GT: *walks in wearing a winter coat* We're going to the north this chapter!

SZ: Yup.

Cryo: ooh! How very cool.

SZ: Y…..Cryo? Why are you here?

Cryo: Call is still kinda busy with that hedgefox...or is she a... Net Navi? Can't recall...also I heard you mention something about the north, so I figured I'd give you some cool ice puns.

SZ: No puns!

Cryo: You sure? How about some pranks instead?

SZ:...Fine. Puns it is. Just keep them to a minimum.

GT: Aw, what's wrong, SZ? Not able to keep your cool from the puns?

SZ: Gh?! GT!

Cryo: heh heh...I like him.

GT: Thank you! Mewtwo, get your tuckus in here and pull out the disclaimer!

Mewtwo: *off-screen* I'm busy.

GT: You ain't got no nads! How you busy?!

Mewtwo: *off-screen* Fighting an annoying red and black thing. *throws a spoon the size of a van over us, showing the disclaimer* Use this!

GT: ...It has blood on it.

Mewtwo: *off-screen* I AM FIGHTING! WHAT DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND ABOUT THAT?!

GT: Okay, okay.

Spoon: *words on it read 'GammaTron and Seanzilla do not own any franchises used in this story. GammaTron, however, owns the village of Ryugu, the Prower Family-minus Miyuki Prower since she is owned by SZ-, White Rose-Prower, and Roll. SZ owns Miyuki Prower and Haseo Sakurai.'*

GT: So who's winning?

Mewtwo and Shadow the Hedgehog: *off-screen* ME! WHAT?! WHY YOU…!

GT: I love me being a Sponsor for Rooster Teeth.

SZ: ...*pulls screen down*

"Okay, this is the place," Sonic noted as he stopped the bus, the van stopping beside the bus, before Sonic poked his head out the window, "How's the van doing with the upgrades, Murray?"

"Awesome," Murray replied, giving the hedgehog a thumbs up, "Ben, you rock!"

Panda King emerged from the back of the van. He turned and held a hand out, Jing King placing her hand in his before her father helped her out of it. The two turned and approached a lone well-made home.

"You will be safe here with your aunt," Panda King informed.

"You are leaving again, Father?"

"I have a debt to repay, my beloved daughter," Panda King explained before he noticed a note hanging off the mailbox, "..." he picked it up, "'To my beloved niece Jing King and, if he is there, Panda King.'" he frowned at that subtle insult aimed at him, "'If you are reading this, then I no longer live here. Due to the threat of General Tsao, a cruel man in the northern mountains nearby, I have packed up my belongings and am now taking refuge in Ryugu. I had a penpal that I would enjoy speaking to through letters that offered me a small home there until Tsao's threat was gone. My humblest apologies, Sing.'" he inhaled deeply before exhaling slowly, "My beloved daughter."

"Yes, Father?"

"Please cover your ears and look at the tree over there," Panda King ordered, pointing at a tree nearby.

Jing King blinked at that before she nodded in response, turning around to face the tree her father pointed to before covering her ears. Panda King inhaled before his eyes snapped open into a fierce glare and he began to fire his wooden bazooka into the air.

"Gāisǐ de nǐ, Sing! Nǐ zhè gāisǐ dì wǎngfǎn yī tàng dìyù! Nǐ yīnggāi yǐjīng gàosù wǒmen nǐ zài láo lǐ zhīqián nǐ líkāi!" Panda King roared.

He continued to fire into the air for a few more minutes before calming down. He put his bazooka back onto his back and gently tapped his daughter's shoulder. She looked up at him and he nodded. She removed her hands from her ears before he escorted her back to the others, everyone but the still resting Roll and Manic along with the Guru looking at him with raised brows or wide eyes.

"...Wow. And I thought Jian had a mouth on her," Dulcy noted.

"Ye-hey! I do not!" Jian argued.

"When Cinder ended up knocking the temple's bell on your tail, you cursed so loud it echoed through the entire temple," Dulcy deadpanned.

"I take it that she's not here," Sly frowned.

"You...are correct," Panda King nodded, "She left to Ryugu weeks ago."

"One problem with that; only residents of Ryugu know exactly where it is," Bentley noted, "Not even Tsao was able to locate it despite his best efforts."

"Well, that will be easy," Makoto noted, "When Roll wakes up, she can direct us there!"

"That's good, because we need to head there anyway," Dulcy spoke up.

"Eh? Why?"

"We have business with the leader of the Frozen North Freedom Fighters," Jian explained.

"Is it about those ninjas?" Ben asked.

"Yes," Jian nodded, "This is something very important she needs to hear."

"So we're playing the waiting game until she wakes up?" Penelope asked.

"Nope," Sonic replied.

"Murray, pull the van to behind the bus," Ben smirked.

"You added something to the bus last night, didn't you?" Sonic asked.

"A few weeks ago when you guys had the flu," Ben shrugged, earning glowers from Sonia, Tsubaki, Sonic, and Makoto, "...What? I offered you guys the recipe my grandpa made to cure the flu, but none of you wanted to drink it."

"...Yeah. No offense Ben, but no way was I gonna drink that," Sonic deadpanned.

"What's in it?" Murray asked.

"You don't want to know," Sonic and Sonia replied in unison.

"I tried to drink it, but…" Makoto's face turned green, "The smell...Oh god, the smell…!"

"Yeah. Again...no offense Ben, but no way was I gonna drink that," Sonic stated.

"It's fine. I was pretty much acted the same way you all did when I first had to drink the stuff...when I was ten," Ben playfully smirked at the annoyed expressions he got from the four while he entered the driver's booth of the bus.

Murray pulled his van behind the bus and Ben pressed a button on the dashboard. The back of the bus extended back before splitting down the middle, revealing a garage inside the split back, a ramp extending out.

"You made another one?" Sonia groaned.

"Two is the maximum," Ben replied, "Try to add another after two, it gets destabilized and...well...boom. No more bus."

"I think you broke them again," Sly noted, seeing that Bentley and Penelope's glasses were fogged up as they just stared at the back of the bus.

"...Okay seriously, Ben. Next time you decide to upgrade the bus, talk to us first," Sonic said in annoyance.

"Okay, okay," Ben held his hands up in surrender as Murray parked in the bus's garage.

"This. is. AWESOME!" Murray whooped before the back closed up and he walked out a door into the living area of the bus, "This is awesome~!"

"Okay, Murray. Calm down before you end up fainting from over excitement," Sly chuckled a bit as Jing King waved a hand over Bentley and Penelope's faces, neither responding to the hand.

"Okay, everyone on the bus. We're going to the North!" Ben called.

"Land or air?" Sly joked.

"Air. It's lighter on the fuel surprisingly," Ben replied.

*THUD*

"And down goes the hippo."

*splat*

"And the mouse."

*thunk*

"And turtle, don't forget the turtle."

"Attention passengers, we are now landing in the far north," Ben joked as Sonic started the landing procedures, "Please make sure to continue doing your business as usual as we land."

"You think we could ask Ben for some tutoring in his Galvan form?" Penelope whispered to Bentley.

"Hopefully. Apparently, he considered everything he's done to this bus as Greymatter as something that a preschooler on their homeworld," Bentley nodded.

"Bentley, we have got to make the van a way to fly!" Murray cheered as Sonic converted the jet back to bus, "I think I'm gonna cry."

"Okay, buddy. Calm down."

"I can't help it! It's just so….so…!" Murray began in excitement before he ended up fainting again.

Sly rolled his eyes, "Fifth time he's done that in the last two days." a heavy yawn made him look at the stairs to see Manic walk down them, scratching his stomach as he he made his way to the kitchen area, "And one of them's up. Afternoon, sleeping beauty." Manic flipped him off in his tired state, "Not a morning person, is he?"

"Most of the time, no," Sonic replied.

"Only on Sundays," Sonia shrugged.

"What happens on Sundays?" Penelope asked.

"Waffles," Sonia and Sonic deadpanned.

"Waffles?! Where?!" Manic shouted as he bolted into the room, frantically looking around, "Where is the syrupy goodness?!"

"It's Saturday, Manic," Sonic corrected, causing the hedgehog to slump before his siblings pulled him into a family hug, "Glad to have you awake."

"Same," Sonia agreed before sniffing twice, 'Guh!' "Manic, go take a bath now."

"No way. I just go-" Manic began.

"Take. a bath. Now," Sonia narrowed her eyes.

"Aye!" Sonic and Manic gulped with wide eyes before both zipped out.

"...Any chance you could teach me that?" Penelope asked, looking at the sight in an impressed expression, Sly and Bentley scooting away from her at the circular table.

"Maybe," Sonia shrugged.

The Guru walked down, "Hipaha hoojah."

"She's awake now?" Sly asked before a blue blur zipped upstairs.

"Well, guess we'll get there sooner now," Ben noted.

"Yeah," Sonia nodded.

"Mm…" Roll moaned a bit in her sleep as she started to wake up, her eyes slowly opening up as she sat up a bit.

" (grg?" Roll looked to her left to see Yacker floating with worry in his eyes.

"I'm okay, Yacker-chan," Roll replied in a mumble, petting her Wisp friend's head assuringly before Sonic rushed in, a concerned look on his face, "...Sonikku."

"Roll," Sonic whispered before he walked over to her, sitting down in the chair beside her bed, "You doing okay?"

"Hai…" Roll nodded before she sniffled, "Sonikku, Tsao...his father was the one who took my family's treasure and killed my grandmother."

"...That bastard…" Sonic frowned before he calmed down, "...Well good news. That no good rooster is behind bars. And guess what? With what he did and intended on doing, he's not getting out for a very long time."

Roll nodded before looking around, "Ano…"

"You've been out for a few days," Sonic explained.

"I...I only remember feeling anger at what Tsao's family did to mine after he told me what his father did," Roll noted, "I...I guess he knocked me out, huh?"

"...Something like that," Sonic replied, "But guess what?"

"Hm?"

"We need to go to Ryugu."

Roll's eyes widened, "Home?"

"Yeah. Turns out Jing King's aunt is staying over there," Sonic added, "Plus Jian and her team needs to talk to Miyuki about something, most likely about the Raiju."

Roll nodded before looking over to see her sheathed sword resting by her bed, "..." she smiled a little, "I need to tell Miyuki-sama about the sword being returned, too."

"Can we drive there?" Sonic asked.

"I can drive...but everyone has to either stay in their rooms or have to wear blindfolds," Roll replied, "We don't allow anyone to know how to get to the entrances, even if they cannot open many of them."

"Ahh….gotcha," Sonic nodded, "...Hey Roll?"

"Hmm?" Roll blinked before Sonic hugged her, surprising her a bit as she blushed, "...Sonikku?"

"I'm just glad you're okay," Sonic replied with a small, soft smile.

"..." Roll returned the hug, "...arigatou."

"How much longer do we have to wear these?" Makoto grumbled, a blindfold over her eyes.

"We should've just gone to our rooms like Panda King, the Guru, and Jing King did," Jian mumbled, one over her eyes as well.

"Well, think of this as a bit of training," Sly noted, leaning against a wall, "After all, what if you can't see during a fight? You gotta trust your other senses or you'll be beaten quick."

"Yeah," Bunker added, "Some of the monks at our temple would do this during training."

"Indeed," Tsubaki nodded in agreement, 'Then again...I've spent a while blind.'

"Hey hey. Can I ask something?" Cinder spoke up, "Are we there yet?"

"Oh gods not this…" Jian muttered.

"Yeah. Are we there yet?" Murray asked.

"Roll will tell us when we're there," Sonia replied.

Up in the driver's area, Roll turned on the radio and changed to a channel, "Moshi-moshi. This is Sakurai Roll, requesting access to vehicle elevator G-3 to route V-3, please."

=Code word?= a teen's voice asked on the line.

"Rioichi," Roll replied.

=Hai! Welcome home, Sakurai-san=

The igloo before the bus rose up, revealing a large elevator. Roll drove the bus onto the elevator and it went down, no one witnessing it due to the seemingly eternal blizzard around the area. A minute went by before the elevator stopped, letting Roll drive the bus down a route. She soon stopped the bus once she was out of the tunnel and parked in a bus-only spot.

"Minna, you can take them off now," Roll informed.

"Finally!" Makoto exclaimed as she tore her blindfold off.

"Yay!" Cinder cheered as she took hers off, Sonic zipping upstairs to get the three who chose to stay in their rooms.

