GammaTron: *wearing a construction helmet* Welcome, everyone!
SZ: *walks in, wiping a bti of sweat off his face* yo, guys. Welcome to the first of the rest/filler chapters for Omniverse Underground.
GT: That's right, Seanzilla115.
SZ: Eeyup. And to make things a bit interesting, each one will focus on one or two of our main cast.
GT: So let's get things started off with the clean up of Perfect Chaos's rampage, shall we?
SZ: Indeed. And no need for Disclaimers. Everyone already knows who and what we own, and who and what series we don't own.
GT: That's right. *pulls screen down* Showtime!
"Okay...I've scanned, rescanned, double-checked those findings, and had them rechecked and rescanned multiple times," Cyrus noted as he, Aleena, Lupe, and Miyuki were at a makeshift medical tent that was set up outside of the ruined city, "And there's absolutely no traces of Roboticization on him."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Though…" Cyrus began as he held his chin in thought, "How's that even possible?"
"...I think I might know, kyu," Miyuki spoke up, "Perhaps the energy Super Sonic released must've fully cured any Roboticized Mobians that survived the flood Chaos created, kyu."
"Possibly," Cyrus noted as an Overlander ran up.
"We...We were able to get a sample of the water before it was all drained away," the Overlander explained as she handed Cyrus a set of papers, "The results says that the water is highly irradiated with three different kinds of energy, two of which seem to be countering one-another."
"Really?" Lupe questioned.
"Remember, it was not just my eldest son there," Aleena reminded, "Benjamin was there as his To'kustar form and then used his device's Evolution Feature while standing in the water that Perfect Chaos was using as his body, fueled by the negative energies inside the Chaos Emeralds."
"The two conflicting energies of the three must have been Super Sonic and Perfect Chaos's energies, kyu," Miyuki realized.
"Wait...if this is true…" Cyrus began with wide eyes, "...We have a cure for Robotization." He then looked at the overlander, "Gather up a team, put some hazmat suits on, and gather up as much of that water as possible."
"I'll have some of my wolves help in the search," Lupe offered.
"Um...About that…" the Overlander began before she motioned to a group of Mobians, Beastkin, and Overlanders pulling over a vat of water.
"...Thankyu, White-kyun!" Miyuki called out to the ruined city.
"Seriously, is that hedgehog psychic or something?" one of the Hazmat Beastkin asked.
"We are not starting this conversation…" Cyrus sighed, shaking his head.
"Hopefully, the clean up teams we've made to handle the wreckage are doing a good job," Lupe attempted to distract.
"We are all set up," Rook gave Manic a thumbs up, a machine with a crystal ball set at the top connected to Manic's drums.
"Okay. Let's hope this works," Manic began to play a repeated rhythm on his drums, sending out a pulse of green energy.
A light below the ball shined into it before displaying a 3D map of the area's current state. Manic continued to play his drums in order to keep the map on.
"Yes! It works!" Tsubaki cheered before looking at a map, "It seems to me that due to underground tunneling, Perfect Chaos erupted right beneath the ground through the tunnels, collapsing most of the city and the sewers beneath the city into the underground tunnels."
"There appears to be movement in some of the dilapidated buildings," Rook observed before taking out his badge, "Ben, please head to sector 2-5-4."
=On it, Rook= Ben replied on the line.
"Hmm…" Tsubaki mummered as she looked at the map, seeing a signature of sorts within Eggman's ex-castle, "...I think there might be a computer or two still active in the castle."
"I will contact Alpha and see if he can 'speak' with the intact computers," Rook informed, getting on the line.
"Good. If he can, we might be able to get some information on Eggman's whereabouts, including information on the rest of the Dark Legion and such," Tsubaki added.
"Do not get your hopes up," Rook advised, "The initial plan never goes well." he looked up at the map, "And it seems that everyone who came here to aid in liberating the city are doing their part in dealing with the debris and helping in search efforts."
"Good," Tsubaki nodded before she turned on a communicator, "Makoto, Noel, how's everything going on your end?"
=Everything's good on our end so far, Tsubaki= Makoto replied =We'll give you guys a heads up if we come across anything=
"Good," Tsubaki nodded, "Hopefully with how things are going, we might be able to rebuild the city sooner than expected."
"Though, we would need to deal with new issues, such as filling in the underground tunnels, rebuild new sewer systems, and a few other issues in order to make sure the city does not have to deal with a flood everytime it rains heavily," Rook pointed out.
"...Good point," Tsubaki noted.
"Got that right," Manic agreed, pausing in his drumming and causing the map to turn off, "Whoops." he resumed playing and the map returned, "Gotta keep drumming so we can use the echolocation for the map."
"I hope that the others are doing well," Rook noted, looking out at the destruction in concern.
"DRILL!"
"AIYAH!" Roll cried out as she swung her sword, the twisted blade of it spiraling like a powerful yellow drill.
The drill-blade struck the rubble and began to tear through it like a fish through water. Yacker jumped out of Roll's blade, the triangular yellow Wisp spinning around before turning back into his normal state, holding his head/body while his eye spun around. Roll walked in.
"Konnichiwa~" Roll greeted, seeing a few injured Mobians inside of the destroyed building, "Please make your way out through this entrance, please. Make sure to help each other and other Freedom Fighters out there will assist you to the medical tents."
