GammaTron: *hiding in a potted plant* Shh...Be very, very quiet. We're hiding from Kokonoe.

SZ: *pokes head out from behind poster* Hai..and unless her omake is done this chapter, she's out for our blood, mostly GT's.

GT: Oh shit. Hide.

Both: *hide as Kokonoe walks into the room*

Kokonoe: *looks around* ...Where are those fuckers? *stomps out* Mess with my segment, will they?

GT: …*gets out of potted plant and changes into a copy of Gavin's Minecraft skin* Well, that was a relief. She almost bloody got us.

SZ: Yeah…*slowly crawls out of poster* Ahem...anyways, I believe it's time for another Chapter of OU.

GT: That's right. Now where did we leave off last chapter? *looks through notes*

SZ: Sonic and Ragna's teams meeting up, the latter having dealt with the Northamer Dark Legion chapter, and a mutated Jake. Also importantly for two things, Haseo gains some of his memory back, and...well…*tries to shakes the reforming tears off* we learned why Clove and her sister joined the Dark Legion.

GT: Oh yeah...Poor girls. Still, it got counterbalanced by Roll finally finding her baby brother Haseo. Aw shoot.

SZ: What?

GT: Who do you think has to tell Haseo the bad news?

SZ:...Oh, crap baskets you're right.

GT: Well...Better rip of that bandage fast. No disclaimers.

Kokonoe: *slams door open* Ah-ha! There you are, Seanzilla115! Where's GammaTron?!

GT: …*pushes a button and a hissing noise goes off* Plan G lives on! *runs out*

SZ: GT! *runs off after him* Don't leave me alone!

Kokonoe: Get back here you asses! Wait. 'Plan G?'

*BOOM!*

"Okay. Should be ready to eat now," Ragna noted as he finished stirring the pot over the fire, "Oi! Food's ready!"

"What's tonight's grub?" Jacky asked.

"Just a small stew made from the edible mushrooms around here," Ragna shrugged, "Mixed with some meat and vegetables from their bus."

"We just had to leave lumpy alone with it for a minute," Jacky grumbled.

"None of us ever expected him to eat the thing because it looked like a giant licorice to him," Alpha deadpanned.

"Do we want to know what you're talking about?" Manic asked.

"We got a bus in December from this rich rabbit and her wolf butler. Two weeks later, we decide to go into a town to resupply because Jake ate everything in the kitchen in his sleep the night before and he was put in charge of guarding the bus," Alpha explained, "We got back with the supplies and he was on the ground, belly distended, and there was no sign of the bus. He burped a tire and we realized that he ate it."

"...How the hell do you eat a tire?" Manic gawked.

"Don't ask me," Jacky shrugged, "Lumpy even ate his own bed mattress once."

"Only because you tricked him into it with one of his figurines and a walkie talkie," J stated.

"Oh yeah! Heh heh...that was classic!" Jacky laughed.

"No, he didn't eat just the tire," Alpha shook his head, "He ate the entire bus. He was so hungry, he thought it was a giant piece of licorice."

"Lucky for us, we had kept the pickup truck with some of our clothes in it," Rook noted, motioning to said vehicle.

"...I'm...probably just gonna pretend I didn't hear all that," Manic said as his stomach grumbled a bit.

"...Hey. Where's mumbles?" Jacky asked, noticing the young twin-tailed fox was missing.

"He's over with his sister at the moment," J explained, "They haven't seen eachother for a long time and wish to reconnect."

Ragna nodded before noticing the sad look on Ben's face, "Any reason why you're upset, Ben?"

"H-Huh? What?" Ben looked over at his older brother figure.

"...Something happened to their family," Ragna didn't ask, he merely stated.

"..." Ben, Sonic, Sonia, Manic, and Makoto tried to not look at Ragna as Tsubaki sighed sadly.

"...Jin Kisaragi...slaughtered their entire family. If we hadn't shown up when we did, Roll would've been killed too," Makoto explained.

"?!" Ragna tensed, "Jin?"

"Yeah…" Ben nodded, "Before we could do anything else to him, some...thing appeared and took Jin, teleporting him to who knows where."

"Thing? What...thing?"

"Last I recall, it had like a witch hat and a large body-sized cape or something," Sonic tried to recall, "It was a while ago and a lot has happened since then."

'Goddammit, Jin,' Ragna thought in anger and annoyance, 'Make my life more complicated, why don't ya?!'

"Poor kid," Alpha frowned, "Something good happens to him and a zappin' train gets dropped on him."

"You made these everyday?" Roll asked, looking at Haseo's last origami crane, "That's amazing, Haseo-chan."

"H-hai, Onee-chan," Haseo nodded, "I-I was able to get the paper needed to make these thanks to Noel-nee, Alpha-san, and Ragna-san."

"Soka…" Roll nodded as Yacker floated around them, wearing another paper crane on his head, "You've gotten bigger since you left four years ago."

"Hai. I...I've tried my best to help minna-san out," Haseo responded, "Alpha-san has been helping me adjust to the group since I first met him." he smiled a little, "Demo...it wasn't until Noel-nee and Ragna-san came that I actually started to...remember…"

"Really?" Roll asked.

"Hai. it...it wasn't much, but I remembered tiny bits of my past," Haseo explained, "A...and when I saw you and our lyre pieces came together...I gained some more of my memories...you, okaa-san…" he paused as a blushed formed on his face, "N….Nicole-san…"

Roll giggled, "Still like her?"

"..." Haseo just gave a small meek nod in response, his blush growing as he toyed with the tip of his inverted tail.

Roll giggled, 'So cute. Kaa-san would've loved to tease him again…' a pang went through her heart, 'He...He doesn't know…' "...H...Haseo…"

"Hai, onee-chan?" Haseo asked as he looked at her, his blush fading a bit as he noticed the sad look on her face, "...D-daijoubu?"

She pulled him into a hug, "I… Gomen nassai."

"...Onee-chan?" Haseo blinked, confused about the sudden hug, and about why Roll apologized, "Is….is everything alright?"

"Haseo-chan...o...okaa-sama….minna…" Roll choked back a sob.

"Eh? Wh...what about okaa-san?" Haseo asked further.

"Th….they're…" Roll couldn't bear it any longer as her heart felt like it tore in two for what she was about to say, "...They're gone."

"...N….nani?" Haseo whispered with wide eyes.

"A...a cruel man, Jin Kisaragi, took them away," Roll explained, tears in her eyes.

"O...Okaa-san...minna...th….they're gone?" Haseo asked.

"H….hai…"

"O...okaa...okaa-san…" Haseo whispered, his mind flashing to his memories with his mother...and the song she used to sing to him.

(You are my sunshine...my only sunshine…)

A newborn Haseo snoozed softly as he rested in the arms of his mother, a small smile on his face as he nuzzled against her.

(You make me happy….when skies are grey…)

A slightly older Haseo cried a bit as he hurt his knee, the young fox sniffling a bit as his mom put a band-aid on it, giving him a small kiss on his forehead as she hugged him.

(You'll never know dear….how much I love you….)

An older Haseo smiled softly as his mom was helping him make origami animals and flowers, the two laughing a bit as the scene began to fade to white.

(please don't take...my sunshine...away)

"...O...okaa-san…" Haseo whispered, tears starting to flow down his cheeks as he began to shake, his voice starting to strain, "Okaa...san…ahh….ahh..." he couldn't hold it in anymore as he cried out in pure sorrow, his heart feeling like it shattered into millions of pieces as tears fell down from his cheeks.

Roll held him closer, her tears falling as she rubbed his back while ignoring the tears staining her shirt. Yacker poked out of Roll's hair to pat Haseo's head, giving a few sad, comforting noises.

"Haseo-chan...I'm sorry…" Roll whispered as she held her brother close, her own tears increasing as she felt the same pain Haseo's heart was feeling right now, "I'm so sorry…"

Unaware to the two, Noel was leaning against one of the trees, her own tears falling down her cheeks as she held her hand over her mouth. She was going to let the two know dinner was ready, and...she overheard what Roll told Haseo, followed by the scene of the young twin-tailed fox crying out in pure sadness.

'Why would...How could Jin do that?' Noel thought, her heart feeling like it was torn in two, 'Haseo-chan...he….he just remembered his family...and they're gone...why….why would Jin do such a horrible thing?'

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait," Jacky held a hand up, "Sly Cooper? The Sly Cooper...is your cousin-in-law?!"

"Surprised me too, but more or less yeah," Sonic shrugged.

"I do not understand. Who is Sly Cooper?" Rook questioned.

"A Master Thief that steals only stuff that's already been stolen or from corrupt officials," Manic explained, "Dude's feats are considered legendary in the Thieves Guild. And that doesn't just end there; he comes from a long line of thieves, each one a Master Thief in their own way."

"And you guys worked alongside him?!"

"Yeah," Sonic replied, "Of course, we never knew that he was Roll and Haseo's cousin until we found out his ancestor Rioichi Cooper married Roll's ancestor and had Henriette Cooper's half-sister which became the next leader of the Sakurai Clan and so on and so on until we get to Roll and Haseo."

"Intriguing…" J noted.

"...DAMN IT, ALPHA, RAGNA! I TOLD YOU WE SHOULD'VE GONE TO CHUNAN TO SEARCH FOR JAKE!" Jacky snapped loudly.

"Don't blame us. You were the one who didn't want to go because you thought it was too cold," Ragna glowered at the short raccoon.

"Well how was I supposed to know Sly Cooper was going to be there?!" Jacky argued.

"Trust us. You don't want to know what really went down in Chunan," Manic stated.

"Up yours, booger rat!"

"Oh, you did not just call him that," Sonia frowned.

"My apologies for him," J apologies as Ragna slammed his fist on the top of Jacky's head, knocking him out, "He tends to think more in terms of currency than logic."

"Ahh….so he's the greedy egotistic type," Manic noted.

"More or less, yes," J nodded.

"Oh god," Tsubaki muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose in annoyance, "He'd be like Tsao if he's also sexist and power-mad."

"Tsao?" Alpha repeated.

"Really messed up rooster," Sonic replied with a frown, "Guy was holding up Mobians as prisoners, mostly females and the chunan Freedom Fighters, he tried to force the Panda King's daughter into a forced marriage, intended to 'purify' Mobius by making it purely about men, and brought back warriors from the dead...including dad."

"King Azure?" J gasped.

'Azure?' Ragna thought.

"Yup. I don't know how, but he got my dad's corpse for his army, along with the ashes of one of Roll's ancestors, and her family's treasured sword," Sonic added.

"The treasured sword of her family?" Rook asked.

"Are...are you okay now, Haseo-chan?" Roll asked as Haseo's sobs had turned into quiet sniffles.

"...H…..hai," Haseo nodded slowly, his eyes red from crying.

"I...I know what I told you was horrible, but...there is some good news," Roll informed, "Do you remember the Cooper Clan and their importance to Ryugu?"

"...I..I kinda do...hai…" Haseo nodded.

"We're related to them," Roll informed, Haseo's eyes widening at that, "Hai. We are related to the very family that is the reason why our village has the Rioichi Corps. We have a cousin out there; Sly Cooper."

