GammaTron: Hey, everyone! It's just me again for the story. Been a long time, huh? Well, let's get on with it.
Roll: GammaTron does not own the Sonic Franchise, the BlazBlue Franchise, nor the Ben 10 Franchise. They are owned by their respective creators and companies. If he did, he would not make the mistake of letting someone have a loophole in owning characters for the comics nor reboot Ben 10 in that new, strange design.
GammaTron: Thank you, Roll. Now let's begin…in the past.
Sam groaned as every fiber of his head was screaming in intense pain. He remembered that he and Max were celebrating Max's barely avoided disaster of fusing with a cthulu mythos-tiered god of an alternate dimension thanks to a sentient puppet and a toybox filled with things that were made for said cthulu mythos-tiered god of an alternate dimension that got bored with the puppet in about five minutes and discarded it. It had been settling down when these soldiers entered their office and then…
"Ugh…" Sam groaned before coughing harshly, blood hitting the puddle of it around his head area, "Ma…Man…I haven't bled out this much in ages…What about you, Max?" there was no response, "…Max?" he grunted as he managed to get himself up with Max's overturned desk, "…L-Little buddy?" his vision finally began to focus, letting the additional bullet holes in their walls and the further-ruined furniture be revealed…and no Max, "No…no, no, no, no…" he threw his hat away, the article of clothing crashing against a wall, "NoooooOOOOooooo!"
He growled as he got up fully, the night's memories falling into place. They…They took Max…they took his little buddy…one of the few still left…His jacket was thrown haphazardly away as he rolled his sleeves up. An ugly, menacing scowl grew on his face before the phone rang. It better not be the goddamned Commissioner or…
He snatched the phone from its place, cracks forming on it as he gripped it tightly, "What?"
=I…I need help=
Sam's eyes widened, the rage unleashed being settled down by the soft dulcets of his honorary niece's quavering voice.
"…Sonia?" the large man dog asked, placing his hat back on as his grip loosened on the phone, "Sonia, what happened?"
He heard her sniffle on the line =Sonic…He…He's been arrested and he didn't do anything= Sam's eyes widened as she continued, her breathing hitching as she started talking faster, "And Roll had to go with him because of their bond and Ben's gone missing, kidnaped by one of his aliens taking over his body, and…=
"Shh-shh-shh-shh," Sam comforted, wishing she was right there so he could give her an assuring hug or pat on the shoulder, "Settle down, Sonia. I want you to take a deep breath and think about everything you want to say to me. I'm going to be coming over right away, so don't worry."
=Please hurry. I…They've been taken by GUN and…=
"GUN?" the hat fell off his head, "GUN?! GUN ARRESTED ONE OF MY LATE HONORARY BROTHER'S KIDS!? AND HIS WIFE TO BE?!"
Minutes later, the DeSoto was driving off, surprisingly following all the regulations and laws of traffic safety. Through a fog of rage, darkness, and raisinettes, all Sam could think about was getting to Sonia and making sure she was okay.
"So that's why she's not home yet…" Skye whispered as he looked at the half-full mug of hot cocoa before him.
"It bites, dude," Manic shook his head, "Bro and Sis-in-Law are arrested for no good reason…Ben's gone AWOL because of one of his forms taking over…Makoto and Noel are holed up in their rooms because the planet they were born was went kablooey…"
If there was something Manic didn't like, it was large changes happening in a short amount of time. One of the latest ones he could even recall when this happened was when he learned he was a prince, was the youngest of three triplets, was destined to overthrow Robotnik, and his father figure was roboticized all in the same few hours. His thoughts were snapped out of by something. Looking down, he saw Skye's hand moving from his neck, all but the extended pointing finger folding out from their fist state.
"You've been thinking on rescuing them," Skye didn't ask, but stated.
"…Yes."
Skye nodded, "Do you have someone that is able to help you?"
"The Cooper Gang," Manic replied, "Because of Sis-in-Law and Bro, we're actually related to Sly Cooper now. I called them before I came here to give this back to you and Haseo…"
"Keep the katana," Skye ordered, "You are going out to rescue my daughter and your brother AKA my son-in-law-to-be. She'll need this more than Haseo and I will." Manic nodded slowly as he put the katana back on his back, "Do they have a way to get to wherever they have them?"
"They have a van, but they said they'd be coming by plane," Manic replied.
"Either it means their van has a flight mode and they're using that to sneak into the country or their main transportation is missing or unavailable and they need to get in via disguise," Skye thought aloud, "If it's the latter, bring Sly here." He got up and walked towards the entrance to the garage, "…Don't tell your mother about what you're doing, not even in a letter or by word of another. Plausible deniability."
"!" Manic's eyes widened.
"Well? Get going, kiddo. Shouldn't you be heading out to meet them when they come?" Skye urged.
"R-Right. Thanks," Manic nodded as he ran off.
