one of pure horror.
"Robian…" He was shaking before he shouted, "ROBIAN!"
"What? Daddy?" Sally was trembling as she blinked. "D-Daddy, it's me…"
He drew back his hand.
"Get away from me!"
"No…" Sally drew back her shaking hand as she stared at her frightened father. "Nononono….!"
SALLY! Nicole was speaking again, flashing in her vision as she said, SALLY, YOUR FATHER IS DELIRIOUS. HE DOES NOT MEAN…!
"Maximilian!" Her mother shouted, horror in her voice as she was by his side at once, stroking his head to try and soothe him. "It's Sally, dear! Our daughter an-!"
"Spy! Spy of Robotnik!" Her father's fear turned to hate as he pointed at her. "Take it away at once! Dismantle it!"
Did he see her?
Or did he not care?
"Father!" Elias was by his side too, horror stricken on his face as he tried to bring his father's hand down. "Please, calm down! It's Sally! She's in control an-!"
"WHO!" Father shouted at the owl. "Who, I am giving you a direct order to dismantle this robian! The Source… It speaks into my dreams! It knows! It knows that they will turn on us eventually! Destroy it!"
Sally slowly got to her feet, staring at her father who was struggling against her mother and brother.
The owl shook his head. "No. I will not do that, your majesty."
"WHY NOT?! I AM YOUR KING! I AM GIVING YOU A DIRECT ORDER!"
"Damn! Call Dr. Quack, Harvey! We need to give my father his medicine to calm down!"
Slowly, the princess turned around and walked past the doors.
"Sally?" Elias shouted after her, his face probably stricken with horror. "Sally, where are you going?!"
"Your father doesn't mean it, dear!" Mother added quickly, desperately in a voice that sounded like it was on the verge of tears. "He's just confused is all!"
"I can't deal with this." She muttered, feeling as if she were outside of her own body. "I'm going outside."
"Traitors… Surrounded by traitors… why didn't the Source warn me…? Why is everything so wrong…?"
Harvey was telling her something, but Sally didn't listen to him.
Instead, she stepped out of the private library and took a step to the right. She put her back to the wall and lowered her head before closing her eyes.
What did she expect?
Did she think that her father would embrace her? Act like the father she knew from her childhood memories?
She was deluding herself again. He hadn't really acted like that ever since the Zone of Silence.
And now… now he wouldn't act like that at all.
Sally's hand clenched into a fist before slamming down on the wall, probably leaving a dent.
SALLY…
Sally couldn't help it.
She began to cry.
And as she sobbed, Nicole appeared next to her and hugged her.
Nothing needed to be said.
"All of this started early this morning."
Julie-Su sat on the ground with the rest of the Chaotix and Sticks as they looked at the mouse woman who was hugging a small boy, likely her little brother or son, while she continued to explain.
"T-They just rolled into our town and began to cause all kinds of ruckus. Just blastin' their darn music and spray paintin' all the buildings." The mouse continued to explain. "Some of the local boys tried to stop 'em, some of 'em with Wisps, but those punks are mostly human. They got a height advantage and they are just so darn fast on those rollerblades of theirs an' they got this tech of their that just captured the Wisps!"
"And the local cop?" Vector asked, scratching his forehead. "What'd he do about it?"
The mouse sighed. "Poor Sherrif John did his best, but there isn't much he can do when the numbers are against him. They used him for basketball for a bit before locking him and the local boys up in the clink."
"Man!" Charmy raged, glaring furiously at the window. "Those guys sound like a bunch of jerks!"
"Humans…" The echidna muttered, her mouth forming a thin line. During her multiversal exile and even before then she didn't interact with them. That was usually Sally's business. The extent of her knowledge about them was that they were the five-fingered species that predated Overlanders and miraculously survived to the modern day. "What business would a bunch of humans have here? I don't really see what would interest them here. There's nothing bu-." The ex-Dark Legionnaire felt a jab in her right arm and saw Saffron giving her a stern look. Wincing, she quickly said, "No offense."