"Freedom...Fighters?" one of the eldest, a grey barn owl Mobian repeated.
"You'll have to forgive the poor guy," a insect Mobian noted, wearing tattered red and green clothing that seemed to be akin to what the poor would see a royalty amongst them, as he patted the owl on the back, "He's probably one of the first ones Roboticized before the Freedom Fighters were formed. It's all pretty much a blank for many of us."
"Soka...It's no problem. Just know that there are good Mobians, Beastkin, and Overlanders out there assisting in helping everyone in the city get to the medical tents we've set up outside of here," Roll assured.
"Beastkin and Overlanders!?" one of the Mobians exclaimed in disgust, "After what Robotnik has done, you expect them to help?"
Roll cringed, realizing that there might be a few racist Mobians that had been Roboticized, "They are not like Eggman-Hakase."
"Eggman?!" the insect Mobian repeated before giving a laugh, "Oh, I needed that! Very nice!" he picked up one of the limping Mobians, "Well, come on now! We've got injured to get out of here and to those tents!"
"..."
"...oh….I think she's serious," a bear Mobian spoke before frowning, "...If that's true, then no. We don't need the help of those monsters and mutant freaks."
"You do realize that it's because of an Overlander that you were freed from Roboticization, hai?" Roll frowned, 'Well, that and a Kami and Sonikku…'
"Tch! Please...it's probably a front so he can do the same thing, if not worse," the bear scoffed. "Face it, little lady. There's no way we'll ever accept the help of Overlanders, or those half breed mutated freaks called Beastkin! In fact, that last one are nothing but a stain on Mobius itself, and should be purged!"
*POW*
"I do humbly apologize for his rudeness," the insect Mobian apologized, lowering the rock he had before looking over at the few others that had been nodding in agreement with the bear, "We are all just a little mixed in being freed from our enslavement. Right?" sounds of agreement came from the ones he was staring at, "See? Now then, let's move out!"
"Arigatou for that. I was close to hitting him myself," Roll thanked as the other Mobians made their way out, helping other Mobians in the wreckage of a building, "My name is Roll Sakurai."
"A Sakurai? Quite a noble family from the far north here? Last I heard, we had just gotten agreement for help from the land up there," the insect noted, "As for myself, I am Ferrell."
"?!" Roll's eyes widened, "You're Ferrell? O-Oh my goodness! Manic-san is going to be so happy to see you're safe!"
"Manic? You know him?" Ferrell asked, "Is he okay? He didn't get Roboticized, did he?"
"He didn't," Roll assured, "He's helping with the rescue efforts by mapping out the area with Tsubaki-chan and Rook-san."
"Oh thank god…" Ferrell sighed in relief, "When they came for me, wanting to know about the kid, I refused to tell them a single thing. He's got a good heart and a great potential for becoming one of the greats like those Coopers." he began to walk off, "I'll need to find him once I get this fellow to those medical tents. Thank you for telling me he's safe, Ms. Sakurai."
"No problem, Ferrell-san," Roll smiled.
Three blocks down, Sonic summoned his guitar and fired a laser, destroying a large pile of rubble. He went through the cloud of debris and came out a few moments later, carrying a little girl while a small group of children, a few teens, and a single adult followed him.
"Thank you for saving us. But...where are we?" the cat Mobian asked as he looked around.
"The site formerly known as Robotropolis," Sonic replied.
"I...I see...Um...What year is it?" the cat asked before Sonic responded, "What?! B-But...That can't be right...could it?"
"When did you get Roboticized?"
"From what you said? I've most likely been a Robian for six years now," the cat replied, "But...I can't remember a single moment of my time as it. It's like a blur."
"Could be the trauma from being Roboticized or maybe just being a Robian shut your brain off while you were a Robian," Sonic suggested before stopping one of the kids from trying to run off, "Stay close. I promise that we're going somewhere safe for now." 'Thank god for all those times I visited and stayed at Sanctuary with Nun-Kaka.'
"...O-okay…" the young Mobian rabbit nodded.
"See anything, Noel?" Makoto asked as she and Noel looked around a different part of the city.
"Not really," Noel replied, looking around sadly at the destruction, "It's so horrible. C...Could this have been what it was like in the aftermath of the Black Beast's attacks for so many places?"
"Maybe," Makoto replied, "Still, we have to do our best to help clean up what happened."
"H...hai," Noel nodded before a pile of rubble near them exploded, "Eep!"
"And that is how you make an effective concussive noise-based weapon from scraps," a voice noted, earning cheers.
The two looked at the rubble to see a hedgehog in his mid-late twenties walk out, wearing a red shirt under a white lab coat and blue jeans. His sunkissed blond quills were longer than most male hedgehogs while he had emerald eyes. In his hands was a strange device that seemed to have been made from parts of an EggPawn. He lowered it as few children followed him out, some Beastkin and others Mobian, and a few older Mobians. The hedgehog looked around before seeing the two.
"Hello!" he greeted, "Could someone direct us to the nearest medical tent if one's been set up? And perhaps tell us today's date?"
"...A...ano…." Noel blinked slowly.
