GammaTron: Whew. It feels good to be out of the last arc at last. That was long and bothersome and I am not gonna do that again in this story for a long while.

SZ: Agreed...so now it's time for something short and relaxing..like rest chapters!

GT: Yep! Because what comes next is gonna be a doozy.

SZ: Oh ho yes, so best brace yourselves guys.

GT: Eeyup. So let's…*gets tackles by SZ again* Aw come on! I wasn't gonna destroy the stage again! We're still paying for when you triggered Mechagodzilla City!

SZ: Everytime we transition after the disclaimer…*turns to readers*...of which we do not own anything in this story aside from OCs…*glares at GT* You always end up summoning or invoking something that destroys everything!

GT: Oi! I don't do it every time! Again, Mechagodzilla City was you; not me! And for another thing, it's not always my f-*power shuts down*...Not my fault.

SZ: Not mine either...so who turned the lights out?

GT: Well...From how they went out? I think we were on a generator and…*the Toreador March is heard* Oh, shoot. I forgot to ask Sento to remove that bit from Freddy when he fixed them.

SZ:...oh no….

Freddy Fazbear: *crashes in, screeching*

"This is going to be my last act as your mentor, Nicole," Max explained as the two, Gwen, Kevin, Aleena, Uncle Chuck, and Skye stood at the landing pad at the top of the rebuilt castle, "After this, I need to return to the Milky Way Galaxy and resume my duties as Magister there. You've been a wonderful apprentice and I'm proud of how far you've come."

"Thank you, Magister Tennyson," Nicole responded with a bow, "It was an honor to work with someone as amazing as you."

Max nodded before turning to Aleena and spoke, "Thank you as well, your highness."

"You're quite welcome, Magister Tennyson," Aleena assured, "This is a momentous occasion for Mobius and I am glad to assist in this."

"This is gonna be interesting," Skye noted.

"And thank you, Skye-san, for providing the digital pamphlets," Nicole thanked.

"No problem," Skye assured.

"I'm still surprised he has pamphlets for every place on Mobius stored on a laptop," Chuck whispered to Aleena, earning a light slap to the shoulder by her with an amused shake of her head.

=This is Pilot MaKinnek speaking. Requesting to land= Gwen's Plumbers Badge spoke up, the green part flashing with each spoken word.

"This is Ambassador Tennyson. You're cleared for landing, Pilot MaKinnek," Gwen replied, speaking into it.

=Rodger-rodger=

"...Think Eggman's gonna try anything funny?" Kevin whispered to Gwen.

"Given what happened at the ARK, I doubt he'll try anything for a while," Gwen answered before noticing a fairly large ship beginning to lower from the sky.

"Here they come," Skye noted as the ship slowly landed on the landing pad, its back to them.

=Landing successful. Opening cargo bay doors=

"Feels a lot more greener than when we were last here," Makoto noted, looking out a window at the trees lining the road towards the city.

"You think they had one of Swamfire's species or Wildvine's species come here to help?" Mai pondered.

"Maybe," Ben replied with a shrug.

"Looks so much better than the ruined landscape," Sonia stated.

"Agreed," Manic nodded.

"Great to finally be home," sonic added, "That vacation….yeah...again, let's agree that never happened; especially the whole Little Planet part."

"All in favor?" Roll asked.

"Aye!" everyone replied.

"Motioned carried," Ben joked.

"You guys wonder what we missed while we were gone?" Mai pondered.

"A bit, yeah," Manic replied.

"Probably nothing too big," Sonic shrugged before looking from the driver's seat to see a large ship fly off, "...Okay. MAYBE something big…."

"Looks like the Plumbers upgraded their transporter ships," Ben noted.

"...Seems we did miss quite a bit while we were gone," Makoto noted as the bus drove right into the city.

"H-Hai," Noel agreed.

"...Maybe we need to go check with mom," Sonic suggested, "That, or Skye or Uncle Chuck. They might know what's going on."

"Provided they're not busy," Sonia pointed out.

"Yo, Ragna, y-" Manic began.

"Can't talk...Napping after that annoyance that was...not even gonna bring it up," Ragna's voice snorted, a tired bark following that.

"...Eh. He deserves it," Manic shrugged.

"H-hai," Haseo agreed.

"They've arrived in the city?" Skye asked, two fingers pressed against his ear, "...Ah. Okay, please send them to the castle immediately. If asked why, tell them that their presence is required for a very important moment in New Mobotropolis' history."

"Everything is almost ready," Nicole stated, looking at a small tablet as Skye took his two fingers off his ear.

"Good, good," Skye noted with a grin before patting Nicole's shoulder, "Really glad to have ya back."

"It's great to be back, Sakurai-san," Nicole smiled back before a message popped up, "...Again?"

"Hmm?"

"People are saying they've spotted the mysterious sniper near some of Robotnik's bases."

"A sniper?" Skye repeated, "Anything noteworthy about them?"

"They say they see something similar to your daughter's Wisp, Yacker."

"A second Wisp?" Skye pondered in surprise.

"Y-" Nicole began before another message popped up, "...correction...Wisps."

"Multiple? Well...Yacker's gonna be a happy little kid," Skye chuckled.

"Indeed," Nicole nodded before another message popped up, "...And someone is looking to join the Freedom Fighters. A...Tangle the Lemur."

"Anything noteworthy?"

"...Huh. She can use her tail to fight…nothing new th-" Nicole began before a small video clip showing a Mobian lemur surrounded by a pair of robots popped up, a cocky grin on her face before she jumped up, the end of her long tail grabbing the blade of one before using her tail to shot it through them like a slingshot, "...I stand corrected."

"Ah. A prehensile tail. That's quite a rare trait," Skye noted, "Roughly...one in every ten thousand tailed Mobians last time I checked and half that when it comes to Beastkin. Then again, that last one is in Hyorinmaru."

"Ahh…I see," Nicole noted before yet another message popped up, "...Roll and her friends have just arrived at the castle."

"Already?"

"You'd be surprised at how far my Nanite research has come, Sakurai-san," Nicole countered.

"..." Skye pulled out a flashlight and clicked it on at Nicole's head, making her raise a brow when it let out a pink light, "...Okay. You haven't been overtaken by your nanites and turned into a nanite queen of sorts." he turned it off and pocketed it away, "I love you like a daughter, but you do know my issues with experimenting with something you're working on by using one's self as a test subject."

"I've been avoiding performing that part of research," Nicole assured, "Considering what happened to a father and daughter Plumber pair that were experimenting with alien nanites."

"Daughter became the 'hive queen' and the father was deceased all along and was simply made from the nanites?"

"Correct."

"...That is exactly why you need to be careful when dealing with nanites. You never know what will happen unless you carefully make each and every single one yourself and a control module so that an AI would not be required."

"Of course. And even if you do retain your mind, you have to be extra careful around people who can manually control robotic beings."

"Yes. Technopaths and Technomancers. Heck, even normal spellcasters can cause trouble."

"Oh indeed," Nicole nodded.

"...I missed these kinds of talk with you."

"Oh same here."

"Whoo! Great to be back!" Makoto beamed as she was the first out of the bus.

"I'll say. And everything's looking pretty sweet so far out there," Manic noted.

"H-hai," Haseo agreed.

"...Still..." Tsubaki began as she held her chin in thought, "Why are we needed suddenly here at the castle?"

"The check-in guard at the gate said we were needed for 'a very important moment in the history of New Mobotropolis and even Mobius itself,'" Sonia replied.

""True..but what exactly is it?" Tsubaki pondered.

"Maybe the queen made a very important deal with some of the neighboring kingdoms?" Mai guessed.

"I'd think we know that during our trip back here," Sonia pointed out.

"...m-maybe something relating to another planet since a ship was just leaving?" Noel offered.

"Maybe…" Sonic shrugged, "We won't know until we go find out."

"So...do we get Ragna or…?" Makoto began to ask.

"Nah. The guard didn't say all of us had to," Ben replied, "Plus, waking up Ragna is a painful thing to do. Even when I went Ghostfreak, I'd still feel the blow."

"Ahh...fair enough," Makto shrugged.

"Ikuze, minna!" Roll declared with a smile.

"H-hai, onee-chan!" Haseo nodded as the group began to head to the castle.

"Psst. Ben," Makoto whispered, earning his attention as they walked side by side, "After this, you wanna get a smoothie from Mr. Smoothie's?"

"Of course."

"Sweet."

"And three...two...one…" Skye counted down before pointing at the corner just as the others went around it, "And ya pay up."

"I forgot you were good at this," Nicole sighed as she handed him a pouch.

"All in the mathematics," Skye chuckled, "Hey, kiddos!"

"T-tou-san!" Haseo beamed, rushing over before hugging his father with Roll.

"How was your vacation?"

"It was...something," Mai bluntly answered.

"Ah, so Kvar was a bigger pain than expected," Skye noted, earning surprised looks, "What? We received reports that the base headed by an owl named Kvar was destroyed by a Freedom Fighter team composed of Overlanders with five fingers, Beastkin, and Mobians. Only one team so far has all three and that's you all."

"..."

"Anyway, I'm guessing you're all wondering why you were all called here," Skye stated, "Well, talks have just ended and we now have some new aristocrats to replace the corrupted ones. And quite a few were pretty famous back where they came from."

"...Where were they from?" Mai asked.

"Trust me when I say this: you, Miss Yayoi, Miss Vermillion, Mister Tennyson, and Miss Nanaya may know a few," Skye cryptically answered.

"...huh?" those mentioned blinked at that.

"Word of advice? Find something nice to wear. This is an important event after all."

"Uh...okay?"

"Perfect. Right this way to the clothing room!"

"...New aristocrats…" Tsubaki whispered, in a seperate changing room as she began to change her outfit, "...who are they..and how do we know them?"

"Beats -Makoto don't you dare!" Mai yelped.

"Aw come on~ They look bigger than the last time I saw them!"

"You saw them in the hot spring last night!"

"Just one squeeze~"

"I said no!"

"Makoto…" Noel sighed.

"...You know...I can't help but wonder where Kajun is," Makoto admitted, "You think she's okay?"

"I hope so," Mai replied, "...Do you think she might be on Mobius?"

"If she is, she's doing a pretty good job hiding out," Makoto retorted, "Hell, she might even show up at the party."

"...Maybe…" Tsubaki whispered, brushing her hair aside a bit.

*squeeze*

"AHN~! M-Makoto!" Tsubaki snapped.

"Too distracted~ ...Huh. Did you go up a cup size?"

"Makoto…" Tsubaki growled.

"And I am gone!" Makoto yelped.

"...Oh! M-maybe I should make something for th-" Noel began.

"NO!" Makoto and Tsubaki screamed, startling her.

"N...no, Noel. I'm...sure there's gonna be something there," Tsubaki stated.

"Oh man…" Mai complained a little under her breath.

"Huh...This getup makes me want to do what Uncle Sam does and find something witty to say or think a long time before asking anything," Manic noted, wearing a red vest over a white button shirt, black slacks, and a red tie complete with a black fedora sporting a red band and black and red dress shoes.

"Says you. I look good," Sonic smirked, looking at his own reflection as he wore a similar attire except in black and blue, "Yo, Ben, which of us looks cooler? Me or Manic?"

"Mmm...Not sure. You both look pretty cool," Ben replied, wearing a black and green version of the outfit.

"Yeah, but who pulls it off better?" Manic asked, "Me, right?"

"No, me."

"Hmmm...Yacker," Ben replied as he pointed at the Wisp wearing a white tie and white fedora.

"What?!" both exclaimed as Yacker giggled and bumped a tentacle with Ben's held up fist.

"Lucky little guy…" Manic muttered, "I know I look good…"

"Why are you jealous? You trying to impress someone?" Sonic smirked.

"Shut. up."

"Hey, hey, hey. No fighting right now, you two," Ben intervened, moving between the two, "You don't want Sonia and Tsubaki to start scolding us with a lecture, do you?"

"...No," the two muttered.

"Then don't fight."

"...Fine."

"...So...Either of you wonder what these new aristocrats are like?" Sonic pondered, hoping to change the subject.

"Hopefully not the snooty, haughty type," Manic stated.

"Oh, Yacker-chan~! Kawaii!" Roll cooed, wearing a slim, figure hugging blue Chinese dress with white gloves that reached up to her shoulders and her hair pulled into a bun with a pair of chopsticks in it, as Yacker giggled while sheepishly rubbing the back of his head before her.

"You don't look too bad yourself, Roll-chan!" Makoto beamed as she ran up to her, wearing a yellow and brown slim dress that hugged her figure nicely yet kept it hidden with a pair of brown gloves going up to her shoulders and brown stockings, "Nice and tres chic."

"Arigatou," Roll giggled, "You as well, Makoto-chan."

"Thanks," Makoto smiled before whispering, "Betcha Sonic's gonna love your look."

"...I could say the same with you for Ben," Roll countered.

"...I walked right into that…" Makoto muttered with a small blush.