"None taken." The woman shook her head. "We know we don't have much. Mostly our town is a stop for the train that takes Extreme Gear riders. But then those humans came in and began taking over things. Setting up those strange antennas an' now…" She frowned. "Now ah don't know what they're doing now. Ah think they're just raidin' the local stores an' the bar. They don't even touch the fruit. Nothin' but junk food and soda for them."
"These don't sound like enemy soldiers." Julie-Su frowned as she thought about it. Playing a lot of music, spray painting the sides of buildings with slogans and art pieces, using the local Sherrif for a basketball… it sounded more like a bunch of punk kids than anything else. "But why would a bunch of punks decide to take over a town and set up antennas? It doesn't make any sense."
"Did you know what they announced themselves as?" Espio asked, rubbing his chin as he sat cross-legged. "Perhaps that can offer us a clue to their intentions."
The mouse looked down and scrunched up her face in thought. "A-Ah think one of 'em called themselves the Nose Tanks or somethin'?
"Noise Tanks!" Saffron shouted, her eyes wide in amazement. "I heard about them!
"You have?" The pink echidna asked in wonder. "Where?"
Saffron raised an eyebrow at her. "Didn't you hear it on the radio, Julie? Professor K was talking about them! They are some sort of gang in this world that has gone radio silent!"
Julie-Su winced at that. She hadn't really been paying attention to the radio. Well, specifically she wasn't paying attention to the radio host. She just listened to the music. "Way to go with gathering information, 'Su."
"Yeah… I think I've heard about them too." Vector nodded, humming in thought. "A mostly human gang. It started in Japan but spread to other countries through the internet…"
Sticks let out a hiss at that.
"Apparently they're a bunch of tech-obsessed weirdos. They spray paint buildings and knock people over for cash to pay for new gagdets an' gizmos." His eyes narrowed. "But what are they doin' here? This is nowhere close to the city, an' that's where a gang like that would stay."
The pink echidna blinked in surprise. A tech-obsessed gang? That was certainly a new one.
"Sounds kinda like the Dark Legion."
"I knew it!" Sticks declared, getting to her feet. "Da government is finally activatin' its sleeper agents! They're finally tryin' to to take over da country from the inside out, using small towns as data points for the alien mothership and using da people they snatched as batteries!"
"We aren't sure if they're involved with Lupe's disappearance, Sticks." Espio said with a shake of his head. "Kidnapping is a rather drastic step up from graffiti art and theft."
"Lupe? You mean that Wolf Pack girl?" The mouse asked with wide eyes. "You're lookin' for her?"
That caught Julie-Su by surprise. The people here actually seemed to know what they were talking about when it came to Lupe's disappearance. "You know Lupe?"
A smile broke across the woman's face but before she could answer the kid shouted, "Sure I do! Big Sis Lupe is awesome!" He broke free from the woman's hold on him and crawled towards them. "She'd come here an' play with us all the time! We'd read comics an' eat junk food an' she'd talk about how she was going to become an awesome hero! She even protected us from one of Eggman's robots!"
"Candy? Comics?" Julie-Su and Saffron exchanged a look. That certainly didn't sound like the Lupe they heard about from Sonic. That Lupe was a full grown woman. A responsible leader of the Wolf Pack and a mother, both figuratively for her pack and literally for her actual kids.
This Lupe sounded like… well… a kid.
Someone their age.
"Then… Then the Metal Virus happened." The kid's ears dropped. "Big Sis Lupe came to spend the night before finding her tribe when Sonic an' Silver fixed everything, an' when she left early in the morning before the sun came up I saw…" He gulped and shivered. "…The Shadows… they swallowed her an'… an'…!"
"Sounds like a kidnapping to me."
And a pretty well thought out one, too. Taking Lupe right when she was leaving just before the crack of dawn. Most people would think that she had left for her tribe and no one would be the wiser.