"...T...tomodachi…" Haseo whispered, a small smile growing on his face, "We...we still have...tomodachi…"

Roll nodded, "That's right, Niichan. Without Sly-Itoko, we wouldn't have recovered…" she pulled her family's blade out, still in its scabbard, "...this."

"?!" Haseo's eyes widened further as he looked at it, "...O...Obaa-san's...sword…"

"Our family's treasured sword," Roll nodded, "General Tsao of the Northern Mountains' father bribed one of the assassins in our village to go to the village and steal the sword for him. But now we have it back and..." she reached into her shirt and pulled out the family book, "...I found this in a hidden room behind the throne in our family's main chamber. It needed the sword to be revealed."

"...C...can I see what's inside?" Haseo asked out of curiosity.

"Of course, Haseo-chan," Roll replied, "Only members of our family can read the book, after all."

Haseo nodded a bit as Roll handed him the book, the young fox opening it to read what was inside, "...M...minna...everything in this has been written by our family, onee-chan…" he then noticed one page, "...H...Hisako Sakurai?"

"Hai," Roll nodded.

"Who...who is she?" Haseo asked.

"She is the one who helped found Ryugu with the other founding ancestors," Roll explained, "She was also the one who was the first holder of our family's sword and started the tradition of it passing down from clan leader to clan leader." she patted Yacker's head, "But it was her daughter who brought Yacker-chan into our family."

"S-sugoi…" Haseo awed a bit at that.

"Uhn," Roll nodded, "Sly-Itoko can also read our family's book just like we can read his family's book; the Thievius Raccoonus."

"Eh? R-really?" Haseo asked as he looked at her.

Roll nodded, "...There's...there's one other thing I need to tell you."

"Eh? Nani?" Haseo blinked.

"Do you remember the tradition the Hyorinmaru women do? When they've been saved from something that would kill them?" Roll reminded.

"H...hai…" Haseo nodded, "Wh...why?"

"When...When I went after Jin Kisaragi for what he did to our family...he nearly impaled me on some spikes of ice he could make with his sword," Roll explained, earning a soft gasp from Haseo, "Demo…" she held up a hand to signal him to hush," ...demo, I was saved. I….followed tradition and now you have three sibling-in-laws."

"Eh?!" Haseo gasped at that, "R...really? I...I have...a onii-chan now?"

"Two onii-tachi, and another onee-chan," Roll replied.

"Sugoi…!" Haseo awed, his tails wagging excitedly, "O...onee-chan, I-I want to meet them!"

"You already met them. Remember that I need to stay in a five block radius of him and vice-versa," Roll giggled.

"...Ano…"

"It's not Manic-san who I kissed," Roll deadpanned.

"...S...Sonic-san?"

"Mmm-hm," Roll nodded, "Sonikku saved me from being killed. It was...awkward for the both of us the first two months."

"S...soka…" Haseo noted.

Roll nodded before kissing his forehead, "I love you, nii-chan, and I'm so happy you're alive."

"...M..me too, onee-chan…" Haseo smiled as he hugged her, "I'm glad...I got some of my memories back..and found you again…"

Roll nodded, "Did...Did the people you travel with take care of you?"

"Hai," Haseo nodded as he let go of the hug, "Noel-Nee is really nice, J-san has been helping me with studying and such, and Alpha-san helps out when I go out to search for supplies."

Roll nodded, "That's good to hear. What about the others?"

"Ano...Wh...when we got ambushed by those robots...the, ano, EggPawns...Ragna-san tore them apart when I got shot in the shoulder."

"You were shot!?" Roll gasped as Yacker zipped out of her hair and into Haseo's shirt, looking around for any injuries.

"Hai...th-thankfully it just grazed my arm," Haseo replied, trying to ignore the ticklish feeling of Yaker going about under his shirt, "Demo...still, Ragna-san….ano...as Jacky put it, went to town on those EggPawns while Jake….ano..." he tapped his chin for a bit, "What did he say again about that?"

"So everything is going bad for us in fighting those EggPawns," Alpha recounted, "And then, Haseo gets shot in the shoulder."

"What?!" Tsubaki gasped.

"It just grazed the shoulder and, well...Ragna snapped," Alpha noted.

"I did not 'snap,'" Ragna grumbled.

"You put your hand on that black arm you got, said some stuff that transformed it into a demonic arm with an eye in the palm of it, and then you began to literally shred the EggPawns that just seconds ago were going to town on us," Alpha deadpanned.

"Jake kept wanting your autograph for the next week," Jacky snickered.

"Shut it," Ragna glared at Jacky.

"It was rather shocking at how easily you were able to decimate them," Rook noted, "Once the last of them were gone, you deactivated the technique you were using and spent the next month refusing to let Haseo be out of your sight."

"That sounds like you, Ragna," Ben noted.

"Ben, shut it," Ragna glared at his little brother figure.

"Not my fault you like little kids," Ben shrugged before a silence fell, "...That came out wrong."

Makoto began to crack up as Ragna facepalmed with an annoyed growl, "Goddamit, Ben."

"Oh my…" J gasped.

"I-It's not like that! I just don't like kids getting hurt, okay?!"

"Suuure you don't," Makoto laughed.

"Shut it, squirrel girl! Ben, get your girlfriend to stop laughing! It's not that funny, dammit!"

"Sh-she's not my girlfriend!" Ben exclaimed, his face covered in a heavy blush.

"A-And he's not my boyfriend!" Makoto added, a hard blush on her cheeks.

"..." Ragna smirked, "Suuure you're not. And I'm not the most wanted man back in our world."

"..."

"Ahahahaha! Look how red they are!" Jacky laughed as he pointed at the heavily blushing Ben and Makoto.

"Jacky behave!" J scolded.

"Oh come on, J! It's hard NOT to pass this up!" Jacky countered.

"Oi," Ragna bonked Jacky on the head, "I'm the only one that gets to tease my little brother about his girlfriend. Just like I'm sure her friends get to be the only ones to tease her about her boyfriend."

'Damn you, Ragna the Bloodedge,' Makoto thought as a teasing look appeared in Tsubaki's eyes, "...Don't you dare start too Tsubaki, or else I'll say that word."

"What word?"

"...Damn you, amnesia!" Makoto facefaulted.

"Amnesia?" Rook repeated.

"Long story," Sonia sighed.

"...Huh. Those three sure are taking a long time to get here to eat," Manic noted, "Missing out on all the fun, too. ...You think Roll needs some sort of kinky outfit to be at a campfire with you, bro?"

"Manic, I will slap you and ban waffles from the bus for a year," Sonic glared.

"Shutting up," Manic meeped.

"Still, there are a lot of rules in this pamphlet," Sonia noted, looking through it.

"May I?" J asked.

"We have copies," Sonia handed him a few.

J read through the first few paragraphs and blushed, "Oh my…"

"Gimme that," Jacky said as he snatched the pamphlet from him and began reading it, "...woah..." he then looked over at Sonic, "You are one lucky son of a bitch right now."

"Our mother is a saint," the trio glared at him.

"I didn't mean it liter...aw forget it," Jacky groaned as he tossed the pamphlet back to J, who handed it to Rook.

"These laws are rather intricate," Rook noted after skimming through it, "Each one set up with their own bylaws. You would need to be an experienced lawyer to…"

"LAWYER?!" Ben exclaimed before facepalming with both hands, groaning into them.

"...Ben hates lawyers," Tsubaki explained.

"He gave me his card…" Ben muttered with an eye twitch.

"...Wow. He was that bad?" Ragna asked.

"Guy kept freeing every bad guy and criminal I put in jail!" Ben exclaimed.

"That must suck."

"You have no idea," Ben deadpanned.

"As much as I am enjoying this talking, we need to head out in the morning," Rook informed.

"What for?" Sonic asked.

"What happened today will need to be reported to the nearest Freedom Fighter base," Rook informed, "As is written in the Freedom Fighter handbook, page 31, paragraph 7."

"Already ahead of ya," Sonic spoke up, "While me and my team were staying in Ryugu, I had a meeting with Miyuki and the other Freedom Fighter team leaders and told them everything about the Dark Legion...Well, Jian and her team mostly did, but still."

"I think he means about the leaders of the Dark Legion here and what has happened to our brother Jake," J noted, glancing over at a pouting Jacky.

"Ahh….right then," Sonic nodded.

"So far for the leaders, we know who two...or rather three of them are. Conquering Storm of the Raiju, and the two Pronghorn sisters," Tsubaki added.

"We ran into one in Soumerca," Ragna noted, "Goddamn electric chihuahua."

"She was a chinchilla, Ragna," J corrected.

"A very...very...very scary chinchilla with an obsession with Eggman,"Jacky gagged/shuddered.

"She barked like a chihuahua," Alpha backed up Ragna, "Plus, we made some good jokes on the little ball of shocks."

"Hold on. Hold on. Hold on," Sonic held a hand up, "There's a Mobian...who likes Eggman?" Sonic asked in disgust.

"Are you kidding? She's his biggest fan from what we've seen!" Jacky exclaimed, "I mean, she was like 'How dare you scratch the mecha suit Lord Robotnik gave me!', and 'Don't you talk smack about Lord Robotnik! He's the greatest man in Mobius history!'"

"'Great' my ass," Manic snorted.

"Yeah...seriously, the rat…"

"Chinchilla, Jacky," J corrected.

"Whatever! Point is that chick, Thunderbolt I think her name was, is obsessed with Eggman!" Jacky exclaimed, "Seriously, we talked crap about him, and she starts going ape shit on us and starts zapping us with electricity!"

"..."

"...You okay, bro?" Manic asked as he looked at Sonic.

"...How...obsessed we talking?" Sonic cautiously asked.

"Probably bad enough to preserve anywhere he stood with threat of electrocution," Jacky shrugged.

"Oh, thank god," Sonic sighed in relief, "For a moment, I thought you were gonna say she would wanna do 'that' to him if offered."

"Ugh! The fuck, man?!" Ragna let out in disgust.

"And there goes my appetite," J's face turned green.

"Dude~ Why did you have to say that?" Manic groaned.

"Hey! The midget raccoon brought the whole obsession thing up!" Sonic argued.

"I am NOT a MIDGET!" Jacky snapped.

"Yeah, but he didn't bring up sex!" Ragna barked.

"I...Pardon me!" J ran behind a bush, his face green.

"Aw, great! Now look what you did!" Jacky snapped.

"Me!? You were the one who started it!"

"Well I wouldn't put it past her!"

"UGH! The fuck, Jacky!?"

"What?! It was floating around my mind, and I wanted to get rid of it!" Jacky snapped, "And I didn't want to bring it up before the blue rat here said it!"

"...Corner. Now."

"B-" Jacky began before Ragna pulled his sword out.

"GET IN THE FUCKING CORNER!"

'It's good to have dinner with family again,' Ben thought as Jacky ran off around the small camp with Ragna giving chase.

"Um...What did we miss?" those still sitting turned to see Noel, Roll, and Haseo walk over to the campfire, the latter two keeping their tails together.

"Nothing much...except for the fact there's a Mobian who's obsessed with Eggman," Sonic stated, "And before you ask...no."

"Hai?" Roll raised a brow.

"How can something so cute be so crazy?" Noel mumbled, a hand on her chin with the pointer finger going up part of her face and alongside the side of her nose and the rest across her mouth.