Yacker giggling only confirmed it for her.

"Mmm…" Makoto puffed her cheeks a bit as Noel, Mai, and Tsubaki walked over.

"It-It feels like it was a good idea to come back," Noel giggled, wearing a simple baby-blue and white dress with white gloves like Makoto and Roll wore, her hair having been let free.

"Possibly," Tsubaki agreed, wearing a cream formal dress with her hair pulled back by a cream hairband aside from two locks framing her face.

"I'm still amazed we're being invited to something formal like this," Mai admitted, wearing a backless blue dress with a gold collar on her neck and gold swirling designs going up the right side of the dress, "...Then again, Mobius is a whole different place compared to our old world."

"True…" Tsubaki nodded a bit.

"Considering you're heroes on this planet thanks to the ARK Incident, I'm amazed we haven't been invited to more," Sonia noted as she approached, wearing a magenta version of Mai's outfit.

"Yo ladies! Sorry we're late, w-" Manic began as he, Sonic, and Ben approached the girls….with Manic tensing the moment he spotted Tsubaki, "?!"

"Oh, hello, guys," Tsubaki greeted.

"..."

"...uh...Manic?" Sonic whispered, nudging Manic a little.

"Huh? Wh..oh! Eh heh...hey girls!" Manic greeted with a sheepish chuckle, "You look great."

"Smooth…" Sonia and Sonic deadpanned.

"All of you ready?" Skye asked as he approached with Haseo, the two-tailed fox and his hedgehog father wearing black and white suits in the same style as Ben, Sonic, and Manic with Haseo not wearing a fedora, and Nicole...in her uniform still.

"Eh? Nicole-chan?" Roll pondered.

"I'm currently still on duty," Nicole explained, "Furthermore, the uniform doubles as formal attire."

"Oh...that's useful," Makoto noted.

"Indeed," Nicole nodded, "Now then...as Sakurai-san said, are you all ready?"

"We are/hai/y-yes/eeyup/yup."

"Excellent. Then let us go. We don't want our guests and new aristocrats waiting," Nicole advised.

"So is there anything you can tell us about them?" Mai asked.

"I suppose," Skye noted, "One of them is going to replacing Argus as captain of the guard and training the new soldiers."

"Huh? Argus is retiring?" Manic asked, "But he just got de-Roboticized."

"True, but you all haven't seen the guy, have you?" Skye asked, earning a shake of the head from the triplets, "Well, when Perfect Chaos wrecked the city, Argus had been out on the streets and lost his legs and an arm. And when he got de-Roboticized…" the trio cringed, "Yeah. Good news is that he's got some kids from his wife he'll be able to raise."

"His track record is impressive. He single handedly caught a highly-dangerous criminal that could be considered an intergalactic threat if he had access to space travel," Nicole noted.

"Really?" Mai blinked.

"Yes. A Mister...Hazuki if I recall his name."

"?!" Mai tensed at that.

"...Mai? Daijoubu?" Noel asked.

"And the others?" Ben asked.

"There's a couple who are into the arts and, when asked about their opinion on how a monarchy should run, they hit all the good points of the ruler being fair, just, selfless, and looks out for the people first," Skye noted, "The wife is quite the poem lover and the husband is quite the skilled artist, showing a portrait of their daughter-adopted, mind you-when asked for an example."

"..."

"...a...a….anyone else?" Makoto slowly asked.

"...hmm...anyone else…" Skye pondered for a moment, "...Ah. Another couple. Quite nice and have a personal maid that reminds me of White when it comes to tripping. The husband's a bit stern but is a bit of a book nut considering he had the best reaction to when we showed a map of the city and I pointed out the library. The wife is a lover of the performance arts, primarily the ones based upon historical events. And, well, those are the more natural aristocrats. The last ones becoming new aristocrats had a farm-and will have an entire ranch for it-that was lost due to…" he glanced out the window, the half moon shown in the day sky, "...celestial reasons…" he looked back ahead, "But were fortunate in that their whole family and a guest they were having made it out okay."

"...you don't think…?" Makoto began as she, Noel, Tsubaki, and Mai looked at eachother with wide eyes.

"It...it has to be…" Mai finished.

"...where are they right now, Sakurai-san?" Tsubaki was the first to ask Skye.

"I would say finishing getting dressed for the formal luncheon after spending the majority of the day dealing with talks with Aleena and myself," Skye replied, "Either that or already there. Well...outside of our new captain of the guard. Said he wanted to see the current guard and recruits. Man's dedicated to performing his duty, it seems, so his wife will be there for them both."

"..." the girls said nothing as they rushed off.

"...Did we say something wrong?" Nicole blinked.

"Nope. Said exactly what needed to be said," Skye chuckled, "Seriously, you didn't read the files?"

"Uh, Pops-in-Law? What are you talking about?" Manic asked.

"Maxy gave me copies of the profiles," Skye explained, reaching into his vest and pulling out a folder and handed it to Manic, "Look alive, kiddo. You're going to have to do a good first impression for two of them and their maid."

"...Oh...ohh…." Manic realized upon looking in it...before paling a bit, "Ohhhh…."

"What?" Sonia asked while peeking over Manic's shoulder, "Wait, what?!"

"Hmm?" Sonic and Roll raised a brow as they looked over, "..."

"Say what?!" Sonic gawked, "Uh, Skye…"

"Call me Pops. I don't mind,' Skye assured.

"I thought you were talking about the moon blowing up when you talked about that farm being destroyed because of 'celestial reasons,'" Sonic noted.

"What would be the fun in not being cryptic and ruin the surprise?" Skye chuckled, "Plus, you assumed. You know what they say. Assuming mean you make an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me.'"

"Sakurai-san?!" Nicole gawked before looking at Roll for a few moments, "Um…"

"I got forced out of that habit when I was eight," Roll explained.

"Oh phew…"

"Umashi~! White-kyun! Come over here, kyu!" Miyuki called out, wearing an elegant ice-blue dress as she tried a small slice of pecan pie, "It's quite…"

"Delicious, yes," White-wearing a black and white formal outfit-replied as he gently wiped a bit of cream from the pie off Miyuki's cheek with a handkerchief.

"Thankyu," Miyuki giggled, pecking her shorter husband's cheek, "Mmm...oh, I have to meet the person who made this. This pecan pie is just too perfect, kyu!"

"Coming in with her husband through the right door," White informed.

"...Once more, thankyu, darling," Miyuki smiled, pecking him on the cheek once more as she turned to look over at the right door as it opened.

A couple entered the room from the door, both in their late thirties. The man of the two was big, possibly around Rath's size with a similar muscular build beneath a formal black suit with acorn-shaped cufflinks. His dark-brown hair was semi-short and scraggly with a sharp beard and mustache, matching well with his squirrel tail and ears that twitched atop his head. He frowned as he adjusted his tie until his wife's hands took over and properly adjusted it.

The wife was a beautiful woman with fair tanned skin and a shapely figure shown off in a figure-hugging acorn-colored shoulder-less dress with a silver necklace sporting an acorn-shaped pendant and white gloves that went up to her shoulders. Her long light-brown hair was pulled into a braided ponytail that rested over her shoulder and two bangs framed her youthful, motherly face.

"Thanks...That thing has been buggin' me," the husband of the two admitted with a light chuckle.

"It's fine, hun," the wife assured, a Southern accent strong in her voice.

"Yeah..heh. Just not so used to wearin' a fancy suit is all," the husband sheepishly chuckled, "Then again...not every day you're invited by royalty and all that."

"It's mighty kind of her to give us this," the wife noted.

"Yup. Heh...think they'll like the pie you made?"

"Well ah certainly hope so. Ah put…"

"Excuse me, miss?" the two looked over to see Miyuki and White walk over, the former holding her plate with the slice of pecan pie on it, "You're the one who made this pecan pie, right kyu?"

"Eeyup."

"I just wanted to say this pie...oh sweet Celsius-sama! This pie is amazing kyu!" Miyuki beamed a bit, "I've always tried to make a pecan pie or two at home, but I could never get the flavor right."

"Well pecans are a mighty hard nut to cook with," she noted, "Ya gotta make sure to make th' right balance so that th' pie isn't too sweet, too tart, or too chunky from an overabundance of th' pecans."

"Ahh...soka," Miyuki noted, "Miyuki. Miyuki Nanaya Prower, miss, kyu."

"White Rose Prower," White nodded a bit.

"Mark, Mark Nanaya," the husband introduced.

"Makaya Nanaya. Howdy," the wife greeted.

"A pleasure, kyu," Miyuki smiled before looking at Makaya closely, "...To be honest, you kinda remind me of someone, kyu."

"Ah do?"

"Hai...hmm.." Miyuki pondered for a moment, her ninetails swaying a bit behind her, "...oh! You almost look an an older…"

"Pardon me," White interrupted as he moved to the door and opened it before Makoto nearly fell over in reaching for the handle before catching herself.

"Phew," Makoto sighed in relief before looking at White still holding the door, "Seriously, are you psychic or something?"

"Please don't start that…" White deadpanned.

"What? I…" Makoto began before she noticed Mark and Makaya, "?!"

"?!" the two looked at her with wide eyes.

"...Mom? D...daddy?" Makoto whispered, visibly shaking as tears began to form in her eyes.

"White-kyun, wh…" Miyuki began.

"Mother and father reunited with daughter," White explained, "May need to set up some privacy walls, dear."

"Ahh…" Miyuki nodded before snapping her fingers, creating a dense soundproof wall of ice around them that also caught a sign White had tossed by the rope on the sign's end, revealing 'Private Meeting in progress.'

"I...is that...really you?" Makoto cautiously asked.

"Makoto?" Makaya gasped, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Little Acorn?" Mark asked.

"...mom...daddy…" Makoto whispered, cautiously stepping over before she pulled them both into a hug, "It….it really is you…"

"Oh, Makoto!" Makaya exclaimed, hugging her in return, letting her tears fall, "They...they said that y'all were…"

"How did you get here of all places?" Mark asked, adding into the hug.

"Don't know, but I don't care right now.." Makoto answered, smiling softly as tears flowed down her cheeks, "I...I'm just so happy you're alive…"

"Oh, th' kids are going t' be so excited when they see you!" Makaya spoke in joy.

"Oh massively," Mark agreed before yelping when Makoto lifted the two up in her hug, "...Okay, either I've gotten rusty, or you've been working out quite a bit, my little acorn."

"Maybe," Makoto replied, letting them down before sheepishly rubbing the back of her head, "It's...a pretty long story."

"I keep forgetting Makoto was the MVP in almost every sporting event back at school," Mai groaned as she looked around, pausing at times to return greetings from the various Freedom Fighter leaders that were attending the event, "Ahh...I knew we should've stuck together, right g-" she began when she noticed Noel and Tsubaki nowhere in sight, "...And we got seperated...fantastic…"

She sighed once more before taking a look around. She almost forgot how big the castle was...and how much of a hassle it was to try and find the right room at times.

'I really wish I was here when it was being rebuilt,' Mai thought before noticing a familiar dog, talking with someone she couldn't make out, 'No way…'

"Well, we still trade letters by carrier pigeon often sharing tales of our exhilarating escapades that are often involving hilarious happenstances," Sam spoke.

"Sam?"

"Hm? Excuse me for a moment," Sam turned around, "Ah! Mai, good to see you! How have ya been?"

"It's been...decent."

"Wacky escapade when you were supposed to be taking a vacation?"

"How did you…?"

"Oh, I'm penpals with Skye Sakurai and he often shares news on things of interest and often filled with pictures of the aftermath. Max enjoys framing the most destructive ones when we figure out it involves our buddy Azure's kids," Sam explained, "Great peaks of the Himalayas! Now I remember why she seems familiar."

"Who?"

Sam moved out of the way and Mai's eyes widened. The woman Sam had been talking to was a beautiful woman that seemed to be an older version of Mai, wearing a teal-green dress with gold trimming.

"...M….mom?!" Mai gawked before she was suddenly glomped.

You're alive!" the woman exclaimed happily, "Oh, I was so worried! When the bunker everyone was in rumbled like mad, we thought something happened and then aliens and our planet is gone and…Oh, I'm just so glad you're alive!"

"Aw…" Sam cooed, "A mother and daughter separated by planetary destruction reunited on another world." he looked at the buffet, "Ooh~Steaks."

"...Is dad…" Mai began.

"Oh, he's busy at the moment. Wanting to take position as captain of the royal guard."

'So that part is true…' Mai thought, "...Question. Mom, I was told dad fought against a highly dangerous criminal from our world...who was it?"

"Oh. I believe his moniker was Mad Dog," she replied, tilting her head with a finger on her cheek in thought.

'...AZRAEL?!' Mai mentally exclaimed at that, '...Oh I REALLY hope he's not here on Mobius…'

"Mm...where did they go?" Noel pondered as she looked around outside the castle, walking through a small garden room of sorts, "...pretty...oh!" she closed her eyes as she whispered, "'Amongst even the largest of buildings, even the most beautiful of roses will bloom forth from within it…'...Mmm...I wish I had something to write this down with…"

"Oh, I wrote it down for you."