But apparently some kids woke up earlier than they were supposed to.
"Da aliens…" Sticks hissed, only for her to let out a cry when Charmy kicked her. "Ow! Da heck was that for?!"
"Y'know, me an' the boys came here just for the Lupe job. We didn't expect to run into a bunch of graffiti punks that took over a town." Vector suddenly said, causing all attention to focus on him. He was standing up and looking at the ceiling thoughtfully. "And workin' for free… it ain't really my style."
"What?!" Julie-Su shouted in anger, getting to her feet while her body filled with rage. "Vector, you can't be…!"
"BUT!" The crocodile raised a single finger, smirking as if he was waiting for that exact moment. "…I think getting some information from you for our case is enough payment! Oh, and a good review online." He looked down and stretched out his hand. "So? How about it? Feel like hiring the Chaotix Detective Agency, ma'am?"
The mouse looked at him as if he were insane, which in the pink echidna's mind was a reasonable reaction, before she erupted into a fit of giggles and took his hand with her own. Shaking it she said, "I'd be delighted to, sir!"
Julie-Su felt like she was about to gag. This was so… so corny! Vector was trying to act cool and the worst part was that this lady was eating it up!
She turned to Saffron and saw her mouth agape with awe, her eyes practically sparkling.
"Oh come on! Don't fall for it, Saffron!"
"Where can we find them?" Espio asked the woman, who was hugging the kid again. "Are they scattered or…?"
"Ah know some of those punks are probably breakdancing an' stuff behind buildings." The mouse admitted. "But ah do know that a lot of them have taken up refuge in the ol' Soda Shop by the courthouse."
"Alright!" Vector pointed to the door. "Let's go beat up some Noise Tanks, boys!"
"YAY!" Charmy cried out as he flew beside the crocodile before they raced out the door. Reluctantly, Julie-Su and the rest of the Chaotix followed.
When Vector began to open the door the Ex-Dark Legionnaire said, "That was so lame, Vector."
Rather than get upset, Vector turned to her and gave her a toothy grin. "Oh? Jealous of my amazing people skills? Skills like that come with bein' a detective, ya know? Maybe if you pay attention you can learn a thing or two."
"No thanks." She said plainly as they stepped outside. "Last thing I want is to learn how to try and pick up chicks like you."
Julie-Su had to admit, seeing Vector trip over his own feet and fall face-first on the ground was pretty funny.
"N-No…! N-No way! That ain't what that was about!" The crocodile spluttered out, scrambling to his feet and turning around to glare at her. "I would never betray Mrs. Vanilla like that!"
The echidna blinked in surprise. "Wait, what?"
Vector seemed to realize what he just said and she could practically see his scales turned red. "N-No, wait! That's not…! I didn't…!"
"Ooh…" Charmy had a knowing smirk on his face, one shared by Espio and Sticks. "Wanna tell us something, Vector?"
"GAH! FORGET IT!" Vector threw up his hands, turned around, and stomped away. "This is a waste of time! Let's beat these punks already!"
Charmy, Espio, and Sticks followed and gave each other knowing smirks while the bee and badger began to giggle up a storm.
Julie-Su merely raised her right eyebrow before turning to Saffron. "What was that about?"
Her friend just blushed and fidgeted while she hovered. "Um… well… I-I think Vector… the one here now I mean… has a… type…"
For a minute, Julie-Su didn't say anything.
Then, she let out a wheeze before laughing.
"O-Oh man… dear Aurora… that's hilarious!" The Ex-Dark Legionnaire wiped away a tear. "Vector likes moms?!"
Charmy and Sticks's giggles turned into full-blown laughter while they went down the road.
"This is rich!" She was never going to let that crazy croc live this down! She was going to hang this over his head whenever he decided to try and give her and…!
Julie-Su paused and blinked, watching as Vector turned around and began yelling something at the bee and badger while Espio walked past them still smirking in amusement.