"Whoo!" Murray cheered, throwing his into the air as Sly looked out a window, giving a slow whistle.

"Nice looking place," Sly complimented.

"Thank you," Roll nodded as everyone began to walk out.

"Hey look. Roll-Oneesama is b-" a female mobian rabbit began before she noticed who was within the group "?!"

"So that big gem up there acts like the sun and moon in here?" Bentley pondered as Sly looked around, resting his cane on his shoulders before seeing the Mobian Rabbit.

"Hey," Sly greeted.

"A Cooper!" she gasped loudly, "A Cooper has returned to Ryugu!" she ran off, leaving Sly to blink a few times.

"..." he took out the Thievius Raccoonus and began to skim through it, "No one in my family stole from here, did they?"

"No. In fact…" Roll began.

"Asuka, what're you talking about?" a female mobian fox asked as the female raccoon came back, a few more female Mobians following behind her.

"I told you, Katsuragi! A Cooper's back in Ryugu!" the rabbit shouted before pointing to Sly, "Look!"

"Sly, get ready to run," Bentley whispered as Sly snapped his family's book shut and quickly hid it.

"Ladies," Sly tipped his hat, managing to act like he normally would.

"...Oh. My. Kami," Katsuragi gawked, seeing the cane, "It...It is a Cooper!"

"That's what I thought!" Asuka shouted, "...Oh! Someone needs to inform Miyuki-sama!"

"...I'll do it," Katsuragi said as she ran off.

"No groping! You know how she tends to find your surprise gropings anno-and she's gone," a female Mobian cat sweatdropped.

"...I'm guessing Miyuki is the leader of this place?" Sly asked Roll with a whisper.

"Hai," Roll nodded before Asuka gasped.

"Roll-Oneesama, is...is that…?" Asuka pointed at the sword on Roll's hip.

"Hai," Roll nodded, "My family's blade has been found."

Within a matter of seconds, the crowd of females were all over the hedgefox, asking multiple question.

"Where did you find it?!"

"How did you meet Cooper-san?!"

"Did Sonic-san's group get bigger?"

"Who is your hippo friend? He's cute!"

A wall of sand separated the villagers from the group, "Okay! No crowding!"

"Hey, Shukaku," Sonic greeted, seeing the tanuki standing in the middle of the crowd.

"Sonic-nii, hey there!" Shukaku waved as she made a carpet of sand to carry her over the crowd before hopping down and hugging him, "Great to see you again!"

"Same here," Sonic nodded as he hugged her back a bti before releasing the hug, "How've things been since we've been gone?"

"Oh, same old, same old. Robotnik trying to find out village with his robots, our forces tearing his apart in the blizzards, the usual," Shukaku shrugged, "So how have you be…" she trailed off, seeing Sly, "...Oh. My. Kami. A Cooper! A Cooper has returned to Ryugu!" she pulled Sonic into a big hug, "You are the best honorary big brother figure EVER!"

'Okay...either I'm going to be good with them...or I'll have to hide for the rest of the time we're here,' Sly thought, ready for either.

"H! Right! Someone get Miyuki-nee!" Shukaku called, "She has got to know about this!"

"Katsuragi left to go get her a few minutes ag-" Asuka began.

"KYU~!" Miyuki's voice yelped throughout the area, "Katsuragi!"

"...Kyu?" Sonic repeated before a block of ice skidded down, halting near them to reveal Katsuragi frozen inside of it, "...Since when has Miyuki started saying 'kyu'?"

"It's something she used to say when she was younger, and...well, it eventually slipped back into her vocabulary," Shukaku shrugged.

"When did it start coming back?" Sonic asked.

"I think it was after White tripped and the two ended up hitting their heads on a wall," Shukaku shrugged.

"Please move aside, kyu," Miyuki called, the growing crowd of women quickly making an opening straight down the middle to let the entire Prower family approach the group, "Sonic-kun, Manic-kun, Sonia-chan, Makoto-chan, Roll-chan, Ben-kun, so good to see you all again, kyu. Welcome back to…" she trailed off, seeing the sword Roll had and Sly, "..."

"Dear?" White looked up at his wife.

"Roll-chan, that sword…"

"Hai. The family blade of the Sakurai Clan has been recovered," Roll nodded.

"And...And is that…?" Miyuki looked at Sly.

"Sly Cooper, ma'am," Sly greeted.

"..." she turned to the crowd, "Preparations, kyu! We have to celebrate, kyu! One of Rioichi-sama's descendants has returned to Ryugu, bringing with them one of our nation's honored weapons, kyu!"

The crowd began to cheer at the orders, quickly going off to make the preparations. Sly, Murray, and Bentley let out sighs of relief, the turtle of the three visible slumping in his wheelchair.

"Wow. You really are a Cooper, aren't you?" Mavis asked.

"Yes. Yes I am," Sly noded, "So, mind telling me how you all know about my ancestor?"

"He is the one who created our shinobi corps that protect the village internally," Ryukendo informed before the seven-tailed dragon bowed, "It is an honor to meet a Cooper, Cooper-san."

"Heh...Thanks," Sly nodded.

"You...y...you're Ryukendo…" Dulcy whispered in awe.

"Hm? Oh, a pleasure to meet you," Ryukendo greeted, taking her hand and lightly kissing her knuckles, "You may know who I am, but I do not know you."

"..."

"Ahem!" Jian cleared her throat as she elbowed the blushing dragoness in her side.

"D-Dulcy! Leader of the Chunan Freedom Fighters!"

"Hey, yo-yo-yo! Now this is getting juicy! We got a dragon here now named Dulcy!" Gyuki rapped.

"Gyuki, kyu!"

"Oh shit! No go, yo! My sista's 'bout ta blow!"

"You're darn right I'm gonna blow, kyu! What have I told you about rapping around guest, kyu?!" Miyuki snapped/scolded him.

"Good to see you again, Tails," Sonic greeted, patting the twin-tailed fox's head, "You are not going to believe the stories I've got about what's been going on since we last talked."

"It's great to see you too, Sonic-nii," Tails smiled before seeing the Panda King, "Wow. He's tall!"

"My apologies for any offending," Panda King spoke up, "I am currently looking for my daughter's aunt, Sing King."

"Hm? Oh! You're Sing's brother-in-law. She does not have a high opinion of you," White noted, earning a glare from him, "Eh-heh-heh-heh...She's currently staying across from our home since Miyuki-chan and her are penpals."

"Reason she had to move was because of that teme, General Tsao," Miyuki frowned, along with most of the females of Ryugu still in the area.

"Ahh...well good news. You don't have to worry about Tsao anymore," Manic spoke up, "Dude's been zapped good by Interpol."

"His family was the one who stole my family's blade, Miyuki-sama," Roll explained, "His father hired the assassins that ended my grandmother's life."

"Oh, you poor thing, kyu," Miyuki bent down, the adult human female-sized Mobian pulling the hedgefox into a hug.

"..." Penelope elbowed Dulcy.

"Oh! Right! Lady Miyuki, my team and I need to speak to you in private," Dulcy informed.

"Of course. You are all welcome to stay in our home during your visit, kyu," Miyuki informed the group.

"Thank you," Dulcy bowed, "Okay. Now l-" She began when she noticed someone missing, "...uh...girls? Where's Cinder?"

"..." the other two members of the Chunan Freedom Fighters looked around, not seeing their bird friend.

"...Hoo boy," Dulcy sighed, feeling the headache coming.

"Someone please go find her," Bunker begged, "She can be...quite energetic."

"And for the love of all that is holy, do not give her anything spicy and sweet," Jian added.

"Why? What happens?" Shukaku asked.

"You don't want to know," Dulcy, Jian, and Bunker replied in unison.

"Fair enough," Mavis shrugged.

"So…" Matatabi grinned as the dog zipped behind Tsubaki and played with her chest, startling the red head, "...who's this cutie, hmm?"

"St...stop that~!" Tsubaki shouted.

"Matatabi, kyu!"

"Ah, shit. I'm dead," the dog noted, "..." she squeezed twice on Tsubaki's breasts, "Toot-toot." she ran off, "You'll never punish me alive!"

"...Shukaku?"

"On it!" Shukaku beamed as she pulled out a surfboard and jumped at Matatabi, a tidal wave of sand carrying her off after her dog sister.

"..." Bentley opened his mouth.

"Yes, they're all blood-related siblings born from the same parents," Sonic quickly replied, "We don't ask how it happened or why they're all different species."

Bentley closed his mouth and nodded.

"Ahem! Now...as Matatabi asked before hand…" Miyuki began as she looked at Tsubaki, "Who are you, kyu?"

"Ahem! Ano…" Tsubaki began as she bowed to her, "Tsubaki. Yayoi Tsubaki, ma'am. It's an honor to be in your home town."

"You are one of the friends Makoto-chan mentioned when she last visited, kyu," Miyuki noted, looking her over before giving a smile, "Welcome to Ryugu, Yayoi Tsubaki."

"A-arigatou, Prower-san," Tsubaki nodded.

"Please, call me Miyuki, kyu," Miyuki giggled a bit.

"So my ancestor Rioichi lived here?" Sly asked, looking around.

"Yes," White replied, the two sitting out in the back of the Prower home, "Your ancestor taught the first generation of the shinobi corps that we've named in his honor; the Rioichi Corps. He also introduced to our home sushi."

"Oh yeah. He was the one who invented sushi," Sly recalled what he had managed to read through in his ancestor's entry in the book.

"Hai. It's one of Ryugu's most popular dishes," White nodded.

"So how did he end up here?" Sly asked.

"It was a long time ago from what I've read in history books. The Raiju Clan and the Sakurai Clan approached him one day, both asking for him to join them. The Raiju wanted him for his abilities, to help them become the greatest shinobi and kunoichi in the world," White noted, "The Sakurai Clan wished for him to come with them because they wished to enjoy more of his sushi and share it with the founding families of Ryugu and the families coming to live in Ryugu. Ryoichi chose to go with the Sakurai, for their intent was of pure intent in wanting to share something amazing with others while the Raiju's intent was only for their own selfish wants." he looked out at the koi pond, "When he came and seeing the joy his sushi brought to them and given a tour by the Sakurai Clan envoy that had offered him to come, he offered to teach anyone who wished to be a ninja to help protect the growing village. Because of his gift to us, both the sushi and the training of ninja, he and his family are considered as citizens of our home and granted amnesty. When you wish to retire from your life as a Master Thief, Ryugu is more than willing to accept you with open arms and safety."

"Ahh...cool," Sly nodded, "...Wait. What about the Raiju? I take they weren't all too happy Ryugo got my ancestor, huh?"

"...In more ways than one," White sighed, "Ryugu and Raiju always had bad blood between them, but…It only grew when Rioichi chose to go with the Sakurai Clan envoy Ryugu sent. A feud between us erupted from that decision since they believe we stole his skills from them when he willingly went with the Sakurai Clan envoy."

"...I see," Sly noted, "...Good thing I didn't bump into any of the Raiju during a job back at Chunan."

"?!" White tensed at that as he looked at him with wide eyes, "You….you ran into the Raiju?"

"Just Tsubaki and Jian," Sly replied.

"It is good you did not run into them," White nodded, "They swore a vendetta on the Cooper Clan because of Rioichi's choice."

"...Okay. Now I'm really glad I didn't run into any of them back in Chunan," Sly stated.

"...and that's pretty much it," Jian finished, sitting with her team across from Miyuki in a decorated office.

"...I see…" Miyuki whispered, a small frown on her face, "...To think the Raiju would side with Robotnik...and not just them, but other Mobians as well…" as she sat there, the room started to get colder and colder with each passing second, "Unforgivable…"

"So what are we gonna do about it?" Cinder asked, poking her head up from an empty bowl, bits of candy wrappers stuck on her beak.

"...White!' Miyuki called out.

"Channel 7, honey! I called them a minute ago!" White's voice replied as Sonic walked in.

"Thankyu!" Miyuki thanked.

"Why are you in here?" Jian asked Sonic.

"White said to come in here," Sonic replied as Miyuki pulled out a remote and pressed a button on it, causing the wall beside them to move back and reveal a set of televisions with labels beneath them, all displaying different Mobians and a few Beastkin, "...Okay. So it's a big meeting."

"Hai. And a very serious one," Miyuki nodded as she moved back a bit to look at both Sonic, Dulcy, and the screens, "Everyone...it seems we now have a major problem involving Robotnik."

"Wait. How big of a problem?" Sonic asked, confused about what was going on.