"Eh? R-Really?!" Noel turned around before her eyes widened.

Before her was an older woman with long brown hair and a fair figure. She wore a simple sky-blue dress with white gloves and gold bracelets on her wrists. She smiled gently at Noel, tears in her eyes while an old leather notebook was in one hand, the word 'Poems' on it.

"...K...k...kaa-san…?" Noel whispered, tears in her eyes as she held her hands over her mouth.

"My little Noel," the woman sniffled.

Noel began to sniffle a bit before she ran over and pulled the woman into a hug. The woman was quick to return the embrace.

"You...you're really here…"

"I can't believe it...you're alive…"

"U...u...UWAAAAAAAAHHHH~!-!-!" both women began to sob, "Kaa-san/My petite Angel~!-!-!-!"

"Ah...I'm so happy…" an older man around the woman's age wearing a painter's smock over a formal suit sniffled, standing by an easel with a canvas on it partially complete, "Our little Angel is alive."

"?!" Noel's eyes widened further as she looked over, "...t...Tou-san…"

"Oh sh-sh...don't move...This is a moment I want us to remember forever," the man chuckled, quickly going back to the canvas.

"Oh, Gatsby…" Noel's mother sighed with a bemused smile on her lips.

"Oh come now, Daisy. You were writing down that tres magnifique poem of hers," Noel's father countered with his own chuckle.

"Mmm~" Daisy blushed at that.

"Mmm~" Noel blushed at that a bit.

"...Honestly Makoto…" Tsubaki sighed, walking along a lone hallway as she rubbed the bridge of her nose a bit, "You could've at least slowed down…"

"Mmm~ Where are they?"

"Hmm?" Tsubaki blinked, stopping for a moment to see a maid with her long forest green hair done into a braided ponytail muttering to herself, looking around for something on the floor, "?!"

"Dang it...where are my glasses?"

"...Hina?"

"Oh! Lady Yayoi!" Hina gasped as she shot up...looking in the wrong direction, "Is that you?!"

"Hold on," Tsubaki sighed, spotting a pair of black-rimmed glasses on the floor and picked them up, "Turn around, Hina. I found your glasses."

"Ah!" Hina spun around and Tsubaki quickly put them on her face, letting her green eyes finally focus, "Lady Yayoi! You're alive!"

"I am. It's...complicated," Tsubaki stated, "But..if you are here...does that mean…"

"Your father couldn't resist once he was done with the proper paperwork and headed for the city library," Hina quickly answered, "And your mother…I think she wanted to learn of any possible performances involving this world's history, mostly on the nations of Dainihon and Chunan."

"Mother always did love the Asian cultures," Tsubaki giggled before smiling softly at Hina, "I'm so glad you all survived. But...how?"

"Oh! Well, that was Professor Kokonoe's doing. She learned that we were being targeted by the NOL and took us and several other families into a safety bunker beneath the city deep in the mountain. It was...interesting," Hina noted, "And then there was rumbling and everything shook and then the door sealed up until, um...I fainted when it opened and revealed an alien."

'...It must've been one of the Plumbers,' Tsubaki thought.

"But regardless. I am so happy you are safe, milady. When you and the Izayoi went missing, we were all worried," Hina added, making Tsubaki tense a bit, "...Lady Yayoi...you...took it, didn't you?"

"...It's...complicated, mostly due to memory loss a-" Tsubaki began.

"EH?! M-memory loss?!" Hina exclaimed before rushing off, "My lady, your d-oof!" Tsubaki flinched when she saw Hina fall flat on her face...before getting up and continuing like nothing happened, "Your daughter is suffering from memory loss!"

"Hina!" Tsubaki called.

"Hai?" Hina skidded to a halt and immediately turned to her.

"Just...please calm down. I am okay."

"But...memory los…"

"Hina Midorhana, as the daughter of the Yayoi family, I order you to relax for today."

"...yes, lady Yayoi," Hina bowed.

"Good. Now then, would you care to accompany me to find mother? I'd like to have a better understanding of what happened since my graduation."

"Understood," Hina bowed once more.

"One last question...Did you happen to see a Kajun Faycott amongst those that arrived here?"

"Yes. I believe she was talking with some of the locals here."

"Really? Who?"

"Quite brilliant," Skye noted, looking at a tablet with a butterfly print on the back, "You seem to cover the basics of safety in blueprints quite well."

"Well of course. It's rather simple once you get the hang of it," the owner of the tablet replied.

Said owner was a young woman around Tsubaki's age with long periwinkle-colored hair. She wore a formal purple dress with a butterfly print on the left breast and a black hairband in her hair. Black gloves reaching her shoulders covered her hands while the slit in the dress's lower half revealed the black stockings she wore. Standing beside her was a rather large, red-skinned (literal red skin mind you) man with scraggy black hair, metal gauntlets over his hands and lower arms, two large fangs poking out of his jaw, sunglasses over his eyes, and a tailor-made formal black suit.

"I do hope you're currently enjoying things in New Mobotropolis so far, Ms. Faycott, Mr. Tager," Skye noted.

"It is rather interesting so far…" the large red-skinned man note before noticing a few guards whispering among themselves, "...Tough I think my appearance has a few of the guards uneased."

"They're more likely debating on if you got caught in a Roboticizer or not," Skye noted.

"Roboticizer?" the two repeated.

"Think of a device that transforms organic materials into inorganic materials," Skye explained, "My Daughter-in-Law, Sonia, has a friend named Raffie who was released partway through resulting in his legs being Roboticized while the rest remained untouched."

"Ahh...I see," Tager noted.

"...This Roboticizer...I take it one of the side effects on the ones it is used on is loss of free-will?" Kajun guessed.

"And the suspension of aging," Skye confirmed, "Seriously, I'm barely six years older than my daughter because of it."

"Ahh..I see," Kajun noted as she pondered a bit, "Hmm...was the loss of free-will originally programed into the Roboticizer?"

"Hmm?"

"A hunch, but I believe that side-effect wasn't originally programmed into it. If the programs weren't interfered with, it is possible the loss of limbs would be replaced, and the free-will would be intact."

"True. That kind of technology would've been a medical wonder. But due to its use by Robotnik, the governments of the world have all unified to declare any Roboticizers or anything of the like are hereby banned," Skye concurred, "Though robotic implants are still a viable thing, so that's something."

"Ahh...I see," Kajun noted.

'...Why do I feel Kokonoe overheard all that?' the large man thought.

"Hey, would you mind turning down the volume?" Skye asked, looking at Tager.

"Hm?"

"Not you; the one on the other end of the radio you're equipped with," Skye noted, "It's got this slight hiss-crackle-pop-hiss-pop sound. Probably an old Samsung Port-Orion-Sigma that was discontinued due to that issue causing Mobians to start going deaf."

=...okay. How the actual hell?=

"...Of course she was listening…" Tager sighed.

"Mobians have a bit of a higher hearing range than what you're probably used to," Skye noted, "I'd suggest investing in a Sirius ZXDX. Better range, clearer voices, and no annoying sound that causes Mobians to start going deaf from prolonged use."

=...You think you know everything, don't you?=

"Heavens no. Life would be too boring if you knew everything," Skye chuckled, "But using mathematics at the chaos theory level does help in making several plans for acting and reacting to situations. By the way, how are you enjoying the new laboratory?"

=What the…?!=

"Even when modified, the Samsun Port-Orion-Sigma has a range of roughly 15 kilometers and considering you decided to opt out of being introduced as the new co-head of R&D at this celebration, based on your posture and vocal attitude you prefer to be in a laboratory doing research over interacting with others in a formal environment where one has to be selective on their choice of words," Skye explained, "Considering the time between your leaving and the time the celebration began, you're at the laboratory at this moment becoming accustomed to the place."

=...=

"Oh, and judging by your voice..you have NOT slept in who knows how long, drinking nothing but coffee to keep you awake. Based upon the slight wavering, you will be crashing in three...two…" Skye counted before Tager heard a light thump and heavy snoring before turning his radio off, "Now." he chuckled, "Ah, it's going to be a pleasant time getting to know her at work. Must not have had a rival in ages if that's how she acts."

"..."

"Buuuut enough of that for now. Let us go enjoy the celebrations," Skye stated as he walked off.

"...I think I am going to enjoy this world," Kajun noted.

"Hn," Tager agreed with a nod.

"Whew...practically everyone is here," Sonic whistled slowly, noticing the room filled with various Mobian, Beastkin, and Overlanders.

"Considering that new aristocrats are being introduced to the kingdom today, I'm not surprised," Roll noted, "Oh, Sonikku, I see Sam-san over there."

"Uncle Sam?" Sonic pondered, looking over at the buffet, "Yep. That's him alright...huh. Don't see Max anywhere."

"Hai," Roll agreed, "Maybe he's out looking around the castle?"

"Oh, I already did that," the two jumped and turned around to see Max wearing just a black jacket and a red bowtie, "Hey, kiddies! Ya seen Sam anywhere? I kinda need an alibi and if you see a kangaroo tarred and covered in sprinkles and glitter, say the pranker jumped out the window on the sixth floor."

"...He's at the buffet."

"Seriously?! How could he start without me?" Max gawked before looking, "Oh, T-Bone Steaks. That explains it." he grinned at the two, "Thanks, kiddies!"

"Just…" Sonic began before Max ran off and nearly jumped into the buffet had Sam not grabbed him by the ears, "...That was a bit close."

"Aww come on, Sam! Let me at da food! I wanna try and wolf it down in one go!"

"Sorry but no. Remember when we tried the one chip challenge last week?"

"So the apartment complex burned down, so what? At least that chip was delicious!"

"Well yes, but did you have to add Ghost Chili sauce to yours?"

"Well how else was I supposed to fly us out of the through farting fire?"

"Well, at least you aimed for the skylight first, little buddy."

"...He's joking about that. Right?" Sonia slowly asked her siblings.

"Who here knows them better?" Manic asked.

"...Yes, they're not joking," Sonia sighed in admittance.

"...I wonder where the others are," Sonic pondered, "Only one I possibly see here is Makoto."

"Currently with family, kyu," Miyuki answered as she walked by, taking another bite of her pecan pie, "Mmm~ Makaya-chan, you are a pie expert, kyu…"

"Konnichiwa, Miyuki-sama," Roll greeted with a bow.

"Did she say Makoto was with family?" Manic asked.

"..." Sonic said nothing before blurring off...and came back with a surprised look, "Yup. She with her mom and pop."

"How could you tell?" Manic asked.

"Mom looked like an older version of her while the dad was pretty buff," Sonic explained, "That and she gets the ears and tail from her dad."

"Ahh…"

"...Makes me wonder what the other girls' parents are l-"

"Interesting."

"WOAH NOW!" Sonic yelped as he jumped back, seeing Kajun looking straight at him.

"You were able to surpass the speed of sound, and yet you didn't break the sound barrier…" she noted, "Furthermore, you did so without disturbing anything, something that should be physically impossible."

"...uh…" Sonic began.

"Oh? A Hedgefox?" Kajun noted once she spotted Roll, "Interesting..so interspecies offspring are a thing here on Mobius…Judging by your fur color and hedgehog qualities, I take it you are related to Skye Sakurai?"

"Oh! You know Tou-san?" Roll asked in surprise.

"Yes. He's actually my new boss in R&D," Kajun replied, "Oh. My apologies, I haven't introduced myself. I am Kajun Faycott."

"Roll Sakurai. A pleasure," Roll nodded, "And th-"

"The hedgehogs with you are Princes Sonic and Manic Hedgehog, and Princess Sonia Hedgehog," Kajun interrupted, "The queen provided a picture of you three when she brought them up in the introduction she gave."

"Ahh."

"She also mentioned my friends, along with…" Kajun began before a slight unsettling glint appeared in her eye, "The boy with the transforming watch…"

"Ben-san?" Roll pondered.

"Yes him. I...I'd like to see him personally and discuss that watch of his...like how it enables him to transform into different species, how each one works, the limits of each transformation…" Kajun listed off.

"Whoa, whoa. Easy now," Manic advised, "You said something about friends?"

"Hm? Oh, yes."

"Any chance their names are Makoto, Tsubaki, Noel, and Mai?"

"Indeed."

"Oh, so you're that Kajun!" Manic realized, "Tsuki and the others have told us a bit about ya."

"Ahh...Soka," Kajun noted with a nod, "...Tsuki?"

"Manic's pet name for her," Sonic smirked before Manic punched him in the arm, "Ow!"

"Bro…" Manic growled a bit, a light bush on his face as he glared at Sonic.

"...I'll ponder that later," Kajun whispered to herself, "Do you happen to know where my friends are at the moment?"

"We're unsure where Noel, Tsubaki and Mai are, but Makoto is currently with her parents at the moment," Sonia answered.