"What? Did I startle you or something?" the hedgehog asked, "Sorry about that. It was getting uncomfortable down there and the kiddies with us were starting to get scared."
"It's fine, just...be careful when you do stuff like that mister…" Makoto began before blinking a bit, "...Ano…"
"Oh, my bad. Name's Skye, Skye Sakurai."
"?! S-Sakurai?!" Makoto gasped, "D...Do you know a Roll Sakurai and a Haseo Sakurai by any chance?"
"Yeah. They're my cute little kids," Skye replied before pulling out a wallet and opened it, causing a roll of pictures to fall out, showing baby pictures and kiddy pictures of Roll and Haseo, "If I was Roboticized for a little while, they should still be eight and four respectively."
"..."
"..."
"...What?" Skye blinked, "...Wait. Did something happen to them?"
"..." Makoto said nothing as she held her communicator up, "Uh...Sonic? If you're free...bring Roll and Haseo over here this instant."
=Why?=
"A-ano….we found someone that knows them," Noel responded.
=...I'll be right over=
"Eh?" Skye blinked at that as Makoto put her communicator away, "...Wait. How do you…?"
"Just wait a few moments, sir," Makoto assured as Noel began to direct the others to where the nearest Freedom Fighters were.
"...Okay…?" Skye raised a brow at that.
"They should be here in 3….2….1…" Makoto counted down before a pair of blue and yellow blurs stopped near her, Haseo being carried by the latter before being put down.
"What's up, Makoto? Noel?" Sonic asked.
"What did you need us for, Makoto-chan, Noel-Neechan?" Roll asked.
"Yeah," Makoto nodded before pointing at Skye, "He says he knows you, Roll-chan, Haseo-can."
"Eh? R...really?" Haseo blinked as he looked at Skye, who looked at them with wide eyes.
"Eh?" Roll blinked twice before looking at Skye before her eyes widened, "?! O...Otou-san?"
"Beg pardon?" Skye blinked.
"T…..T….Tou-san…?" Haseo whispered with wide eyes.
"Wait…" Skye blinked twice, "R-Rolly-polly? Haseo-weo?"
"M-Mou…!" Roll blushed, "O-Otou-san~! Don't say that name!"
"R-Rolly-polly?" Sonic snorted back a laugh.
"H...Haseo…" Haseo began before tilting his head in confusion, "E...eh?"
"Let...Let me get a good look at you two," Skye walked up to them two, his body trembling with each step, "..." he got up to the two and looked them over, "...It...It really is you two…" he looked at Roll, "H...How old are you?"
"Sixteen, Otou-san," Roll replied.
"Six...I...I've been a Robian for eight years?" Skye's throat went dry.
"H-Hai," Roll nodded before hugging him, "Otou-san!"
"t...T...tou-san…" Haseo whispered, tears welling up in his eyes, "I...I remember...t...T…" he then ran up and hugged Skye as well, "Tou-san!"
'Eight years...Eight years...Eight years…' Skye thought, barely hugging the two before he fainted, 'Oh god...Aphrodite's going to flay me for getting Roboticized…'
"Ahh! Otou/T-tou-san!" Roll and Haseo freaked.
Alpha was looked around Eggman's now abandoned castle...or, rather...the large 'broken lower eggshell' it had become after Perfect Chaos erupted from it when he flooded the city. He avoided any broken machinery and disconnected wires to avoid being shocked and was a thousand times grateful that the water had already drained away from the area. He turned his legs into their larger state and used the extra strength in them to jump over a large pile of rubble. He landed on the other side before changing them back.
"Okay...now where are those computers Rook said were active?" Alpha said to himself as he looked around. After a few minutes of searching, he came across the main control room, seeing one, maybe two screens on, "There they are…" he walked up and placed a hand on them both, letting the gold data lines form, "Now let's see what you've got…" after a few silent moments, he frowned, "Zap." he took his hands off the computers, "Aside from a few files, they wiped out the rest of them before they evacuated….hmm...maybe I can recover at least one more..." he put his hands on the computers once more, looking for any possible left over data, "Come on...there has to be something...info on Eggman's whereabouts...info on any of the Dark Legion Grand Masters...anything…" he muttered before he got something, "There we go...darn. Only got one file on a Grand Master...but at least it's worth it. No let's see...Clove; Leader of the Northamer Dark Legion Faction. Co-leader is Cassia, her sister. Reason for joining….her younger sister got an unknown disease th-" the screen went off as the computer short circuited, "Shock it…"
=Is everything okay, Alpha?= Rook asked over Alpha's communicator.
"Unfortunately, it seems they were purging the systems of everything when they evacuated," Alpha frowned, "And the only information I got is on the Northamer Grand Master Clove and her sister Cassia. All I could get from it is that Cassia has an unknown illness and is the reason why they joined Eggman, so they could cure it."
=I see...thank you, Alpha. Return and report to the Queen Aleena and the other Freedom Fighter Leaders that are here=
"Understood," Alpha nodded as he turned his communicator off.
"I'm so relieved that Kaa-sama was one of the cured," Miyuki noted, looking at White hugging a freed hedgehog on one of the makeshift cots.
'That's the hedgehog we saw get Roboticized…' Makoto thought as she looked at the sight, 'When she mentioned her son...I didn't think she was talking about White...even though we hadn't' met White yet back then, but still…'
"We've got more coming," a green lynx Mobian informed.