Skye nodded before sighing as he pulled out a photograph once he left, the picture showing him around eighteen with a beautiful fox around the same age and a head taller than him, hugging him close for the picture, "Oh Aphrodite…If only you were here to tell me things will be better…that Love will see us all through…" he tucked the photo away and entered the garage, "But you're not…"
"Go long, Chomp!"
Chomp barked as he ran across the stone bridge, making a leap at the end and catching the stripped tree that was his fetching stick. Panting, Chomp ran back across the bridge and dropped the trunk before the steps of the Master Emerald shrine. Knuckles chuckled as he picked up the trunk and threw it once more. He adjusted his hat as he looked around.
"I have to admit, I owe that Ben guy one," Knuckles noted aloud, looking at the restored Master Emerald shrine, looking just as it did back when Tikal had first seen it, "That Clockwork robot alien of his sure did a great job. Though…" he looked over to the edge of the Master Emerald's tiny island, where Tikal and Chaos were sitting on the edge, looking out at the clouds, "I thought you two crossed over."
"We are both tied to the Master Emerald, Knuckles," Tikal explained, "Neither of us can pass on since we are bound to it."
"…" Chaos made a motion of a hand and a few ripples happened in the water of the shrine.
"Oh, yes, I do agree. Why do you still stay here, Knuckles?"
"…For nearly my entire life, it's been my duty to guard the Master Emerald from those who wanted to steal it from this island," Knuckles explained, "My father protected it, and his father before him, and so on and so on. After what happened recently, I guess it was our way of trying to atone for what our fellow Echidnas did."
"But now, you're considered the last 'living' Echidna," Tikal noted with a hint of sadness.
"…"
Tikal slapped Chaos's shoulder, "C-Chaos! That was completely rude and uncalled for!"
"…"
"W-Well, yes, it is true, but still…" Tikal frowned.
"Was it a jab about the Echidnas aside from you when you weren't a spirit?" Knuckles guessed.
"Well, yes, but…" Tikal replied before blinking twice, "Um, Knuckles?"
"Yeah?"
"The Master Emerald is shaking," Tikal noted.
Knuckles and Chaos looked at the Master Emerald. Indeed, it was shaking. Knuckles narrowed his eyes as he spotted hands on it. Chaos moved to get up before Knuckles held a hand up to the God of Water, making a gesture to say he'd handle it. Chaos slowly nodded, sitting back down. Knuckles held up a hand, stopping Chomp just as he was about to roar. He then pointed at the shrine and nodded. Chomp's tail wagged as he slowly made his way around to the back of the shrine and spotted who was touching the Master Emerald, slowly opened his mouth fully, and…
*CHOMP!*
"Eek!" three voices yelped.
"Caught you," Knuckles smirked as he ran up Chomp's back and onto his head.
He got a good look at who was trying to take the Master Emerald. The first, and tallest of them, was a red fox Mobian with a slim, yet well-developed figure hugged in all the right places by a yellow and white bodysuit. A utility belt was wrapped around her waist while her long red hair was pulled into a ponytail by a yellow bow. The second of the figures was a Mobian pink hedgehog wearing a long-sleeved red shirt and blue jeans with a red bow in her ponytail. The last of them looked to be around 18 and was a Mobian bat with a well-developed, curvaceous figure shown off in a form-fitting black bodysuit that exposed her shoulders and cleavage, her impressive bosom held back only by a pink heart with white border. Her muzzle and exposed shoulders/cleavage were a light tan while her head was covered in white fur. Her legs and arms were covered in white boots/gloves with hearts on the tips of the boots and the back of her hands.
"Drat," the fox frowned, "I told you we should've done this late at night."
"I suggest you three get away from the Master Emerald or else," Knuckles warned.
"Or else what?" the hedgehog asked.
"Or else you deal with me and a very, very protective God," Knuckles replied.
"Sorry, but the world's jewels belong to one person and one person only," the bat informed before holding up a sphere, "Me."
She threw the sphere down, releasing a cloud of smoke. By the time the smoke dispersed, the Maser Emerald was missing from the shrine.
"DAMMIT!" Knuckles snapped.
"…"
"That better not be an 'I told you so'!" Knuckles snapped before spotting the three carrying the emerald away on the bridge, "Oh no you don't! Chomp, slap!"
Chomp nodded and Knuckles jumped off him. As he fell halfway down, Chomp spun around and slammed Knuckles towards the bridge. The echidna landed on the other side of the bridge, startling the three.
"Ugh! You just want to get in our way, don't you?" the bat demanded.
"That doesn't belong to you," Knuckles scowled, "The Master Emerald is what keeps this island floating and is the only thing that can negate the power of the Chaos Emeralds! You take that and this whole island falls into the sea!"
"Not my problem," the bat waved his warnings off before they heard a loud splash from the shrine.
"I'm handling it!" Knuckles shouted, "Yeah, he is really getting mad now, so either you put it back and never come back or I let the God give you the RYNO treatment."
"Rhino Treatment?" the hedgehog repeated.
"Yeah; Rip You a New One," Knuckles banged his fists together.