"Ah, Mister and Missus Nanaya," Kajun noted, "They're quite a nice couple. Their children are...sorry. Getting off track...where are they at the moment?"

"A few feet away from the buffet," Sonic replied.

"Thank you," Kajun nodded as she walked off.

"...I think we helped Ben dodge a laser shot," Sonic noted.

"Agreed/Hai."

"...You know now that I think about it...where IS Ben?" Manic asked.

"...good question."

"Okay, and you're sure you want to lock that one, too?" Gwen asked, wearing a strapless blue dress with her hair pulled into a bun.

"Yeah," Ben replied, holding up his Omnitrix in its activate state to her and Kevin, wearing a suit like Ben was.

"...This is because of…" Kevin began.

"Sorta. The other is budget constraints," Ben replied, "Sonia said she was going to teleport me to a place I really would not like to be in if I didn't get that one locked, too."

"Fair enough," Kevin shrugged as he and Gwen pulled out a pair of keys and plugged them into the sides of the Omnitrix's active state.

=Celestialsapien DNA locked. Filumsapien DNA locked= the Omnitrix stated before the two removed the keys and gave them to Ben.

"Thanks," Ben thanked.

"No problem," Kevin replied, "So...I heard from Tsubaki that you have a new kid."

"Oi!" Ben barked.

"Relax, I'm kidding," Kevin chuckled.

"Still, what happened to that Splixson?" Gwen asked.

"Oh, Five asked to be dropped off when we passed by Furbank on our way back here. Said he was gonna go into a voice acting career," Ben explained.

"Oh?"

"I'm not surprised. Sometimes the voices of your aliens would be interesting to hear on something like an animation," Gwen admitted.

"...Huh...never thought about it like that," Ben admitted, "Especially after that cartoon show using my aliens."

"I remember that," Kevin chuckled before speaking, "Anyway, aside from your new kid…"

"Kevin…" Gwen began.

"...How was your vacation?" Kevin asked.

"..."

"...Something happen?"

"...Aside from dealing with a manipulative Owl that attacked and kidnapped the people of this village we stopped at and then dealing with an alien Hunter and Albedo?"

"Albedo was here?" Gwen gasped.

"Yup. Tried using this place called Little Planet and the Time Stones to become a god of time…"

"I thought that was just a myth," Kevin noted.

"Huh?" Gwen looked at Kevin.

"A planet said to appear for just three days and then go into the time stream with stones that could let someone manipulate time," Kevin explained, "A lot of thieves tend to believe in it for the chance to find it and grab one of those stones to score big heists."

"Try tying the planet down via a large chain, and managing to get all seven Time Stones," Ben spoke, "If I hadn't used Ultimate Clockwork against him…"

"Wait. There's an Ultimate Clockwork?"

"Yeah. It's something I've been practicing with everyone," Ben replied, "And, well, Albedo has access to Ultimates again."

"Seriously?"

"Yup...though I might've beaten that out of his Ultimatrix after we both fought as Ultimate Clockwork."

"And this is when I say 'I need a drink,'" Kevin groaned, "Ugh...let's just get to the party already."

"Right," Ben and Gwen agreed.

"So any reason for the big transport ship today?" Ben asked as the three walked off towards the party hall.

"Oh that? It's not really. Just transporting a bunch of people here after their home planet was destroyed," Kevin replied.

"Queen Aleena offered and the Plumbers accepted it," Gwen added.

"Ahh...wait. What was the destroyed pl-" Ben began.

"The one belonging to your friends."

"?! R-Really?" Ben asked.

"Correctamundo, Benny."

"?!" Ben looked at a nearby suit of armor.

Standing atop of the the armor was a cat standing on its hind legs. It wore a yellow jacket with long sleeves that his its upper legs while a katana was strapped to its back. Its fur was mainly cream with patches of brown in it while its eye was covered with an eyepatch.

"Surprised to see that ya haven't looked like ya aged," the cat noted.

"J-Jubei!" Ben exclaimed.

"In th' livin' flesh," Jubei said as he hopped down, "Heard you and Ragna got in quite a few big fights…"

"Yeah. A lot of them," Ben admitted, "Still, he's going to be ecstatic that you're still alive."

"Heh. I bet," Jubei chuckled a bit, "...Quick question, y'all happen t' see a kid in a cloak with MPD?"

"...uh no?"

"Oh...well heads up. They're...eccentric."

"...Don't you mean 'their'?" Gwen raised a brow.

"Nope. THEY'RE…" Jubei corrected as he walked off, "Now if'n y'all will excuse me, I need t' find Ragna."

"Parking garage down the street, section 3E. It's the modified armored bus," Ben explained.

"Gotcha."

"Mmm...maybe...no no…" Eggman muttered as he went through multiple files, "Grr…"

"Milord, is everything well?" Starscream asked.

"Quiet. I'm busy," Eggman waved off.

"Very well, sire," Starscream replied with a bow, "Though...Are you sure you do not want to investigate that mysterious ship th-"

"Starscream, I will pull your head unit off and attach it to a toaster if you don't stop distracting me," Eggman warned, "I believe I said that Shockwave is in charge at this time."

"My apologies," Starscream quickly apologized and left.

Eggman huffed before going back to his files, "Blast it all. Still no sign of Soundwave. Why now of all times does the one robot I need to find go missing with the one item I need most for studying?!" he looked over at a container, the bow-like weapon floating within as scanners continued their work analyzing it, "Just what is it that can counter your drawbacks and cure them? ...Maybe the Ph-no ho~ I am NOT opening that can of worms, nor even want to MENTION that dangerous thing." he moved back to his computer, "Rrrrgh...This is a mystery wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a cryptid. I know that holding it doesn't cause its drawbacks, but the use of it. But why would those two be so different?" he paused, "Perhaps…" he inhaled before dialing up a number, "I require one of your non-infected living personnel at once."

=Yes, sir, Eggman sir!= the chinchilla beamed before Eggman hung up.

Twenty minutes passed before a meek Mobian meerkat poked in, "Y-You called for me, s-sir?"

"Yes, yes. Come in," Eggman ordered, "You know the status of your comrades, correct?"

"Y-yes, sir. I...I'm one of th-the ones helping the blind o-ones."

"It will be alright. I think I've had a breakthrough but it will require you to be inflicted with what they're going through."

"Wh-What?" he gulped as Eggman placed a few medical stickers on the meerkat.

"Do you want them to recover?"

"Y-Yes, sir."

"Then we need to do this. I'd willingly do it myself, but I need to stay uninfected to work on the cure," Eggman explained as he pulled out a dummy made to resemble a target, "Now, grab the bow and fire an arrow at this dummy."

"...o...okay…" he nodded, grabbing the bow from the container as he looked at it, "...Wh-where's the arrow?"

"It makes the arrows. You just mimic pulling back on the drawstring," Eggman explained as he brought up holographic screens with one put before a side view of the meerkat for him, displaying an energy coming off the bow and the meerkat.

"...O-oh…" the meerkat nodded as he mimicked the movement, causing an arrow of light to appear; this caused him to yelp as he let go, letting the arrow smack into the dummy.

*BOOM!*

"..." the meerkat gulped at the ashes that remained.

"Yes...yes...yes-yes-yes!" Eggman laughed, "Your name, my good meerkat?"

"J-John, sir."

"Congratulations. You've been promoted."

"Th-Thank you, sir!"

"Now while you still have your sight, look at this," Eggman ordered, spinning the screen around to display a replay.

As the recorded John pulled the bow back, the gentle white aura coming off him was still. However, the bow's wild green aura shot out and stabbed into John's aura and began to pull at it slowly while producing the arrow. Once John released it, the green aura continued to pull on his aura despite also letting go of the bow.

"You see all these wild points on it? They're hooks, stabbing into the very lifeforce of whomever uses it!" Eggman explained, "It's possible that multiple uses could cause more hooks, meaning there's more lifeforce being drained! John, your single firing of that bow has given us the biggest breakthrough for a possible cure!"

"R-really?!"

"Yes. Now report to the medical bay. You'll be thanking me once the headaches start developing from the firing," Eggman ordered before turning on another holographic monitor once John left, "Clove, there's been a breakthrough! Get your sister and come to the main base at once!"

=...I'll be there soon enough= Clove answered as she ran off =Cassia, get ready!=

=Aw come on!~ I just put my new g-=

=A breakthrough was found!=

"...So excited she forgot to turn it off," Eggman chuckled as he hung up and contacted Shockwave, "Shockwave, I need a groundbridge from Northamer Base to R&D at the Main Base STAT. Review the new data I'm sending to you and report there immediately once you do so."

=At once, my liege= Shockwave replied before turning off communications.

"Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant!" Eggman whooped as he spun around...and saw his memory device, "...I almost forgot about this." he frowned before walking over to it, "Time is of the importance, but…" he put the helmet on and turned on the device, "This needs to be done as well."

He typed into the keypad, making sure that everything was accurate on the time he wanted. Slowly, the screen changed from static to an image of a semi-lit lab with the end of a crash going off.

=Wh-what was that?= the screen moved quickly around =Who is there? ...Sire, this better not be another jumpscare prank! Our current research is stressful enough!=

Silence was his only response.

=...s...seriously, who's there? Y...you better speak up…!=

=...This peace is a lie…=

=?!= the screen tensed as it rapidly moved around =Wh...who said that?!=

=This 'peace' this world has is nothing but a lie...someone needs to remind them what war is like...what fear is like...what despair is like=

=...who...who are you?= the voice asked before a witch-like figure appeared before it, a faint figure being seen within.

=A god…of death=

"Gh?!" Eggman tensed quickly, taking the memory device off as he heavily breathed, "Wh...what….what was that?" he grit his teeth, "A god of death...And she used me as a puppet!" he glowered at the device, "There will be a reckoning!" he turned around and walked out, "But first...a young girl is in need of being cured."

"Phew…" Manic sighed in relief as he stepped out onto a balcony, "Formal parties are not my specialty." he looked out at the city, "Man...I wonder if this is what it was like for Pops when he grew up in Mobotropolis. It's a pretty nice view."

"Indeed."

"Gh!" Manic jumped and looked to see an older woman with long silver hair in a red strapless dress and green eyes.

"Oh, my apologies," she apologized, "Didn't mean to startle you."

"I...it's fine, miss…" Manic assured, clearing his throat a bit, "So, uh...what brings you out here?"

"Oh, just needed a moment is all. Most tend to need a moment during these soires to themselves," she replied.

"Ahh...true," Manic nodded a bit, "...Then again, I'm usually not the type for these type of shindigs anyway, but it was a special occasion and decided to come."

"Oh?"

"Yep. Much prefer to, well...travel. See new places, visit old places and see how they've changed," Manic noted, "And you?"

"It's actually being thrown for myself and several of some new found friends my husband and I made since we've accepted positions in this amazing city," she replied.

"Ah. You're one of the new aristocrats. Manic the Hedgehog."

"My name is Yue. A pleasure, good sir," she greeted with a curtsey.

"Oh..a pleasure then, madame," Manic replied with a bow.

"Oh? A gentleman I see."

"Eh. I have a sister who grew up with an aristocrat."

"Oh?"

"Separated at birth. Grew up in a...low class environment. Sis was in a high class while Bro was in the middle. Only met back together about...four years ago if I remember right."

"Ahh..I see," Yue noted, "Due to the war?"

"Yep. Though...Not really sure if I'd change it if given the chance," Manic admitted, "A lot of good friends made that we probably wouldn't, new discoveries, so much things we got to experience. Heck, Bro's even found a great girl to date because of it." he looked back inside, "That's him over there with Sis-in-Law."

"Hm?" Yue looked in at the dance floor to see Sonic and Roll participating in a slow dance, "Oh, how romantic."

"Yup. Saved her from a pretty psychotic guy and...well, the following months, and they've become extremely close," Manic added, "Helps that both of them enjoying taking long runs together and practice swordsmanship." he chuckled, "To be honest, I think Bro would be a cocky overconfident jumping-the-gun sorta guy if Sis-in-Law hadn't come in and helped him humble up."

"Ahh...well sometimes you need to find the right person to help you steer in the right direction; Be it family, or someone that could be your significant other," Yue admitted before sighing, "Something I wish my daughter followed."

"Huh?"

"I...had a daughter back where I'm from. A little flower in my life. She used to spend time with this one boy from another home near ours and, well…" Yue sighed, "Do not get me wrong-I love children-, but he always felt...off. As if something in him was...wrong."

"?" Manic raised a brow.

"I never truly worked up the courage to tell her to stop fancying him and all I really did was try to hint that she should seek someone else," she noted, "But now…"

"I'm...sorry for your loss, miss," Manic sympathized, "Everyone here has lost someone, so you won't be alone."

"Ahh...soka," Yue noted, "...I just wish…"

"L-lady Yue! I-kya!" Hina yelped as she fell over, her glasses falling off as she fell face first, "...mmm~ Not again…"

"I got 'em," Manic said, kneeling down and helping her up before giving her the caught glasses, "Easy there with the running, okay? No one likes to see someone get hurt."