=Ach. Vhat hasn't he done yet?= a male bear Beastkin groaned in a strong Russian accent.

"..." Miyuki took a long, deep breath as she gained a serious expression, "It seems some Mobians and possibly Beastkin have joined forces with him as his 'Dark Legion'."

"Wait, what?!" Sonic exclaimed at that as he looked at her with wide eyes.

=What?= a black panther Mobian questioned, narrowing his eyes.

=A Dark Legion?= an Fennec fox asked, his voice deep despite his small size =That...that has got to be the worst damn name that I've ever heard of! Hey, Robotnik! Hollywoof called. They want their next horrible film's villain's army name back!=

"This is serious," Dulcy spoke up in a serious tone, "From what Jian told me, the Raiju are a part of his Dark Legion."

=The Raiju?!= a tanuki freaked, falling over in surprise and causing everyone to let out a disgusted noise for a moment before he corrected himself, blushing in embarrassment.

"Yes. I thought it was a rumor, but when me and a member of Sonic's team faced off against their leader, Conquering Storm...it turns out it's true," Jian spoke up, "...Her eyes were cybernetic, which means she and her entire clan has been most likely Legionized."

The fennec gave a laugh =Legionized?! That's even dumber than Dark Legion!=

=Finnick!= a lion beastkin roared, blue tribal tattoos on his face =While it may seem hilarious to you, it is not that funny if what is hinted to is truth=

=Well said, mate= a scarlet kangaroo agreed, adjusting his hat with a bent edge =Seems that a lot o' faith in tryin' to get rid of the blimey crook and are jumping in with him=

=Yes...now tell us, what is this 'Legionazation'?= the lion Beastkin asked

"Think Robotization, only parts of you become robotic, and no matter what, you have to work for Robotnik," Jian explained, causing the ones on the tvs to start talking loudly and all at once in different reactions.

Sonic inhaled before giving a loud, sharp whistle, earning everyone's attention, "What do you mean by 'no matter what,' Jian?"

"Well...It's a rumor, but if you disobey Robotnik if you're a member of the Dark Legion...you end up being 'turned into a statue'...not being able to eat, sleep...or anything," Jian explained grimly, "Either that, or you get blown up thanks to microbombs in the cybernetics."

=...Th...that sounds even worse than Robotization! Worrying about being fully paralyzed or exploding from the inside?! Th….that's even worse...that's a fate no Mobian should ask for=

=Ahem= the five Beatkin of the fifteen screens cleared their throats.

=...That's a fate no Mobian or Beastkin should ask for=

=Thank you= the lion Beastkin thanked for his fellow Beastkin Freedom Fighter leaders.

=I take it that you discovering this coincides with recent events in Chunan, correct?= the panther questioned.

"Yes, sir," Jian nodded, "The Raiju were working alongside the war criminal, General Tsao of the Northern Mountains, but only because of a rumor that he was stealing robots from Robotnik for his own gain. And guess what? He was. We only found this out from Conquering Storm when me and a member of Sonic's group were facing off against her."

=And this member of your team, Prince Sonic?= the panther asked.

"Our newest member, Tsubaki Yayoi," Sonic replied, "A human like Ben Tennyson."

=You mean those Overlanders with five fingers and not four, right?= Finnick asked =...She hot?=

=Did you seriously just ask that?= a female fox Beastkin asked.

=What? It's a legitimate question, toots=

=Toots?! Why you…!=

The Lion Beastkin let out a roar, halting the eruption before it could happen =Marina, Finnick, argue later. We are not here to speak about if someone is 'hot' or not. We are talking about confirming that Robotnik is now using Mobians and Beastkin for a new army separate from his robot army=

=As if those new EggPawns weren't enough a pain in the ass for us= Finnick grumbled =Lost a lot of damn good fighters the first few times they were sent out to replace the SWATBots. Hey, Tea Chiapet, what about letting us use some of that there tech you have for fighting already?=

"Our agreement with T'Challa's nation does not involve their technology, Finnick," Miyuki responded for the panther, "Just as Ryugu does not involve our shinobi corps."

=And look at what's happened so far? We still ain't any closer to getting the blue guy, his bro, or their sis with the hot ass in that throne= Finnick replied.

"...Can I shoot him next time I see him?" Sonic narrowed his eyes at Finnick, "Better yet…" he summoned his sword, "Cut him down?"

=Since vhen could you do zat?= the bear Beastkin asked.

"A while now," Sonic replied, "But I think we're getting off track here."

"He's right," Miyuki nodded, "We can't afford to argue. We need to think about what to do about Robotnik's Dark Legion…" she then gained a rather somber look, "We've already lost Lady Nephthys of the Midesta Freedom Fighters...we don't need anymore losses."

=Nephthys? Wasn't she that vulture that lead that new Freedom Fighter group?=

"...Hai," Miyuki nodded sadly, "She cared so much for her team."

=A shame= T'Challa bowed his head =She had quite a lot of potential=

"How did it happen?" Dulcy asked.

"That robot of Eggman's, the one they call Starscream," Miyuki frowned, "She went to distract him while her team got away…" the somber look soon came back on her face, "The only thing they could find of her was her medallion, and her upper beak."

=Damn= Finnick summed up the mood of everyone in there.

"We ran into one of Eggman's robots while dealing with Tsao!" Cinder chirped, "That funny talking one that can shoot fire from his hands!"

=You mean that one that's always with the blue one that can freeze things with beams from his hands?= the fox Beastkin asked.

"Apparently, Eggman separated them to search for something," Sonic noted, Finnick bursting into laughter before Sonic could say anything else.

=EGGMAN!? BWAHAHAHAHAHA! Y...You call Robotnik 'Eggman'?!= Finnick fell out of his chair, laughing, his tiny feet barely visible at the bottom of the screen =Nice! Hahahaha~! Nice~!=

=Vhat vas he looking for?= the bear Beastkin asked.

"Most likely?" Sonic took out the Chaos Emerald he had in his quills, "This."

=...Hey= the fox beastkin spoke up =One of my teammates said she sensed something similar to that around Soumerca and Northamer=

"Really?" Sonic asked.

=She said it felt like it was on the move= the fox Beastkin explained =We notified a team that was in the area to check it out=

"Just keep running!" Ragna snapped.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Noel and Haseo apologized repeatedly as they were carried by the white-haired man.

"You should've checked before you ate those bananas!" Jacky snapped, barely staying ahead of Ragna while Alpha was running at the front of them all, carrying a panting and wheezing J.

"We have got to train you up on stamina, J," Alpha muttered.

"OW! The back of my head!" Ragna snapped, looking over his shoulder, "Where did it even get a bazooka made of a tree trunk that works and fire coconuts?!"

"I don't know, but keep running!" Jacky shouted.

"I'm sorry…" Noel sniffled, "But we haven't restocked our supplies in days and Haseo-chan and I couldn't eat another MRE."

"I believe that I have located Jake. This scanner that we were given to by Ben Tennyson is quite useful in tracking the Chaos Emeralds he has," Rook's voice noted in their earpieces, "Is everything going well with finding food to restock?"

"FUCK YOU, ROOK! FUCK! YOU!" Ragna snapped before a roar from the large gorilla in a red tie swinging after them from tree to tree, firing coconuts from a wooden bazooka at them, echoed in the area.

=I am sure that they will be fine= the fox Beatkin noted =Soumerca is a pretty big jungle=

"...right…" Sonic noted, "Look. If Eggman really does have Mobians and Beastkin working along side him...we better keep a close eye out."

=Indeed. Who knows who that horrid man has recruited= the Lion Beastkin frowned.

=Whoever he did recruit made a big mistake on their end= a female wolf Mobian frowned.

=Agreed. Any Mobian or Beastkin who sides with that nut is pretty much a traitor to their own kind!= Fennick shouted

"Fennick...don't say stuff like that," Miyuki spoke up with a frown, "You sound like the leader of that one 'Freedom Fighter' group around the dessert."

=The Sand Blasters? Oh god I hate those guys!=

"Wait...Sand Blasters?" Sonic repeated.

"Someone I hope you never meet," Miyuki frowned dangerously, "But I'll say this...they believe they can decide who gets freedom or not...but if you're a Robian, human, or Beastkin around them…" her frown soon grew as the room started to get colder once more.

"Noted!" Sonic quickly informed, "White, get the…"

"Hot cocoa, extra large marshmallow with a light caramel drizzle," White walked in, putting the cup down, and walked out.

"...Thankyu, White-kyun," Miyuki smiled as she picked up the cup.

=...You gotta admit, that guy's a psychic= Fennick argued.

=Don't start this again!= the lion Beatkin groaned.

=I'm serious. That guy is, like, five steps ahead of whatever we need when meetings happen on the boobtube= Fennick argued.

=Maybe it's because he and his wife are close enough that they can normally predict what they might want ahead of time= the fox Beastkin argued.

=I still say he's a goddamn psychic=

=He cannot read minds= T'Challa sighed.

=How do you know?= Finnick argued as all of them began to argue if White was psychic or not, Miyuki humming childishly as she drank her cocoa and ignoring the argument.

"Hey! Hey!" Sonic spoke up, only to be ignored, "...I forgot how chaotic these meetings can get." But...at least I have one idea where to go next after this...Northamer…'

"You built this by yourself?" Bentley asked, looking at a blue biplane before him, Penelope, and Tails.

"Yep!" Tails beamed, "I call it the Tornado I. Worked on it for a few days and nights without any sleep...though my sister won't let me fly it until another week. I got grounded for staying up for 6-7 days straight working on it."

"...And how old are you again?" Penelope asked.

"I'm turning twelve in five months!" Tails beamed.

"...And you haven't been tutored by Ben?" Bentley asked.

"No. Home schooled," Tails replied, "White-nii may be clumsy more often than not, but he's a really good teacher. Last time I took an IQ test from him, I got 300."

Bentley and Penelope stared at him in surprise.

"Tails-chan~!" Mavis's voice called, "I need your opinion on what we're going to make for the celebration tonight!"

"Oh! Coming, Neechan!" Tails replied as he ran off.

"..." Penelope and Bentley looked at each other.

"Why is it that since we've met the Freedom Fighters, my mind has been blown more times in the last week than it has in the last three years?" Bentley asked.

"No idea, but I haven't been this shocked about things since you guys wanted to recruit me for the Vault job and actually won the ACES tournament to boot," Penelope replied.

"Y...yeah," Bentley nodded slowly.

"This place…" Tsubaki whispered as she looked around with Makoto, "...I never knew there was a place like this in Mobius."

"I know. Amazed me as well the last time I was here," Makoto nodded, the two giving a small wave at a group of kids in matching blue shirts and hard hats waving at them, "No issues between Mobians, Beastkins, or humans."

"Still surprises me that they only have three fingers and a thumb, though," Tsubaki admitted.

"Tell me about it," Makoto nodded before she stopped, seeing a fox Beastkin picking up her child, "..."

"...You miss your family, don't you Makoto?" Tsubaki asked, noticing the looker her friend had.

"...Yeah," Makoto replied, rubbing her arm with a small frown, "Are they doing okay? Are they worried about me? D...Do they think I'm dead?" she shook her head, "I end up staying up most nights when I start to think about that."

"Makoto…" Tsubaki whispered.

"...Just once, I'd do anything to see them again," Makoto admitted with a sad sigh.

"...Don't worry, Makoto," Tsubaki spoke up, giving her a reassuring smile, "Someday, we'll be able to go home once this is over...once Mobius is finally free."

"Hopefully," Makoto nodded, "Though...How did we even end up here? I know that Ben and I were found in some freaky machine…"

"Wait. Machine?" Tsubaki repeated.

"Yeah. We were in some kind of machines that was keeping us preserved or something," Makoto explained, "Last thing I remember was protecting Noel from…" she paused as her eyes widen, "...Oh my god...that's right. When me and her were going against Hazama, he...he brutally attacked me to get to Noel. I...I was barely alive when he tossed me off the side, me mentally damning him as I fell."

"You...Wait, you were fighting who?" Tsubaki asked.

"Haza…" Makoto began before she thought, 'Oh yeah...Tsubaki's memory of everything after graduation is gone. She wouldn't know the guy since she doesn't remember meeting him.'

"...Makoto, who is Hazama?" Tsubaki asked once more, "And why was he after Noel?"

"Hazama...he's a high ranking member in the NOL. He...He assigned you to go after Noel and Jin when they went AWOL because of Ragna appearing in the city they were assigned to after graduation," Makoto explained.