"Sc….scary electric chinchilla…" Haseo shook a bit, his two tails suddenly poofing up...followed by the rest of his fur.

"Oh not again…" Alpha facepalmed, earning the attention from Sonic's group, "...Haseo got hit by a stray bolt from that Dark Legion boss, and his fur poofed up like crazy. Took us a few days to get it back to how it normally looks."

"Oh…" Roll frowned before Yacker poked out of her hair with a brush, "Arigatou, Yacker-chan." she started to brush down Haseo's fur, "Mou...You always have bad luck with lightning, Haseo-chan. Like when Yacker-chan first showed us Ivory."

"Ivory?" Sonic repeated.

"LIGHTNNIG!" Yacker declared before turning into an ivory-colored Wisp with a lightning-bolt theme to it.

"Amazing," Rook awed before pulling out his Proto-Tool's scanner and looked at Yacker through it, "I have never seen a creature like this before."

"He's a Wisp."

"Lisp?"

"Iie. Wisp. There's no 'L' in it," Roll corrected.

"Oh. I see…" Rook nodded before Yacker landed on Haseo...and caused the fur brushed down to poof up and give him an afro.

"...How does it always end up with an afro?" Roll tilted her head as Yacker changed back to his White Boost state, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly in apology to Haseo.

"Ano...I...don't know…" Haseo blinked in confusion.

Knuckles jumped back from a geyser of lava shooting from the ground and ducked under a spiked sphere before spinning around and shattering a red sphere surrounded by floating spiked spheres. He grinned as he opened his gloved hand to see a shard of the Master Emerald.

"So that's where you were," Knuckles noted, "Okay...that's two shards in this area down, and one more to go."

With that, he resumed his search around the area. He knew there was one more shard in the area...he could feel that it was there. Ever since the two Chaos Emeralds had become the larger Master Emerald, he had started to...just know where the Master Emerald was. Even in its shattered state, he could feel each shard as if they were calling out to him.

'Though why it ends up as a beeping noise in my head, I will never understand,' Knuckles thought as he glided across the area and dug his claws into the side of a cliff. As he climbed it, he saw a shard barely hanging off the edge above, "...There it is." he then carefully climbed up the cliffside and headed towards the shard, making sure not to hit the side too hard so the shard would fall off, "There we go. Almost there…." another minute went by before he grabbed the shard and pulled it out, "That makes twelve. ...Hm?" he blinked twice before looking up, seeing a ball of red-tinted light, "What's this?" he grunted as he covered his eyes from the flash of light.

The light faded and Knuckles lowered his gloved hand. He blinked twice, realizing that he wasn't on the side of a cliff anymore, but on land. Ahead of him was the strange shrine with the Chaos Emeralds and Master Emerald on the top. He looked around.

"Where am I?" Knuckles pondered, "This...is very strange." he looked out towards the shrine before his eyes widened, "Is...Is that the Master Emerald? But…how?"

He ran towards the shrine and made his way up the stairs. How was the Master Emerald here and perfectly fine...when he also had fifteen shards of it with him? At the top, he heard a voice.

"I beg of you. Hear me now," a voice prayed, Knuckles seeing it come from the tribal Echidna.

'?! An...Another Echidna?' Knuckles thought in shock.

"My father is coming here soon," the echidna informed, a look of worry on her face, "And I fear what may happen. You must take everyone away from here! Oh please!"

'Who's she talking to?' Knuckles pondered, not hearing the pops in the water nor the ripples that came out.

"So...are you saying that you cannot leave this place?" the echidna asked before slumping a little, "I understand…" she looked back up at the Master Emerald, "Let me talk to my father again! There must be a better way of doing this."

Cooing noises made Knuckles look down and blink twice. Walking over to the other echidna were a group of strange little blue creature with tiny pink butterfly wings on their backs, big blue eyes, and a yellow dot floating above their heads. The female echidna looked at the creatures, concern evident in her eyes.

"Do not worry, my friends. I will not let you down," she assured before making her way to the steps, "I must do something...quickly."

She walked by Knuckles and the light appeared once more to the red echidna.

"Ugh…" Knuckles groaned, uncovering his eyes and looked, "...And now I'm back here again. Well, at least I'm not hanging on the cliff but on top of it….I better head out o-" before he could finish, he spotted a pair of mobians down below, both in similar costumes to Eggman, but were a pure black, and electric yellow respectively, "What the…?" 'Why are those Mobians wearing those things? ...They're not like Sleet and Dingo, are they?' he narrowed his eyes at them, 'I better follow them, just to make sure.'

With that, he carefully followed the two Mobians, making sure not to be spotted as they headed out of the cliffs and back into the jungle like area. As he followed them into the jungle, he faintly heard them talk about something, something about Dark Legions, Grand Masters, a secret project of Eggman's, and searching for the Chaos Emeralds.

'He's searching for more of the Chaos Emeralds? Didn't he learn from the last time that those things are dangerous?' Knuckles questioned, 'And what're these...Grand Masters and Dark Legion they keep talking about? Just what has been going on since I went to find the shards of the Master Emerald?'

Before he could think any further, he skidded to a halt as he quickly hid behind a few trees, seeing the two Mobians arrive at a base of sorts hidden within the jungle. However, one key thing he noticed was there were a ton of similar Mobians in similar outfits roaming around, holding what looked like blasters as they kept a close eye out on the area, especially the ones in the pure black outfits. His eyes widened as he saw a few had robotics replacing bits of their bodies.

'Are they...cyborgs?' Knuckles mentally asked as he looked at them in surprise. He then noticed a few guards guarding what looked like a entrance to a dome of sorts, '...There's something in there...I better check it out.'

With that, he began to sneak over to the dome, making sure none of the guards would see him as he proceeded to it. Once he got close enough, he spotted a ventilation shaft of sorts partly opened, the echidna taking the chance to sneak in as he managed to climb in, and just in time as a few guards came into the area. As he crawled through the ventilation, he faintly heard two voices speaking, both of them sounding female.

"There. I got my men to fix your mecha suit. Now for my end of the deal?" the first of the female voices asked.

"Don't worry, I got it! It's very important for Lord Robotnik to have this thing!" the second voice replied excitedly...almost a bit too excitedly when she mentioned Eggman's old name.

As he heard the voices get a bit clearer, Knuckles spotted a small opening in the ventilation, the echidna moving a bit closer to get a better view of who was talking. One was a small yellow chinchilla while the other was... His breath caught itself when he saw the other...was an echidna. Her fur was a shade darker than his own with her dreadlocks having pale-pink ribbons on the ends. She wore a black bodysuit that exposed her stomach and a bit of her cleavage with a silver belt sporting the symbol of Eggman's empire on it. On her wrists were a pair of silver bands while she had on a pair of heeled combat boots, the heels actually a pair of sharp knives.

'But...I...I thought after Locke died last year...I was the last one,' Knuckles thought in shock.

"Look. I don't have all day," the female echidna stated as she looked down at the chinchilla, "Where is that emerald you promised?"

"Keep your clothes on," the chinchilla informed, "I haven't seen it myself yet, but the two who found it did confirm that they found an emerald."

'Wait...an emerald?' Knuckles thought, shaking off the shock as he spotted a pair of Mobians run in, carrying a metal case of sorts.

The echidna opened it and looked at the contents. She scowled at the two Mobians before slamming her foot on the case, the blade on her boot cutting it into two and dropping the large emerald on floor.

"That is a normal Emerald. I am looking for one that is unnaturally finecut and in a different color."

"What? Like a...a ruby or sapphire?" one of the Mobians asked nervously.

"...What?" the other Mobian and the chinchilla asked.

"Well, Emeralds, Sapphires, and a few other gems are actually just rubies that are different colors due to various factors," the Mobian noted before squeaking as the echidna grabbed them by their necks and slammed them against a wall.

"Go out there and find a Chaos Emerald. We do not want normal emeralds, we don't want rubies, sapphires, or anything else," she growled at them before adding a bit more pressure to their necks, "Is that clear?"

"Ack! Y….yes, Lady Lien-Da," one of the mobians gasped out.

"That's what I thought," the echidna frowned as she dropped them, "Now get going."

"Y-yes, Lady Lien-Da!" the two mobians yelped as they ran out.

"...Why do you have such idiots in your group, Thunderbolt?" Lien-Da asked the chinchilla as she looked down at her.

"I honestly don't know..but Lord Robotnik gave them to me, so I don't care!" Thunderbolt exclaimed, "If he says they're good, then I believe him!"

'You'd believe the sky was acid and the ground was chocolate if that fatty said they were,' Lien-da snarked in her head, "Of course he did…" she pulled out a small device that displayed a holographic image of a stone mural depicting seven Chaos Emeralds, all in a different color, "These are the Chaos Emeralds. We are looking for these, not…" she stomped hard on the emerald she had been shown, shattering it, "...normal ones. Robotnik needs these for something, and he can't do it without all seven. Understand?"

"Got it! I'll have my men track the entire jungle for one since Lord Robotnik needs it!" Thunderbolt shouted before she began to get all giddy, electricity crackling off her for a second, "And when I do find one, he'll praise me, like the good Grand Master I am!"

'...What the hell….' Knuckles gawked mentally at how excited that chinchilla, Thunderbolt was acting when Eggman was brought up, like she was his number one fan or something, '...Nevermind. I better go search for that emerald before they...'

"And being a 'good Grand Master' involves letting intruders in here?" Lien-Da scowled, turning her head to look directly at where Knuckles was hiding.

"?!"

"...Th...there's...a spy...someone..spying...on one of...Lord Robotnik's bases…" Thunderbolt whispered, twitching a bit as she started to growl, electricity crackling off her, "MEN! GET MY SUIT! NOW!"

-But we haven't finished reinstalling most of the weapons sy...-

"I SAID NOW!" Thunderbolt snapped.

-Hiii! Y-Yes, ma'am!-

Knuckles tensed as he began to crawl away through the ventilation shaft, only for an electrified whip from Lien-Da to grab the part he was hiding out in and pulled it off, causing the echidna to tumble out of it before he regained his ground.

"It's the Guardian," Lien-da scowled, "Why am I not surprised…"

"Grr…" Knuckles frowned as he stood ready, though he seemed...unnerved right now, not wanting to fight a member of his own kind.

"...Thick-headed, a bit afraid of fighting your own kind…" Lien-Da listed down, glaring right at him, "...Tch. You're so much like the one I knew back where I came from."

"Wha…?" Knuckles raised a brow at that before he shook it off, "...What're you talking about?"

"And just as stupid-sounding as well," she added.

"HEY!" Knuckles snapped, a vein throbbing on his head as he glared at her.

"...Look. I suggest you high-tail it back to your little shrine," Lien-Da advised him, "Right now, you're nowhere near the same level as me."

"...No way. I'm not giving up until I restore the Master Emerald," Knuckles argued as he stood ready.

"...So we're at that point," Lien-da muttered to herself, "Interesting. So many things different, yet still the same."

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Knuckles demanded, not noticing Thunderbolt was no longer in the room.

"...Not that you'll live long enough to tell anyone else, but I'll humor you," Lien-Da stated, a bit of a smirk on her face as she crossed her arms, "How much do you know about Zones?"