"...thank you," Hina nodded, putting her glasses back on, "Now...what was I...oh! That's right! Lady Yue, I...I have great news and bad news!"

"Hmm? Wh-"

"Hina, I thought I told you t-" Tsubaki began as she stepped out, only to stop the moment she and Yue saw each other, "..."

"..."

"...M….mother?"

"Tsu...baki?"

"Mother?!" Manic gawked.

"Manic?"

"Tsuki."

"Oh~? Tsuki?"

"M-Mother!"

"L-Lady Yayoi?"

"Hina?"

"Lady Tsubaki."

"Mother!"

"My little flower!"

"You just gotta love these kinds of reunions, eh?" Manic asked as the two watched mother and daughter hug.

"H...hai~~" Hina sniffled, her eyes watery as her glasses began to fog up.

"...Hina, your glasses are fogging up again," Both Tsubaki and Yue pointed out, not once breaking the hug.

"Ah!" Hina gasped before Manic offered a handkerchief, "O-oh! Thank you."

"No p-erk! I-I mean, my pleasure," Manic quickly corrected as Hina quickly cleaned her glasses, 'Oh man...I was talking with Tsuki's mom..and I never realized it! ...oh god...Now I'm worried what her dad will think of me!'

"So...Tsuki?"

"Mother!"

"Umai/Tasty~!" Makoto and Mark beamed, the two instantly before the buffet.

"Now I know how rich people eat!" Mark exclaimed, munching on some cake, "This cake is too d-"

*BONK*

"Ow/Itai~!" Mark and Makoto winced from the bumps to the head, "What did we do?!"

"Y'all were wolfin' down th' food," Makaya stated, putting a five iron frying pan into a tiny handbag, "Save some fer th' nice folks who came here from their homes fer this. Now fill yer plates and don't y'all be comin' back fer seconds 'till everyone has had two plates worth. Otherwise I ain't cookin' mah All Nut Pie fer three months and y'all have t' done tell th' kids that y'all were th' cause."

"...okay…" Makoto muttered, rubbing her head before she noticed Ben, Kevin, and Gwen walk into the room, "...Excuse me real quick. I need to do something."

"Hmm?" her parents blinked as Makoto ran off.

"...Well, this place filled up pretty fast," Kevin noted as he looked around.

"They're all the leaders of the Freedom Fighters," Ben noted, "Though some I don't recognize."

"International leaders of the world," Gwen explained, earning looks from the two, "Skye gave me a dossier of important figures in Mobius when they came back from the UN. Considering what's happening tonight, I'm not surprised they're all gathered here as well."

"Ahh...fair," Ben nodded.

"Oi~!"

"Hmm?" Ben blinked before he noticed Makoto running over, "Oh hey."

"Hey I was wondering where you were," Makoto said as she stopped in front of the three, "What kept ya? The buffet's almost practically empty."

'Three guesses as to who and the first two don't count,' Ben thought before speaking, "Sorry. Just had to take care of some business with Kevin and Gwen. I had to relock Alien X and Omniketsu."

"Eh? Why Omniketsu?"

"Because Sonia's in charge of the team's budget and considering you keep losing your clothes when I turn into Omniketsu, she's blaming me," Ben replied.

"...Fair I guess…" Makoto muttered, puffing her cheeks a bit, "...Still, I'm gonna miss that form. Kinda felt like I had my own power up form."

"And being much closer to Ben, I bet," Kevin joked, making both glare at him with blushes on their face, "Don't deny it. You both liked it, didn't ya?"

"Kevin…" Gwen warned.

"Alright, alright," Kevin chuckled, "Might as well get some stuff from the buffet."

"Wait until you try the pecan pie. It is to die for," Makoto beamed a bit, "Especially given…"

"Makoto?"

"Gh?!" Makoto tensed a bit, turning to see her parents looking right at her.

"Ya gonna introduce us, Little Acorn?" Mark asked.

"..."

"...Little Acorn?" Kevin repeated.

Makoto glowered at Kevin and Ben when she heard them snort back a laugh before sighing, "Okay. Mom, Dad, these are Kevin Ethan Levin, Gwendolyn Tennyson, and her cousin Ben Tennyson."

"Kevin Ethan Levin...Kevin E Levin…" Mark muttered before snorting in a laugh, "Kevin Eleven?"

"You just had to say my full name around her that one time," Kevin muttered at Gwen, who was smiling a bit, as Makaya walloped Mark upside the head with her hand.

"These are my parents, Mark Nanaya and Makaya Nanaya," Makoto continued.

"Howdy," Makaya greeted.

"Nice to meet ya!" Mark beamed.

'...now I see where she gets it from,' Ben mentally noted, 'Both her strength and...ahem, her figure…'

"So…" Mark began with a teasing grin, "Which one's yer boyfriend, little acorn?"

"Gh?! D-daddy~!" Makoto complained with a blush.

"What? It's a legitimate question...okay semi-legitimate, but still."

*CLONG*

"Now, hun, do Ah have ta make th' count t' three plates per guest?" Makaya warned as she put her pan back into the far-too tiny handbag she pulled it out from.

"...no…" Mark slumped at that.

"Then behave."

"How did you do that?" Gwen asked.

"Trade secret," Makaya replied, "And I'm sorry fer my husband's question if'n it bothered y'all."

"Probably didn't for B-" Kevin began before both Ben and Gwen elbowed him in the gut, "Oof!"

"...Heh. I like these kids," Mark grinned a bit.

"Ah, reminds me o' when y'all introduced us t' yer friends from school," Makaya giggled.

"...Funny you mentioned them actually…" Makoto stated.

"Oh? They're here too?" Mark asked, earning a slight nod, "...heh. Well that's neat."

"Are ya kiddin' me, hun? Y'all know that they're gonna be excited 'bout this news," Makaya noted.

"True. Heck, wonder if our house guest already ran into them," MArk added.

"House guest?"

"Yer smart friend, Kajun."

"?! Kajun's here?!" Makoto exclaimed.

"Wait, wait, wait. Kajun? As in 'Kajun Faycott?'" Ben asked.

"Eeyup," Makaya replied.

"As in the Kajun Faycott with a 'Science Mode'?" Ben continued to ask.

"Yeah," Makoto replied.

"s in the one that you said would go into that mode if she ever saw the Omnitrix?" Ben asked.

"...What? Wh-oh~" Maakoto realized where he was going, "...You may need to hide THAT if she hasn't heard about it yet."

"...Science mode?" Kevin rasied a brow, "The h-"

"You don't wanna know…" Makoto quickly answered.

"She told me once and I didn't want to hear ever again," Ben added.

"Sure is a good lass, though," Makaya noted.

"Why thank you, Mrs. Nanaya."

"?!" the two parents slightly jumped as they turned to see Kajun standing there.

"...KAJUN!" Makoto beamed, about to hug her before stopping, "...How much did you hear?"

"Just Mr. Levin asking about when I get too deep into studying," Kajun replied before hugging Makoto, "Oh, I was so worried!"

"You were worried?!" Makoto exclaimed as she returned the hug, "I thought...we thought...oh just so happy you're alive! Oh I can't wait to tell the others that Team Remix Heart is gonna be back together!"

"Ah, good to see friends reunited," Mark chuckled before noticing Ben slowly moving away and trying not to be noticed, "Hm? Where are you going?"

"Just...going out for some fresh air…"

"...By the way Makoto…" Kajun began, looking over her friends shoulder, "Is that...Benjamin Kirby Tennyson?"

"?!" Ben froze midstep.

"The boy...with that special watch I have hard oh so much about?" Kajun asked once more, the glint in her eye returning.

"..."

"..." Makoto moved around and lifted Kajun up under the purplette's arms, "Book it, Ben!"

"Gh?!" Ben tensed as he bolted out of there.

"Makoto...please let me go…" Kajun calmly ordered before Makoto carried her off, "H-hey!"

"Trust me. It's for everyone's sake, especially Ben's!"

"B-b-but the watch~"

"...What...just happened?" Gwen slowly blinked.

Makaya just laughed as Mark sighed, "Yep...Just like the first time she introduced us to her friends from school."

"Oh my!" Daisy gasped.

"My goodness. You...You've certainly been up to so much since you've arrive here," Gatsby noted, the family of three sitting at one of the dining tables.

"H-Hai," Noel replied.

"Should we be wary of wedding bells in the future involving him?" Daisy asked.

"E-Eh?! W-With Ragna-san? N-No! He's more of a b-big brother than anything," Noel replied quickly, blushing.

"Ahh. I see," Daisy noted with a nod, "Maybe this 'Haseo' then?"

"Eh?! M-Mother, no! He's a little brother!"

"Oh, Daisy, stop teasing our little joy," Gatsby chuckled, gently petting Noel's hand.

"I'm sorry. It's just...mm~! I'm just so proud of her!" Daisy beamed a bit, "Adventure, drama, betrayal...possible romance, ooh...it sounds like something out of a novel!"

"Or one of yours soaps…" Gatsby mumbled.

"...What's wrong with our soap operas?" both mother and daughter asked in unison, slowly looking at a now-sweating Gatsby who was trying to look at anything but the two giving him warning looks.

"N-n-nothing, dears," Gatsby gulped.

"...okay…" both replied after a moment, letting him sigh in relief once they went back to chatting with one another.

"You were in jail?!"

"It was not my fault. I just ended up on GUN's property by pure accident and they took it for the worse!" Mai replied as her mom looked her over, "W-what are you doing?"

"Looking for prison tattoos."

"Prison t-what?!"

"None visible...Maybe on your inner thigh…?"

"Mother! I don't have any of those!" Mai squeaked.

"...you sure?"

"Yes I'm sure!"

"Okay good, because your father would possibly be livid if we even found one."

'Not 'possibly.' He'd literally be livid,' Mai thought with a sweatdrop.

"Let's just be thankful he's busy checking out the Royal Guard."

"Speaking of...how did he end up as head of it?"

"Oh! Well, when we were being briefed about Mobius, the war you've been involved with was brought up. You know your father and his strategy games. Add in his military career and watching some videos Nicole provided and his decision to stay in retirement went out the window in favor of improving the guard."

"Sounds like something he'd do," Mai sighed.

"Oh so very true. He did tell me that while he commends their guerilla tactics, saying they were the best that he's ever seen...they're quite lacking in other tactics. After watching the Battle of Windy Pikes, I do have to agree with him. Halfway through, they could have easily utilized a dividing of their troops to perform a pincer attack of both sides, but nope. They continued their guerilla tactics and nearly lost."

"...What about this Sand Blasters group I've heard about?"

"He saw a few rare videos of them and...well…" Mai's mother paused, trying to think of the right words to say "Let's just say that if we had a jar for certain words, it'd be overfilled ten times over with the amount of lack of regarding for their surroundings, overconfidence, and little to no care for their fellow Freedom Fighters they have shown. ...Honestly it's a good thing they're no longer affiliated with this kingdom from what we've heard, otherwise they would've been dealt with by your father personally."

"...True…"

"Oh! Listen to me blather on while a party is about to happen," Mai's moher giggled, "Come on, Mai. Your father will join us shortly."

"Okay...but one last question, mom. You...didn't see anyone from the NOL in that bunker you and dad were in, did you?" Mai cautiously asked as the two walked down the hall, "Specifically any masked man or a man with green hair and looks like a hipster." 'Oh god I've been hanging out with Makoto for far too long…'

"No, I didn't see them. Though, there was some tension since several Kaka and Koko Clan members were in there."

'Oh thank god…' Mai mentally sighed in relief, "...wait. Koko Clan? But I thought..."

"Oh they were real...and as soon as we got off the ship, both clans went their separate ways."

"Ahh...I see," Mai noted.

"Yep. Though, the elder of the Kaka Clan, the last time I saw them, spoke with Mr. Sakurai and seemed to be quite shocked and hopeful from her body posture," she noted.

"Really?"

"Yup."

"Huh...Now I'm curious what Skye said to her," Mai admitted.

"I see...So you really did take the Izayoi," Tsubaki's mother noted, carefully looking at the sun-themed shield and sword while they were still on the balcony, "And you found a cure on this world, but your memories past graduation are a blank still…"

"Yes," Tsubaki confirmed.

"I see…" Tsubaki's mother noted, "Which means you can't remember why exactly you took it…"

"...actually mother...from what Makoto and the others told me, I…" Tsubaki paused, biting her lower lip in frustration a little, "...I was going to use it to…"

"...To what?"

"...T-to kill Noel and Jin for going against the NOL."

"...Where were you stationed?"

"...the Zero Squadron: the Wings of Justice."

"..." her mother sighed before putting the sword and shield on the railing to hug Tsubaki, "I'm not upset, Tsubaki. I'm not mad at all. All I am...is a bit disappointed, but I know that when the Zero Squadron wants one to eliminate someone, you can't refuse. And from having to target Jin Kisaragi of all people with that Nox Nyctores...It's understandable you took the Izayoi. I'm just relieved you were able to be saved from its drawbacks."