"Assigned me to go after them? But...wait. Makoto, what Squadron was I in?" Tsubaki asked.

"..."

"Makoto, where was I assigned to?" Tsubaki asked, "Did it involve why I had the Izayoi?"

"...Squad 0; the Wings of Justice."

"But...But they're only deployed when…" Tsubaki's eyes widened, "No...I...I couldn't. I wouldn't do that."

"But you did…" Makoto sighed, "Hazama sent you after Noel and Jin...I...I don't remember much, but we were going to come back to you after you let Noel escape beforehand. But then...he came along."

"...Hazama."

"Yeah," Makoto nodded, "He...I couldn't even land a single hit on him. It was like he knew exactly where I was going to strike him, where I would dodge to from his attacks, even sometimes saying something I was starting to say."

"...where is he now?" Tsubaki asked with a small frown.

"Don't know...but…" Makoto paused as she looked up at the 'sun/moon', "...I pray to god we don't run into him here. Who knows what he...or worse, the NOL, will do to Mobius."

Tsubaki gave a small noise of agreement. The two stayed silent as they continued to look around, seeing the villagers putting up strings of paper lanterns, building booths along the roads, and some sweeping the roads.

"So...what were you doing in Manic's room when we got him and Roll in the bus?" Makoto asked.

"Hm? I was just watching over him," Tsubaki replied quickly.

"Oh? That's all?" Makoto asked, a teasing smile on her lips, "You didn't even do that thing guys who pass out get from girls after they save someone?"

"..."

"You did, didn't you?"

"He did a good job protecting Roll from Tsao," Tsubaki blushed.

"You totally kissed him!" Makoto grinned.

"It was just on the cheek!"

"...Oh, you kinky girl," Makoto snickered, Tsubaki's blush growing harder at where Makoto was implying she had kissed Manic on, "Didn't know y-"

"Makoto, I swear to God that if you finish that sentence I will harm you," Tsubaki frowned dangerously at her.

"..."

"..."

"...You like kissing butts!" Makoto cheekily grinned before running off, laughing.

"?! M-MAKOTO!" Tsubaki shouted as she ran after her friend, grabbing a nearby paper fan, "Get back here!"

"Come on! It was just a joke!" Makoto laughed.

"Oh I'll give you a joke, Makoto Nanaya!"

"At least I know you're going green!" Makoto quipped in laughter.

"Again! On! His! Cheek!"

"Yeah! H-"

"His face cheek, you baka!"

'Heh heh...This is like the time at the beach during Summer break!' Makoto mentally giggled

"Seriously, Makoto, get back here and drop the subject now or else!" Tsubaki snapped.

"Or else what?! You'll scold me?!"

"No! I'll tell Ben how you feel about him!" Tsubaki countered, making the squirrel Beastkin skid to a halt.

"...You're bluffing."

"I've seen how you act around him," Tsubaki replied, 'Payback time~!'

"That's what you said during Christmas even," Makoto argued.

"I mean recently," Tsubaki countered back.

"...You don't have any proof," Makoto pointed out, 'Heh...let's see you counter that.'

"Casinopolis when we were in that casino," Tsubaki replied.

"...It...it was to keep him company and stuff," Makoto replied, trying to force back the small blush on her face.

"And yet, I caught you more often than not with your arms around one of his arms and giving him looks at times when he wasn't looking."

"...Touche, Tsubaki," Makoto frowned a bit, her blush increasing.

"Hai...Though that does raise questions now," Tsubaki admitted, "I always figured you were...well…"

"...Well what?" Makoto raised a brow.

"Well...considering how you acted with Mai back at the academy…"

"...Wait. Are you insisting I'm gay?" Makoto blinked.

"N-no! It's just...well...given how you acted with Mai in the changing room and bath house…" Tsubaki trailed off.

"I'm bisexual, Tsubaki," Makoto explained before giggling, "You know, you're acting just like the day I told you that when we both had a day off from our duties."

"Really?" Tsubaki raised a brow.

"Hai," Makoto nodded before grinning playfully, "I may have mentioned trying a threesome with you and this cute guy in the bar…"

"We were in a bar?"

"Yup, and I'll admit...you're fun while drunk," Makoto giggled, "Seriously, one drink and you were drunker than a Kaka Clan member high on catnip."

"?!" Tsubaki began to blush again.

"Would've asked for you to do a funny strip dance, but that'd be cruel and unusual," Makoto giggled, earning a sigh of relief from her, "But you did it when we got back in the hotel room!"

"Hotel r...Makoto!"

"And I'm back to running!" Makoto laughed as she ran off once more, Tsubaki giving chase.

"Lemme tell ya something, The Murray; The Rath ain't going down!" Rath grunted.

"The Murray ain't giving up!" Murray argued.

"Come on! You can do it! Beat the big guy!" Shukaku cheered.

"Who are you rooting for?" Ryukendo asked, lying on his back and looking at nothing in particular.

"Both," the tanuki grinned at her brother before going back to watching the Apopplexian arm wrestle the hippo.

"Ahh...just don't let Miyuki see or hear about it. You know how she is when Wrestling's involved."

"Oh...yeah. I almost forgot about that," Shukaku blinked.

"Whoo! Go sexy tiger!" Mavis cheered.

"Lemme tell ya something, Mavis Prower; The Rath won't lose!" Rath snapped at her, shaking a fist while he and Murray still struggled to get the other's arm pinned.

"Man. They're really going at it," Matatabi noted, "How long has this been going on?"

"An hour or so."

"Cool," Matatabi nodded before a beeping noise went off, "Huh?"

"Oh come on!" Rath snapped before a red flash happened and Ben yelped as Murray's hand slammed on the table, cracking it, 'I am so glad that my hand was not in his thanks to me changing back.'

"What happened?" Murray asked, scratching his head.

"Omnitrix timed out," Ben replied, showing the green was red, "It'll take a while to recharge...or soon. It varies from time to time."

"Ahh...darn. I was having fun wrestling with Rath," Murray sighed.

"Wrestling?"

'Crap!' most of the Prower siblings thought as they slowly turned to see Miyuki standing there.

"I just came from the meeting to check up on you all, and I hear mention of wrestling?" Miyuki asked in an even tone.

"Yeah," Murray nodded, not noticing most of the Prower siblings trying to tell him to shut up, "We were arm wrestling at first, but Rath turned it into a real wrestling match and we were at it for an hour before going back to arm wrestling!"

"Run!" Matatabi shouted, grabbing Ben and running off.

"Mmph!" Ben's muffled voice yelped, his head shoved between her breasts, 'Why does this always happen when we come here?'

"...Soka...Shukaku, get the ring ready!" Miyuki ordered.

"Um…"

"Get. The ring. Ready."

"Yes, neechan," Shukaku squeaked.

"...uh...what's going on?" Murray asked.

"You shouldn't have brought up wrestling, kyu," Miyuki smirked a bit as she took her kimono off, revealing a winter-blue two-piece outfit consisting of a sleeveless top that exposed her belly and a pair of short-shorts, sky-blue strings connecting the two together in loops.

"...Wh…"

"The paramedics are on standby," White informed, motioning to an Overlander and a cat Beastkin in matching opposite gender nurse uniforms.

"Come on. I, Miyuki Nanaya Prower, am not known as the Snow Kyuubi for nothing," Miyuki smirked as she stretched a bit, "Reigning champ of our yearly wrestling competition 5 years straight!"

"The Snow Kyuubi?" Murray repeated before gasping, "I've watched your pay-per-view matches! Oh, your fight against the Manik Buffalo was just so awesome! Guy was twice your size and you pinned him but good!"

"Oh that? It was too easy to be honest," Miyuki giggled, "He shouldn't have underestimated me, kyu. It was a good match but…" she gave a small smile as she looked up a bit, "It doesn't match I had with the Hidden Royal. Now that was a match worth remembering, kyu."

"Yeah. Man, that was the longest match I've ever seen you in. I seriously thought you almost had her with your Freezer Bomb at the 30 minute mark."

"Oh me too, kyu…Ahh, what I wouldn't give for another match with her...but for now…" Miyuki paused as she grinned at him, "How's about I show you some of the moves that made me famous in the ring, kyu?"

"...So awesome…" Murray grinned in excitement.

"Sorry it took so long," Sonic apologized as he walked up to Roll, "You sure you're up for this?"

"It needs to be done, Sonikku," Roll replied.

"Okay…" Sonic replied, an uncertain tone in his voice, as the two left the Prower family grounds.

'Now what are those two doing?' Sly pondered from his balancing on a street light.

He hopped onto a powerline and began to run along it, following the blue hedgehog and yellow hedgefox quietly, making sure they wouldn't notice him. He raised a brow as the two eventually stopped at an empty mansion, the windows closed shut and a stone wall set up at the side of the front of the home. Roll took in a shaky breath before Sonic put a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you sure you can do this?" Sonic asked.

"I...I'm sure," Roll replied before walking up to the stone wall and knelt down before it, putting her palms together as she closed her eyes.

"...Don't worry. I'll be here if you need me," Sonic reassured her.

A few moments of silence passed before Roll opened her eyes and stood up. She took in a deep breath before walking up to the house. She reached into her shirt and pulled out a key on a string and put it into the keyhole. She unlocked the doors and opened it. Yacker floated out of her hair and floated into the empty home, a sad look in his eye, as Roll and Sonic entered.

"...What is this place anyway?" Sly whispered as he looked at the empty mansion from his hiding spot.

He hopped down and walked up to the stone wall. He looked up at it and his confused look faded into a sad expression. Names. The entire stone wall had multiple names written upon it. At the very top, the words 'Sakurai Clan Massacre' were as clear as day to him. Inside, Sonic looked around as the two walked.

"There...used to be a lot of laughter in the air," Sonic looked at Roll, "I was the only girl born in my generation and Haseo-chan the only boy born since none of my aunts found that special someone and I didn't have any uncles. Ever so often, we'd go outside of the city just to look at the aurora borealis and the stars when the night skies were clear."

"...I wish I could've met them," Sonic spoke, a small soft smile on his face, "They sound like good people."

"They were," Roll nodded sadly, "My aunt Milla loved to read books, and then Sarai...oh Kami I wish you could've heard her music, Sonikku. The way it could have you feel something." the two walked by a rather large dining hall, "On birthdays, Kaa-chan would always go all out with baking, often ending up with the entire table overflowing with sweets with a giant cake in the center of it all in their favorite flavors." a sad smile then formed on her face, "...Haseo-chan really loved kaa-san...he always stayed near her, and loved her cooking...heh. She would often tease him a bit on this one lynx he had a crush on."

"Lynx?" Sonic raised a brow.

Roll nodded, "She left one day, joining the Freedom Fighters. I think Haseo-chan joined just so he could find her again..." her smile soon faded as she sighed sadly, "Then came the day he disappeared…Kaa-chan...just stopped being Kaa-chan after that. When I bonded with Yacker-chan...I ended up spending days and even some nights just training hard in all sorts of weapons that she had me learn. Then a report came that a creature had appeared outside of one of Ryugu's entrances and the recon party had gone mia. Kaa-chan had everyone go out fully armed and ready to defend our home. I...I was still out of it from a late night session when they left. When I left to go find them...I saw him..."

"...That Jin guy," Sonic frowned, remembering him way back when he and his team first found Ryugu.

"You know what happened then," Roll nodded.

"Yeah," Sonic replied.

The two stopped at a pair of sliding doors, a pair of Komainu statues at the sides of it, the orbs carved out to act as candle holders. Roll slid open the doors to reveal a large chamber, the walls decorated in hanging scrolls depicting sumi-e drawings of previous heads. Sonic saw that some were full foxes, others were either fox-rabbits, fox-raccoons, fox-wolves, and two hedgefoxes even. On the other side of the chamber was a throne with an empty glass case to the side, a stand in it meant to hold a blade. Yacker floated around the room, looking sadly at the hanging scrolls.

'Oh yeah...Yacker...Yacker's older than he looks,' Sonic thought, 'Each and every one of these pictures must have been a previous Mobian that Yacker bonded with.'

"I was just twelve at the time," Sonic looked over at Roll, the hedgefox just staring at the empty throne, "I was in here at the time, trying to cheer up Yacker-chan since he really liked to play with Haseo-chan. I managed to get Yacker-chan to laugh and he hugged my arm, glowing. I didn't know why he was glowing until Kaa-ch...until Lady Aphrodite, Head of the Sakurai Clan, told me that my training would begin the next day."