"...Not another one…" Knuckles groaned, 'Of course it wouldn't be an echidna that actually was born here…At least there's not a double of Sonic again...or that Ben guy.'

"Good. That saves me a bit of trouble," Lien-Da smirked, "Now then...as you probably figured, I'm from another Zone, one that was once populated with quite a few echidnas."

"Guess you got bored there if you came here and joined Robotnik," Knuckles scowled.

"...Not exactly," Lien-Da frowned, "You see, something from our past came back to bite us hard in the ass, expelling us from our Zone completely. And it wasn't just me and my Dark Legionnaires, but an entire city's worth of echidnas, even my sister...or should I call her…" she then gained a small grin, "Your other self's wife?"

"?!" Knuckles's eyes widened at that before tumbling away from a kick sent at him by her.

"Yes...your other self was 'so' happy with her...only for it to be torn away by one simple Mobian," Lien-Da continued, "You see, we were sent into a 'pocket' Zone of sorts with no chance of escaping...but as you can see…" she then motioned to herself, "I was able to get out and came here to this Zone."

"Leaving behind an entire city's worth of Echidnas to that place," Knuckles added the words.

"More or less, yes," Lien-Da nodded, "I traveled around for quite a bit before I came across this Zone's Robotnik….heh...using a Roboticizer...man that's old."

"Just get to the point…" Knuckles growled.

"Fine fine…" Lien-Da waved him off, "Before he could Roboticize me, I told him about the Dark Legion and what it could offer him. He liked the idea so much, he decided to expand upon it, improving our Legionization thanks to the help of his...interesting...robot Shockwave, and...well, now Robotnik has an entire army's worth of Mobians and Beastkin at his command now. Though why Shockwave calls it Cyberization I have no clue."

'That explains why some of these guys have robotic parts…' Knuckles thought, "...And what about you and that chinchilla?"

"Oh, Thunderbolt? That's an easy answer," Lien-Da chuckled a bit, "You see, Robotnik needs someone to look after each chapter of his Dark Legion, so he assigns different Mobians and Beastkin he sees potential in, and calls them his Grand Masters...which honestly sounds a bit better than Egg Bosses like he originally wanted to call them." 'Then again, he's far different from the Robotnik I was used to. Much more cunning and more creative with his machines. He actually surprised me with altering the consequences of betraying him with the Legionization and even broadcasting it to ensure obedience. The other one would've prefered to let them find out on their own.'

"And you? What do you get out of this?" Knuckles asked, keeping his guard up while trying to think of something to do to fight her, 'If her sister was...this other me's wife...then this girl might know all my moves...if we have the same fighting styles.'

"Well for one, I don't have to deal with that idiotic Robotnik fmo my zone. Really, he was so obsessed with Sonic, he saw no one else as a threat," Lien-Da explained, "Second...I'm free to expand the Dark Legion as long as it helps this Zone's Robotnik out, and he provides me with some of his technology. I scratch his back, he scratches mine. And most importantly..." he dark grin grew back, "I don't have to deal with my pathetic sister ever again."

"...so you care so little for your own kind then…" Knuckles frowned.

"Nope. Though…" Lien-Da paused as she walked over to him, "It wouldn't hurt to help repopulate this Zone with echidnas. You know, help keep the species alive~"

Before Knuckles could get a word in edgewise, the area rumbled a bit, causing the male echidna to tense up.

"Well...looks like my fun's done," Lien-Da shrugged as she walked away, "If you survive Thunderbolt's wrath, I'll catch you next time."

"Hey, get back here!" Knuckles growled.

The area rumbled once more, nearly causing Knuckles to lose his footing as the area loud metal footsteps filled the air. He looked at the metal doors before they were torn open, revealing what looked like a fairly large robotic suit in crimson-red, dark-blue, electric-yellow, and gun-metal grey armor, the shoulder armor having spikes on it. Within the orange-ish tinted dome of the robotic suit was a silhouette of Thunderbolt, who was giving Knuckles a very dangerous glare as electricity crackled off the robotic suit.

"...I hate that fatty and that echidna," Knuckles muttered.

"Grr…!" Thunderbolt growled as one of her mecha-suits hands shifted into a blaster, the chinchilla firing multiple electric energy blast at the echidna, 'Don't you dare insult Lord Robotnik!"

"Aw shit," Knuckles cursed before he rolled out of the way of the shots, 'Gotta remember to thank that kid Sonic learned this trick from…I think he called the kid 'Tails,' I think…'

Thunderbolt shouted as she continued to fire at Knuckles, who kept dodging each electric blast sent at him. Though...he was starting to get confused as he noticed she was starting to shoot around blindly.

"...Hey! You're missing!" Knuckles shouted.

"Not Quite…" Thunderbolt replied as she stopped firing, a devilish grin on her face "Tell me, how do you think magnetism works once enough electricity is applied?"

Knuckles raised a brow at that before barely dodged a piece of the metal wall coming towards him, the echidna soon noticing the metal parts of the wall and floor starting to get out. He then noticed his body was starting to crackle with electricity as well.

"...crap."

"See any sign of that...uh…" one of the Mobians Lien-Da ordered around beforehand began as he tried to recall what that item she said was, "...Chaos Emerald! Any sign of that Chaos Emerald?"

"I think s-no, wait. That's a pigeon," the other frowned, a pair of binoculars on his face.

"...Wouldn't it make much more sense to look for it on the ground?" the first one asked.

"It was on the ground," the other replied.

"I mean the Chaos Emerald."

"I'm looking. I'm looking," the other assured before a small silence followed between the two, "...hey."

"What?"

"You ever wonder why we're here?"

"Because we live to serve Robotnik or else that will happen?"

"No. I mean why are we here without sunscreen? I mean, seriously, I can feel the sunburn starting to form."

"...Huh. Good point...maybe this weird ice cube I found near the river will help cool us off."

"Weird ice cube?"

"Yeah," the other replied.

"...Can I see it?"

"Sure," the other nodded as he pulled out a pure silver-ish white Chaos emerald.

"...That's a diamond."

"You sure? It looks like ice to m-" the other mobian began before a red blur shot past him, "...uh oh…"

"Was that the scary lady echidna?"

"No...that was a male I think..and he took our diamond a-"

"GET BACK HERE!"

"Oh no! We forgot to renew the gas bill again, didn't we?!"

"Quick! Hide before she zaps us!" the other yelped before both jumped into the river just as Thunderbolt ran by.

"...were they just running to Northamer?"

"I think so...I think we're s-why do I feel like something's biting me?"

"Huh...I feel that too."

"...I think there's piranhas in here."

"Piranhas?!"

*CHOMP!*

"AHHHHH!"

Back over with Sonic and Ragna's group, the two were preparing to head off.

"Okay, back it in nice and easy," Ben advised as Rook began to back the pick up into the Bus's garage.

"At least this will make things easier for us to get into the Northamer Freedom Fighter HQ," Alpha noted as Jacky waved a hand over J's face, the taller raccoon's brain incapable of function at the moment from the Underground Bus's special features.

"...I think you guys broke my brother with your awesome bus," Jacky noted.

"I...wh...ho…." J muttered in utter shock.

"...Not the first time something like this happened," Ben muttered

"Every, single nerd we know does this," Manic snickered.

"Thank you for letting us stay with you on the way to the Headquarters here," Noel bowed to Sonia.

"It's no problem, Noel," Sonia assured, "You get more time catching up with Tsubaki and Makoto while Roll gets to spend more time being with Haseo."

"Yup. So it's pretty much win-win for both groups," Manic added.

"Yup. We h-" Makoto began before her ears twitched, "...Ara? Does anyone else hear that?"

"Nope," everyone else replied.

"You sure? Cause I hear screaming, and someone shouting something about not insulting Eggman," Makoto stated.

"Nope. Not hearing anything," Jacky replied as he picked up J and carried him into the bus, "That fridge is HUGE!"

"No snacking," Roll informed, "Lunch will be made in an hour."

"Dang it!"

"...I guess it's just me then," Makoto shrugged before the area faintly rumbled a bit, "...Please tell me that was something in your lab exploding, Manic."

"Nope. Haven't touched it since yesterday."

"Let's get going," Roll informed, holding a shivering, wide-eyed Haseo closer, "That sounded like thunder."

"Right. Everyone in the bus!" Sonic called.

"Got it/yes/hai!" Manic, Sonia, Noel, and Makoto nodded as everyone got into the bus and Sonic drove it away from the area.

At the same time, Knuckles came running into the area, panting as an angry and still livid Thunderbolt gave chase to him. He threw a boulder resting nearby at her and a bolt of thunder from her blew it up right in her face. By the time the debris cleared, Knuckles was nowhere to be seen.

"He's gone…..he's gone…" Thunderbolt whispered, "...Mmm...I hope lord Robotnik doesn't get mad at me for letting someone get away after sneaking into my base...but at least he didn't get away with something important." she looked around, "...How'd I get into Northamer?"

"Okay, I think we're near one of the entrances," Sonic noted as he stopped the bus in a plain.

"But there's nothing around but some trees, flowers, a few bushes and…" Jacky began as they got out.

"THERE'S A RABBIT!"

A small silence fell.

"...Did you say that?" Manic asked.

"Not me," Ben replied, "Ragna?"

"Nope."

"KILL THE RABBIT!"

"Kill it, kill it, kill it. I'm gonna kill this sheep first."

"Kill the wabbit~ Kill the wabbit~ Kill the WABBIT~!"

A rabbit bounced out of the bushes before an arrow impaled it through the head, earning a yelp from Noel and Haseo. A group of Beastkin and Mobians charged out in green and black bits of armor, cheering.

"We killed the rabbit!" a bear Beastkin whooped.

"Nice shot with the arrow, buddy!" a wolf Mobian patted the back of a green-furred dog Mobian.

"I killed the bloody wanker rabbit!" the dog beamed, his tail going nuts.

"Uh, guys?" a wolf Beastkin wearing green combat armor spoke up, looking at the Underground Freedom Fighters and the Rebellion Freedom Fighters, "We have company."

The group stopped congratulating the dog and slowly looked at the two Freedom Fighter teams.

"Well…"

"You, uh.." the bear Beastkin began, "Holy cow, they've got hot girls!"

"Michael, you're married," the wolf Mobian deadpanned.

"...Are these…?" Rook began to ask.

"One of the teams of the Freedom Fighter faction here, yes," Sonic replied, "They're a load of laughs." he waved at them, "Yo, guys!"

"Sonic!" the group aside from the Mobian wolf waved back.

"That's Sonic?" the wolf Mobian asked, "...Thought he'd be shorter."

"We're here to check in with Lupe," Sonic explained, "I remember the entrance being near here, but…"

"Gavin blew it up," Michael informed, pointing at the god Mobian.

"We had to go with Plan G when those bloody EggPawns showed up," the dog informed quickly.

"We lost Ray when they first showed up," the wolf Beastkin sighed.

"We'll get him and the other Robians free. Count on it, Geoff," Sonic assured, patting the Beastkin's shoulder.

"Thanks," the Beastkin smiled at him, "Lucky for you guys, we made another entrance nearby. We're still doing some hunting, so just go down that path, grab a vine that's out of place, and then pull on it to reveal the entrance. But, uh...You're not gonna be able to fit your bus in there."