"...I know mother…" Tsubaki whispered as she returned the hug.

"Now...who gave the order?"

"...All I can recall is from a man named Hazama, whom…" Tsubaki began before her eyes widened a bit, "...got it from the Imperator…"

"Now I'm especially glad that we now live here," her mother noted, "Now then...since we've gotten through the hard parts…" she gave a teasing look to her daughter, "How did you ever begin courting royalty?"

"Wh-wh-what?!" Tsubaki exclaimed as her cheeks turned bright red, "C-Courting?!"

"Oh yes," she giggled, "I've seen the way you've been glancing towards him during our catching up." she noted, glancing over at where Manic and Hina were loading up a few trays with food for the four, "So how far have you gotten?"

"Wh-What? Y-You don't mind that…"

"Dear, I can see how he makes you happy. That's the most important thing in a relationship," she assured.

"W-we're seriously talking about this right now?!" Tsubaki squeaked out, her entire face a beet red.

"Yes. Yes we are."

"...I thought you were just disappointed."

"Oh, I am. Consider this as your punishment and my excitement of potential grandchildren to spoil."

"G-grandchildren?!" Tsubaki and Manic exclaimed at that.

"Uh, I mean...I didn't hear anything," Manic quickly denied as he quickly walked off.

"Oh, this just gets better and better," Tsubaki's mother giggled in glee.

"Mmm~!" Tsubaki whined, covering her heavily blushing face.

"And watch," Eggman informed as he brought up the screen, displaying Cass's aura flowing towards the bow as she sat on a medical bed with the bow in a container near her while Eggman, Shockwave, and Clove were looking at the screen, "You see this aura coming from Cassia? The aura that is being absorbed into that bow at a slow rate?"

"I do yes," Clove replied as she nodded.

"Yes, milord," Shockwave agreed.

"This bow has its own aura. When someone uses it, its aura makes a 'hook' that snags the aura of the user to empower itself," Eggman explained, motioning towards John at another medical bed several beds down, "John over there willingly tested it to figure out just why it was causing it and this was discovered because of his actions. Hypothetically, there's a good chance that with each 'arrow' fired, more 'hooks' will form and speed up the process. Shockwave, do you have the sample of energy we obtained from the Master Emerald the Combaticons obtained from their mission to obtain it?"

"Indeed," Shockwave replied as he pulled out a container with a soft emerald glow.

"Good. I want to test something. Put it right there by the bow," Eggman ordered and, once Shockwave put it down, watched as the aura of the bow seemed to be trying to stay away from the container's glow, "Perfect!"

"Sir, I'm not sure what I'm looking at," Clove admitted.

"Clove, that is energy from the Master Emerald itself, something that 'unifies the Chaos,'" Eggman explained, "Do you see the aura of the bow? How it's moved away from the energy of the Master Emerald? It's as if that energy is the very antithesis of whatever energy is in that aura of the bow! We gather enough energy from that Master Emerald into a container, there's a hypothetical chance that it will be forced to sever its hooks to not come in contact with the energy!"

"...I..I don't…" Clove whispered, "...wait. But will the Master Emerald's Guardian allow us to gather enough energy?"

"Yes...That's the issue," Eggman admitted with a cringe, "And considering that from that very same mission, the Combaticons confirmed that Chaos now assists in guarding it, it will be difficult to obtain the needed energy. However, I do have the beginnings of a stratagem to obtain that necessary energy."

"..Question. What of the female Echidna that's with him?" Clove pointed out, "The one that was from the same Zone Lien-Da was from."

"Who do you think is going to be participating in this mission to distract that other echidna?" Eggman replied, "Shockwave, inform Lien-Da, Maw, and the Robots, Mobians, Overlanders, and Beastkin in our ranks to report to Meeting Room 1 in one hour."

"An hour, sire?"

"Yes. I need that hour for three reasons. One, to fully figure out the strategy to obtain the energy needed. Two, to build the device to contain said energy. And, most importantly, three: giving Cassia her treatment considering that it is now two minutes past her normal scheduled treatment. Hopefully, there will only need to be five more treatments before this ends."

"...Hopefully," Clove quietly begged.

=Sis? Is everything okay?= Cassia asked.

"Go on," Eggman encouraged, "I think she'd prefer to hear the good news from you."

"...Thank you," Clove nodded as she cautiously approached her sister, "Cassia...we know how to cure your illness."

=What?! How?! Tell me! I...ugh...feeling loopy... Please hurry=

"...The Master Emerald is the key...the key…" Clove paused, trying to force her tears back before pulling her sister into a hug, "To finally ending this nightmare…"

"Shockwave, come," Eggman ordered under his breath, "Give them some privacy and start contacting those I need for this mission."

"Yes, sire," Shockwave replied.

=...is...it it true sis?= Cassia asked once Eggman and Shockwave were gone =A...am I really...gonna be cured finally?=

"Yes….yes you are."

=...yes...no more pain...no more losing my senses...no more of those horrible nightmares…=

"Yes. I….wait," Clove paused, stopping the hug as she looked at Cassia, "What nightmares?"

=...Oopsie…=

"Cassiopea Andromeda Pronghorn, what nightmares are you referring to," Clove did not ask, but demanded, with a stern visage that brokered nothing but the absolute truth coming from her sister.

=...Where I'm stared at by countless dead souls..and...and that….that...thing…=

"...The grim reaper?"

=No...with how this...I don't even know what I'd call them, but...I…= Cassia paused as she shook, ignoring the slow pain building up in her head =Not even death would stand that face…=

"...What face…?"

=...=

"...Cassia...answer me."

=...= Cassia said nothing as she grabbed some nearby paper and a pencil, drew something down on it, and showed it to Clove.

"?!" Clove tensed at the drawn image, taking a step back as she backed into a bed with wide, fearful eyes, "Great Satet…"

Clove knew her sister well. She was terrible at drawing anything. And yet...this drawing...it was completely and utterly well-drawn in every single level of detail. From structure, angle, and even depth and shading. The drawing in question was that of a girl dressed in off-white and decaying priestess-like clothing. The body seemed unnaturally thin, as if it were a mere pale blue/white skin draped over bones with flowing black hair that seemed to be alive with a thirst for death. All of it culminated in the face...the face that utterly and completely terrified any that gazed upon it. There were no eyes...just mere spots of pitch darkness that gave the impression of barren sockets. And that smile...that...that insane looking smile. It was as if they were welcoming another to die...as if they were welcoming everyone to death's embrace.

"...a...are you sure this isn't from one of those horror games you played?"

=Sis...this thing...it would even make THOSE reel back in terror=

"...have you told anyone about this?"

=No….=

"...We are not to tell anyone about this..."

=Eh? Why?=

"...I don't know, but…" Clove paused, trying her best to not stare at that picture once again, "This...this has to be foreshadowing something…" 'Could there be something in the books and what the Oracle showed me in his final moments? Is this related to those who ended his life?'

"Whew. Well, now I know where Makoto gets her personality and looks," Ben noted as he walked around the hall.

"Ben-san?" Ben looked to see Noel.

"Oh, hey Noel," Ben greeted, "Enjoying it so far?"

"H-hai," Noel nodded, "Wh-what about you?"

"Not too bad. Sonia's going to be relieved since the clothing budget's now handled," Ben noted.

"Oh, that's a relief," Noel agreed before her parents approached, "O-oh! Ben-san, these are my parents. Kaa-chan, Tou-san, this is Ben Tennyson."

"Ah. So you're the brave young man I've been hearing about from my little joy," Gatsby chuckled, "Gatsby Vermillion, Royal Artist for New Mobotropolis."

"Thank you so much for being friends with our beloved daughter. I am Daisy Vermillion," Daisy greeted with a curtsy.

"A pleasure," Ben assured, "And it's no problem. Noel's a great friend."

"Well good to know there's such an upstanding young man looking out for our little angel," Gatsby noted with a light chuckle.

"Ben-san, have you seen Roll-chan anywhere?" Noel whispered, "I was hoping to ask her more about Shield Sisters and what involves their families."

"I think she and Sonic are finishing a last dance," Ben replied, "I was heading to the buffet, so I'll catch up with you later?"

"Hai," Noel replied.

"A pleasure to meet you both," Ben spoke, bowing to Gatsby and Daisy.

"Oh? And a gentleman as well?" Daisy giggled a bit, "Your parents must be proud."

"..."

"...oh dear. I...oh, I apologize. I didn't mean to…"

"It...It's alright," Ben assured, "I've accepted it a long time ago. No harm at all, Mrs. Vermillion." he waved to Noel as he walked off, "See you later."

"..He's a good young man. Mature for his age as well," Gatsby noted, "And you're sure that he's not single?"

"T-Tou-san~!" Noel whined a little, blushing heavily.

Ben continued on, doing a few small subtle deep breaths. It still hurt. For him, it had barely been two years even though it had been seven in reality. A hand tapping his shoulder made him look to see Mai give a wave.

"Hey, Ben."

"Everything fine, Mai?" Ben asked.

"Oh yes. It's just you were deep in thought, so I thought I'd get your attention somehow," Mai answered, "Well that and...well…"

"...well what?"

"My parents wanted to meet you."

"...Huh…" Ben blinked twice, "Okay…"

"This him?"

"Gh?!" Ben tensed as he turned around.

Now facing Mai fully, he could see two people with her. One was her mother, which Ben was quick to note that Mai seemed to take a lot more from her in terms of looks. The male, however, was a taller man with a strong, yet lean, build. He sported short, dark hair with sharp eyes that Ben noted were the same color as Mai's. What surprised Ben was that he was dressed in a formal military uniform with a badge on the left lapel that Ben had seen on the armor of some of the soldiers, but far more decorative than the ones the soldiers wore.

"Ben, these are my parents; Hoichiro and Rin," Mai introduced, "Father, Mother, this is Ben Tennyson."

"...Soka," the man noted as he looked at Ben, as if thoroughly examining him.

'Reminds me of the time I spent at Plumbers Academy…' Ben thought.

"It's nice to meet you at last, Tennyson-san," Rin noted with a motherly smile, "Mai-chan has told me so much about you."

"Really?"

"Oh yes," Rin replied, "Such as how you're just a really reliable person and some of your accomplishments that you've talked about."

"...And your presence on the battlefield," Hoichiro added, "From what I understand, you and one Makoto Nanaya had helped turn the tide of battle during the war with one Ivo Robotnik during your first year here on Mobius...correct?"

"Yes, sir," Ben replied, "We became the fourth and fifth members of the Underground Freedom Fighters and have participated in eighty-seven missions in liberating Mobius of his tyranny."

"...and you helped liberate the city during what is called the Chaos Incident?"

"Correct, sir."

"...Not too bad," Hoichiro admitted, "Were you ever trained under anyone?"

"Several. From my grandpa to the teachers at the Plumbers Academy and several lessons from a karate instructor and lessons from my teammates for when I can't transform," Ben replied.

"Ahh. A jack of all trades if you will," Hoichiro noted, "Keep up the good work then."

"Thank you, sir," Ben replied with a nod.

Hoichiro nodded as he walked away from the group.

"...That actually went better than I expected," Mai admitted.

"I was expecting him to perform a surprise attack myself," Rin agreed with a nod before giggling, "Then again, it seems he's had quite an enjoyable time with the soldiers, so he's most likely going to be relaxed for the rest of the night."

"He's the new Captain of the Guard," Mai explained to a confused Ben.

"Ah. So he's the one Skye said was replacing the retiring one," Ben noted, "Well, from how he reminded me of several instructors at the Plumbers Academy, I think he'll be a great leader for them. Plus, it's going to help mend broken bridges Eggman caused between species on Mobius."

"Ah...That explains a few of the looks I've noticed some of the Mobians have given me and the others at times," Rin noted.

'I'm sure several of those looks are because you look like your daughter,' Ben thought with a sweatdrop.

*Gurgle*

"...uh..mom?" Mai spoke, earning Rin's attention, "I'm...gonna go check on Noel."

"Over near the dance floor looking for Roll," Ben informed, "She's with her parents, Daisy and Gatsby."

"Oh so that's their daughter!" Rin realized, "Ah. It was stuck in my head for weeks now trying to remember just who their daughter was from the reports your father had a PI do on your friends an…" she paused as Mai gawked at her, "...oopsie."

Ben quickly made his way away from them, knowing very well the comical situation that was going to unfold. As he nearly made it to the table, he held an arm out and caught a maid that tripped on her own feet.

"You okay?" Ben asked.

"Y-Yes. Thank you, sir," Hina thanked with a curtsey...in the wrong direction.

"...Hold on," Ben spoke, kneeling down to pick her glasses up before putting them on her face, "Better?"

"..."

"...hello?"

"Oh! Y...yes…" Hina nodded, clearing her throat as she shook the heavy blush off, "Just needed to get something for master Yayoi and the mistresses."

"Tsubaki and her parents?" Ben guessed.