"Oh come now, big boy," the bat noted, bending down a bit to give him an enticing view of her ample cleavage, "Can't you give it up for little ol' me?" she wrapped an arm under her bust and pushed it up a bit, "Please?"
"Hell no," Knuckles stated.
"Wow. Tough guy here," the fox noted before her ear near the cave entryway twitched, "Engines?"
"What?" Knuckles blinked twice before five vehicles erupted from the entryway, "Them again?!"
"Wait. Where are the drivers?" the hedgehog asked before the tank and Humvee transformed into legs before the jeep jumped on top of them, transforming into upper legs and the body, before the rocket formed the right arm and the helicopter connected to become the left arm, "WHAT?!"
"Bruticus," Knuckles growled.
"Emerald…found…" Bruticus growled as his optics looked right at the Master Emerald.
"Oh not again!" Knuckles freaked before picking up a large rock beside him and threw it at Bruticus, the combiner batting it away and off the side of the floating island, "Ugh! I hate this guy."
"Bruticus SMASH!" Bruticus roared as he swung his fist down on the ground, releasing an exploding trail going right towards them.
"Move!" Knuckles barked as he managed to grab the ME and jumped out of the way.
The three girls barely avoided the attack as it collided with the stone bridge, destroying it in a small explosion. Knuckles landed and jumped out of the way of Bruticus's grab at him. The hedgehog threw the bat at Bruticus and the bat swung her leg and struck Bruticus on the leg. She barely held back her cry of pain as she barely dodged the blast of flames from Bruticus's flamethrower.
"That thing is harder than it looks," the bat winced as she landed by the echidna.
"It's one of Eggman's machines," Knuckles scowled, "One of his better built ones, too."
"Doesn't have much of a vocabulary," the hedgehog pointed out.
"But it does have a flamethrower, a shockwave attack, and the helicopter blades are as sharp enough to slice through a large variety of thick metals and not lose a bit of their sharpness," Knuckles pointed out.
"WHAT?!" the bat gasped.
"Get…Emerald…"
"You're not getting this no matter what!" Knuckles declared as he threw the ME to the smaller island.
Bruticus twitched before splitting into his five components. Vortex and Blast Off took off towards the island to reclaim the Master Emerald before skidding to a halt.
"Hello," Tikal greeted as Chaos cracked his watery knuckles.
*BOOM*
Tikal and Chaos slowly looked over their shoulders to see scattering green lights go across the sky as the smoke cleared to reveal a crater where the ME had been.
"…" if Chaos could, he'd sob.
"Did it," Brawl chuckled as he blew his tank cannon.
"Combaticons, mission complete!" Onslaught ordered as the three land-based members jumped off, letting Vortex and Blast Off in their vehicle modes grab them and go off just as the island began to fall once again.
"IT HASN'T EVEN BEEN A MONTHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Knuckles screamed.
Sonia paced before the tree before she heard the squealing of tires. Looking up, she barely avoiding screaming as the DeSoto skidded to a halt no more than a few feet away from her. Sam jumped out, his scowl strong.
"U-Uncle Sam?"
"Hey, Sonia," Sam nearly growled in his greeting before shaking his head and putting on his hat, "What happened, Sonia?"
"…" Sonia's eyes watered, "Oh, Uncle Sam! This last week's been simply horrible!" Sam held her close as she cried into his chest.
'Once my beloved niece managed to calm herself from her breakdown, and my drying my shirt, she explained to me what had been happening since we last saw each other. It shocked me that Robotnik was gone from the city and it was being rebuilt back to the way it was or better, but I brushed it away to focus on what was needed at the moment,' Sam narrated in his head.
"A…And now I…I want to help free them, but…but I don't even know where to begin," Sonia shook her head.
"Well, you're lucky you called me then," Sam nodded, his hat off as he walked over to the trunk of the DeSoto and opened it up, "Because I have the best lead of them all…" he pulled out a GUN soldier, bound and bruised by his neck, held tightly by Sam's fingers; the nails digging into the skin beneath the coarse fur, "One of the men who stole my little buddy."
"A-Amazing!"
Normally, Sam would've responded to that with jovial mirth. But without Max, he just didn't care to comment. Instead, he slammed the GUN soldier against the tree.
"Spill it! Why did you take Max? Where're my nephew and niece, the eldest Prince and his bride?!" Sam snarled.
"I'll never tell you," the soldier grunted.
"Oh you won't?" Sam growled before ripping the helmet off the soldier's head and slammed his face against the DeSoto's hood.
"A-AGGGGGGGGGGH!"
"Oh my goodness!" Sonia gasped, her hands going over her mouth in shock as Sam pressed the Mobian skunk's face tighter on the hood.
"This baby's been driving nonstop to here from Sin Alley, so you know that the hood's burning hot," Sam snarled, "TALK!"
"I-GAH-I'll never-ugh!-tell!"
Sam slammed his harder against the hood of the DeSoto, "Sonia, in the trunk, there's some needles, a powerful acid, a chair, and some more rope! Get them out here now!"