"No worries," Ben assured as he activated its portable mode and then picking up the briefcase.

"...Where did you get that bus?" Michael asked in awe.

"Ben's been working on our old bus and giving it a ton of upgrades," Sonia informed before glaring at the teen, "Often without telling us in advance."

"Thanks for the directions," Sonic thanked, "Hope to have a fun time with your guys later. We'll trade stories."

"Dude, nice," Michael grinned.

"BROWN SHEEP!" Geoff shouted before the group ran off, chasing a sheep with brown wool.

"KILL THE BROWN SHEEP!"

"BROWN SHEEP!"

"Kill the sheep, kill the sheep, kill the sheep."

"Die, sheepy-sheepy-sheepy~!"

"C'm here, bitch! It's our time now!"

"...I...I think my IQ just went down from that," Ragna facepalmed with an annoyed sigh.

Tsubaki nodded, "Agreed."

The two glanced at one another before Ragna snorted as he walked off in the direction they had told them to go. Tsubaki sighed, not sure if she had some sort of history with Ragna the BloodEdge or not. Amnesia sucked more often than not.

"So this 'Lupe' is the leader of this division in the Freedom Fighters?" Rook asked.

"That's right," Sonic nodded.

"What's she like?"

"You'd have to see her to understand her personality," Sonia replied.

"Ahh...understandable," Rook nodded.

"Ugh...how much further until we get there?" Jacky asked out of boredom.

"Not too far. We just need to find a vine that's out of place," Sonic nodded.

"Yeah. Like that's gonna be easy to find," Jacky muttered before he got bonked on the head, "Ow!"

"You okay?" Manic asked.

"No! I just got hit in the fu-"

"Grr…" Roll growled as she gave him a firm stare, Noel covering Haseo's ears with a glare of her own.

"...I just got hit in the freaking head!" Jacky snapped.

"Well maybe if you were patient and not so cynical right now, maybe you wouldn't have gotten hit," Alpha countered.

"I believe Jacky found the vine," J noted.

"What're you…?" Jacky began as he turned to face him, only to blink when he saw a vine hanging in front of him, "...oh. Heh heh...there it is."

"...How do you deal with this guy?" Sonic whispered to Alpha.

"He's got his good days," Alpha shrugged, "That and we normally have Jake here to balance him out with J. I really hope we can reverse whatever it is is happening to the poor guy."

Sonic nodded as Jacky pulled the vine, causing an entrance of sorts to open up in a large stump, a series of stairs spiraling downwards. The group then walked in through the entrance, which soon closed up as the last of the group walked in. After a few minutes of climbing down the stairs, they reached a path that led straight ahead. A few more minutes went by with them walking before they emerged into a well-lit massive cavern filled with stone-made structures and a multitude of Mobians and Beastkin-primarily wolves-going about.

"Wow….that's a lot of wolves," Makoto noted.

"...Heh. Hey guys, betcha I-" Jacky began with a grin.

"No," Alpha replied with a frown, "Last time we were in a village filled with dog Mobians and such, you and Jake caused every single one to start howling."

"...Oh yeah. Heh heh...that was hilarious!" Jacky laughed.

"...Howling?" Sonia raised a brow.

"This," Jacky replied, about to take a deep breath before Ragna covered his mouth, "Mhp?!"

"Don't. Even. Think. About it," Ragna frowned dangerously.

"Let's just get going to see Lupe," Sonic rolled his eyes.

"Good idea…" Ragna nodded, letting go of Jacky's mouth before a 'I got my eye on you' look at the raccoon.

Jacky just nodded meekly in response as the group walked through the village. Ragna ignored the random stares that he, Ben, and Tsubaki received at times, most were of confusion while a few were of interest.

"...Why the hell are they staring at us?" Ragna muttered to himself, 'Seriously, it almost feels like I'm being stared at by everyone in that Kaka Clan Village back home.'

"I'm guessing that Overlanders don't live here," Ben replied, "I've been seeing just Beastkin and Mobians."

"That is true…" Tsubaki nodded as she looked around, "...Maybe we'll find out more once we see Lupe."

Yacker poked his head out of Roll's hair and pulled out a camera, taking a picture of one of the ones that were giving them looks, the flash causing them to rub their eyes while the group continued on. The Wisp gave a squeaky giggle at the little prank he did before hiding back in Roll's hair as they entered the center of the cavern where a fortified building stood, shaped like a wolf version of the Sphinx. A buffalo Mobian as tall as Ragna but as muscular as Rath stood on the left of the double doors while a Pronghorn Beastkin stood on the, both wearing riot gear. The group stopped and Sonic stepped up.

"We're here to see Lupe," Sonic informed, "We have some new information involving Eggman's forces."

"Identification," the Pronghorn Beastkin stated.

Sonic summoned his guitar and then turned it into its sword state and back. The two nodded before they opened the doors and let them go through. The inside of the structure was just one large room with a firepit in the center. Sitting on the other side of the room on a pillow, her legs crossed, was a Mobian wolf that was a head taller than Roll. Her fur was a rich silver/grey color with black braided sandals that went halfway up her lower legs and a sky-blue dress-like tribal attire, a pair of gloves, and a series of gold bands on her arms, wrists, neck, and in her braided hair. The top of her head sported a dark-blue mohawk with a white highlight in it resembling a lightning bolt while her left cheek below her eye had a small scar. She opened her eyes, revealing them to be a rich shade of blue.

"Hey there, Lupe," Sonic greeted.

"Greetings, Sonic, Sonia, Manic," the wolfess nodded to the three hedgehogs before glancing at the others, "An interesting group you have brought with you." she looked around before settling on Ben, Tsubaki, Makoto, and Roll, "You four must be their allies, Ben Tennyson, Makoto Nanaya, Tsubaki Yayoi, and Roll Sakurai. Queen Aleena has spoken highly of each of you and your abilities." She then looked over at Ragna's group, "And you must be the new Freedom Fighter group I've heard about."

"We're called the Rebellion Freedom Fighters," Alpha informed, "I'm the team's leader, Alpha. My second in command is Ragna here."

"I see…" Lupe noted, looking at Ragna, "...He has a strong spirit, one that has been through many harsh battles. Please, sit around the fire, all of you."

The group nodded as they did so, Jacky mumbling as he tried to cross his legs. Minutes later, Lupe frowned as Sonic and Alpha finished explaining what their teams had learned.

"...Your brother is possessed," Lupe stated after a few moments of silence, her eyes closed as she got up and walked over to a series of shelves and pulling out a set of three jars.

"Tell us what we don't know," Jacky rolled his eyes, earning an elbow to the side by Manic.

"What possesses your brother is a god," Lupe corrected as she walked back to her spot.

"A god?" J repeated.

"Correct," Lupe informed, reaching into one jar and throwing it into the fire, causing it to erupt into green flames, everyone looking at it and swearing they could see images within made of the flames, "Long ago, far before Mobius was united by the Royal Hedgehog Family, there were once three tribes; the wolves, the serpents, and the echidnas. They were constantly at war with one another, determined to wipe the other two out. Their reason for conflict?" she tossed something into the flames from another jar, turning the flames white as they saw the flames take on the shape of small creatures surrounding a shrine of sorts, "A shrine said to contain an ancient power that was rumored to bestow upon those with invincibility, flight, the manipulation of the elements. The guardians of the shrine were a race of peaceful creatures known as 'Chao' with a powerful god as the last line of defense…" she threw a handful of the third jar's contents into the flames, turning them water-blue and causing Sonic and Roll to gasp as the flames took on a familiar shape to them, "The Water God, Chaos."

"Chaos…" Sonic whispered.

"Demo...He's not the God of Destruction?" Roll asked, recalling what Starscream had told them when he had obtained the creature after they had fought it.

"That is a name he received after what happened so long ago," Lupe informed, throwing a handful of the first and second jar's contents into the fire, turning them a harsh scarlet, "At the time of that, the echidnas were currently 'in control' of the shrine. The leader of the echidna tribe and a group of his soldiers attacked, harming many of the Chao." the flames took on the shape of echidnas smacking away the little creatures as they ran up the stairs of the shrine, "However, Chaos had grown fond of the Chao and considered those who were born at the shrine his children. Seeing them hurt like this...it threw him into a uncontrollable rage." the flames showed seven emeralds surrounding Chaos before she threw a handful of all three jars into it, transforming the flames into a chaotic storm of colors, images of something going upon a rampage and of a slaughter appearing and disappearing in the chaos before the flames finally settled on a destroyed shrine and a wolf, an echidna, and a snake bowing together at the base of it, "Nearly all of the echidna were slaughtered and their village destroyed with Chaos and all but one of the eight gems of the shrine gone. In fear of his return, the remaining echidnas swore to guard the shrine holding its last gem and a truce was made with all three tribes to never attack one another."

"The Master Emerald…" Sonic whispered once more, realizing what that last gem was within the image.

Lupe nodded as the flames returned to their original state before looking at J and Jacky, "With his resurgence, it is likely that the method of how he returned caused part of him to separate and find host within your brother, seeking to find the gems that were lost in order to continue his attack."

"But...Knuckles is the only echidna left," Sonia noted.

"It is not just the echidnas that Chaos will attack," Lupe informed, "He has been gone for many years, perhaps even millennia. If he regains both his missing half and the seven emeralds…" a grim look then appeared on her face, "Then Mobius will be reduced to nothing but a wasteland with a destroyer seeking to end any forms of life."

'Just like the Black Beast…' Ragna thought, his real arm subconsciously grabbing his Azure Grimoire.

"Oh, this is not good. Jake already has two of them," J noted in worry.

"And we've got two," Sonic informed before showing the sky blue and red Chaos Emeralds.

'Three if what Sly-Itoko said was true,' Roll thought.

Lupe nodded, "That explains why Mars has started shining brighter than ever recently."

'Mars?' Ben thought in surprise.

"I will have my fellow Freedom Fighters be on the lookout for more of these," Lupe informed.

"We can give you a spare scanner that was made to track these," Tsubaki offered.

"No thank you. We have our own method to finding them," Lupe responded.

"I see. Very well," Tsubaki nodded.

"Anything else we should know before we head out?" Makoto asked.

"You're more than welcome to some of our supplies to refill any you might be low on," Lupe offered.

"Ahh….sweet. Thank you," Makoto nodded.

"Of course," Lupe nodded as the two groups began to sit up, "Hold on."

"Hmm?"

"If possible, I wish to speak with Ben Tennyson alone," Lupe informed them.

"What? Me?" Ben blinked twice.

"Of course…" Lupe nodded as the others left, "...Your soul...I can sense it's hurting."

"Hurting?"

"Yes. As if you feel an immense guilt that constantly eats away at you."

Ben frowned, "I don't see how…"

"While it is none of my business, I do know the pain of seeing one die before you mere inches away," Lupe informed, causing Ben to tense, "When Robotnik first invaded Northamer ten years ago, he captured and Roboticized my father right before my eyes before having his robots blast him apart. Had it not been for the Freedom Fighters, I would have endured the same fate."