"E-Eh? How did you…?" Hina began before seeing the Omnitrix and gasping, "Ben Tennyson-san! O-Oh my, Lady Tsubaki has told us so much about you." she curtsied, "An honor to meet you, kind sir."

"Oh. A pleasure to meet you as well, miss…"

"Hina. Hina Midohana," she introduced herself, "Oh! I nearly forgot. Sir Tennyson, my lord and lady asked that should I run into you, I ask for you to accompany me to them so that they may meet another friend of their daughter's."

'Feels like I'm meeting everyone's parents tonight,' Ben thought, "Well sure..lead the way."

"Of course," Hina nodded as she turned...only to end up tripping on nothing, "Ahh!...mmmm~"

'And it's the first few days of Tsubaki first being with us all over again,' Ben thought as he helped her up, making sure to pick up her glasses as well.

"Th...thank you again…" Hina whispered as she lead him along, her glasses starting to fog up as she blushed.

"No problem. Though...what did you need to get them again?" Ben asked.

"You mainly, but….AHH! I forgot!" Hina freaked, "I was going to get them some tea!"

Several minutes later, and Ben was carrying a small platter of teas for Hina as he followed her. They soon came upon Tsubaki talking with her mother and an older man with shoulder-length red hair in a cream-colored suit.

"Well, I think we can all agree that what happened was a fault by everyone. Now, I won't punish you considering you being embarrassed by your mother about your crush in front of said crush," the man informed before hugging Tsubaki, "But I'm still relieved that you were able to find a cure."

"Yes, father...of course," Tsubaki nodded as she returned the hug.

"P-Pardon me, Lord Yayoi, Ladies Yayoi," Hina spoke up, "But I present to you Sir Ben Tennyson as requested."

"Hello," Ben greeted.

"Ahh...you're Ben Tennyson," Tsubaki's father noted, releasing the hug with his daughter as he approached Ben, "A pleasure."

"Indeed," Ben replied, "As said, I'm Ben Tennyson."

"Apollo Yayoi," Tsubaki's father introduced himself, "You already know my little flower, Tsubaki, while this is her mother, Yue."

"Charmed. My daughter's spoken a bit about you. Not as much as her crush, but still quite a bit," Yue noted.

"M-Mother…!" Tsubaki groaned, covering her eyes with her cheeks burning bright red.

'Wow...Tsubaki getting flustered. That's a first,' Ben mentally noted before speaking, "It's a pleasure to meet you both."

"Same," Yue bowed a bit.

"So...what did Tsubaki say about me?" Ben asked out of curiosity.

"Just that you were quite the reliable young man," Apollo replied, "And your ability to change your form..."

"Which has been helpful in this war you two are in," Yue added.

"Ahh...well it has gotten us out of a few jams," Ben admitted with a light sheepish chuckle.

"From what we heard, indeed," Apollo nodded, "Many of the...Plumbers...said a bit of praise for your actions as well."

"It's strange, I admit, but 'Plumber' has a lot of different meanings on a whole lot of other planets that mean 'protector' or some variation," Ben admitted.

"Huh...is that so?" Apollo noted, "Makes me wish there were Plumbers on our old world…"

"Very true. During the last...mmm...ten years or so, the NOL had changed from what they used to be," Yue agreed.

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"...I'll just say this; be happy there isn't a organization like them here," Apollo noted, "Well...anymore. Sakurai-hakase explained about GUN."

"Hmph…'Guardians of United Nations,' my eye," Yue huffed, "I am so glad those horrid people are no longer around."

"Indeed," Tsubaki agreed with her...while quietly muttering, "Especially considering they called me and my friends terrorist for what happened t-" she quickly covered her mouth.

"...they….what?"

"...oh dear," Apollo whispered as he took a few steps back.

"Tsubaki, darling. Do you know where they are housing the former leaders of GUN?" Yue asked, a dark glint appearing in her eyes.

"...I...honestly don't know."

"...soka...then do you happen to know anyone that might know where they are?"

"What's happening?" Ben quietly and nervously asked Apollo.

"You know how Tsubaki tends to fall into this 'justice' mentality at times?" Apollo whispered.

"Yeah…"

"She gets it from her mother."

"...oh….oh~~" Ben nodded in realization...before slowly stepping away with Apollo.

"Good..best keep your distance when she's like this…"

"What was that, dear?"

"Oh just saying you look quite lovely at the moment, darling," Apollo quickly informed.

"Oh...why thank you, dear."

"Alright, settle down!" Eggman ordered as he entered the meeting room before taking a look over and nodded once he saw everyone was indeed there, "As many of you may know by now, there is a severe issue with many of Thunderbolt's troops becoming blind, deaf, and mute to the point that we either sedate them or transplant with robotic implants." Shockwave displayed a hologram of several Mobians in medical beds, "The cause of this is this bow." Shockwave changed the hologram to show the stone bow, "When someone holds this bow, they can create arrows of energy that can destroy almost anything they hit. But the price for just one arrow, as you can see, is costly. Far, far more costly than anything that initial examinations could tell."

"How much worse, sire?" Maw asked.

"Firing that single arrow? It doesn't just cause you to lose sight, hearing, and sound. The bow is alive, parasitic!" Eggman explained as Shockwave showed the scans Eggman had made, "It steals your very lifeforce constantly even if you no longer wield it until nothing remains! However! We have discovered a way to sever the connection, but it requires all of you working together."

"...You expect me to work with them?" Hood asked with a scowl, "They're barely a speck to a king such as I."

"A position you stole…" Conquering Storm whispered.

"What was that, wench?!"

"Enough," Eggman warned, "I don't expect it. In fact, considering the importance that this all goes right because we have so many lives on the line, I am giving you this order: Work together on this mission or that will activate immediately the moment you choose otherwise." a beep went off in everyone in the room, making them flinch and several to give a nervous gulp, "Good. You all know that this mission is quite serious now." Shockwave projected Angel Island, "Your task is to get to the Master Emerald and obtain…" he put a large clear container shaped like a safe with the bow inside of it, "...Enough energy from it to completely fill the walls of this Master Emerald Energy Container for the bow. Lien Da, your task is to keep your sister busy. Conquering Storm, you and your kunoichi proficiency in electrical attacks are to handle with distracting Chaos and his artificial duplicates that now inhabit the island."

"...Of course, Eggman-sama," Conquering Storm nodded.

"Excellent. Oh, and on the extremely small chance that Team Underground is there, you have permission to go after the Hedgefox so long as your kunoichi continue to keep Chaos and his artificial copies distracted and away from the Master Emerald and any water sources leading to it," Eggman added, earning a bow from her, "Clove will be in charge of carrying the container and attaching it to drain energy from the Master Emerald. Maw, you and your men will be her guards. Hood, I leave you and your men to the the badger that lives with the Echidnas and Chaos. Do not underestimate her. Combaticons, distract Knuckles the Echidna in any way you can. Shockwave will be your CO for the mission and will keep all of you updated on the developing situations on the mission."

"Sir, what about the chance of Team Underground being there?" Starscream asked.

"If they are there, then improvise. Shockwave will provide you with a cuff that will prevent Ben Tennyson from using his unique watch so that if he shows up around any of you, you can disable his ace in the hole," Eggman informed.

"And what of that filthy Beastkin with them and Bloodedge?" Hood asked.

"One; one of Maw's men here is a Beastkin so I expect an apology to be given later," Eggman informed, motioning to a female mouse Beastkin by Maw, "And two; Shockwave will provide each of you a gun that fires bullets that explode into a sticky substance that will halt them in their tracks and a solvent on the chance that you shoot one another by accident."

"Ahh…"

"Now...any other questions?" Eggman asked.

"Just one," Axle spoke up, "Where the heck is Rodyle?"

"I am honestly not sure. He's always been the secretive type," Eggman admitted, "...And that worries me a bit. Now then, you all have your assignments. You have one hour to prepare and congregate at Hangar 7 for deployment. We have lives on the line!"

"Yes, sir!"

"And this is why I didn't bet," Mark chuckled as the other men grumbled as they handed a snickering Gatsby several Rings.

"That and y'all would've been on th' couch fer a month," Makaya added as she watched the crying Noel hugging onto Kajun like a lifeline while Makoto had the two, Tsubaki, and Mai in a bearhug.

"This is great! We're all back together again!" Makoto beamed, tears of excitement rolling down her cheeks as she hugged her friends, "Team Remix Heart is back!"

"Makoto...can't...breathe~!" Mai wheezed out.

"Forgot...how strong...she was…" Kajun groaned.

"Makoto, drp us or...an hour...of lecturing from Sonia and I," Tsubaki grunted before Makoto dropped them and hid behind Mai, "Better…"

"Still, Makoto...ahem. Makes a good point," Kajun admitted, clearing her throat a bit, "It has been quite a long while since we've all been together."

"H...hai," Noel sniffled, still hugging Kajun.

"So much has happened since our academy days," Mai admitted.

"Oh hands down," Makoto nodded, "And we've met so many people."

"From what I've heard what you three have been through as of late," Indeed," Kajun nodded, "...Including Benjamin Tennyson."

"...Kajun no."

"Bu…"

"No," all four stated with stern looks.

"...Fine…" Kajun pouted.

"Good."

"...Then perhaps I'll examine one of the Ch-"

"NO!" the four snapped, making her flinch a bit.

"Reminds me of when she first brought her friends home," Makaya whispered to Mark, earning a nod from her husband.

"Yup...heh. I'm gonna enjoy this place," Mark chuckled a bit.

"Ugh...damn it..." Ragna muttered, tossing and turning a bit on the couch, "Can't even sleep..." A huff made Ragna look down at Rexy, curling up once more, "You neither, huh?"

A tired yawn was Rexy's response.

"...I thought so..." Ragna muttered as he looked up at the ceiling, "I'd give anything for something to happen."

"Anythin' huh?"

"?!" Ragna tensed as he shot up, about to grab his sword before tensing at what he saw, "...M...Master?"

"Well that's a fine 'howdy,'" Jubei joked, "Drawin' yer sword when someone speaks up."

"...Sorry. Let's just say I'm feeling a bit jumpy..." Ragna muttered as he sat back down, "...and at the same time bored."

"Bored, huh? Not much of a fan of fancy swing either," Jubei noted before Rexy sniffed at him before snorting and curled back up, "Well, can't say I'm surprised y'all found yerself a pet…"

"Let's just say her former owner was a big asshole," Ragna snorted, "...anyway, how are you even here?"

"Eh. I air traveled."

"...That's not much of a response," Ragna deadpanned.

"Space traveled then."

"...Plumbers?"

"Depends. Y'all talkin' 'bout our intergalactic police pals or them fellers with a bad stereotype?" Jubei replied.

"Yep. Not a dream then," Ragna muttered, "EYOW!" he gave a small glare at Rexy, her jaws chewing on his flesh and blood hand, "Well thanks for double confirming…"

"Heh. I already like her," Jubei laughed a bit.

"So...anyone else I should know about that's here on mobius?" Ragna asked, "Hopefully not a certain corrupt organization."

"Nah. Didn't see neither hide nor hair of them," Jubei replied, "Though now I'm curious. How did y'all survive th' planet blowin' up?"

"Let's just say it involves a Cauldron and..." Ragna began before tensing, "...You didn't see any Murakumo units, did you?"

"None," Jubei replied.

"Oh thank God...er, Chaos..." Ragna sighed in relief, "That's the last thing Mobius needs..."

"Gotta admit, I was not expectin' ya t' become some big hero," Jubei admitted, "But I'm pretty glad that y'all have been makin' a good life fer yerself here."

"...When not dealing with a certain fat egg and his robots...yeah. I guess you can say that," Ragna admitted with a small smirk.

"Well, considerin' y'all ain't at that there party, y'all mind helpin' me with findin' someone?" Jubei asked.

"Hmm?" Ragna raised a brow at that, "The hell did you lose?"

"...uh Gwen? Some help here please?" Kevin called out, a small cloaked figure next to him and the buffet.

"Kevin, please tell me you didn't insult another dignitary that's a Fennec Fox," Gwen sighed.

"No. This little kid keeps staring at the food."

"Hungry~" the figure drooled as they stared at the food, "Please feed me..or...or we'll haunt you..."

"We?" Kevin repeated, "Splixson?"

"No," Gwen replied, her eyes glowing a bit as she looked at the cloaked figure.

"...Luna, it's not working..." the figure whispered before snapping, "Shut it, Sena!"

Kevin raised a brow at Gwen. Gwen looked over at Kevin and held up three fingers and then turned her hand to make it look like she was holding up just one. Kevin raised a brow as Gwen knelt down to the figure.

"Am I talking to Luna at the moment or Sena?" Gwen asked before holding a hand up when the figure appeared they were going to shout, "Just answer three simple questions, the first being that one, and we'll make you a large plate of food to eat."

"...Sena, you take this," the figure whispered before asking Gwen, "...Th-this is Sena, and wh-what are the other questions?"

"...Would you mind taking your hood off? I'd like to see what you look like."