"Wait...Aphrodite?" Sonic repeated, "But...I thought her name was Rose Sakurai…" 'At least...that's what I was told back then.'

"Rose Sakurai was my beloved aunt whom I cherished as a second mother. My mother's name was Aphrodite," Roll explained.

"Oh. Well, she sounds like she had a lovely name along with your favorite aunt's name."

"Arigatou," Roll smiled slightly at his compliment while Yacker floated over to the glass case, opening it, "..." she walked up to the case and took in a deep breath, "After so long...our family blade now returns." she gently placed the blade into the stand and Yacker closed it, "...There. We can g…"

*click*

The three looked at the case to see the stand moved back from the weight of the sheathed blade. The throne moved up, exposing a room behind it. Inside of it was a small table, the ink in the inkwell long since dried and the writing pens covered in cobwebs. Lying in the center of the table was an ornate book, seemingly untouched. Roll and Sonic shared looked before the two walked up to the table. The hedgefox picked up the book, revealing the cover to show a sakura tree in bloom.

"A book?" Sonic pondered as Roll opened the cover.

"'To my children and my future descendants, I leave to you this book. As you come into becoming the leader of our clan, write within your life in these pages, pass on the experience you gained through life into these pages. Never forget that family is far more important than anything else. Signed, Zen Sakurai, first head of the Sakurai Clan,'" Roll read, "Sonikku, this…" she began to flip through the pages, "This is a book all the heads of the clan have written in. Their pasts, their time as head, even techniques they learned in life!"

"...Well go on. See what else it says."

"Hai!" Roll nodded as she went through it, "'Minna...today is a truly sad day...my mother...Hisako Sakurai, has passed away...but she leaves behind these words to me. No matter what...do not attack anyone out of hate...or else more hate will grow from it...that is what the person that raised me taught me.'" she gasped, "Hisako…"

"What's up?"

"Tsubaki-chan...she said that Hisako Sakurai stole the blade from the Raiju so long ago, having been raised by one," Roll noted, looking at the blade, "So...we really did take something."

"Well, let's look in here. Maybe we can see if…" Sonic began before looking at the pages, "...I can't read it."

"Eh?"

"It's in squiggles to me. I can see the drawings just fine, but the words…It's like they don't want to be read."

"Demo...I can read them just fine," Roll replied, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"What the...?! I...Now they're clear?" Sonic raised a brow before looking at Roll's hand, "...I guess you need to be a Sakurai or in contact with one to read it, huh?"

"Ano...Hai?" Roll tilted her head before the two skimmed through the early pages, "Oh! Look! Chi Sakurai was the one who brought Rioichi-sama to Ryugu!"

"So that's what he looked like?" Sonic pondered, looking at the well-detailed sumi-e of a raccoon standing beside a fox, both in shinobi attire, "Kinda cool for a painting."

Roll nodded, "It says…" her eyes widened, "Oh my."

"No way," Sonic gawked, "Just...Just no way. But if it is true…That explains why he understands Yacker just like you can."

" 5th4t3^&*65."

"...You need to go outside?" Sonic raised a brow at the Wisp, who narrowed its eye at him, "...Alright. Roll, any objections?"

"..." Roll merely fainted, clutching the book tight.

"Ah! Roll!" Sonic yelped, catching her, "Guess the shock of finding this book and...that...was too much." he sighed as he picked her up in a bridal style, "Come on. Let's go get you back to the Prowers." he walked out of the hidden room before grabbing the sword, letting the throne cover it once more, "Your daughter will need this more than it staying here unused."

With that, he hurried off. As he left the room, a faint image of an older fox appeared in the middle of the room, giving a faint smile as she watched the two before fading away. Outside, Sly heard the doorknob turning and quickly hopped onto the monument and then onto the electrical wire, running along it back to where he had been hiding. Sonic came out of the building and closed the door with his foot, Yacker locking the door before putting the key back around Roll's neck before hiding back in her hair again.

Back over with the others, Panda King entered.

"Jing King will be staying with her aunt," Panda King informed before blinking twice, seeing two paramedics currently treating Murray and Miyuki, "...Do I wish to know what has happened while my daughter and I were with her aunt?"

"Murray and Ben, as Rath, were arm wrestling before it involved into full on wrestling until Rath timed out. Miyuki heard the word, and she and Murray went at it," Penelope explained.

"They broke the ring," Bentley added, "And the hallway, and one of the kitchens."

"...worth it…" Murray managed to get out.

"Forward the bill as usual, Johnny," White shook hands with a male overlander as a group of workers walked by, some bowing to Panda King as they walked by as a sign of respect for the guest of the Prower Family.

"Seriously, how do you even know that that was going to happen?" Matatabi asked her brother-in-law.

"A husband just knows their wife's habits just like a wife knows their husband's," White shrugged.

"Indeed...I do...kyu…" Miyuki panted out, a few ice packs on her back as she laid on her front.

"They'll be fine before tonight," the cat Beastkin informed, "Just don't let them move from their current spots and they'll be well enough for the celebration."

"Should we forward this as usual?" the female overlander asked.

"Of course," White nodded as he escorted the two out, "Phone call for you, Miyuki-chan."

The phone went off. Everyone but the Prowers just looked at the phone and the white hedgehog as he was closing the door. Matatabi walked up and answered it.

"Hello? ...It's for you, sis," Matatabi handed the phone to Miyuki.

"Thankyu," Miyuki nodded, using one of her tails to move the phone closer to her, "Hello? ...Oh my. ...Oh, I hope she feels better. ...Of course. Send my blessing for her to recover, dearie, kyu." she hung up, "Mou...Bakugami-chan has the flu and can't make any fireworks for tonight's celebration, kyu."

"Aw man…" Shukaku groaned, "Who're we gonna get to do the fireworks now?"

"..." Most of the group slowly looked over at Panda King.

"I...would be honored," Panda King bowed.

"Kyu?"

"Fireworks expert, dear!" White called from outside.

"Ahh...perfect, kyu," Miyuki smiled as she managed to turn her head a bit to face the Panda King, "Please, use whatever you need in our fireworks storage house for the festival tonight, kyu."

Panda King nodded, "I will make sure to bring the beauty of the fireworks to tonight's celebrations!" he pressed the palm of his hands together, "Is there any requests in a certain kind of firework?"

"Hmm…" Miyuki pondered for a bit, using two of her tails as 'hands' to think, "...I think I got one, kyu. White-kyun! A pen and paper, please!"

"Bentley-san, look to her left," White informed from outside.

Bentley looked to Miyuki's left to see a pen and a pile of paper, "...Is he psychic or something?"

"Oh don't start that up!" Manic and Sonia groaned.

Miyuki used her tails to pick the pen and paper up as she started to write something on it, mummering a bit as she did so. Once she was done, she put the pen down before moving the tail that ad the paper in it, to Panda King "Here. Will this suffice, kyu?"

"Hmm…" Panda King took the paper and looked it over, "Both complex, and yet simple. Yes, I believe I can make the needed fireworks for this."

"Wh…" Miyuki began.

"Right this way to the firework supplies," White escorted Panda King off, giving a kiss to his wife as they passed her, "Roll and Sonic's guest room is already set up for her to lie down in."

"...Seriously, how does h-"

"Don't start!" the two hedgehogs snapped, their eyes blank and teeth sharp.

"Why do we have to wear these?" Matatabi grumbled, tugging at her lime-green kimono.

"Because it's a tradition," Mavis replied, wearing a black and red kimono.

"But they don't let me show my figure," the dog pouted.

"You know how Miyuki-nee is with tradition. She makes sure we all follow it to the T."

"I like mine!" Shukaku beamed in her sandy-colored kimono, "And I finally found ones that Makoto and Tsubaki can wear!"

"Aw man...I was hoping to see more of Makoto's figure."

"...Matatabi, corner...now."

"Boo," the dog pouted, but still went to the corner.

"It's been years since I remember last wearing a kimono," Tsubaki noted as Sonia finished tying the bow on the back of Tsubaki's waist, "Thank you, Sonia."

"No problem," Sonia replied, a red and purple kimono on her body, "And thanks for helping me with getting this on. Never worn one once in my life."

"Of course. Glad to be of help, Sonia," Tsubaki nodded, "Makoto, are you finished yet?"

"Almost..just..gotta…" Makoto grunted in the next room, "Seriously, why are they making me wear bindings?! This is really tight on my chest! How does Roll deal with it?!"

"Probably years of practice," Sonia replied.

"...I guess so. Still...why are they making me wear one? I'm just fine without one!" Makoto shouted in the next room.

"You didn't seem to complain in your old battle outfit," Sonia noted.

"Oh geez not that...look, I only wore that because it helped me move around faster!" Makoto argued, "The way it looked on me was a… ugh...nevermind."

"...I think she liked wearing it," Tsubaki whispered, smiling amusingly at Sonia.

"Looks like...still, wasn't she afraid of a wardrobe malfunction if she ended up sneezing or something?"

"I haven't seen it before."

'...Oh yeah. Amnesia kinda,' Sonia mentally sweatdropped, "...look. You would've asked the same thing if you had seen it."

"Fair enough," Tsubaki agreed.

"Oh come on! These things just don't want to stay on!" Makoto snapped.

"You're using the wrong type of knot for them," Penelope noted in the next room, "Here. Let me try."

"Fine go ahead. See if you can try and get it r-" Makoto began.

"And there we go," Penelope smirked, "Not too tight, is it?"

"...No. it's not...how did you…?"

"It was like tying the string for some of my RCs," Penelope explained.

"Oh..."

"..okay. I have to ask...how big are those things anyway?" Jian asked in the next room.

"Hmm...last Sonia checked...H cup."

"...bullshit. No way are those things H-cups." Jian argued.

"...Sonia?" Makoto called the magenta hedgehog, "A little help in here please to settle an argument?"

"I'll get the measuring tape again," Sonia sighed.

"Thank you."

"...Good luck. If those things really are H cups or bigger, I'll do anything you say until we leave."

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" Jian's voice roared throughout Ryugu, "They're HH cups!?"

"She shouldn't have made that bet…" Tsubaki sighed as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"I can't believe they've gotten bigger since I last measured you..." Sonia muttered.

"Now...what was that about me making you do what I say until you leave?" Makoto asked, a rather cocky tone in her voice.

"Oh gods…" Jian's resigned groan responded.

"Really made a fool of yourself here, Jian," Penelope noted.

"Shut up."

"Everything okay here, kyu?" Miyuki asked.

"We're fine," Tsubaki assured, "Um…" she blinked twice, "What happened to your clothes?"

"Kyu?" Miyuki looked down to see she was just in her bikini top and thong, "Oh dammit, kyu!"

"Clothes, dear," White handed them to her.

"Thankyu sweetie," Miyuki pecked his head as she quickly got dressed.

"I do apologize for that," White apologized, "The training our fighters go through is normally just in their underwear out in the frigid cold. It's meant to boost endurance in harsh weather, but has the unintentional side effect of subconscious stripping. You would not believe how many times she nearly got disqualified for it in her matches."

"D-dear!" Miyuki blushed.

"Sorry, but it's true."

"Kyu…." Miyuki pouted cutely.

"That...That's interesting training. Though the side effects…" Tsubaki blushed, "N...no thank you."

"Why? Afraid you'll show your body off more often, Tsubaki?" Makoto asked teasingly.

"You mean like in that old battle outfit of yours?" Sonia countered.

"Again, it helped me move around faster!" Makoto argued/snapped.

"You were a sneeze away from your breasts popping out!" Sonia countered.

"The more they talk about it, the more I wanna see what she used to wear, kyu," Miyuki whispered to Tsubaki, "In fact...Sonia, can I see that later tonight after the festival, kyu?"

"Oh great...now look what you did, Makoto!"

"Hey! You were the one who kept bringing up my old battle outfit!"

"That was not an outfit! That was tatters of yellow and brown fabric that barely covered anything! In fact, I don't think it's even salvageable!"

"Oh don't worry. White-kyun can fix it, kyu," Miyuki spoke up with a small giggle, "In fact, dear? Can you…?"

"They most likely burned it up," White interrupted.

"Yep," Sonia nodded, "First thing I did after we got Makoto new clothes."

"You what?!"

"Mou…" Miyuki pouted before an idea popped into her head, "...White-kyun, can you get the village psychic?"

"She's on line three," White held up a phone to Miyuki.

"Thankyu," Miyuki nodded as she took the phone, "Hello, Salina-chan? I need you do me a favor, okay?"