"That makes about a hundred so far," Lupe observed, "So many more to look for to go."
"Indeed," Aleena nodded, "Hopefully soon, the Mobians that were Roboticized will be reunited with their own families."
"Hai, kyu," Miyuki nodded before Shukaku came in, "Any progress, Shukaku, kyu?"
"So far, we've been taking down the remains of the buildings that have been thoroughly checked," Shukaku explained, "I got in contact with some of the other leaders of the Freedom Fighters and a few are sending some more aid to helping us rebuild the city."
"Good," Aleena nodded, "We'll need all the help we can get in order to restore Mobotropolis."
"And how go finding others stuck in the wreckage?" Lupe asked, looking away from a group cheering and hugging their found friend, roses in all their hands to give to him.
"Those teams have been reporting at an interval of ten minutes per instruction," Shukaku informed, "Manikku, Tsubaki-chan, and Rookku are on making sure they are getting constant updates on a separate channel of where they're finding lives among the debris."
"Okay, easy now. We've got you all," Gravattack informed, using one hand's gravity to move debris away, "Be patient and work with the Freedom Fighters-the Mobians, Overlanders, and Beastkin all here-and things will be peachy keen."
"What kind of Mobian are you?" one of the elder Mobians asked, squinting their eyes behind their glasses.
"Alien," Gravattack corrected, "Been here for eight months now and been going around helping everyone I can. Details will be coming out later for you all on things, but for now, please be patient and comply with those assisting you to the nearest Mobile Freedom Fighter Surgical Hospital that is being set up." a groaning noise went off as a large section of one of the ruined larger buildings fell towards them, "I've got it!" he held his other hand up and it began to glow, forcing the falling debris to stop; he grunted as he looked at the leader of the recovery team he had been with at the time, "Okay! Now we really need them all to get going!"
"Right!" the Overlander nodded.
"No way! Why should we go with an O…" one of the freed began to ask before a rock landed beside him, twice his size.
"Sorry…" Gravattack grunted, hiding his smirk, "But I'm starting to lose my grip on all this…"
"...On second thought, lead the way," the one that spoke meeped.
Once everyone was gone, Gravattack let the debris fall onto the sides of the road before changing back to Ben, 'It's guys like that that make me wonder if all life is like humanity in more ways than one…'
"Some assistance, if you'd please!" a voice called.
Ben activated his Omnitrix and, in a flash of green light, Goop splattered himself against another pile of debris. The debris hissed before it began to be dissolved away. Once it was gone, Goop reformed and changed back into Ben.
"Oh, thank you for freeing us," the voice thanked before a woman in her early thirties emerged, her elegant seafoam green, violet, and yellow ruined, followed by a group of Mobians and Beastkin.
"It's not a problem. It's just what I love to do," Ben shrugged, "Ben Tennyson, ma'am."
"Lady Windimire," the Mobian curtsied, "A pleasure, Mr. Tennyson."
"Just call me 'Ben,' Lady Windimire," Ben assured, "Now let's get you all to one of the tents that the Freedom Fighters are setting up for taking care of everyone we're finding here."
"You're a Freedom Fighter?" a Beastkin asked.
"Yeah. A member of the Underground Freedom Fighters," Ben informed.
"Tell me, do you know of a hedgehog by the name of Sonia?" Lady Windimire asked in concern.
"Of course. She's a member of the Underground Freedom Fighters as one of the team's founding members," Ben replied before the wheels turned in his head, "Wait. You're that Lady Windimire that Sonia's talked about?"
"If she is who I believe she is, then yes I am," she replied.
"Great," Ben smiled, "Let's get going then."
"Very well then."
"It's only been a day since we started, but look at how many we've managed to find," Lupe noted, looking out at the medical tents filled with freed citizens of the planet, "Roughly over two hundred Mobians and fifty-seven Beastkin."
"Hai, kyu," Miyuki nodded.
"I don't get it. Why weren't there any Overlanders?" Makoto asked.
"A glitch in the Roboticizer," Aleena informed, "It results in Overlanders ending up as mere robotic statues, unable to move or speak. All they would be able to do would just stand in place and...rust away."
"How horrible…" Tsubaki whispered before frowning, "Is there no end to that man's cruelty?"
"That's a question many ask, but the answer always seems to go straight to 'no,'" Lupe shook her head, "However, we have been able to succeed in something grand. A way to cure those Roboticized and the reclamation of the capital of the true ruling class of Mobius."
"Hai," Miyuki nodded, "Oh! Here comes Ben-san, kyu."
"Guess he must have timed out," Sonia noted before turning to see Ben walk over with a group of Mobians and Beastkin, conversing with… "L-Lady Windimire?!"
"It seems that they've found the three main caretakers for your children," Lupe noted, glancing inside the main tent to see Sonic staying by Uncle Chuck while Manic was getting a good pat on the back from what she could see was an ecstatic and proud Ferrell.
"Yes," Aleena agreed as Sonia ran over to the aristocrat that raised her.