"...But...what does…"

"Right now, your soul is at a crossroads so to speak," Lupe explained as she moved one of her arms up, "One that is calm and leads you to what's right…" she then held up her other arm, "And the other filled with a deep pain and rage that would envelop your very being." she lowered the arm she had just raised, "I chose to go down the calm path. Right now, I am the leader of an entire village, protecting it from Robotnik's forces. I am giving it my best to be there for my people and they, in turn, are giving their all to freeing Mobius from Robotnik''s tyranny. It hurts still, but that pain will always be there, just...dulled; unable to hurt me as it did so long ago."

"...I see," Ben slowly nodded as he listened to the female wolf.

"Be wary of the other path, Ben Tennyson," Lupe warned, "While it is tempting and constantly attacks, you must keep your will strong and looking ahead. You have friends who are willing to help you...do not turn them away when you're feeling hurt. Fully open your heart to them when you are ready, and they in turn will help you through the pain."

Ben sat there silently as he took her words in. In truth, he wanted to talk to someone about it, but… He felt he needed to do this on his own.

"Pride goeth before the fall," Lupe spoke again, causing Ben to look at her again, "It is better to swallow one's pride at times then allow it to be commanding. Otherwise, when your pride finally relents, it will be too late and none will be able to help you."

"...Yeah," Ben nodded slowly.

"Heed these words well on your journey, Ben Tennyson," Lupe stated, "Otherwise you'll be consumed by your pain and rage, turning those close to you away, including the one who's closest to your heart."

"Huh?" Ben blinked a bit at that last part, 'The one closest to my heart?' he gave a sad chuckle, "Well...that last part is already lost…"

"And you bought what now?" Manic blinked twice.

"They called it a Dream Catcher," Roll held up the dream catcher, "It catches bad dreams and lets the good dreams go to you."

"Really?"

"Mm-hmm!" Roll nodded as Haseo held one up, "Plus, they're kawaii."

"...That means 'cute' right?" Manic asked.

"Hai."

Manic facepalmed, 'At least she tells me what it means when I ask.'

"Gomen, Manic. It's just…" Roll couldn't help but squeal a bti as she hugged Haseo, "I'm just so glad that Haseo-chan is here!"

"M-me too! I'm glad I got most of my memories back and found onee-chan!" Haseo beamed as he returned the hug, his tails wagging excitedly, so much that they were spinning like a propeller as the hedgefox and fox were slightly lifted off the ground.

"Whoa! You're like the little dude Tails," Manic gawked.

Roll giggled as Haseo's tails stopped, "That's because they both worked on it together since our families would often spend the weekends together for Kaa-chan to help Miyuki-sama with her duties as head of her clan."

"Ahh…" Manic nodded, "Still...that's pretty cool."

"Hai," Roll nodded before she felt her chest buzz, "Oh!" she pulled her phone out of her shirt, "It's a photo." she opened the file and giggled at it, "Oh my goodness. Sly-Itoko…"

"E-Eh?" Haseo blinked before Roll showed the phone, the picture being that of Sly, an annoyed Panda King, Murray, a purple lizard, Bentley, and Penelope in a conga line, all dressed as pirates, with the Guru tilting his head at the line in confusion.

"The raccoon is our Itoko, Sly," Roll pointed, "The hippo is Murray-san, Bentley-san is the turtle with Penelope-chan the mouse. Guru-san is the koala there and Panda King-san is...well...the panda."

"Ahh...s-soka," Haseo noted, looking at the picture with a small smile, "I...I hope to meet Sly-Itoko soon, Onee-chan."

"Same here," Roll nodded as Manic peeked at the picture.

"Looks like that's the dude who talks 80's," Manic pointed at the lizard, wearing a dive suit with a disco ball necklace, "Guess he's their frog man."

"Eh? Ano...he's a lizard," Roll tilted her head with Haseo, both having confused looks.

"...No no. I mean….ugh. Nevermind," Manic facepalmed.

"...eh?" The two Sakurai siblings blinked.

"Nevermind that. Just...Just hand me the phone," Manic ordered.

"Why?" Roll asked before Manic motioned to Haseo, "...Ohhhh…"

"Eh?" Haseo blinked before Roll dragged him off, "N...nani?"

"Roll, I meant taking a picture, not private talk!" Manic facepalmed.

"Oh. Gomen," Roll giggled sheepishly.

Haseo just blinked before Roll moved him right next to her, straightening his head fur a bit before kneeling down next to him, a soft smile on her face. It took him a second to realize where his older sister was going with this before he too gave a soft smile. Yacker poked out of her hair with a camera, lying over beside Manic and both took a picture.

"You know she's going to flip when she sees the photo," Bentley deadpanned at Sly while the turtle was sending the picture to another email address.

"I know. But, hey, it was kinda lonely without Carmelita here," Sly shrugged.

A ding went off from the computer and Bentley turned to it, "Seems you've gotten a response from the first one."

"That was fast," Sly noted as Bentley opened the email up and did a spit-take of his soda, "What?"

Bentley turned the laptop to him and Sly's eyes widened. He slowly reached out, touching the screen, the picture of Roll with a young twin-tailed fox with the tips of his tails two different colors.

"She found him," Sly whispered before looking at Bentley.

"Already adjusting the plans...again," Bentley muttered.

"You are the best honorary bro ever," Sly chuckled.

"Luckily for us, we now have all the members we need to get into the vault," Bentley informed, "So once I finish this, I'll be sending the e-mail to tell them it's time."

Sly nodded, "So what did you get on the 'owner' of my family's island."

"Not much," Bentley replied, "Dr. M has almost little to no records about him, but I have confirmed one thing; in the last few months or so, he's been seen entering and leaving Robotropolis every few weeks. Most likely, he's allied himself with Eggman and enhanced himself like Conquering Storm has apparently done."

"...I see," Sly noted with a slight frown, "...If Dr. M is in league with ol' fatty, then we'll definitely need Manic and his bro's team's help."

Bentley nodded, "I'll be busy making the final plans then. Why don't you go see Murray and make sure he doesn't faint again when activating the van's flight mode?"

"Got it," Sly nodded.

Once he left and a minute passed, Bentley turned to a wardrobe closet, "You know Sly probably knew you were in there, even if you do know a spell to disguise your presence, your highness."

The closet rippled before becoming Aleena, "True. I would not be surprised if he did."

"Still, to think you'd come to a group of thieves for something so big," Bentley noted as he pulled out a stack of papers.

"While you may be thieves, it does not mean you are not good people just living the lives you love," Aleena replied as she looked at them.

"True," Bentley nodded.

"And congratulations to you and young Penelope. I do hope you both have a good life ahead together," Aleena smiled gently.

"Ah, well...it was nothing much," Bentley blushed, "Still, it was risky hacking into Eggman's computer systems. I barely avoided the firewall traps set up by his helper Shockwave and the ones he himself had made."

Aleena nodded before giving a sad sigh, "Still...to think fellow Mobians would side with him…"

"It's not surprising. He's been 'in charge' of your kingdom for almost two decades now," Bentley adjusted his glasses, "However, with the information you asked me to obtain, that control will more than likely be wrestled away."

Aleena nodded, "You have no idea how much what you've done means to the entire planet."

"Of course I do; I read the information once I got it all," Bentley smirked, adjusting his glasses.

Aleena nodded. Minutes later, when Penelope came in, Aleena was long gone along with the stack of papers.

"A temporary trade?" Alpha repeated, sitting on the pickup with Tsubaki standing across from him in the empty garage.

"Yes," Tsubaki nodded, "I'd...like to trade places with Haseo for a bit."

"...I think I see where you're going with this," Alpha nodded.

"Yes. Roll and Haseo just found each other, and it would be too painful to separate them once more," Tsubaki explained, "Also...I'd...like to catch up with Noel and help her out in anyway."

Alpha nodded once more, "Yeah. She did seem sad when you guys were talking about heading out somewhere."

Tsubaki nodded, "Makoto and I talked about it and we both thought it would be good for everyone if I went with you for a bit while Haseo went with his sister for a bit. See his home again and even meet his cousin."

"Understandable," Alpha nodded again, "He's been away from home for so long, he probably doesn't know what it looks like now." he grinned a little, "Aw, what the hey? I'm cool with it."

"...Arigatou, Alpha-san," Tsubaki bowed a bit.

"No prob. Plus, hey, it would be nice to have another girl for Noel to hang out with. And who better than one of her friends?" Alpha nodded, 'Plus it would be handy to have someone extra just in case Jacky tries one of his 'get rich quick' schemes when we run out of supplies.'

"Hai," Tsubaki nodded again, "I'll go and gather my things."

"Take your time," Alpha waved before, once Tsubaki was gone, he looked over his shoulder, "You okay with this?"

"Yeah," Sonic got up from lying down in the bed of the truck, "I'm cool with it. Plus, it'll be sweet to get to know my new little bro."

"Cool," Alpha nodded, "You guys be careful out there."

"Same goes to you man," Sonic said as he jumped off the truck, "You guys ever need us, we're just a phone call away."

"Same here," Alpha grinned as the two shook hands.

"So an alternate me assisted in making these ID Masks for Ben, Tsubaki, and Makoto to wear?" Rook asked, looking at the three ID Masks in Manic and Tsubaki's lab.

"Yeah," Manic nodded, "These things have been a mondo help in places that don't like Beastkin and Overlanders."

"Interesting," Rook noted, "You would not by any chance have a few spare ones, would you?"

"Been trying to make some extras," Manic replied, "But the wiring's been a bit of a bitch."

"May I see?" Rook offered.

"Help yourself," Manic held up three incomplete ID Masks.

"Hmm…" Rook pulled out his Proto-Tool and a small piece extended into a welding torch, "This seems quite simple enough to connect. You have done quite well with making these."

"Well, Tsubaki and I have been working hard," Manic shrugged, "That and a few lessons from Greymatter and Brainstorm are a mondo help."

"I see," Rook noted as he focused on the mask, "Still, you an interesting job with these."

"Thanks, bro."

"We are not siblings," Rook stated.

"...It's a figure of speech," Manic sweatdropped.

"Very confusing," Rook stated, "Much like when Jacky told me to 'chill the heck out' one time. Those two things are a contradiction."

"..." Manic sweatdropped further at that as Rook continued to finish the ID Masks' circuitry.

"Alright...just a few more...and finished," Rook said as he moved back from the ID Masks.

"Really?" Manic asked, raising a brow a bit at him.

"Yes," Rook nodded.

"...That was kinda fast," Manic noted.

"The building of an ID Mask from the natural resources of a planet you are currently on are an Advanced Class final assignment at the Plumbers Academy," Rook informed, "Aside from a few places in the circuitry, this would have been considered a near-passing grade."

"Oh...I….see," Manic slowly blinked.

"What is one method in subduing a single Appoplexian when they are upset?" Rook asked.

"Cut off their air using a bubble on their head and they'll be knocked out after shouting stuff at you," Manic shrugged, "Why do you ask?"

"That was a question on the advanced methodology courses in the Plumbers Academy since the majority of aliens tend to flee on sight when it comes to an Apopplexian," Rook informed, "It appears that Ben Tennyson has been subconsciously teaching your entire group the same courses he endured in his short month in the Plumbers Academy."

"Ahh...huh. Go figure," Manic shrugged.