"...You sure White's not the village psychic?" Jian blinked twice.

"Jian, last warning; don't start it," Sonia warned.

"I must admit, this traditional festival yukata is quite comfortable," Bentley noted, wearing a green and gold yukata.

"I am so pumped! We haven't gone to a big festival since that time in Rio!" Murray pumped his fists, wearing a sky-blue and white yukata while still wearing his gloves, mask, and shoes.

"Heh...yeah. Man those birds sure knew how to party," Sly chuckled.

"Now was that before or after the time we went to Chunan and stole that moon festival recipe from that corrupt noble?" Bentley tried to recall.

"After," Murray replied, "Those moon cakes were yummy!"

"Yeah. Too bad we couldn't get a taste, Murray."

"...I said I was sorry," Murray grumbled.

"You dudes seem to have a lot of stories," Manic chuckled, wearing a red and green yukata while twirling one of his sticks.

"Like you wouldn't believe," Sly smirked, leaning on his cane.

"Cool," Manic noded, "Heh...but you wouldn't believe most of the stories me and my sibs have been through."

"Oh? Is that a challenge I hear?"

"Heck, Ben probably has a ton more than both of us," Manic added, looking over at Ben, wearing a black, white, and green yukata while looking at his Omnitrix, "...Hey, dude!"

"Huh...wha?" Ben blinked as he looked away from the Omnitrix, looking at Manic, "You say something, Manic?"

"Yo, dude, I was kinda wondering if you've got any weird stories from before joining the Freedom Fighters? I bet the first time you got Rath was a laugh riot."

"Oh god…" Ben facepalmed, "That was not a good few days. I got involved with delivering this Lodan child as a hostage for this big ruler that was going to go to war with the Lodans. Turns out, baby Lodans produce an energy field that messes with the Omnitrix and I ended up both unlocking and ending up stuck as Rath for the entire trip."

"Wow...still, that doesn't sound a-"

"The big ruler ate the baby and I beat him up as Rath until he spat him out...from the inside of his body."

"He what?" Murray gawked.

"Yeah. He didn't want the baby as a prisoner, but because infant Lodans are actually a delicacy in quite a few places in space," Ben frowned, "And that's not even going into what went on during the trip. I ended up trashing a bar filled with hunters because one of them shot my food that I ordered there, pummeled a pack of frog aliens that love war and tried to stop me from delivering the baby Lodan since it was supposed to be a peace offering, clobbered a tough alien with a baby's body inside a suit of power armor after insulting him by reminding him that I've fought and pummeled him more times than I drink smoothies on a Wednesday, and, as stated earlier, jumping into the guy's mouth, got the baby out that he swallowed, shattered his teeth as I came out, then jumped right into his face and threatened to turn his insides into a sweater for me to wear if he went to war with the Lodans." he gave an annoyed noise as he went on, "And after all that and the baby was being taken home by his mom, the Omnitrix finally times out. Turns out, Kevin knew about baby Lodans and their energy field the whole trip and just let it happen because he thought it was hilarious! Well, the Omnitrix recharged just after he finished and Rath had a few words with him."

"...Ooookay...I think you got us beat by a long mile, dude," Manic spoke.

"He ate a baby?" Murray gawked, "Who d...Who does that?!"

"Anyone who eats caviar," Manic replied, "It's cooked fish eggs."

"Ew…"

"Yea...but seriously, I doubt any of us could top Ben's story after hearing that," Manic stated.

"True," Bentley agreed, "Though, who's Kevin?"

"!?" Ben flinched, "No one really important. Sorry, I, uh, I'll go check on the girls to see if they're ready." he ran out before the others could stop him, "Gotta go!"

"Major bummer," Manic frowned.

"Is he okay?" Murray scratched his head.

"Whenever one of us tries to ask who someone in his story is, mainly that dude Kevin or these chicks Gwen and Julie, he makes up an excuse and runs off," Manic explained.

"I see…" Sly noted, "...Well telling by how he reacted, it's a really sensitive subject for him. Probably still a recent memory for him."

Sly could relate. When his parents were killed and his heritage stolen, he had issues with talking about it for years. Even now, it felt more like a dull ache when he'd recall that night. He thought that Roll could probably relate to Ben as well considering her family was wiped out in a massacre if what that stone wall was true.

"...I suppose you're right," Manic nodded, "Still, kind of a bummer that he won't let us try to talk to him about it. Ferral used to tell me that keeping things like bad memories in just makes things worse for a thief, often those memories getting in your way and messing you up when you're stealing."

Sly nodded in response, "Don't worry...give him time. I'm sure he'll be ready to talk."

"...Yeah," Manic nodded slowly.

"So in the end, we get back to the hotel and Cryus left a note saying 'See you in the main HQ, assholes.' And he signed it as a drawing of a heart and 'Cyrus'," Sonic snickered, wearing a blue and gold yukata, as Tails laughed.

"He must really hate this 'Vegas' place," Tails noted between laughs, wearing a sky-blue yukata with cloud designs on it.

"And we still don't know why," Sonic shrugged before knocking on the door, "You ready, Roll?"

"Hai. Just putting on the finishing touches," Roll replied.

"...Why do girls always answer with that when you ask if they're ready?" Tails asked.

"I don't know. I honestly don't know," Sonic shrugged.

The door slid open and they looked to see Roll step out. Roll was wearing a soft pink and baby blue kimono, heart patterns covering it. An opening in the front of the kimono showed a bit of her cleavage while her hair had been made into a braided ponytail. Her legs were covered in matching baby blue stockings, fitting snugly on their shapely feminine curves. On her back was her family's sword, a decorated rope replacing the worn rope originally attached to the scabbard, while a light application of makeup was on her face primarily a soft ruby lipstick and a baby-blue eyeliner.

"H...How do I look?" Roll asked.

"...I like pie," Sonic whispered, one of his ears flicking a bit as a heavy blush formed on his face.

"You look really pretty, Roll-nee," Tails awed.

Roll giggled, a sleeve moving over the lower half of her face, "Arigatou."

"I...I really like pie…" Sonic whispered, his blush increasing a bit.

"...I think you broke him, Roll-nee," Tails blinked.

Roll giggled before pecking Sonic's cheek, leaving a small lipstick kiss on it, "I'll be sure to remember that, Sonikku."

'...I am seriously the luckiest hedgehog in the world right now,' Sonic thought as a bit of a goofy grin grew on his face.

'Sonic-nii looks like White-nii when Miyuki-nee wears her pretty dresses for their dates,' Tails thought, "Uh...Sonic-nii?"

"Huh? Wh...oh right. Festival," Sonic shook his head, regaining his cool as he held his hand out to Roll, "Ahem! Well...shall we?"

"Hai," Roll replied, taking his hand as the two began to walk off.

"It amazing how well that gem makes the place look like it's night," Penelope noted, looking up at the now moon-colored gem, casting a soft light that made the icy ceiling of the city resemble a night sky.

The Guru spoke up.

"Indeed. The shamans that help found our home so long ago gave the gem its properties," Miyuki confirmed for the koala, "When it's the new year, the mystics of our home recharge it in a traditional ritual."

"Ritual?" Penelope repeated.

"Yes. A yearly ritual that recharges the gem of its special properties. It is how despite it being cold above, the seasons change down here," Miyuki explained.

"Ahh…" Penelope nodded.

"Mmm hmm," Miyuki nodded.

"With everything I've dealt with, a magic gem requiring a recharging ritual every year doesn't phase me in the slightest," Bentley shook his head, "Dealing with immortal birds who replaced their body with machines and a hate chip keeping their body immortal and ever repairing, a voodoo crocodile living in an-eugh-swamp, hypnotizing arachnids, and a mask that causes those who wear it to be constantly enraged and grow tends to help you get dull to mystic surprises."

"...I...I see, kyu," Miyuki noted slowly, "Ahem! Ano...let's just enjoy the festival, shall we kyu?"

"Sure thing!" Murray beamed.

"Dear, you're supposed to be opening the festival before anyone can start to enjoy it," White reminded.

"...Oops, kyu," Miyuki stuck her tongue out sheepishly.

"The stand is this wa-AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" White screamed as he stepped on a skate and ended up zipping off, "TATSUKETE!"

"...I was getting worried since that hadn't happened yet," Manic sweatdropped.

"Oh dear…" Miyuki whispered, "Shukaku, can you…?"

"Already on it!" Shukaku shouted nearby before a tidal wave of sand pursued the screaming White, the tanuki surfing on the top.

"The sand, Shukaku, always with the sand…" Miyuki sighed as she headed for the stage, "Sly-san, Roll-chan, please come up as well."

"Sure thing/Hai," Sly and Roll nodded as they followed the ninetailed vixen onto the stage, Sly readying himself in case of anything.

"Minna! Today is a special day!" Miyuki called, her voice amplified by the microphone that had been set up on the stage, the crowd looking upon the stage, "It is today that old friends and allies have returned, bringing us new friends and the return of a family long thought gone and the return of a treasure long lost!" she motioned for Roll, who walked up and held up her blade, "The blade of the Sakurai Clan has been returned, now used in the hands of Roll Sakurai, kyu." a cheer came from the crowd at the return of the treasure and its continued use, "And with it, a family long thought lost has now returned!" Sly carefully approached to stand beside her, "The Cooper Clan has returned to Ryugu after several generations before they left."

A large roar of cheers and applause erupted from the crowd, taking Sly back a bit. Even with the history his ancestor Rioichi had with this place, he didn't expect it to be the cause of this loud of applause. Come to think of it, he never had this big of applause in his entire life. Normally, it'd be shock pistol shots, gunshots, or something along the line of those whenever he had been caught in the middle of a heist in any part of it from scoping to enacting the heist.

"Though he is not staying long, Sly Cooper and his friends will always have a home here once they feel their time to retire from his family's career has come," Miyuki continued once the crowd had settled down enough, "For without the Cooper Clan, we would not be protected by the very shinobi and kunoichi that Rioichi himself taught and had them pass their teachings down to our current generation; the Rioichi Corps!" she moved a bit away from the mike to quietly add, "And we would not be blessed with the yumminess of the sushi, kyu….ahem." she then moved back to the mike, "Anyways, I hope you all enjoy tonight's festival, and celebrate the return of the Cooper Clan to Ryugu, and the return of the Sakurai Clan's lost treasure! And no trying to get yourself in danger to try to get Sly Cooper-san to rescue you; he is considered immune to that law of the Hyorinmaru women."

Sly raised a brow as many of the women began to groan in defeat, 'Okay. Whatever that 'Law of the Hyorinmaru women' is...I am so glad she said it can't be used on me.'

"Now let the festival BEGIN!" Miyuki declared, Panda King lighting a fuse and sending some fireworks into the air, exploding in a variety of colors.

The crowd let out a collective 'awe' as they watched the fireworks, some of the fireworks exploding to resemble various shapes and objects, such as the family symbols for the Sakurai and Prower Clans, and even some beautiful flowers.

"Wow~" Mavis awed, "That guy is good."

"Yeah…" Matatabi nodded slowly, "Just...wow."

"Fireworks are his life's work after all," Bentley noted, "Just think; if the nobles that belittled him because of him coming from poverty long ago, he would've been world famous for his fireworks instead of his fireworks and demolition skills."

Eventually, the crowd began to dissipate, heading out to enjoy the sights, the booths, and the sounds of the festival. Sonic and the others also began to enjoy the festival, each of them doing their own thing. Murray was hitting all the food booths, trying out everything they were offering. Sonic and his siblings were playing at the game booths, though Manic seemed to have a bit of trouble with a few. Bentley, Penelope, and Tails were looking around the more technological booths along with a few game booths involving RCs. The Chunan Freedom Fighters went about in their own directions, though Jian was keeping near Cinder to prevent people from being...well...Cindered. That, and to keep her from eating anything that's both spicy and sweet.

As for Sly and Roll, the two had to pause every few moments to greet or bow to someone. By the first half hour, the two were barely twenty meters from where they began.

"Okay…" Sly looked around before smirking, "Got it."

"Eh?" Roll blinked twice before Sly jumped up and landed on top of a booth.

"You coming up?" Sly asked.

"Hai!" Roll replied.

"HOVER!"

"Like, I didn't expect all these dudettes and dudes to be coming into the surf," Roll grumbled as she floated up to Sly, "It'll be major bummers and a big wipeout if I end up too far from Sonikku."

"Noted," Sly nodded.