Indeed, kyu," Miyuki nodded as she saw Roll and Haseo interacting with their father, the hedgehog resting in one of the cots and trying to get used to eight years having passed, "And Roll-chan has found yet another member of her family, kyu…"
"Still, you have to feel bad for him. He's lost eight years with his kids and one's now engaged to a guy he doesn't even know," Makoto noted, "Plus, there's...that…"
"Hai...he doesn't know about...that," Miyuki's ears drooped down, 'About what happened to the rest of the Sakurai Clan and….his wife, kyu.'
"I wonder how he'll handle knowing he's related to the Cooper Clan," Lupe admitted, glancing over to where the scientists of the Freedom Fighters were, the brains of Cooper Gang and their RC Specialist looking over the data on the special water as well.
"Who knows," Makoto shrugged before she noticed someone approach, "...Oh hey. Alpha's back."
"Hey," Alpha greeted.
"Were you able to find anything?" Aleena asked.
"I managed to find some files that weren't deleted over in the computers Rook and Tsubaki found," Alpha replied, "I also found out a bit of info on one of the Grand Masters of the Dark Legion before the computer went kaput on me."
"...What did you find out?" Lupe asked.
"Not much. Just something about the Northamer Grand Master, Clove," Alpha answered, "Apparently, she and her sister joined because said sister gained an unknown disease."
"Eh? Unknown disease, kyu?" Miyuki repeated, slightly catching Sonia's attention.
"Yeah. Though...I don't know what this disease is exactly," Alpha shrugged, "Like I said, the computer went kaput on me before I could get anymore info."
"Even using the ill for his deeds…" Tsubaki clenched her fists, "Completely unforgivable."
"Agreed," Lupe frowned.
"...I'll be right back," Sonia told her caretaker as she walked over to the group, "Um...excuse me. I heard you talking about a disease."
"...We were, yes, kyu," Miyuki nodded, "It had to do with the sister of Northamer Grand Master, Clove. Why?"
"Well...it's just…" Sonia began as she pondered for a bit, "Are...there any diseases that relate to loss of the senses and such, like hearing and sight?"
"I'm...unsure," Lupe replied.
"Wh…" Miyuki began before White handed her a clipboard with a sheet of paper, "Thankyu."
"...Seriously, how does he do that?" Makoto blinked as Miyuki looked over the info written down on the paper.
"Ano...There's Meniere's disease, but that's a chronic inner ear disease that causes tinnitus, vertigo, and progressive deafness," Miyuki read, "And even then, it only affects a single ear with a recent study giving only a thirty percent chance of spreading to the other ear." she looked down a few paragraphs, "And then there's Alström syndrome, which causes obesity, blindness, deafness, and diabetes, but that can be treated easily enough and is a genetic thing." she then held her chin in thought, "Demo...what you described, Sonia...how it affects not just the ears, but the other senses as well...I'm not sure there is an illness that affects just the senses." she flipped the paper over, "And White-kyun couldn't find any either."
"Then we'll need to see her ourselves in order to fully understand her illness. But as long as she and her sister are under Eggman's ever watchful eye...we won't be able to do it," Lupe stated.
"...True…"
"...You know come to think of it, her sister didn't want to cause a conflict when me, Ben, Sonic, and Roll encountered her back in Northamer," Makoto spoke up, "She...well...More or less talked us out of it."
"...I see," Lupe noted, "...It may not be much, but thank you for telling us this." 'It may not be now...but when the time is right, I may want to have a talk with the Northamer Grand Master.'
"They're WHAT?!"
"And they told him," Makoto sighed, seeing Skye faint once more.
"...Whi…" Miyuki began before White and a Rabbit Beastkin came running in and began to take care of the fainted Skye, "...Thankyu."
"Find anything yet, Jake?!" Jacky called out.
"Nope! Nothing yet, Jacky! Just lots of water!" Jake's voice called out from inside an empty building.
"But all the water was drained," J noted before Jake came out...with his head stuck in a toilet, "..."
"...Grrrr! Get that off your head, lumpy!" Jacky snapped as he tried to pull the toilet off Jake's head; He gave it one more tug before he got it off...which propelled him into another empty building.
"Thanks, Jacky!" Jake called out.
"Lousy good for nothing…" Jacky's voice grumbled inside the building.
"Be careful in there, Jacky. Who knows what else could be lurking in there," J called out.
"Yeah yeah…" Jacky muttered before the sound of him bumping into something was heard, "Hey! Who put these statues here...these really stinky statues?"
"Oop. Who smelt it dealt it?" Jake asked.
"..That's weird...there shouldn't be any statues in this area," J muttered.
"Ugh...why won't these move?! They feel really hairy...and familiar…" Jacky listed off.
"Don't worry, Jacky! I'll help!" Jake said as he ran in...only to run out screaming, "AHH! RUN AWAY! FACE HUGGING JEZEBELS!"
"Huh?" J blinked at that before Jake jumped into a nearby dumpster to hide.
"Hey, Lumpy! Why'd you…!" Jacky began
"I...i….It's Them! Stafers!" Jake yelled from the dumpster.
"...Oh please, Jake. I doubt they'd…" J began as he poked his head into the building...only to pull it back out and slowly back away, "...GOOD LORD! IT IS THEM! THE STAFER SISTERS!"
"WAIT, WHAT?!" Jacky exclaimed.