"Y-Yes, sir!" Sonia gulped, 'What happened to you, Uncle Sam?'
"So you've been here before?" Kevin asked.
"Yes," Azmuth nodded as he looked out at the sun as it began to start its set, "It was sixty or so years ago and a teleporter malfunction caused me to end up on this planet. I met a man whom I saw as a bit of an intellectual and could actually give me a good conversation. As we talked, I came to learn that he was going to space to live on a space colony orbiting the planet."
"A space colony?" Rook repeated.
"It was an experimental colony known simply as the ARK," Azmuth informed, "Scientists up there were working on a project, one that you've come into contact with."
"You mean they made Shadow? Gwen asked.
"So how'd a clone end up in the Omnitrix?" Kevin asked.
"I…" Azmuth began before hearing an engine roar, everyone looking out the window and barely caught sight of Ragna driving off in the red and black ATV…Tsubaki holding a map with Noel and Makoto riding in the back, "Those reckless fools! They're going to get themselves killed!"
"What?" Rook blinked twice.
"They must have figured out where they took Sonic and Roll," Kevin guessed.
"Prison Island," the three looked at Azmuth as he hopped off the table and headed for the door, "I'll be speaking with the queen. Rook, your emergency backup ride will be here in two minutes. Once you have it, go after them with Kevin and Gwen and stop them."
"I…I'll never tell…They'll…They'll find me and…and…" the GUN soldier panted, a puddle of blood and urine beneath him as needles were in every joint of his body while he was bound tightly to a chair.
"Ha! You're fooling yourself, kid," Sam snorted.
"Wh…What?"
"The only thing your fellow soldiers are gonna welcome you with is a fist full of phasers. You can't go back to them again. You can't even get on the porch," Sam shook his head, "You've tasted the apple, peed in the pool, bitten the hand that rocks the cradle." He pointed at him as his eyes widened, "All you are is just a liability to them now, and that or someone to kill to keep their secrets is all you're ever gonna be."
"…y…you're right…it…it's…over for…me…" the soldier slumped his head, "I…In my…left pocket…my access card…and…the location of Prison Island…"
Sam nodded as he reached into the soldier's pockets and pulled the items out before pulling his gun out and shooting him point blank in the face, "That's for stealing my little buddy." He walked over to the DeSoto, where Sonia was keeping her head down in the back seat, "I've got the location and a way to bypass the defenses on Prison Island."
"W-What was that gunshot?"
"…Nothing to worry yourself with, Sonia," Sam replied after a few moments as he got into the DeSoto and handed her a paper bag, "Here. Put this over your head and it'll keep you nice, dry, and breathing."
"Huh?" Sonia blinked twice as Sam put one over his head, goggles and a vent being the only signs of any alterations to the paper bags.
"Your father was the one who tricked out the DeSoto as a last gift for Max and I before he married," Sam explained, "These are special paper bags that the car produces for us."
"Father made this car?"
"Nope. I bought it, Max chewed on the fender and radio antennae, and Azure upgraded it with magic," Sam replied, lightly petting the top of it.
"Oh. Father knew magic?" Sonia asked as she put the bag on.
"Just a little. He was an avid reader and liked trying new things out," Sam shrugged as he drove off, putting his hat back on, "So where is Manic in all of this?"
"He's been…upset…with what's been going on," Sonia replied.
"Understandable. When we get back with your older brother, his wife-to-be, and Max, I'll be sure to give him a big hug and a good story about Azure. Speaking of, did I ever tell you of the time the three of us went all over Northamer to find a missing long-necked bear Mobian and a missing Bigfoot exhibit from a carnival?"
"No," Sonia shook her head.
"Well, settle down, because by the time I'm done telling the story, we'll probably be closer to where we need to be," Sam noted, "You see, Azure, Max, and myself had just finished this big case and saved an innocent lady from being cut in two because of friend zoning the guy. Azure took care of calming her down while Max ripped his spleen out and I read him his rights…"
Manic paced around outside the city. As he was turning around in the rut he had made in his pacing, a cane pulled him out of it.
"Whoa!" Manic yelped as he turned to see the owner of the cane, "Sly! Dude, you came!"
"Of course," Sly nodded.
"Family is on the line after all," Bentley added, adjusting his glasses.
"Though we did lose our Paris base in the abandoned train station in getting the coordinates to Prison Island," Penelope frowned.
"I'm just glad you thought of that self-destruct switch for the base," Bentley assured, patting her hand in his hands.
"GUN?" Manic assumed.
"Right on the money," Bentley confirmed, "Barely had ten minutes after we got the location to get out of the place before they swarmed the entire area."
"I am never underestimating your ancestor's disguise techniques every again," Penelope noted to Sly.
"You doubted them before?" Sly asked.
"Seriously, a tutu?"
"Hey, it worked, didn't it?"
"You do realize that it was incredibly uncomfortable being near Murray until a few days before he and Guru went back to Downunda, right?"