"Not used to being in big crowds really sucks, huh?" Roll asked, hopping off her Hover Boarder before it changed back into Yacker and her family's blade, "I'm not exactly good with large crowds, either."

"Yeah. Too easy to get lost in most of the time," Sly added, 'That and a thief does not do crowds unless they're using it to hide.' "Well, considering we'll most likely be the main attraction, might as well play a little stealth while getting you back to your boyfriend."

"Fiancee."

"Oh, my apologies. May I ask how it happened?"

"He saved me and the Law of the Hyorinmaru Women went into effect," Roll replied, handing Sly one of the pamphlets.

"'So you've been given the Kiss of Marriage by a Hyorinmaru Woman,'" Sly read the title, "I thought this was called Ryugu."

"It is, but all the women who live here are known as Hyorinmaru women," Roll replied, "Acts as a bit of double protection in that we can leave and no one knows that we're from Ryugu, but also to help better hide our home."

"Ahh….clever," Sly nodded before noticing a corner of a book poking from Roll's sleeve, "I don't think you'll be able to read while we're here."

"Hm? Oh!" Roll adjusted her kimono sleeve to push the book back in, "Don't want that to drop out." she looked around before spotting Sonic, Sonia, and Manic in the crowd, "Oh, there they are."

"You gonna join them?" Sly asked.

"...Not just yet," Roll replied, "Sly-san, there's something I need to show you."

"You're not secretly an Interpol officer are you?" Sly joked before Roll pulled the book out and handed it to him, "?"

"I bookmarked it," Roll informed.

"..." Sly opened the book and his eyes widened when he looked at the page, "Is...Is this real?"

"I think so," Roll replied.

Sly took out his family's book, "Look at one page and read something on that page."

"Hm?"

"Just try it."

Roll nodded before opening the book, "'And so, not only did my crew obtain a ship, we also got that bumbling Blackbeak arrested. Oh, how I wish I could have seen that parrot's ugly mug when the Royal Naval Army came upon him. Ah well, renaming his boat from Queen Anne's Revenge to The Eternal Theft was just the seasoning needed for the sushi.'...ano..."

"Keep reading," Sly urged her to continue.

"I don't really understand, though…" Roll spoke before her eyes widened, "Matte...No one else can read it unless you hand a hand on their shoulder, hai?"

"Well, a body part on them," Sly shrugged, "But yeah. And as you can see…" he showed his hands and tail, "I am not in contact with you."

"..." Roll blinked a few times as she looked back and forth between the book and Sly, "So we're…"

"Very, very far distant cousins," Sly nodded, "Since according to this…" he motioned to the page Roll showed, "Rioichi remarried here into your family to the same Sakurai that came to ask for him to come with her to Ryugu and had a daughter with her, meaning that my ancestor Henriette Cooper was your ancestor Kyo Sakurai's half-sister."

"...I think I'm going to faint again…" Roll whispered, her mind going blank as she started to tip over.

"Whoa now!" Sly caught her before she fainted, "Stay with me. I do not want to be in trouble because of a misunderstanding...again."

"Mokyu…" Roll dizzily replied in her unconscious state.

"...Hoo boy...Gonna have to get Sonic's help for this," Sly sighed, 'And I better tell Bentley to revise his plans...again. No way am I leaving family, even long distant like Roll is, out of something that's been in the family from all the way near the beginning.'

"Mou….where is he?" Makoto whispered as she walked around the festival grounds, looking around for Ben. She figured he would've been here, but she didn't see any sign of him the moment the festival began.

"Right this way! Right this way!"

"Hm?" Makoto looked at see a group of villagers gathering around a stage.

"Come one, come all! One show every hour!" Makoto made her way through the crowd before seeing Ditto on the stage.

"What the...Ditto?" Makoto blinked.

"Now then, I'm sure you're wondering just what I am. Well, I'm a Splixon," Ditto informed, "And what is a Splixon? Well, you'll know that when you see one…" he split into two and both beamed while the Prime Ditto put a green scarf on and the copy put on a black scarf, "...there's not just one!"

What came next was a good half hour of Ditto performing comedy routines with his double and then adding a third halfway in for more comedic routines. By the end of it, the crowd was laughing and applauding.

"Alrighty! For our next trick…" Prime Ditto began.

"We need a volunteer from the audience!" Ditto 3 shouted as a few looked around, "hmm…"

"How about…" Ditto 5 mummered before stopping at Makoto, "You! The squirrel girl with the really fluffy tail!"

"Eh?" Makoto blinked, looking at the crowd a bit before pointing at herself, "Me?"

"Come on, crowd, let's cheer her on!" Prime Ditto encouraged.

Makoto blinked as the crowd began to cheer her on, urging her to go up on stage. She eventually shrugged as she walked up on stage. She would've jumped up on there, but there would've been a chance she would tear her kimono.

"Alright. What's this trick you need me for?" Makoto asked the Dittos.

"We'll get to it, but tell us something. How strong and athletic are you, miss?" Ditto 2 asked back.

"I was at the top of all my physical education classes in school and can punch hard enough to shatter a moon," Makoto shrugged.

"Ahh...well care to prove that?" Ditto 4 challenged.

"Hmm? Prove it how?" Makoto raised a brow at that.

"Well first, you're gonna climb and balance on top of us for a few minutes before coming down…" Prime Ditto began as he pointed to a pile of I-Beams not too far from the stage, "And smash these with one punch without breaking the ground!"

"Where did you get all those?" Makoto blinked owlishly.

"We know a guy," Ditto 5 informed.

"You got all that?" Ditto 4 asked.

"...Yeah," Makoto nodded, cracking her neck a bit as she gave him a cocky grin, "I can handle that."

"Okay, boys, let's pile up!" Prime Ditto ordered.

"Hup! Hup! Hup! Hup! Hup!" the Ditto chanted quickly and they climbed into a pyramid before duplicating themselves until their pyramid was made of twenty of them.

"Okay! We're ready!" Prime Ditto declared, waving over at Makoto.

"Alrighty," Makoto smirked, rolling up the sleeves of her kimono as she began to climb up the Ditto pyramid with ease, the Squirrel Beastkin jumping off the second to last Ditto as she spun in the air a bit before landing on top of the Ditto pyramid, "Ditto's, you might want to brace yourselves. This next jump is gonna sting a bit."

"Uh-oh," all of them squeaked, knowing if one of them were going to be 'stung a bit', they all were.

Makoto stretched a bit as she knelt down a little, her tail swishing a bit in excitement before she made a huge leap into the air, the force of her jump sending a sting down the top Ditto's back, which by extent affected the other Dittos as well. Once she was high up into the air, about almost near the 'ceiling', she aimed herself a bit until she spotted the I-beams, the Beastkin using her tail to stay afloat a bit before she shot down towards the I-beams, her fist reeled back.

"Spoon!" Makoto roared.

"SPOON?!" all the Dittos shouted before their pyramid collapsed from their shock at that random word.

"WHO GOES AROUND SHOUTING SPOON?!" Ditto 5 got out before he was stuck under them all.

Makoto ignored them as she shot down towards the I-beams, roaring as she clenched her fist tightly before she crashed down and slammed her fist on the pile, cause a loud 'boom' to echo throughout the area as a large shockwave nearly blew the crowd and Ditto's away. After a few moments of silence, Makoto stepped away from the large stacked pile of I-Beams, a crack forming on the top one before they all split down the middle, each one falling to the ground.

"Wow...Now that was a true display of strength and athleticism!" Ditto 2 exclaimed, "Isn't that right, folks?!"

"Come on, Makoto! Come up here and take a bow!" Ditto Prime called out as the crowd cheered, only to get silence from the Beastkin, "…Uh...Makoto? Are you alright?"

"...Yeah…" Makoto replied, a rather pained filled look on her face as her hand was bruised and slightly glowed red, "Just….peachy…"

"D'ohhh…" Prime Ditto cringed at seeing the hand.

"Okay, folks! The show's over for now! Have a good night!" Ditto 2 called.

"Don't forget to tip your waitress and everything!" Ditto 3 shouted.

"Come on, you guys! Move move move!" Ditto 4 hissed as he pushed his fellow Dittos off stage.

"The pain…" Ditto 5 groaned.

"Ah get up. We all share the pain and we don't feel much aside from a bad back," Ditto 4 frowned before splitting into three to carry Ditto 5 off, the crowd getting one last laugh when Ditto 5 winked mischievously at them while carried off.

"Here," Ben offered Makoto a pack of ice, "Sorry about your hand getting hurt."

"It's fine. It's my own fault for accepting the challenge," Makoto said as she carefully put the bag on her hand, "Ahh...ahh...cold...hurty cold…"

"Sorry again."

"Again...it's fine. It was my own fault for accepting the challenge," Makoto stated, "Still...I gotta ask. Aside from that stage show as Ditto, where were you? I didn't see you at the start of the festival."

"Just about," Ben replied.

"Huh?" Makoto blinked, "What do you mean 'Just about?'"

"Around and about," Ben replied with a shrug.

"Oh….well you could've just said that," Makoto said before chuckling a bit, "You kinda confused me for a moment there, Ben-kun."

"Sorry," Ben apologized yet again.

"Seriously, stop apologizing. You sound like a broken record," Makoto giggled.

"Eh heh...yeah," Ben sheepishly chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head, a bit of a blush on his face.

"But, seriously, where were you? I was hoping we'd go check some booths out," Makoto noted.

"Well, I had to get everything set up for that show," Ben explained, "I used Jetray to get to the metalshop as fast as I could, then used Diamondhead's shards to use as payment, then Fourarms to carry all those I-Beams here."

"Ahh...I see," Makoto noted, "...You could've asked me to help you know. I would've loved to help you out."

"True. But, well, I kinda felt like being alone for a bit," Ben admitted, "Had some stuff on my mind at the time."

"Oh….personal, I take it?"

"...Yeah."

"Say no more. I won't ask any further," Makoto said before blushing a bit, "But...when you are ready to talk...I'll be here to listen."

"...Thanks," Ben smiled faintly at her.

"No problem. I'm your friend, Ben. I'll always be there to help ya out," Makoto assured him, "That's what my dad used to tell me. If your friend is upset, be sure you do everything you can to help them out."

"He sounds like a great guy."

"Oh he is," Makoto smiled softly, unconsciously moving a bti closer to him, "I tell ya, no matter what kind of heavy work he got, nobody is tougher, and a good a friend as my dad."

"Cool...what about the rest of your family?" Ben couldn't help but ask.

"I have a big one," Makoto replied, a reminiscing smile on her face, "Aside from my dad, there's my mom. And behind every great man, there's a great woman. And in this case, it's her. She's all sunshine and smiles, but if you make her mad…" she paused as she gulped, "You don't want to know….I'm serious. You piss her off, game over, man...game. Over."

"I know what that's like," Ben shuddered, "Any siblings? You said you had a big family."

"Oh I do. I have about...4 siblings," Makoto replied, "There's my youngest sister, Mikoto, my klutzy brother, Mukoto, and the twins, Mekoto and Mokoto."

"Klutzy?" Ben repeated.

"Think about White, only nearly not as clumsy."

"I don't think anyone could be that clumsy," Ben admitted.

"He ended up tripping on a ladybug and landed in the local hot springs," Makoto deadpanned.

"Wow," Ben's eyes widened.

"Yeah...I know," Makoto nodded, "It was a relief that he was only seven at the time and looked so fluffy."

"Ahh..I see."

"Yeah…" Makoto nodded before giving a small sad sigh, "...I miss them everyday...I'd do anything just to see them again, if not once."

"...Maybe we could go there."

"Hm?"

"Once Eggman's gone, I could probably ask Rook if we could find your world," Ben noted.

"...Promise me."

"Hmm?"

"I want you to promise me that, Ben-kun," Makoto stated in a serious tone.

"Sure. I promise and I always do my best to keep them."

"Good. And Ben?"

"Yeah?" Ben asked before Makoto pulled him into a hug, "?!"

"Thank you," Makoto whispered.

"...No problem, Makoto," Ben whispered as he returned the hug.

Later that night, the festival had passed, and everyone was mostly asleep in their homes, or in Sonic and Sly Groups' case, resting in the guest rooms.

"Ite…" White cringed as Miyuki finished applying some rubbing alcohol to a few scratches on his shoulder.

"I know it hurts White-Kyun, but you need to stay still," Miyuki advised him.