"Hiya, Jacky~!" Three female voices spoke in a sign songy voice from inside the building Jacky was in.
"AHH!" Jacky screamed as he ran out, grabbing J and jumping into the dumpster Jake was in, "GO, Lumpy! GO!"
"GOING!" Jake screamed before slamming his legs through the bottom of the dumpster and began to run off, carrying it.
"Oh my lord! How did they find us?!" J yelled.
"I don't know, but the faster we're away from them the better!" Jacky exclaimed.
"I'M NOT IN MY HAPPY PLACE GUYS!" Jake shouted in fear.
"They must have been Roboticized and brought here before Perfect Chaos went on his rampage!" J realized.
"OH GREAT! NOW THEY'RE NEVER GONNA STOP CHASING US!" Jacky screamed, "...I got an idea! We ditch Ragna and the others, and go under new identities."
"Ooh! I'll be Lothar, barbarian of the North!"Jake declared.
"Jacky, Jake! We can't just abandon our team like that! It's uncalled for!"
"So is getting our faces hugged by the Stafers' lips, and you don't see them complaining!" Jacky countered.
"ME NO LIKELY!" Jake screamed as the dumpster crashed through a wall of a building and out the other side, letting a team that was going by get in and check for anyone inside.
"Well...we could ask for sanctuary," J suggested.
"How?! Those Stafer sisters alway find a way to get to u-!" Jacky began before Jake crashed into something, "Gah! What the H-E-Double hockey sticks, Lumpy?! You almost gave me a concussion!"
"...I think I crashed into someone," Jake said as the three racoon brothers poked their heads out to see they had crashed into a rusted statue of Eggman,"...Nope. Just a statue of Eggman."
"We can see that, Jake," Jacky muttered in annoyance as the three put their heads back down, "Now Let's hurry a-" he began before he and his brothers were face to face with three possum Mobians, "..."
"..."
"..."
"Hiya, boys~!"
"STRAFERS! AHHHHHHHH!-!-!-!-!-!-!" the screams of the three racoon brothers was heard throughout the entire city, even outside of it.
"...The hell was that?" Ragna asked.
"To be soundings like 'Strafers,'" Jetfire noted.
"Get back in there!" Ragna pushed Jetfire's head back into the bus, "Remember that right now, we've got more Mobians, four-fingered Humans…"
"Overlanders."
"...and Beastkin out here that are Anti-machine. And if you two forgot, you're machines," Ragna frowned before getting the window shut from the outside, "Now stay hidden until we're away from everyone."
"Okies dokies," Jetfire replied.
"...Ugh….as if I didn't have enough headaches to work with…" ragna muttered under his breath before he faintly noticed Jake, j, and Jacky running up to the bus, "...Speaking of annoyances. Oi! Wh-"
"NO TIME! HIDE NOW!" Jake screamed, his, J, and Jacky's faces covered in kiss marks and their clothes a mess, as they ran into the bus and locked all the locks, "She demons from the underworld are after us!"
"In other words, Run! RUN!" Jacky screamed, his voice going a bit high pitched at the end.
"You know Sonic has the keys to the bus," Ragna pointed out.
"Don't address us while the Strafers are in the general vicinity!" J whimpered as they covered the windows with blinds.
"The who know?" Ragna raised a brow at that.
"Jetstorm, anyone comes in, you ice 'em!" Jacky ordered.
"Don't you fuckin' dare!" Ragna snapped.
"WE'RE TOO SCARED TO THINK RIGHT NOW!" Jake screamed.
"Look…" J began as he poked his head out, "If you see three female possum Mobians come looking for us, for the love of all that is good, DO…!"
"NOT!" Jake added.
"LET THEM IN!" Jacky finished.
"...The hell you three are scared for anyway? They sound like just a bunch of girls."
"They're not normal girls! They're manipulative and evil! Like our little monster cousin, Lara!" Jacky shouted.
"AND THEY WANT TO SUCK OUR FACES OFF!"
"...a….are you shitting me right now? You're scared of them because you're afraid of getting kissed by them?" Ragna asked in annoyance.
"Oh it's more than kissing!" Jacky shouted as he dragged J and Jake outside so Ragna could get a good look at them, "Look at us!"
"Hey. Just coming by...to…" Manic began as he walked in, the green hedgehog seeing the raccoon brothers' current condition, "...Why'd you guys get all the girls?"
"HEY! It's not like we wanted it!" Jacky argued.
"So unsanitary…" J shuddered, trying to scrub the kiss marks off.
"...explanation?" Manic asked Ragna.
"Apparently there's a bunch of crazy ass possum girls, Stafers or whatever, chasing after them and…" Ragna began in his explanation.
"WANT TO SUCK OUR FACES OFF!" Jake screamed.
"...Stafers….Where have I heard that name before…" Manic muttered, "...questions for later. But seriously, why're you so scared of a bunch of girls? I mean, I'd-"
"Trust us…" J whispered as he clung to manic, "You don't know what these three are capable off…"
"They'd kill you if they learned you knew where we are and not tell them," Jacky added.
"..."
"He is not kidding," J spoke up, "We tried a witness protection program, and they still found us."
"...Okay. You guys are overexa…" Ragna began before a search squad came walking by, a few bruises on their faces, "..."