'The only question is; did he do this subconsciously or on purpose so they could be prepared for alien races that may appear now that the planet has been noticed by the Plumbers?' Rook pondered.

"Okay! You're all clear!" J called as Rook stopped backing the pickup out of the bus's garage.

"Thanks for the add-on," Jacky grinned, looking at the dome on the back of the pickup, the crane replaced by it, "Now we won't get soaked in a surprise night storm."

"It will be very helpful," J nodded.

"Not gonna threaten the others if they hurt Haseo?" Alpha whispered as he and Ragna looked over at Haseo being hugged by Roll and Yacker hugging Haseo's head.

"Nah. He's got his sister and Ben there," Ragna shrugged, "If anything, they'll be the ones who will rip anyone who messes with the kid while he's with them."

"Ahh…and no complaints about Tsubaki staying with us in Haseo's place?" Alpha asked, quietly once more.

"So long as she doesn't try to arrest me or kill me or some shit, we're good," Ragna frowned.

"That and you don't want Noel crying because you did something dickish."

"Alpha, I swear to god that I will…" Ragna growled.

"Seriously, it's like you're her older brother or something."

"?!" Ragna's eyes widened briefly before his face smoothed into its perpetual scowl, "Whatever."

Alpha raised a brow as Ragna walked back into the truck, the hedgehog noting how Ragna tensed up when he said that.

"Oh...Come on, Noellie, don't cry now," Makoto sniffled, "Because if you start crying, then I'm gonna start crying, and we both know that when I cry and you cry, Tsubai starts crying…"

"H...hai," Noel whimpered, tears trying to escape her eyes.

"C-Come on now, Noellie, Tsubaki's gonna be with ya," Makoto added, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Th-That's right," Tsubaki nodded, forcing the tears back in her own.

"W….we'll see each other again soon...hai?" Noel asked.

"O..of course…" Makoto nodded, trying to keep a smile on her face, "After all...we….we're...we're best friends."

"Y-Yes! We are!" Tsubaki nodded, giving her best smile.

Manic held up three fingers. He lowered one and then the next before pointing the last at the three girls, who hugged and cried loudly. Sonia rolled her eyes at Manic's action before slapping the back of his head. Manic grumbled as he rubbed the back of his head while Sonia curtsied to Rook as she walked by him and into the Underground Bus.

"...Ugh. I've had enough of this sob fest," Jacky mumbled as he walked into the truck, earning him a smack to the head from Alpha as he passed by, "Ow! Jerk…"

"Good luck with finding your brother, you two," Ben said.

"We'll save him no matter what happens," J assured, "And you all take care as well."

"We will. Thanks," Ben nodded.

J nodded back as he walked into the truck.

"Nervous, Haseo?" Sonic asked as everyone was getting into the respective vehicles.

"...H-hai, Sonic-Onii-chan," Haseo nodded slowly.

"...You want to say good bye to Noel before we leave, don't ya?" Sonic asked.

"H-hai," Haseo nodded.

"Okay, okay," Sonic chuckled.

"Noel-san!" Roll called, "Haseo-chan has something to say to you before we get going!"

"E-eh?" Noel spoke, wiping some tears from her eyes as she looked over at Haseo.

"A-ano…A...arigatou for taking care of me, Noel-nee!" Haseo called out, "I hope to see you again someday!"

"...H-Hai!" Noel agreed before Roll walked up to her, "Hm?"

"Noel-san," Roll bowed, "Arigatou for being there for my Niichan." she stood up and held up a small wood pendant carved into the shape of a fox in the shape of a heart, "Take this and know you're considered an honorary Sakurai for your services in protecting him. Any who know of our family will know you are considered a Sakurai and are to be treated as such."

"S...soka…" Noel whispered as she took the pendant, "...A...arigatou, Roll-san. I'll keep it close to me at all times."

"Noel Vermillion-Sakurai. Kinda rolls off the tongue," Makoto giggled before Roll's eye twitched.

"CUBE!" Yacker declared.

"Eh?" Makoto blinked twice before yelping as she jumped back from the Cube Hammer slamming down where she had been.

"I hate puns involving my name," Roll stoically informed, her blue eyes emotionless as she hefted the hammer onto her shoulders with her blue arm.

"Gh?!" Makoto tensed as she ran behind Ben, shaking from the tone she used, despite it being emotionless, "H-hai. Gomen, Roll-sama."

"D-Did you know she could that?" Noel whispered to Tsubaki, looking at Roll with wide eyes.

"A-A little...Didn't think she could make a hammer of all things, though," Tsubai gulped.

"S...soka…" Noel gulped, "...A-ano...bye, Haseo-chan! Roll-san!" she yelped as she ran into the truck.

"...Why did she act weird?" Roll asked, still emotionless.

"Uh, Roll? Yacker may wanna split from you?" Sonic sweatdropped as Haseo was hiding behind him with wide eyes while Sonic pointed down at him.

"...Oh. Apologies," Roll responded as Yacker flew out of the cube, causing it to revert back to her sword as the hedgefox blinked a bit, "Gomen nassai, Noel-san! Haseo-chan!"

"E...eto...it's fine…" Haseo whispered, hiding behind Sonic still.

"H-hai!" Noel replied from inside the truck.

"Makoto...never make jokes involving her name," Tsubaki ordered.

"Understood….very understood, Tsubaki," Makoto nodded rapidly, still shaking a bit as she held onto Ben, her covered bosom pressing against his back.

"And this is why I try to not piss off girls," Ragna glanced at Jacky.

"R...right," Jacky nodded nervously, shaken up after seeing roll act like that before he dashed into the truck, 'Holy crap! She's scarier than my, J, and Jake's cousin! And she's a menace!'

"Help me: Professor Kokonoe!" A chibi style omake

Starring: Professor Kokonoe, Tager, Cassia, and Clove

The curtain lifted, revealing something of a dark unlit lab…Said lab being somewhat messy. Then a spotlight sparked to life, revealing a fairly young adult catgirl with a slim body, wearing a large scientist like jacket with abnormally long sleeves that end up looking like paws, with cuts made in them allowing her slender arms to slip through, red pants with two long pink tails with white tips coming from the back, and high-heeled sandals. Her hair was pink, tied in a style consisting of a long ponytail backing up longer tufts resembling large cat ears which tend to overshadow her actual cat ears. Her eyes were a golden-amber with visible bags under them, possibly due to over-working, and she was also wearing glasses. With a certain elegancy, she began to speak.

"Hello lost children. I am Professor Kokonoe, lord and master of the Sector Seven laboratory," She paused to push her glasses back into place briefly, and then began to speak again, "…Well, OK, we aren't in the lab at the moment. This place can sort of be temporarily moved into the Boundary. Well, simply put, it's a mysterious room. A mysterious room where you can do anything you want. To be honest, it's a paradise for all those sad, little children who couldn't make it to the true ending. A sort of Avalon. If you're one of those nutbars who's all 'I don't need help,' or 'I want to unlock hidden stuff,' or 'I'll just look for a flowchart online,' then you can piss off."

She proceeded to sigh.

"Anyway, my job here more or less is to do three things every five chapters. First: Answer common questions that I believe most people are asking. Second: To do a little re-cap of what happened in the past five chapters for you idiots who decide to skip them to get to the good parts in later chapters. And finally, give out supporting information to further your understanding of the terms of BlazBlue and Ben 10," Kokonoe proceeded to glare at you, "One thing I would like to make clear now, is that none of the actions in this segment are considered cannon to the story, regardless of how crazy, funny, or even lovey-dovey it is. If I get one message asking about if this was cannon or not, I'm castrating the sender of said message with a cattle prod and a rusty knife!"

Kokonoe proceeded to sigh once more. It was rather repetitive for her at that point. She began to speak yet again to you, the reader.

"Very well. Now that that's out of the way, lost children of the day…you may enter," She ordered, and suddenly the whole lab lit up and Kokonoe took a few steps back.

As if on cue, the sound of a metal door sliding open echoed in the area. Cassia and Clover entered, walking into the middle of the lab.

=What the heck? Sis, I think we took a wrong turn= Cassia looked around.

"I'm not sure where we are, Cassia," Clover noted, moving her sister behind her, "Stay close."

"Kokonoe, you forgot the door's thickness again," Tager reminded.

=Holy cow! That guy's huge!= Cassia exclaimed.

"Goddammit! Again?! And just when I finally got my special back!" Kokonoe growled in annoyance, "Ugh….damn it, GammaTron."

=...Uh...what's she talking about, sis?= Cassia whispered to her sister.

"I'm...not sure," Clover blinked twice.

Kokonoe sighed, "Look, it's like this; you two are stuck in here until you finish helping me and/or I give you advice. Capishe?"

"...Very well," Clove nodded, "I'd like to keep conflict out of this anyway, so it'll work out for both of us."

"Good. Now let's move on," Kokonoe stated.

QUESTIONS:

"First we'll start with th…" Kokonoe began as she noticed the inbox was only filled with five questions, "...ugh...god damn lazy author. This is what happens when you don't update a story in a year or two!"

"Kokone, there are more questions than that," Tager informed.

"Oh really? Then where are they?" Kokonoe asked before Cassia pointed to another pile of questions, "..."

"There are also some reviews that GammaTron has asked me to respond to immediately from a 'Lewamus Prime,'" Tager added, "No, we are not using Angeloids from Heaven's Lost Property since they are considered non-canon to this universe as far as GammaTron is concerned with. He enjoys the series Heaven's Lost Property, but will not use it for this story. Furthermore, he saw Transformers 4 and felt at odds with it, primarily with the Dinobots. So, please, DON'T USE YOUR REVIEWS TO DO A SYNOPSIS OF A FILM! Furthermore, he will NOT use the Bayverse version of Grimlock for this unless it is with another Ben. And he knows about Omniverse, Lewamus Prime, but the Ben here takes place in an AU Ultimate Alien where there is no Diagon and he is more mature than the other Bens his age because he had to grow up after his parents were murdered by the Forever Knights."

"Uh-huh…" Kokonoe's eye twitched.

"Furthermore; to a 'Winky Keaton': DON'T USE YOUR REVIEWS TO TELL ABOUT ALIENS THAT ARE ALREADY KNOWN TO THE AUTHOR!" Tager informed, "When GammaTron does a story, he will do his best to make sure he studies everything about the series, including random trivia. So, please, DO NOT USE YOUR REVIEWS TO TELL ABOUT THE SERIES IN QUESTION THAT IS BEING USED IN TERMS OF THINGS THAT CAN BE FOUND ON THE VARIOUS WIKIAS AND TV TROPES."

=...Uh...wh don't we move onto someone else?= Cassia offered =like...these questions from A5L=

"Yes. I am finished with the rants for GammaTron, so let's move on," Tager nodded, "Fortunately, A5L, Kokonoe has yet to figure out how to get to Mobius."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Kokonoe growled.

"It means that I fear for the planet if you figured out a way to get there," Tager deadpanned, "Especially with his second question involving what crazy ideas you've thought up to use against Robotnik and his forces."

Kokonoe began to laugh, "Oh the things I've come up with…"

=Sis...I'm scared= Cassia shivered behind Clover as Kokonoe laughed maniacally.