"…Okay, you both made your point," Sly shuddered before they turned back to Manic, "So got a way we can get there? Murray took the van with him and Guru to finish his training."
"…I think so," Manic nodded, "Come on. I know a guy."
"Oh?" Sly raised a brow.
"Yeah. Sis-in-law's dad."
"Ah. I see, Roll and Haseo's fath…their father?!" Bentley gawked, his glasses nearly falling off.
"Now, Knuckles, the Master Emerald being destroyed and Angel Island falling are not your fault," Tikal noted as the still-living echidna was pacing around, trying to calm himself.
"NOT EVEN A MONTH! LESS THAN A MONTH AND THE MASTER EMERALD IS SHATTERED ONCE MORE!" Knuckles ranted.
"Well, you found the shards before, I'm sure you can find them again," Tikal noted, "And Chaos and I would be glad to help."
"…" Chaos looked at Tikal, who turned around with wide eyes.
"…What? Why not?"
"…"
"Oh. I…I see…"
"What? What'd he say this time?" Knuckles asked.
"Well, Chaos says he can't because he wants to stay and guard the island from intruders," Tikal replied.
"Right. Well, good luck with that," Knuckles sighed, "You're connected to it, Tikal, so where do we start searching first?"
"I'd suggest Wild Canyon," Tikal advised before collapsing into her spirit ball form, "So let's get going!"
"…" Chaos made Knuckles turn around to face him.
"Uh…Yes?" Knuckles asked.
Chaos held his claws up and a water duplicate of Knuckles and Tikal form. He made a few motions that made it look like Tikal had been hurt and was crying. Chaos walked up to Water-Knuckles…and proceeded to beat him with his own water-made skull. Chaos then looked at Knuckles once more, still holding said-water-skull.
"G-Got it…" Knuckles gulped before running off after the echidna spirit, 'Okay! Don't make Tikal cry or get hurt otherwise I'll be beaten to death with my own skull. …That doesn't seem physically possible.'
"Well that happened," the hedgehog noted as she, the bat, and the fox all sat in an oasis, three shards of the Master Emerald being cuddled by the bat, "Compared to what I know, Knuckles should've been the one to shatter it, not five transforming robots."
"Well, that's what happens when you're from an alternate universe," the bat shrugged as she slid all three shards into her cleavage, not a hint of them being there shown despite the size difference between them and her bosom, "Still, Rosie, Fiona, we need to get going."
"Right, right, right," the fox rolled her eyes, "I still can't believe I am doing this or what we just attempted to do! Do you have any idea how close we were to dying out there?!"
"Ah unwind yourself, Fiona. We have a job to do, after all," Rouge waved her off as she then pulled out the blue Chaos Emerald, "Now come on, you two. Space awaits!"
As Rouge walked off, Fiona turned to Rosie, who was frowning as she looked out to where Angel Island was forced to land, "You doing okay, Rosie?"
"…He looks so much like the Knuckles I know," Rosie noted, "But…The Knuckles I don't know anymore either…"
Fiona gently placed a hand on her shoulder, "I really am sorry for your loss, Rosie. I won't say that I understand how you feel right now, because I don't, but I think you'll be able to do good in this universe and be able to try to move on."
"I…I hope you're right," Rosie replied as the two walked off after Rouge, 'Be safe, Knuckles…'
"You're just on time," Skye greeted, opening the door up just as Manic was about to knock.
"How do you do that?!" Manic gawked.
"Mathematics, my good son-in-law. Mathematics," Skye chuckled, patting Manic's shoulder before letting them in, Sly coming in last, "A Cooper…"
"Hey," Sly greeted casually.
"So my daughter and son tell me that your ancestor, Ryoichi, married our ancestor. I'm glad to know we have more family out there," Skye noted.
"Likewise," Sly nodded before looking over at Penelope and Bentley, "Though…family's more than just blood."
"Too true," Skye nodded, "Family's more about those who you're close to, the bonds you have, than just your blood relation." He looked over at Manic, "And I have your transportation to Prison Island all settled."
"Wow. You work fast," Penelope noted.
"It's a saying I believe in," Skye smirked as he walked into the garage with the other four quickly following, "See a need…" he turned on the lights, "…Fill a need."
Before them was a dark blue van that was more streamlined than Murray's van with lightning yellow detailing on the sides and chrome detailing. All the windows were one sided with the outsides pitch black in color. The front license plate read 'SCNC RUL' while the back was a blank license plate.
"May I introduce to you all to the Supreme Emergency Geotraversal Automobile or SEGA for short," Skye informed, "One gallon of water converts to ten thousand miles on land or sea and one hundred thousand miles in the air. It can turn into a submarine and a stealth bomber at the flick of a switch." He snapped his fingers and the vehicle vanished, "Stealth tech guaranteed to be untraceable outside of being a master hunter. Not even heat sensors can detect it since the stealth tech alters the heat of the vehicle to that out of the surroundings in a continuous update while in stealth mode." The sides flipped down and a pair of oversized guns came out, "Two mounted guns capable of firing hooks or any other ammunition you need. And…" the sides folded back up as a 'ding' came out of the vehicle before a panel opened and slid out an extending metal board, letting Skye pick up and take a sip of the drink, "Hot cocoa maker."