"At least the kunoichi caught me before I fell into that truck of nails…"

"Hai...still, you did quite a lot today, anata," Miyuki smiled softly as she finished applying the rubbing alcohol to him, "In fact...we both did quite a bit today. So...while I have my siblings look after the place, you and me will go on a bit of a vacation. Think of it like our second honeymoon, kyu."

"Hai...demo...what about…" White began before Miyuki put a finger on his lips, her soft smiled turning slightly sultry.

"Maybe this will help you look forward to it, kyu~" she purred as she walked over to the closet, using her tails to hide herself as she began to change into something, "Remember that favor I asked Selina-chan for, kyu?"

"...Yes…" White replied slowly.

"And recall that outfit Makoto-chan and Sonia-chan were talking about, kyu?"

"I believe so, yes," White replied.

"Well…" Miyuki began as she started to fold back her tails, "Here's a little peek, kyu~"

White blinked before a heavy blush formed on his face, seeing the nine-tailed vixen now wearing a copy of Makoto's old battle attire, but different. The brown was replaced with a snow-white while the acorn-color was replaced with an ice-blue.

"Well~?" Miyuki asked as she posed a bit for him, "What do you think, kyu~?"

"Y-y-y-yuyou-you-yu-yu-you...very beautiful!" White stammered out.

"Thankyu," Miyuki giggled a bit before getting a playful grin, "Kyu…"

"Uh...Miyuki?" White blinked before the vixen pounced him, "Oh mama!"

Over with Sonic and Roll, the two entered their shared room, sharing a few laughs.

"Aside from everyone wanting to speak with me during most of the festival, it was one of the better ones I've been to," Roll noted as she sat down on the bed, Sonic taking his yukata off and putting it on a chair.

"Heh...well I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, Roll," Sonic chuckled as he sat next to her.

"Didn't you have fun, Sonikku?" Roll asked.

"Oh I did," Sonic nodded before snickering, "Though I don't think Manic did. I've never seen someone lose almost every single game in one night."

"Really?" Roll giggled in amusement.

"Yeah. I mean...heh, he couldn't even win at the whack-a-mole like game," Sonic laughed, "I think the wooden moles they used blew raspberries."

"Oh. Was the owner a cat with oak-colored fur?"

"Yeah."

"She's a wood shaman. She most likely summoned some spirits to inhabit the moles to incent people to try harder to win," Roll noted.

"Ahh…" Sonic nodded, "Heh...don't tell Manic that. He'll probably throw a hissy fit if he found that out."

"Hai," Roll mock-saluted.

"Yeah…" Sonic nodded as he looked out the window, "Ahh...man, coming back here was a great idea. Needed another break from dealing with Robotnik and stuff."

"Hai," Roll agreed, "Demo...We'll need to start looking harder for those Chaos Emeralds, though. We know Eggman wants them for some reason and...you remember what that robot Starscream said when we first fought that creature, hai?"

"...A bit...yeah," Sonic nodded slowly, "What about it?"

"He called it the God of Destruction," Roll noted, "Maybe...they need the emeralds for it? To control it somehow?"

"Well...I'm not really sure," Sonic replied, pulling out the two he had in his quills, "I know that when one got broken in two, the entire world almost got destroyed."

"...That explains the earthquakes and the ceiling nearly collapsing on the village a few years back," Roll noted with wide eyes.

"Yeah….I can only imagine what'll happen when they gather all seven," Sonic stated with a slight shudder.

Roll nodded.

"So...why bring it up?" Sonic asked.

"...Sly-san found one."

"What?"

"It's in a place he's trying to work on breaking into," Roll explained, "He told me because of what we found out in my family's book."

"So the reason he was in Chunan to recruit the Panda King was to get into wherever it is he wants to get into?" Sonic asked.

Roll nodded, "It's a vault that belongs to the Cooper Clan and someone's taken over the island, trying to break into it for years now. That's all he told me since Bentley-san knows more about it."

"I see…" Sonic noted, "...How much do you want to bet whoever took over the island it's on works for Eggman?"

"Not even a yen. A baka's bet at most," Roll replied.

"Yeah…'cause honestly, after what happened at the meeting with Miyuki and the other Freedom Fighter Leaders, I wouldn't be surprised," Sonic admitted.

"Eh? What happened?"

"I'll tell ya once we leave Ryugu tomorrow," Sonic replied, "Found out that raccoon with the scorpion like tail had been spotted around Northamer."

"Oh," Roll noted, "Will...Will we be going to Northamer?"

"Maybe," Sonic replied, "Just keep an eye out for anything suspicious when we get up there."

"Hai," Roll nodded, "Ne, Sonikku…"

"Hm?" Sonic looked over at her to see her taking off her kimono, "!?"

"I didn't expect that we were going to be staying with Miyuki-sama and her family," Roll admitted, putting her kimono beside Sonic's, revealing a pair of tight-wearing sleeping short-shorts and a tee that was stretched to its limits by her unbound bosom, "Shukaku-chan let me borrow these for the night. Demo..d...do they look good?"

"...I like pie…" Sonic whispered, his ear twitching a bit once more as his entire face was covered in a heavy blush, "Really...really like pie."

Roll tilted her head, causing her covered unbound breasts to bounce a bit, "Pie?"

"...oh mama…" was all Sonic said as he fainted, his entire head a bright red as his eyes were replaced with swirls, a bit of blood escaping his nose.

"Oh! Sonikku!" Roll gasped.

"Okay! Blindfolds off!" Roll called once she stopped the bus at the shoreline, Sly and her the only ones not wearing one.

"Alrighty," Makoto nodded as everyone else took their blindfolds off, "So...where are we now?"

"Far outside Ryugu," Sly replied, "Gotta admit, no one would ever suspect that to be an exit or entrance, Roll."

"Hai," Roll nodded, "It's a secret to everyone who's native to Ryugu."

"Sly, we got an email from Dimitri," Bentley informed.

"How do you know it's him?" Sly asked as he walked over to his friend, currently on ThiefNet.

"Who else calls you 'Cracker Box?'" Bentley replied, showing the email.

Sly looked at the email, "...Anyone good at translating the 70s?"

"Huh?" Sonic blinked at that as he and his siblings and Roll looked over at the letter, "...I can't even make any sense of this."

"Let me," Ben rolled his eyes as he took the laptop and began to write on a piece of paper, "My parents went through a 'hippie phase' when I was seven and I learned the lingo so I could translate and avoid embarrassment from them." he finished writing and handed it to Sly and the laptop to Bentley, "Here you go."

"...You sure we can't convince you to be a member of the Cooper Gang?" Sly asked, "It'd be a big help with the headaches his chats cause."

"I'm fine where I am," Ben replied.

"Aw man...I would've loved to see more of your aliens," Murray groaned.

"Hey, it's his choice," Sly shrugged, "Plus...I doubt the van or any of our safe houses would survive an arm wrestling match with you and Rath, given what happened yesterday."

"...Yeah. You got a point," Murray slumped.

"That and what happened after with Miyuki," Penelope added.

"...Still worth it." Murray smiled a bit, "I even got her autograph and everything!"

"Seems Dimitri wants us to meet him. He's cashing in that favor I owe him from Howland," Sly read the translated message.

"Ahh...well, we need to head off as well," Sonic replied, "Our next stop is most likely Northamer."

"Northamer? Hoo boy...best be careful out there," Bentley warned them as he pulled up ThiefNet, "Something strange is going on around there lately. I don't know what, but there's one word that seemed to stand out the most: Pronghorns."

"Pronghorn?" Makoto repeated, "What's a pronghorn?"

"No idea," Manic replied.

"Want us to give you a lift before we head off to Northamer?" Sonic offered.

"Appreciate the offer, but no thanks. We have to meet up with Dimitri on a boat that's just about to leave port in the next town," Sly replied, "Hopefully, we'll meet again. It nice to see family, after all."

"Hai!" Roll beamed.

"Yeah. And who knows? Maybe we'll see each other again in the near future," Sly smirked a bit, "But hey, it was great working alongside you guys."

"Same," Sonic grinned as he and Sly shook hands, "Anytime you need our help, just call us up."

"Gotcha," Sly nodded.

"Just remember to follow these instructions," Makoto softly reminded Penelope while handing her a folded piece of paper.

"Understood," Penelope whispered back, "And here is the credit card you can use to get all the sweets you want."

"Nice," Makoto grinned, quickly pocketing it while Penelope did the same to the paper.

"You'll contact me when it's time to hit the vault, right?" Manic asked privately to Bentley.

"Of course. Your geokinesis is an important part of the plan," Bentley agreed, handing Manic and greed and red Binocucom with his symbol on it, "When it's time, we'll get in contact with you."

"Sweetness, dude," Manic grinned, pocketing it, "When it's time, I'll be there faster than you can finish saying 'waffles'."

"Of course," Bentley nodded.

"I'm gonna miss you guys!" Murray sobbed, pulling Ben, Tsubaki, and Sonia into a bear hug.

"Gah! Can't….breath…." Ben wheezed.

"Need….oxygen…" Sonia gasped out.

"There...there...Murray…" Tsubaki got out, managing to pat his back.

"Hajabinadeya…" Guru spoke up, getting Murray's attention as he pointed to the blue faces of the three he was currently hugging.

"Oop! Sorry!" Murray apologized, dropping them.

"It...It's fine…." Sonia assured as the trio recovered from the hug.

"Yeah..it...it's okay…" Ben panted.

"Ahem," Panda King spoke up, getting the group's attention as he bowed, "I thank you, your siblings, and your comrades once more for helping in rescuing my daughter from Tsao, Prince Sonic."

"It was the right thing to do," Sonic shrugged, "You'd probably do the same for my siblings and me."

Panda King nodded in response before bowing, "Remember, when it is time to face off against the tyrant Robotnik, you have my fireworks at your disposal."

"Of course, Honorable Panda King," Sonic returned the bow, "And know my sword is ready should anyone try what Tsao did to your family."

Sonia had to bit her tongue to keep the shout of shock and disbelief at what Sonic just did, 'Okay. Emergency lessons on certain things to say and when to say them are needed.'

Minutes later, Murray had pulled his van out of the bus and the Cooper Gang was loaded in.

"Good luck, Sly-Itoko," Roll waved.

"You too with your fiancee," Sly nodded.

"Hey, Murray!" Ben called, "Push the white button under the dashboard."

"Hm?" Murray looked under the dashboard to see a blue button and a white button, "...You didn't?"

Ben just gave a grin. Murray's grin grew giddy as he quickly pressed it. A pair of wings emerged from the top sides of the van before a jet engine came out of the top. The oversized Cooper Gang emblem extended out into a cone shape as the wheel changed into a pilot's controls.

"So…..awesome…" Murray wheezed out in excitement.

"Murray, if you faint at the controls, I will hurt you," Penelope warned.

"It has auto-pilot in case the driver is knocked out," Ben replied

*THUD*

"And down goes the hippo once more."

GT: Well, that's a way to end a rest chapter; A hippo faints inside of a van that transforms into a jet shaped like a van.

SZ: Eeyup...but overall, this was a good rest chapter.

GT: Aye.

SZ: Hai, but after this, the main story continues as the Sonic Underground Freedom Fighters continue their search for the Chaos Emeralds, and Jake, and their search will take them to Northamer.

GT: No idea what the jack-a-ma-thinga-ma-jig is that they mentioned in the message, though…

SZ: ...The what?

Call *off-screen*: I believe he is talking about the animal in the warning Bentley told them about.

SZ:...Oh! You mean the Pronghorns, right GT?

GT: Yes, that thing.

SZ: Ahh...well I won't say much, but I'll tell you this. Pronghorns are antelope like creatures that reside around central and North America. And in honesty...didn't know about them either until the Sonic Archie comics.

GT: Ohhhh...Was wondering where this was coming from. Well, good luck to them. They're going to need it.

SZ: Yup. So anyways...if you all have any questions for the Kokonoe segment in chapter 30...that is if GT decides to do it, be sure to leave them in the reviews for this, and chapter 29.

GT: *whistles while hiding behind an orange traffic cone as a nearby reinforced door was constantly pounded on, Kokonoe's curses shouting loudly behind it* The cone will protect me. And if not, I have a Mewtwo on hand just in case.

Shadow the Hedgehog: *offscreen* SCREW YOU!

SZ:...uh….until next time, I'm Seanzilla115….he's GammaTron….*zooms out* bye bye!

GT: *whistles while waiting for the door to break down just to sic Mewtwo on them* Make sure to read and review.