"No. Bad, Kokonoe, bad catgirl," Tager scolded, spraying Kokonoe with a spray bottle, earning a hiss from her as she moved away, "A bad idea to ask that when we have two members of Eggman's forces here as guests."

"Indeed," Clove frowned at Kokonoe.

"...Fine, fine…" Kokonoe muttered, "...Move onto Seanzilla's questions. There's only two there anyway, so we can get by those fast."

"Kokonoe, you forgot A5L's last question," Tager held up the PM, "Is there anything from the Sonic Universe, besides the Chaos Emeralds, you wanted to study and experiment on?"

"Well, perhaps the Roboticization process and the Cyberization process," Kokonoe rubbed her chin in thought, "Oh, and probably dissect a Robian and a Mobian that went through Cyberization."

=...Now I'm really scared= Cassia whimpered.

"Grr…" Clove frowned as she glared at Kokonoe.

"Let's move on to Seanzilla115's questions. And before anyone asks, he wanted her opinion on these," Tager looked at the reader, "First; What do you think of the Grand masters in Eggman's Dark Legion revealed so far in this story?" he looked to see Kokonoe trying to sneak closer to Cassia before he picked her up by the scruff of her jacket, "We know you want to try to study Cassia, but no."

"Fine…" Kokonoe grumbled, "Conquering Storm is an enigma to me and I hate ninjas in general, mainly because of that headache-inducing idiot Bang Shishigami. As for Clove…" she looked at the older pronghorn, "You are a fucking idiot."

"What?" Clove narrowed her eyes at her.

"You know why you're a fucking idiot," Kokonoe narrowed her eyes.

"OKAY!" Tager moved Kokonoe away from Clove, "Let's move on. Kokonoe, how do you...oh…" he put the other question through a shredder, "Best not ask her that one. I'd rather not have her start destroying everything and everyone in here...again."

=She did what now?= Cassia asked.

"Seeker213, Omniketsu will develop forms like Senketsu and Junketsu could, but GammaTron is refusing any ideas for new forms for Omniketsu at this time," Tager informed, "And as for the Optimus Prime robot...no. Just...no. The Cybertronians you've seen in the story so far are the only ones that will be shown." he looked over at the two pronghorns, "You answering some of these reviews will help a lot."

=H-Huh? Oh, right…= Cassia grabbed a paper =Oh. AnnaSaint25, glad that your boyfriend recommended this. Sorry it's been a while since GammaTron updated this thing, but he got inspired big time to continue this, so no worries on that= she looked at the question =What's a Wisp?=

"I'll answer this," Clove replied, "AnnaSaint25, Ben had the DNA of a Wisp in the Omnitrix, but he has yet to unlock it yet." she looked at another, "New Decade1994, Feedback will be in this story and how he's unlocked will be an interesting way."

"If you mean Carl Clover, HolyMage Muto, then yes. He'll be appearing in the story," Kokonoe replied, "A lot of BlazBlue characters will appear sooner or later in this story. Just be patient."

=Ultimate-Zelda-Fan ask; How many dimensional visitors do you plan this story to have?= Cassia read the next question =...Um...We're not sure. There might be more, there might not be more=

"Raidentensho, we are not replacing Sonia's piano with a trumpet just so we can do a shitty parody of Final Attack Ride Hibiki for your fucking amusement," Kokonoe snorted.

"This from a PM from ablack1, asking if Ben will eventually be able to use Grimlock without the negative effects," Tager looked at a PM, "...The answer is no, that form will always cause damage to Ben's actual body if he doesn't change into one of his regenerative aliens before he changes back into his human self. That will not change, no matter how much anyone else wants it to change. Not until GammaTron thinks it's enough."

"Okay. That was the last question! Let's move on, shall we?" Kokonoe smiled before Tager pulled her away from her tools, "Oh come on, Tager!"

"Moving on," Tager deadpanned.

RECAP:

"...A lot to recap on since a certain someone skipped my segment for chapter 25," Kokonoe noted with a frown.

"He had a bad week when that chapter came, Kokonoe. Let it go," Tager frowned, adjusting his glasses.

"...Ugh...fine," Kokonoe sighed, "Chapter 21 was a christmas chapter more or less, so we'll skip that. The following one took place at a museum with a murder happening."

"Kokonoe, that's too vague," Tager frowned, "In Chapter 21 and 22, it was revealed that Rook was on Mobius to arrest Ben for murdering those people of the NOL. Though, it would most likely be someone else with shapeshifting powers. Furthermore, in Chapter 22, we discovered that the Medallions, not just Sonic's, has a second form to them, and that one of their ancestors wielded all three medallions."

"Pretty much after that chapter, Sonic and Roll have a run in Chaos, aka mr. water god that can make tenta-"

"Kokonoe!"

"What?! Not my fault there's a bunch of perverts out there making pics like those!" Kokonoe snapped.

"We have a minor as a guest," Tager frowned, motioning to Cassia, who had her ears covered by Clove's hands while the older sister glared at the scientist catgirl.

"Fine fine...my bad," Kokonoe muttered, "Ahem. Moving on...chapter 24 was more or less a crossover chapter involving another old story of GammaTron's involving Pokemon and One Piece."

"Which has been rewritten and published by Zane the Wordsmith," Clove informed.

"Whatever. Chapter 24 also gave Sonia and Manic new clothes and Sonic those shoes from Sonic '06," Kokonoe rolled her eyes, "They also get a bit deeper into hinting that there's a curse on the Medallions when they turn 18. Next chapter afterwards, they head off to Casinopolis for a Chaos Emerald, and Ben and Makoto end up running into Ragna the Bloodedge. They would've gotten the Chaos Emerald, but a certain possessed raccoon came in and stole it."

=That guy was scary= Cassia gulped.

"Tell me about it," Kokonoe muttered, "The next two chapters are a two parter, involving Sonic's group and the group of Sly Cooper meeting up in Chunan, where they both had to deal with General Tsao…" a large frown grew on her face, "Fucking sexist bastard."

"Agreed," Clove nodded.

"Thank god they took him down. I was set on sending Tager there myself and have the bastard deep fried or honey roasted," Kokonoe growled, "Ahem...anyways, it's also here we find out about Conquering Storm and her Raiju being part of Robotnik's empire as part of his Dark Legion, and that they have a rivalry of sorts with Ryugu."

"I have heard Conquering Storm bring that up once in a meeting," Clove recalled.

"Right..well also here, we find out that Tsao had the blade of Roll's family, revealing that his father had an assassin steal it from it's previous wielder because...know what? I'll end that info on that," Kokonoe stated, "Anyways, with Tsao behind bars, the group heads back off to Ryugu, with the Chunan Freedom Fighters in tow, to inform them two things. One; That Roll's family blade has been returned. And two; the news about Robotnik's Dark Legion."

"Of course, when they arrived, it turns out that Sly Cooper's ancestor, Rioichi Cooper, retired to Ryugu and created the Shinobi Corps in return for the honesty of the delegate, one of Roll's ancestors, to wanting him for his sushi skills," Tager noted, "A celebration was declared for both the return of the Cooper Family and the return of the Sakurai family sword."

"Also a bit of a shocking revelation from Sly and Roll as, thanks to the latter finding a book on her family's history, are cousins more or less," Kokonoe added, "Anyways, the next day after the two groups separate, Sonic and his team arrive in Northamer."

"Where they encountered my sister and I," Clove spoke up.

"Still say you're a fuckign idiot for trusting that fatass," Kokonoe snorted, earning her a glare from Clove.

"It's not like I had a choice," Clove frowned, her hands over Cassia's ears.

"Sure you didn't," Kokonoe rolled her eyes.

"My sister was gravely I'll and couldn't hear or smell anything," Clove growled, her hands still over Cassia's ears as she glared at the cat girl scientist, "What else was I supposed to do?"

"Do what you did, but not with the fatass."

"..."

"Moving on!"

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

"...What? There's barely anything else to talk about," Kokonoe snorted.

"What about Shadow Edge, Ben Tennyson's latest alien?" Tager asked.

"You mean that one alien Seanzilla115 created? Tch...and I thought GammaTron was an uncreative idiot." Kokonoe snorted, "Basically, that 'alien' was a creature called a Zan: a ninja-like monster from the Monster Rancher series. Basically...as I stated, they're supposed to be the ninja of the series...despite the fact they were originally created in a lab more or less. Like ninja, they're incredibly fast and stealthy, and can use those claws of theirs to pierce the enemy's defenses if they wanted to. However, because of their agility, they're also incredibly weak in terms of defense, meaning even a very strong blow from a hammer would cause major damage to them."

"Interesting…" Clove noted.

"If we're done here, then get out," Kokonoe ordered.

=Huh?= Cassia blinked.

"There is a plot bunny that needed to be addressed, Kokonoe," Tager noted.

"Huh?"

Clove looked at a pile of papers, "Oh. There is. Apparently, the chapter that introduces Chaos, Yacker turned into Green Hover to at as Roll's board for the game of tag she and Sonic had prior to running into Chaos 0."

=And yet she's surprised about Hover in A Cold Alliance 1= Cassia added =How'd that happen?=

"Easy enough to explain," Kokonoe rolled her eyes, "With all the shit going on in their lives, she most likely just forgot the damn thing existed."

=Ahh...fair enough I guess= Cassia shrugged =So….are we done here now?=

"Just one last thing that I wanna ask," Kokonoe informed, "Did you touch any strange thing before your sight and hearing began to go tits up on you?"

Clove covered Cassia's ears, "Language."

"I think we're done here," Tager noted, "Let me escort you two out before Kokonoe tries something."

"Hey! I want…"

*POOF*

Kokonoe collapsed, purring loudly.

"Catnip Grenade," Tager adjusted his glasses while lowering his pointer finger from where Kokonoe had been standing.

"Ahh...clever," Clove noted.

=Seriously, can we get out of here now?= Cassia asked =The less I see that creepy catgirl the better=

"Right this way," Tager motioned before the two followed him.

GammaTron: *still dressed up as Gavin* Phew. Hopefully, she won't try to murder me now that she got to do this again.

SZ: Indeed. Still, this was a pretty good chapter to write more or less.

GT: Eeyup. Family reunited, friends brought back together, discovery of a pocket Zone with an entire race of Echidnas with one from that pocket Zone now allied with Eggman…

SZ: Yeah...that part...well in the original timeline of the comics...I didn't like how that was never fully solved...but I blame a certain A-hole for suing Archie comics and taking a majority of characters away, most of which he doesn't even use!

GT: *holds up a club that exact shape of SZ's FanFiction avatar* Want me to smack you on the head with this if you go on a rant, SZ?

SZ: No...I've pretty much said what I had to say for now, so I'm good.

GT: ...I'll still keep this out. Still, at least Knuckles knows there's more Echidnas than him. Though, it's gonna be awkward if he ever does free them and he meets the other him's wife.

SZ: ...yeah. That's...gonna be awkward.

GT: Big time.

SZ: Yeah...Ahem! Um, is there anything else you want to bring up before we close things off, GT?

GT: Not really. Just make sure everyone who reads this leaves a review with a question for the next Kokonoe segment and to check out Seanzilla115's stories here on FanFiction.

SZ: Ahh...alrighty. So...until next time, I'm Seanzilla115, and he's GammaTron…

GT: ...And we bid you adieu.