"Ow...crazy possum girls...asked us something about raccoons, and they beat us up for not telling them where they are…" a Mobian turtle mummered, holding his arm while he spotted a black eye.
"Yeah. You guys hide in here," Manic sweatdropped.
"Thank you!" Jake, J, and Jacky said-in-unison before bolting back into the bus.
"...In fact...better tell the others to tell the search teams to stay clear of three possum girls looking for those three," Manic said as he walked off.
"I've seen worse and been dealt worse," Ragna snorted.
"How so?" Manic asked.
"Twelves swords impaling me all over with a massive thirteenth one going right through my chest while I fall into a cauldron of flames that lead to who-knows-where," Ragna replied with a straight face.
"...I uh….I think I need to sit down for a bit," Manic slowly said as he walked back off.
"Yeah...you do that."
"Hmm…" Eggman looked at the island as the Egg Carrier III flew over it, "Large, easily big enough to be considered its own country. Shockwave?"
"Volcano is dormant, my lord. However, we can obtain the energy of the magma within as a power source."
"Excellent. Jungle provides a good covering of sorts, loathe I am to admit," Eggman went on, "Tell me, Lien-Da, this other me you dealt with, what would you believe he would do with an island such as this to build his new base of operations on?"
"Either A; he'd build Robots to go after Sonic, and brings out a random one via cards," Lien-Da stated, "Or B; build something called the Death Egg or, and this was more or less after I got sealed in that Pocket-Zone, make something called the Genesis Wave Generator so he can rewrite space and time so he'd be ruler of all time and space. And last I heard for the latter before I escaped, he ended up rewriting his Zone so much, Mobius started breaking apart and destroyed numerous Zones and effectively erasing the Zone Cops from existence."
"...Shockwave!"
"Already placing the Genesis Wave Generator in the 'Will never use' folder," Shockwave informed, "While it is logical he would want to rule, to not think of the severe consequences of that act to the space-time continuum is illogical."
"And picking a robot from random chance? What nonsense," Eggman snorted, "While I might have begun to do that before the Chaos Emerald Crisis three years ago, that seems simply foolish to me." he began to pace, "When I create a robot, I make it with a purpose. Take Starscream for example. I wanted a cunning strategist who could fly over the battlefield to get a better understanding of the situation, but also have his own sense of planning, to point out things that I may not see should I grow too overconfident in a battle."
"Why thank you, my liege," Starscream bowed.
"It is why I make sure each of my smaller machines, such as the EggPawns, have their own individual random generated AI," Eggman went on, "From what I've reviewed on security footage of areas we've been defeated in, I saw that it wasn't just their unique abilities that let the Freedom Fighters win, but also how their personalities worked, how each of them were so determined that they could seem to do impossibilities. In truth, had things gone differently, I would've encapsulated Chaos within a machine that would allow me to control him when we had the seventh Emerald and use his powers over water to remove all the water in the world and bring it into vats in my controlled kingdoms, demanding their surrender or I would evaporate it all." he held up a finger to halt Lien-Da's mouth, "If they had all refused, well, there went that plan and I'd just use the water and Chaos to let him sink a few cities beneath the waves to show them I meant business; primarily places with nuclear weaponry aimed at my former capital."
"..."
"Shocking, I know…" Eggman grinned as he walked away, "Now...while my new base of operations is built, let us think on what to do next. What did my other self do after his attempt to control Chaos flop?"
"..."
"Well...to...ugh, quote the eldest hedgehog, I'm waiting…"
"...Project Shadow," Lien-Da responded.
"Ah! So he had his own Project Shadow," Eggman noted, earning wide eyes from Lien-Da, "Shockwave, show her Project Shadow."
"At once," Shockwave bowed before a hologram of a robot appeared; appearing to be a combination of knight, samurai, and ninja, "Project Shadow is a new line of robots that will be uploaded with the fighting styles on different warriors."
"Oh…" Lien-Da blinked, "For...a second there, I thought you were talking about your Zone's version of Shadow the Hedgehog."
"Who?" the natives asked.
"You know, Carmelita," a plump badger sighed, taking the cigar out of his mouth and tapping it onto a tiny dish on his desk, "If not for the video evidence brought here by email of that thing, I would be shouting at you for using magic as an excuse again."
Carmelita nodded, her eyes glancing over at the monitor on his desk, displaying the fight between Ultimate Way Big and Super Sonic against Perfect Chaos.
"Still, you not only did well in handling the evolving situation with the missing member of the Sakurai, but you also managed to rescue her and get a ton of evidence against Eggman for us," the badger went on, leaning back into his chair before taking in a deep puff of his cigar, "...You're off the Cooper Case."
"What?!"
"Let me finish," the badger growled out, "You're being taken off it because a special ops group for Interpol made seventy years ago has been granted permission to take you in."
"But...I…Chief Barkely..."
"You'll have a month to settle everything," the badger went on before handing Carmelita a black folder with a steel set of initials reading 'GUN' on them, "They've partnered you up with someone that you would have good experience in working with in terms of abilities. But I'm going to warn you, I have no trust with this special ops group. Ever since I first met one of the men they use to speak with the other branches of Interpol with, they've just rubbed my senses the wrong way. So this is going to be my last assignment to you as an Inspector; find out what they're hiding and report it to the Queen. With Eggman now gone from there, there's a good chance she'll be rebuilding the real capital of Mobius and come back into power until her oldest kid turns 20 and inherits the throne."