"But…this isn't Vector. Not the one I knew…"
That simple fact hit her like a ton of bricks, squashing the amusement she was feeling just a few seconds ago.
She felt it whenever they bickered. It wasn't the same, not really.
"Back on Mobius, it was like I was arguing with a friend. Just the two of us going back and forth on stupid stuff, teasing and the like."
Granted, it was after Vector spent a while being a sexist jerk and kept bringing up her old Dark Legion allegiances, but still they moved past that. He brought up her whole Dark Legion past, sure, but it was more like playful ribbing. They became good friends after than year Sonic was away, and she learned to respect him as the leader of the Chaotix.
"But now it's different. He's like Vector, but when we argue it's like I'm arguing with an adult. Someone who gets more annoyed if I start it. He… he doesn't act like…"
She glanced at Saffron, who was giving her a worried look.
Was she feeling this too? Experiencing the disconnect between the people they knew and the ones that exist now?
Julie-Su sighed and shook her head. "Damn it…"
She was going to have to confront this sooner or later.
"Who are all y'all?"
The Chaotix paused and looked towards the source of the voice.
Standing in front of the door to a building that had the sign reading Sunset Rider's Soda Shop was a group of six humans, but the way they dressed threw the echidna off a bit. Five of them wore jumpsuits, tape recorders on their chest, gas masks, and strange glowing goggles that hid their eyes from view completely. Two of them were carrying soda bottles with straws that snaked into a small slot in their masks. A third had his arms full with junk food, candy, and pieces of paper that looked like Mobiums clenched into his fist. The fourth had a can of spray paint while the fifth held a strange pill-like device with little holes inside.
The sixth was the strangest.
He was covered from top to bottom in a white and gray jumpsuit that hid even his head from view, with only three holes where his mouth should be while over his eyes was a glowing yellow visor. Underneath his collarbone was a grid that blinked various colors for no rhyme and reason, matching in time with the grids just above his wrists.
"It's…" The echidna's eyes widened. "It's like…!"
No, no that didn't make sense! No one was that crazy outside of the Dark Legion. Nobody would be crazy or stupid enough to just graft technology onto themselves, and the only reason the Dark Legion did it was for a sense of pride and identity!
"It's probably just for show. A way to look cool."
"You don't look like locals. You don't even look like 'em tourists we ran off." The voice of the fully covered human, probably the leader, was electronically filtered and almost reedy. It sounded like someone trying to act tough, which was more pronounced when he crossed his arms. "Drop your phones and any kinda smart device you got before running back to one of those homes. This is Noise Tank turf now."
"Okay, that voice alone makes me wanna punch him." The echidna muttered aloud, and she could practically feel Saffron's horrified gaze on her. She shrugged. "What? You were thinking about it too."
"N-No I wasn't!" Saffron said, lying through her teeth.
"See? See?!" Sticks cried out, bouncing from one foot to another while pointing at the gang members. "They wanna take your phones an' stuff back so they can consume da data!"
"So do they steal our data through the crowd or do they drink it like vampires?" Charmy asked incredulously. "Keep your weirdo conspiracies straight, Sticks!"
"You have no idea how deep an' weird da rabbit hole goes, Charmy!"
"Oh great, we got a conspiracy nut." The Noise Tank carrying the junk food sighed. "God, I wished the Block button existed in real life."
"We're gonna give y'all the count to ten." The leader continued, staring down Vector. "Otherwise those idiots in the clink are gonna get themselves some new roommates, ya dig?"
"Oh man, I'm getting flashbacks…" Julie-Su looked at Vector and shuddered. She remembered how embarrassing it was when the crocodile used to talk 'street', especially with his voice. Letting out a sigh she stepped forward with her right hand on her hip, close to her blaster, before saying, "Okay, look. This is going to go one of two ways. Either you guys get lost or you're gonna get hurt." She smirked. "Personally, I hope you pick the latter. I've got some stuff to work out."