"Wha…Buh…huh?!" Manic gawked.
"Well, ever since my kids told me that the Sakurai Clan is blood relatives to the Cooper Clan, I had a feeling we'd need to make a vehicle for stealth situations, such as hiding our Cooper Clan relatives if the fuzz is close to catching them and…" he began chuckling, "Sorry, but…but cops getting that close? Only way that'd happen if a member of the Fox Clan of Spongolia were to be involved." A small silence fell…a small, awkward silence, "…Now I'm really glad I made this."
"Huh…This welding scheme…Isn't this the same as the one Tails uses?" Bentley pondered as he looked at a welding setup near the van.
"I taught the kiddo everything I knew about inventing," Skye grinned, "Soaked it all up like a sponge at his little age. So what did he make that got you recognizing it?"
"A biplane that turns into a jet plane that he named the Tornado," Penelope explained.
"Brilliant!" Skye grinned.
"It was powered by a Chaos Emerald," Bentley added.
"Idiotic!" Skye declared, still grinning but now sported a twitchy eye.
"We found out it dispenses hot chocolate to both seats in biplane mode," Manic added.
"And now we're back to 'Brilliant!'"
"While I'm enjoying this elevator of your declarations, Uncle, we need to focus more on rescuing Roll and Sonic," Sly interrupted.
"Oh. Oh! You're right," Skye nodded as he walked over to a wall and banged his elbow against it, causing it to spin around to reveal a wall of gadgets, "For this mission, all of you will be provided with wrist-mounted multi-purpose devices I call Personal Information Provider Bringing Omnidirectional Yes-data, or PIPBOY for short. With the press of a button, it released a pulse that created a map of anything you want based on the selected side of the scanning pulse you want. It can also monitor your health, tell you what you have on you or about objects around you, provide the recipe for the perfect hot chocolate of any flavor you want, and scanner so you can copy anything you find to examine later." He tossed the four a set of four black devices that connected at the wrist but would cover the backs of their lower arms to let the touch screens be useable, "For the lady on the go, we have a lovely Lipstick Taser so that you can apply makeup at one moment and then use the button on the side to shoot out the zappers to stun or knock out anyone you want."
Penelope caught a gold tube of lipstick and tried it, "Mm…Taste like watermelon."
"For those with an enjoyment in archery, we have this lovely set of modified bows for multiple uses," Skye went on, tossing Bentley a large box, "Notable arrows included are an artificial tornado that goes off when it hits, bombs, boomerang arrow, boxing glove arrow, diamond-tipped, drill-tipped, acid container-tipped, and EMP."
"Oh! Uh…Th-Thanks," Bentley gawked as he opened the box to see all the arrows.
"And for the master thief…" Skye walked up to Sly before pulling out a dark-blue towel, "A towel."
"A towel? What does it do? Does it turn into a stun gun? Release a knockout gas when covering someone's head?" Sly asked as he looked it over.
"No, just a normal towel," Skye replied before he saw them give him raised brows, "…What? A master thief should know that there's more than one way to use normal everyday objects in a heist. Plus, anything else I could've given him would've been more hindering than beneficial in the rescue mission you're all going to be involved in."
"Well…Thanks anyway," Sly nodded as he put the towel into the satchel on his leg.
"Remember; it's not the tools that makes the Master Thief, it's the Master Thief that makes the Master Thief," Skye nodded, "Now then, good luck to you all!"
"Wait. Manic, where are the girls and Ragna?"
"Huh?" Manic looked at Bentley.
"Just as we were arriving, Makoto called me to ask about the location for Prison Island," Bentley explained, "I thought they were coming with us and got impatient and wanted to know where to go to be better prepared."
"Seriously? But Makoto's been hiding in her room for the last two days…same with Noel for that matter," Manic frowned.
"…Oh you gotta be kidding me!" Penelope facepalmed.
"You just realized that Makoto, Noel, Tsubaki, and Ragna went off on their own to rescue them." Skye noted.
"Wait, what?!" Manic and Bentley exclaimed.
"Ah! I just realized something!" Makoto yelped.
"What is it?" Tsubaki asked.
"If we're going to Prison Island, how are we gonna get there in this?" Makoto asked.
"Not that difficult," Ragna shrugged as he flicked open the upper half of the stick shift and pressed one of the three buttons in it.
Just as they were hitting the water on the shoreline, the wheels went into the underside of the vehicle and were replaced by water skis. A propeller emerged from the underside in the back before the water-mobile went off.
"Holy…!" Makoto gawked.
"W-Wow! H…How did you know it could do this?" Noel asked.
"Heh. Who do you think has been test driving this thing?" Ragna smirked.
"Neat," Makoto grinned, "Ben must really enjoy having you as an honorary big bro."
"Huh? No, Ben didn't make this; Rook did."