"...Of course," Carmelita nodded stiffly.
"Remember; one month. Because after that...it'll most likely be that you'll no longer be seen by anyone except your targets," Barkely reminded before motioning for her to leave.
Carmelita nodded before she walked out. She quickly made it into her office before slamming the door shut, taking in deep breaths.
"Oh...dios mio that was stressful…" Carmelita whispered before banging her fist on her desk, "Ugh! Why!? Cooper is supposed to be my case. He's always been my case. Why...he...UGH!" she hit her face against the desk, groaning as she dropped to her knees.
After her first encounter with Sly Cooper back around when she first joined Interpol, she made it her life's mission to capture him, only...every encounter they had, Sly would get away, leaving her very annoyed and frustrated. But now...all that hard work was gone...now she had to work with these people from...GUN. She never even heard of that branch of Interpol before! But...from how the chief talked about them...they seemed to be a Black-ops, or...possibly a Shadow Ops group.
"...If I'm gonna work for them, I need to look up some information on them," Carmelita whispered, "If Queen Aleena and the chief want me to gather some intel on them...then there must be something important hiding within GUN or that they suspect there might be something important hiding there." she narrowed her eyes, "Whatever it must be, it could either be muy buena or muy ruda."
"Soup's on! Women and children first!" Ragna shouted, "Hey! Wait in line, dammit! You'll all get a bowl! I see you trying to sneak in front of that guy, bub! Back of the line! Vegetarians and vegans, the salad line's over there!"
"Wow. I can't believe he was able to make a soup from all that random food we managed to find," Sonia admitted.
"I can," Ben shrugged, "Ragna's lived a life of the run, so of course he'd have to learn to cook."
"Anyone seen J, Jake, Jacky, or Rook?" Alpha asked as he looked around.
"Dunno where Rook is, but the raccoon bros are hiding in the bus," Manic replied, "Reason; some crazy possum girls named the Strafer sisters are after them, and are beating up anyone that might know where they are, or even mention the word 'raccoon'."
"Hoo boy," Sly muttered before turning invisible.
"Get back into visibility, bub!" Ragna snapped, throwing a ladle that bonked off three spots, revealing a chameleon Mobian, a chameleon Beastkin, and Sly, "No way I'm letting that slide!"
"Wait, Strafers?" Ferrell questioned before groaning, "Those are a family you never want to deal with. Once they got you in their sights? That's it. You're either marrying them or your head goes on a pike."
"Any reason why?"
"Connections. Powerful, powerful connections," Ferrell explained to Tsubaki, "It doesn't help that the women of the family are known for their immense strength, capable of pulling uprooting trees and flipping over two-story buildings with ease when angered."
"..." Manic just slowly blinked with wide eyes at that as he mouthed 'What….the….fuck?'.
"Same expression I had when I first learned it," Ferrell chuckled, patting Manic's shoulder, "And good luck with getting them arrested. The men all have the connections in the family. Any crimes they committed get wiped out. Murder? Good luck with that. Arson? Zip. Rape? Nada."
"...So...they're basically a family of rapist and dirty cops…" Alpha figured.
"Not a single cop in their family, but good analogy," Ferrell snapped one of his hands' fingers at that, "The only way you'd be able to take them down, why, is to get all of them arrested at the same, exact time with video evidence of their misdeeds."
Alpha nodded slowly, 'Well shock...That sucks. ...I wonder if Rook would have a rule that'd let us circumvent that and let the Plumbers handle it.'
"This is Rook Blanco, contacting Plumers," Rook informed on a small white and black device, "...Yes. I have found Ben Tennyson. However, I believe that it is not Ben Tennyson who...what? ...Yes, I am sure that it is Ben Tennyson. I'm already uploading the photographic and videographic evidence I've obtained that it is indeed him on this planet. …" he nearly dropped the device as his eyes widened, "...I...I beg your pardon? ...Complete destruction? ...Almost little to no survivors…" a sad look came upon his face, "...Yes, I can confirm that at that time, Ben was here. The last files I am sending actually take place at that exact time." his eyes widened, "You are sending them? I do not believe that is wise. Ben Tennyson is showing obvious signs of PTSD and memory altercation in terms of that night. Seeing them would most likely… ….I...Very well. I understand. Rook Blanco, signing out." he lowered the device before sighing, "Oh, this is not well news for Ben...nor for Noel, Tsubaki, Makoto, and Ragna when they learn of it." he looked up at the sky, "I can only hope that this planet is ready for when the universe is coming."
GT: ...Okay, that sounds ominous.
SZ: Yes...yes it does.
GT: Well, at least they've managed to do some great work in a single day.
SZ: indeed. Over all..this was a good chapter.
GT: Eeyup.
SZ: Hai. We had some family reunions, Roll and Haseo found their father, and...well an unfortunate encounter for the Raccoon bros. But over all...hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Oh, and be sure to leave some questions for the Kokonoe segment next chapter.
GT: Eeyup. Until next time, I am GammaTron…
SZ: I'm Seanzilla115, and we wish you all a good day.