"Hey yo, OG!" One of the soda-drinking lackies dropped his drink and pointed at her. "Check out the Chrome on that chick!"
"Chrome?" Did they mean her cybernetics?
"Those things are so freakin' retro!"
"Retro?!" The echidna shouted, her organic eye twitching. She didn't even like her cybernetics, and yet what this human said…! "I'll have you know this stuff is cutting edge!"
"Yeah! Like somethin' out of some cyberpunk movie!" The junk food carrying one looked at his boss. "But… with all that Chrome on her, shouldn't she be with us?"
"Nah." The leader, OG, shook his head. "If she were rollin' with our crew, she would've gotten the good stuff. Like Cassia-chan."
"So… I suppose that's the name of your idol?" Espio asked, his stance shifting ever so slightly. "And if that's the case… then those black eyes of hers are prosthetics, correct?"
"Cassia-chan is more than just any old idol, little man." The Noise Tank snapped his fingers, and his underlings dropped their food and drinks. The one carrying the big pill set it down and pressed a glowing circle on top before the air filled with electronic beats. "She's the idol of a new age. One that is dishing out the beats of a future we can dance to. One that we're gonna usher in with our gear, smooth techno beats, and art that'll short-circuit your brain."
"Julie?" Saffron whispered, and Julie-Su turned…
…and let out a curse at what they saw.
They were surrounded by a crowd of about fifteen humans, each wearing the same jumpsuit as the underlings of OG. All of them had on their feet Skate-type Extreme, watching them with eerie glowing goggles.
"So I'm just gonna ask this once." OG crossed his arms again and smugly asked. "You gonna back off and let the Noise Tanks bring the future? Or you gonna get crushed by it?"
"In your dreams, punk." Vector growled, cracking his knuckles. "You hurt people, you made 'em scared, and we've been hired to take you out. Also, with the way you're actin' I would've done this for free."
Julie-Su smirked. Now that croc was speaking her language.
"AW YEAH!" Charmy cried out, thrusting his fist into the air. "FIGHT!"
"Why do you sound so happy about that?!" Saffron shouted in horror.
As if on cue, the Noise Tanks rushed forward for the first strike.
Her eye tracked the human that was closing in on her first, and crouched down while her right hand gripped the handle of her blaster.
Then, the Ex-Dark Legionnaire shot forward.
She'd faced humans a couple of times in her missions across the multiverse, be they variations of G.U.N or some other army.
Oftentimes, they thought just because they were bigger it meant that Mobians would be intimidated or something.
Instead, Julie-Su rushed forward and crouched down while lifting her left arm. The human was moving too fast to change course, and soon crashed into here. Lifting her arm up while gritting her teeth, the echidna made the human topple over her before bringing out her blaster. Twisting her body to the right, she took aim and fired directly into the Noise Tank's chest.
He was lucky she changed to non-lethal rounds.
They would still hurt, though.
The human let out a cry, crashing into the ground as green energy slammed into him. He rolled over and clutched his chest in pain, probably deciding it was better to not get up.
"Crap! She brought heat!" One of the other humans shouted, making Julie-Su turn her attention back to them while they scattered. "That ain't no Wispon!"
"Yeah." Julie-Su muttered as she took aim. "Too bad for you."
She fired again and nailed one of the Noise Tanks in the side, making him topple to the ground. She ran forward, opening her blaster and replacing the cells inside with new ones while keeping her eyes on the battlefield.
"Three to the right and two to my left. The ones to my right will attack first. Safety in numbers. These aren't soldiers."
As if on cue, the ones to the right began turning and were skating towards her. They were crouched down with canisters in their hands.
Turning on her heel, the echidna aimed and fired. Her first blast hit one of the humans in the face, making him flop onto his back and smash the back of his head into the ground. The second hit one of the Noise Tanks in the leg, causing him to turn and roll on the ground at high speeds. The third human lifted his arm and threw the canister at her, which Julie-Su promptly shot at.