"?!" Makoto's eyes widened.
"Has a flight form as well. He's been working on this since rebuilding Mobotropolis started," Ragna shrugged, "Guess he was making this as a way to see if it could be integrated to life back where our planet was before it went up in an explosion."
"I-I see…" Noel awed, "I…It does seem nice."
"Runs on tanks of oxygen, so no pollution either," Ragna noted.
"Oh, that's rather ingenious!" Tsubaki exclaimed, none of them noticing how Makoto's ears drooped as she fell silent.
"I should've known they'd do something like this!" Manic groaned as the Cooper Gang rocketed off towards Prison Island, "Especially Makoto. Then again…she's been down in the dumps."
"What happened?" Penelope asked.
"Well, turns out that the world she, Makoto, Tsubaki, Noel, and Ragna come from blew up," Manic noted, "She's been in her room since she learned the news, so I thought she'd still be in there and not heading on out doing something nuts!"
"Uh, and what do you think we're doing right now?" Penelope questioned.
"Rescuing innocent family members?" Manic replied.
"I'm guessing there's more to this than just rescuing Roll and Sonic," Sly noted as Penelope went back to hooking up the Binocucom systems to their temporary getaway van while he sat down across from Manic, "Everything okay there?"
"…Not really," Manic admitted after a moment of silence, "First Makoto and Noel went into hiding in their rooms, then Ben got taken over by a new alien form…" he gave a dry chuckle, "Taken over by a Mobian Hedgehog form at that…" Sly kept his face collected, managing to suppress the cringe almost instantly, "…and went off and who knows where he went. And then Bro was accused of murder and Step-Sis had to go with him or else her heart's gonna stop and she'll die and…"
"Whoa-whoa-whoa! Back up! Roll is going to die if she's not with Sonic?" Sly asked.
"I found out when you dudes were up on the dragon," Manic explained, "They get too far away from each other, Roll's heart begins to stop, it gets hard for her to breathe, and she nearly got killed by that Tsao jerk before…"
"Before you got that armor," Bentley spoke up, keeping his eyes on the sky ahead, "It was surprising at seeing your drums turn into a suit of armor with a higher degree of geokinesis where you seemed to just put your hand on the ground and it was able to move in complex movements from just that."
"Yeah. I haven't been able to summon it since then either," Manic frowned as he looked at his Medallion, the movement of picking it up causing the medallion to tap against one of his spiked bracelets.
"WHOA!" Sly backed away as the bracelets activated their saw modes.
Manic quickly stopped them, "Oh yeah…With everything that's been happening, I forgot about mom's gifts we got at Wurst Castle."
"Interesting," Penelope noted, looking over from her work to look at Manic's bracelets, "They're diamond-tipped even! So these can cut through nearly anything you use on them."
"Yeah. Plus, my sunglasses have multiple features in them," Manic recalled before blinking twice, "…Oh yeah." He removed one of his contacts, "Forgot these were contacts, too." He shrugged before putting it back on, "Well, I can do a bit more to help save Bro and Step-Sis now that I remembered these things."
"How'd you even forget you were wearing contacts?" Penelope asked.
"Mom put a spell on them to keep them from drying out," Manic replied.
"The Queen's a magician?" Sly raised a brow.
"Somewhat," Manic shrugged, "It's how she's been able to avoid being captured for all sixteen years of Egg-butt's reign."
"Yes! I finally got it working!" Penelope beamed, "Now let's see…Huh? There's some new photos sent from a Binocucom."
"Those better not be another set of pictures of Murray's behind or Dimitri in a 'sexy' pose," Bentley frowned as Penelope opened the new photos and gasped.
The other three in the vehicle looked at the laptop Penelope was using to look at the photos. In the first one…was Yacker, waving with Sonic and Roll sitting on the 'bed' in their cell, holding one another close with Sonic's head nestled into the crane of Roll's neck and her head resting on his head. The next series of pictures were of the jail cell they were in.
"…Huh. I was wondering where the little dude went," Manic blinked twice.
"That explains where that missing Binocucom went," Penelope noted.
"Okay, men, women, robots, and femmes!" Eggman declared as he stood between a small group of Eggman Empire soldiers and a circular pad detailed in red with a glowing center, "Where we go is a place no one has been in over fifty years!" Shockwave made a holographic screen depicting a moon-shaped object, "The Bernal sphere space colony known as the ARK. The ARK was used by the government for scientific testing and experimentation, and housed some of the world's finest minds in the most advanced research center of its kind!" Shockwave turned off his hologram as Eggman faced his soldiers, "Each of you has been enlisted because you are the ones I believe are the best of the best to endure the task of entering the ARK and seeing what 50 years has done to it. Starscream, for his flight mode which we have had him train in zero gravity to better effect." The Air Commander bowed, "Lien-Da, for her unique knowledge on a few important subjects," the echidna nodded, "Sleet because I prefer to keep idiots closer to me so they don't make mistakes and because he's Lien-Da's partner," Sleet cringed, "Clove and Cassia for their jumping skills and, with granted permission, to search about if any medical research they performed there is still there," the older pronghorn kept a neutral expression yet was worried for her sister, while the younger pronghorn was giddy in excitement in getting to go into space, "And…" mechanical footsteps made the chosen turn, "My new flyer, Jetfire."