She cursed when her vision was obscured by a cloud of orange paint.
"Don't get distracted!" Julie-Su heard a cry from behind her and crouched down to avoid a high-speed punch, sweeping her leg to knock the human off of his feet before punching him in the gut with her left fist. He flew into the human that threw the spray paint can at her, knocking both to the ground and out of the fight. In a flurry of motion echidna reloaded her blaster before pointing it at the fifth and final human that didn't join his companions in the assault, and the gang member simply froze.
"W-Wait…!" The gang member held up his hands. "D-Don't, man!"
The echidna glared at him, her finger beginning to pull back…
"Don't…" Espio in front of her coughed, clutching his midsection as she aimed her blaster at him. The local Charmy and Vector were laying on the ground just behind him, the rise and fall of their chests being their only sign of life. "Don't…"
Julie-Su hissed and bit her lip. No, not here! Not now!
Shaking her head, she glared at the gang member and pointed towards an alleyway away from the battlefield with her free hand. Nodding furiously, he practically tripped over himself to go to it.
Julie-Su then turned her attention to the other members of the Chaotix, and had to admit she liked what she saw.
Sticks was throwing her boomerang, sweeping two Noise Tanks off of their feet so they slammed face-first on the ground. Charmy and Saffron were teaming up to grab two humans and smash their heads together, Charmy cheering in excitement while Saffron had a smile on her own face.
Espio was facing off against two members of the gang. One of them threw a ball which exploded into smoke, obscuring all three combatants. But the echidna switched the visual feed of her left eye to thermal vision and watched as the chameleon leapt up, kicking one of the Noise Tanks in the face before using it as a springboard to race to the other one and delivering a punch to his face, probably shattering the human's goggles.
Vector, meanwhile, was being ganged up on by four members of the gang. One of which was on his back and holding his arms around his neck for dear life. Another was in his left hand and was frantically spraying paint into Vector's eyes leaving a neon pink stain on the crocodile's face, blinding him. Not that it stopped the man from using the third Noise Tank member, who he had the right leg of in his right hand, as a club to hit the fourth.
A smirk grew on Julie-Su's face.
"Just like old tim-!"
A blow hit her in the side of the head, causing a message to appear in her left eye's vision.
WARNING! Possible Concussion detected!
Hissing, the echidna, thrust out her left hand and slammed it against the ground. Pushing up, she twisted her body and fired at her attacker only to see him disappear in a blur.
"Stupid! I forgot their freakin' lead-!"
Something cold and metallic grabbed her by the ankle, making the ex-Dark Legionnaire let out a cry of shock before she was slammed into the ground.
Groaning in pain, Julie-Su turned her body to look up at OG who was looming over her.
Two giant, mechanical arms were coming out of his back, solid steel things with pixelated red light emanating from its joints and creating a pair of solid 'hands' at the end.
And on the center of each arm's 'forearm' was a single insignia.
The Eggman Empire symbol.
"You're gonna pay for messing with the Noise Tanks, girl!" OG shouted while reaching down with his right artificial arm. "No retro Chrome's gonna save yo-!"
Julie-Su didn't bother waiting to hear him finish and instead grabbed her blaster and fired at his face.
The left part of his mask was torn to shreds, and he stumbled back reaching up towards it. Coughing, the echidna got to her feet and took aim again.
But OG was quick. With a snarl, his left mechanical arm swatted the blaster out of her hand while at the same time lowering his natural hands.
And what Julie-Su saw made her feel sick.
The human's bottom jaw and throat were completely mechanical. A thin layer of metal acted like 'skin' and seemed to shift as if artificial muscles were beneath them. The same went for the back half of the human's head, which was covered by a smooth white plastic that probably housed circuitry more advanced than anything she had seen under the Dark Legion. His left eye was completely black, an LED pupil flashing red and glitching while it tried to adjust on her.