Walking into the room was another robot. His body was primarily white with his torso resembling the front of a rocket ship pointing downwards. His arms and legs were primarily a pale dark blue with white detailing on the lower legs, shoulders, and front of the lower arms. His back sported a pair of rocket ship wings pointing upwards while his left arm sported a white shield with the Eggman Empire symbol on in. Attached to his right arm was a large blaster shaped like one of the engines of a rocket ship. His helmet was primarily white with red detailing, a gold faceguard, and glowing blue eyes.
"G'day, everyone," the robot greeted, "Shockwave done finished the last bits o' trials on me, so I'm roarin' and waitin' t' git on with my first mission."
"Excellent. Shockwave, I leave all current operations in your hands until we return," Eggman ordered.
"I will do my best, sire," Shockwave bowed.
"Good. Lien-Da, before we get up there, anything we may need to know in advance?"
"There may still be GUN robots from 50 years ago up there. There are also Artificial Chaos created up there that may attack us," Lien-Da advised, "There are two kinds I know about; a tall, skinny version, and a fat, round one that breaks apart into little balls of water that freeze into miniscule spikes on contact with someone to hurt them."
"Good, good," Eggman nodded before hopping into a machine that resembled the lower half of an egg with a pair of thick metal legs attached to it with guns mounted on the sides, "Then let's get to work! Onwards to the ARK! Sleet, you first."
"Roll's Character Interviews!" A Chibi Omake
A set of curtains rise up, revealing a white room with a large window in the background depicting the night sky. Before the window was a large couch, a few potted plants, a wooden desk, and a comfy chair behind the desk. Sitting at the desk was Roll, dressed up in a black and pink formal women's business suit. On the table was a coffee mug filled with hot cocoa with the word 'I' followed by a heart and then a picture of Sonic's symbol.
"Konnichiwa, minna!" Roll greeted, "And welcome to the first episode of 'Character Interviews'! I'm your host, Roll Sakurai." She looked towards the couch, "In this segment, we interview characters in the story thus far and may even revisit some characters later on!" she looked back at the 'audience,' "So, minna, let's give a big round of applause for our very first guest; Miles Tails Prower!"
An applause went off before dying down as Tails entered…wearing a suit of power armor shaped to look like him and painted yellow and white.
"H-Hi…" Tails waved, his voice echoing a little under the helmet, as he sat down on the couch.
"Ohayo, Tails-chan. Demo, why are you wearing that power armor?"
"O-Oh…it's because when I leave the city, I have to wear this," Tails explained, "I…I have NIDS, so I can't be exposed to anywhere that isn't the city without this on."
"NIDS?"
"Neuro-Immune Deficiency Syndrome," Tails replied, "Outside of more sterile conditions, like the light from the crystal that make the day and night in our home city gives out, I could get sick very, very easily and even a simple headache could evolve into a horrible sickness for me."
"That's horrible!" Roll gasped.
"It's okay, Roll-Onee-chan," Tails assured quickly, "I'm okay with my illness."
"H-Hai…" Roll agreed slowly as she settled down in her chair, "Demo…Why do you make planes then, Tails-chan?"
"I can still fly them inside the city and, well, I really like flying," Tails replied, "It…well…It reminds me of when I was little and playing Helicopter with Miyuki-Onee-chan when she'd pick me up and spin both of us around."
"Aw~" Roll d'awed, the audience following her lead.
"It's also why I gave Sonic the Tornado," Tails added, "It has a video camera installed, so I can watch what it records when it flies. It helps me believe that there'll be a cure for NIDS and that I'll be able to fly higher without this stuffy thing on me when I leave the city."
"…hai…" Roll smiled sadly before shaking her head to clear the sad thoughts, "S-So Tails-chan, how did you meet Sonikku?"
"Well, it was a big meeting and I was five at the time," Tails explained, "Sonic was there for the very first time and he wandered off. We ended up running into each other when I was playing with a working model airplane I made. He caught it before it could hit the ground and we just started talking. He told me about all kinds of places he saw outside while I helped teach him this new trick I made called the Spin Dash. By the end of his trip there, we ended up becoming close like brothers. Though, I love my older brothers a lot, too."
"It must be hard being the youngest in such a huge family, huh?"
"Y-Yeah…But I don't mind. I really love my family and I'd do almost anything for them. Wouldn't you with Haseo-nii and Uncle Skye?"
"Hai, I would," Roll nodded, "Well, I think that's all the time we have tonight, so come back next time, minna!"
"Bye-bye!" Tails waved with Roll.
GammaTron: And that is why Tails isn't seen outside his hometown in this story. Hope you all enjoy it! Next chapter, Eggman's ARK Team arrives on the ARK!