"Oh… Oh dear Aurora…" Legionization? They had Legionization in this world?! "D-Did Eggman?"
"G-Gonna…" The human's voice was glitching out as if it were losing the signal. "KRSCH-ing kill you!"
"No." The echidna said while taking off her left hand's glove as the gang member shot forward on his skates. "You won't."
CHAINSAW MODE: ACTIVATED
In a flurry of mechanical parts, her left arm's forearm split open and the chainsaw was brought out. Reaching up, she pulled on the cord with her right thumb and felt her arm vibrate as the blades began to spin. The human screamed as he brought down his artificial appendages…
…Only for her to swipe forward with her chainsaw arm.
The screech of metal grinding against metal filled the air, and sparks flew as her chainsaw tore through the metal. Black oil and electric sparks from the internal circuitry were shooting off in various directions, staining the mostly clean jumpsuit the gang member wore. The human's eyes widened in shock and disbelief, almost like his brain wasn't accepting the information being presented to him in real time.
"Probably never expected this from a mobian."
Well, too bad.
This was reality.
Julie-Su turned her body, raising her right leg up before kicking it in the Noise Tank's midsection. OG gasped, spitting out saliva as he was stopped in his tracks while the echidna only slid a few feet thanks to his speed. Gritting her teeth, the Ex-Dark Legionnaire kicked out and the leader of the Noise Tanks was flung back and landed on the ground while the pieces of his mechanical arms fell to the ground.
"Okay." She breathed in and out while her chainsaw's blades spun in place. She glared at the groaning gang member before saying, "The Chaotix are wrapping things up with your gang, so why don't you tell me why a bunch of punks like you are running around with Eggman Te-?"
She only barely spotted it from the corner of her eye, and it was only because of that fact she was able to jump out of the way in time.
A mass of black and red energy ripped through the ground, tearing out entire pieces of the road and kicking up dirt as it sailed past where she was before slamming into a store front. Her artificial eye tracked as the wood and glass were torn apart, leaving a gash from the broken stairs into the front door that now laid in two pieces which revealed the inside of the store.
ENERGY: UNKNOWN
POSSIBLE MAGIC USAGE DETECTED
"What the hell?!"
"¡Oye! ¡Chica!"
Julie-Su turned her head to see a turquoise-furred badger strolling towards her. The giant black, red, and orange sword slung over his shoulder which radiated black and red energy off of the edge gave away where the blast came from.
But what gave the echidna pause was the look on the badger's face.
A grin spread from ear to ear on his face, showing all his teeth that reflected in the light of the sun. His head was slightly brought down, shadowing his eyes but not enough to hide the look inside of them.
A hunger, an excitement that seemed to border on ecstasy in this situation…
…and where it was going to lead to.
"You had fun with the nerds." The badger shrugged his shoulder and brought up the sword. Slowly, he lowered it and pointed it at her before saying, "Now why don't we have a real fight?"
Julie-Su knew that hunger and excitement well.
Because in her darkest moments… even she felt it.
And she only now realized she was sporting the same grin as the badger.
"Sounds good to me!"
To Be Continued…
Notes: Phew! Finally done with this thing! God I hate UTF-16.
Anyways, glad I was able to get this chapter out! Lots of set up and talking but I guess that's a consequence of so many characters to keep track of.
Writing the Sally scene was the hardest for me. It's hard to really grasp how screwed up Sally's relationship with her Dad and to a lesser extent her Mom is. Like, Max was emotionally abusive in a way that he thought he knew best and she just needed to shut up and do what she was told to see that. And Sally only now came to realize how screwed up that was, and how even her mom kinda just told her to go along with it. Yet she's still a kid who missed them and loves them dearly. I didn't want to regress her but I also wanted to show that even though we think we've grown as people sometimes we do backslide for a minute.
The Noise Tanks were fun. I like making Julie-Su an action hero.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed this! Be sure to leave a review and add to the TV Tropes Page!
Until next time…