"...o-okay…" the figure nodded as they did, revealing a young girl's face with long blond hair ending in strawberry-pink tips pulled into two ponytails and big green eyes with the irises shaped like hearts.

"...Wait. How are his...er, her..." Kevin began in confusion, "...how even..?"

"Kevin," Gwen interrupted, giving him a look.

"...fine. I'll stay silent," Kevin held his hands up.

"...wh-what's the last question?"

"Does Jubei know that you're here?" Gwen asked.

"Wait, what?" Kevin asked as he and Sena stared at her with wide eyes.

"Jubei told me about an apprentice of his that goes by Luna or Sena and was unique enough for me to notice," Gwen explained.

"...you..." Sena began before Luna came out, "YOU KNOW MASTER JUBEI?!"

'And now I'm glad I put a silence spell around us,' Gwen thought.

"I think I got tinnitus…" Kevin grumbled, rubbing the ear closest to Luna.

"He taught me a little when I was around your age," Gwen explained, "He told me he was concerned when he couldn't find you earlier and asked if I could keep a lookout for you."

"Really? ...wait. You know magic, too?!" Luna squealed, looking at Gwen with stars in her eyes.

"And she d-"

"SHUT IT PEDO!"

"Please don't call my fiance that or I won't answer," Gwen informed.

"...sorry," Luna meeped.

"Good. Now then...I do know magic," Gwen replied, motioning to show that no one was paying attention to them even with Luna's shouting, "A little privacy spell."

"...so cool~" Luna whispered in awe before Sena came back, "C...can you teach us?"

'Sena, sh...wait...yes please!' Luna beamed in their shared(?) head.

"Perhaps. But for now, let's get you to Jubei with some food, okay?" Gwen noted.

Sena opened his mouth...before a loud gurgle came from the shared stomach, "Oh...I-I forgot...hungry~"

Gwen rolled her eyes before waving a hand as her eyes glowed magenta. A plate moved over to float before her before it expanded to thrice its original size and food was quickly piled onto it. She offered Sena her hand and the three walked off, Gwen keeping the plate floating before Sena.

"Okay, why did you…?" Kevin began.

"Their body has the metabolism of two kids and an adult put together," Gwen explained, "They burn through more calories than a normal person." she looked at Sena who was looking at her with a curious look before his eyes widened when Gwen let her eyes glow, "Magic sight."

"Wh-Whoa~"

'So...cool~'

"I still don't get why we cannot just use the Groundbridge," Maw noted as the Grandmasters going on the mission sat in a carrier flying away from Eggman's base.

"For it to be used, we'd need coordinates and a signal to relay from," Lien-Da explained, "Getting up to the ARK was easy enough since we had a signal from the tracker that was put on the Chaos Emerald Shadow was given. We have nothing that can let us broadcast a signal from Angel Island to get our forces on there."

"Ahh...understandable," Maw nodded.

"Tch...giving orders to a king…" Hood muttered.

"Again, a position you st-" Conquering Storm began.

"Woman, I will go to war with your entire gender!" Hood snapped.

"You…"

"Allow me," Onslaught informed.

*POW!*

"Was getting tired of it myself," the Combaticon huffed as Hood twitched in his seat, out cold with a smoking bump growing out of his head.

"...Thank you," Storm, Lien-Da, and Clove thanked with nods.

"No trouble," Onslaught replied before rapping his knuckles on the door to the cockpit, "ETA to Angel Island. STAT."

"We will be arriving at 0800 hours," the pilot replied, "Diverting power from shields to engines will have us there at 0500 hours."

"Your call, mission leader," Onslaught informed, looking at Lien-Da.

"Listen up! We're here for one thing only..obtaining the energy from the Master Emerald," Lien-Da informed, turning on comms for the several hovercrafts they were flying with, "However, the Guardian and the rest of the island's inhabitants won't stand by so easily. Our mission is to get Clove close enough to get enough energy to cure those affected by that weapon. We will be arriving at 0800 hours, so make sure you rest up until 0600. Failure is not an option."

=Yes, ma'am!= the troops replied on the communication channel.

"Pilot, keep those shields up. They may throw boulders," Lien-Da informed once she turned off comms.

"Roger, roger."

"...Boulders?" Conquering Storm repeated.

"He's done it before and it has worked before," Lien-Da replied, displaying a holographic screen of a previous invasion attempt several years back where all forces were lost due to boulders that were thrown from the island like baseballs, 'Well, in my old Zone, at least. Julie-Su's more than likely told him about that defensive measure already. He's most likely changed things up...'

"..." Knuckles blinked twice.

"I...uh...huh?" Julie-Su gawked.

"What?" Sticks asked, sitting in a wooden seat while operating a few levers that were controlling a dozen catapults carrying boulders the size of the Master Emerald's Shrine, "I had these kinds of things back on my last island...except with tinfoil to deal with mind control guys from that military base."

"...I don't think I wanna know," Julie-Su muttered.

"It is quite an amazing defense measure," Tikal noted, "But how can we refill them when we run out of boulders?"

"Yeah that was an issue on my last island, too," Sticks agreed, "Maybe we get a buncha wood and greens and set them on fire to throw!"

"And possibly get the whole island on fire?" Julie-Su pointed out in a deadanned tone.

"We've got a water god on our side to put out the fires," Sticks replied as she pointed over at the shrine where Chaos was marching around it...with a bear-themed Artificial Chaos followed wearing jeans, a forest ranger's hat, and a shovel.

"...What I wouldn't give for the Chaotix right now…" Julie-Su sighed as she facepalmed before freezing up, "...On second thought, that would possibly make my headache worse."

"Anything we should know about your...sister?" Knuckles asked.

"Yes. She most likely knows what you'll end up trying to do...just be thankful she doesn't have a Warp Ring on her. Sneak attacks were her thing for a bit..."

"...So she's an opportunist."

"More or less."

"Great…" Knuckles sighed.

"...though to be honest…" Julie-Su began as she looked back at Sticks, "I don't think she'll expect her or Chaos."

"Why?"

"Because there wasn't a Sticks in my Zone, and the Chaos there is in deep slumber still."

"...Meaning we've got an upper hand," Knuckles grinned at that.

"Yay!" Sticks cheered, standing beside a boulder made of vines and shed bark that she lit on fire...before the bear Artificial Chaos slammed it repeatedly with its shovel until it was put out, "Aw…"

"So...aside from your sister, anyone else we should be weary of?" Knuckles asked.

"...Finitevus."

"Hmm?"

"Former leader of the Dark Legion and...he's the guy who vastly improved the Warp Rings."

"...How so?"

"He could go into OTHER Zones,one of which...question; did your Sonic ever encounter a version of him that wore a black biker jacket, and the complete opposite in terms of personality?"

"Nope," Knuckles replied.

"...Then keep an eye out for him and possibly a red vixen. Trust when I say this...major trouble...though last I heard, they ended up in Zone Jail."

"Gotcha," Knuckles replied, "Well, I think Chaos and his bear self…"

"I call him Smokey," Tikal noted.

"...Can handle things here. Care to do some reviewing on your stances?" Knuckles suggested.

"...Got nothing better to do, so sure," Julie-Su shrugged.

"Good, because last I recall you were off on the fifth movement of the crane style," Knuckles noted, taking his gloves off as they walked towards the training grounds.

"It is quite nice having all this," Tikal noted as she floated over to Chaos before tilting her head as Chaos 'spoke,' "Trouble? What do you mean?" Chaos 'spoke' a bit more, "Hmm…"

"What's he saying?" Sticks asked, riding on Smokey's shoulder.

"He says that he has a feeling something is going to happen soon...and that he blames Knuckles for it," Tikal noted, "Must you always blame him?" rapid bubbles popping went off as Chaos jabbed a claw at Smokey, "But they were going to be stuck up alone on that colony up there with no idea of their origins. And you can't tell me that Chomp isn't liking having some friends, can you?" silence was her response, "...mm hmm. I thought so. Still...Sticks, can you make sure those work properly?"

"Can do! Let's go, Smokey!" Sticks cheered, pointing the bear Artificial Chaos to the catapult controls.

"Help me! Professor Kokonoe!" A Chibi-style Omake

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. Ben walked in, followed after by Sonic and Roll.

"Okay, what the hell? I was targeting the Hedgefox and I get both her and her boytoy?" Kokonoe questioned.

"Soul Bonds made by the women of Ryugu can make two seem like one," Skye informed offscreen.

"Okay, so where are we?" Ben pondered, "Not that I don't mind being away from the castle...no offense, Sonic."

"No problem and nice to meet ya again, prof," Sonic greeted, "And none taken, Ben."

"Ugh...let's get this over with since this will most likely be the l-" Kokonoe began before seeing the box filled with questions, "...oh NOW we get questions!"

"Recap first; then questions," Tager informed.

"SONOFA…" Kokonoe began.

RECAP

"Yeesh...it was a roller coaster when it comes to Little Planet," Sonic noted, "Especially when we got to that factory place. We did our normal split up to find the Obelisks and when Manic, Roll, and I found one, but well…" Sonic glanced at Roll.

"What? Too tough?" Kokonoe asked.

"It...the opponent was my Okaa-sama," Roll informed, rubbing her upper left arm with her right hand.

"?!"

"Yeah. It...it was not a pretty sight…" Sonic added, "Bro and I had to make a wall to block anyone from watching it, primarily Haseo."

"...You did good, Sonikku," Roll assured while she patted his shoulder.

"Huh...that explains why you and Sonic went back to the bus," Ben noted, "And then we learned the Ring we used to make our way has a bit of a mind of its own when it pulled Noel towards another Obelisk. That...that was a big pain of a battle...It took me going Alien X to win and even then Selina and Bellicus were going to ignore it until I mentioned we were on Little Planet. Guess they knew the importance for a one time control...in fact, they seem to also know about this Master Unit."

"..."

"...Kokonoe?"

"...I think she blue-screen of death on us, dude," Sonic noted.

"Continue," Tager advised.

"Well, we were going to get the Time Stone when a robotic bird got to it before we could," Ben continued, "And then we were on a highway of sorts which we're calling Stardust Speedway. When we found one of the Obelisks...it summoned Jin Kisaragi and only Manic, Tsubaki, and Ragna could fight him since Jin locked the rest of us out with a wall of ice."

"...Jin...was there?" Roll asked as she frowned.

"Yeah. But given how Tsubaki looked after the fight ended...I think the next time she sees him, she won't hold back..at all," Ben noted.

"...Continue," Roll informed.

"Well, that's kinda easy. You, me, Manic, and Sonia got to the next Obelisk first and met those taller versions of us with a talking sword and the taller me having a suit of armor," Sonic noted before scowling, "I am still mad at the guy for holding back. Sure, the reasons were good but it still sucks that he held back, dammit."

'Boys and their egos…' Roll thought with a sweatdrop, "And after that...we ran into…" she frowned, "That one."

"That one?" Tager repeated.

"Metal Sonic," Sonic replied, "A robotic duplicate made to defeat me and got modified to absorb the smoke that came out of the Obelisks when we beat whoever they turned into...and it turns out that smoke was actually the essence of those we fought meaning he got all their powers. As for Metal himself...oh god did he get a god complex. He claimed he was the REAL me..and even wanted Roll for himself."

"He left after getting the Time Stone in Stardust Speedway and fled to an abandoned base made by Robotnik the last time Little Planet was there," Roll explained, "The first Obelisk ended up becoming something called Malware."

"A corrupted Galvanic Mechamorph that was after the Omnitrix and Ragna's eye and arm back when I was eleven," Ben noted, "It was him against me, Ragna, and Noel. And it got cheap when Malware copied the Omnitrix and got the Ultimate Feature added to him….if it weren't for Noel managing to get a sneak attack on him, me and Ragna wouldn't have beaten him...though afterwards, Noel...started acting...cold."

"Cold nothing. She was almost acting like a robot," Sonic added.

"?!" Kokonoe sputtered as she shot up at that, "What did you just say?"

"She started acting cold…" Ben answered, "...In fact, it happened after she picked up Bolverk...after Malware had scanned them. What are those things made of anyway? Only the Omnitrix has ever been able to not be destroyed when he does that."

"It's...complicated," Kokonoe answered, 'Is that already starting to happen…?'

"Right. Well, after beating him, We ended up splitting up with Sonic, me, Roll, and Makoto going back to the bus for when Metal Sonic would show up with whatever new creature was using the Nemetrix since Ragna took in the last one and named her Rexy," Ben continued after sharing a look with Sonic and Roll.

"Sonia-chan told me what happened when they got to the last Obelisk. Apparently, we're guessing he was some sort of bounty hunter named Dante who was a half-devil…" Roll recalled.

"Half-Devil?!"

"Hai, Tou-san! He was half-devil and apparently he's immune to holy objects in his timeline but since he got pulled into ours in an avatar of sorts of his normal body, he had to follow the 'laws' of our timeline so he kept getting burned by Manic-nii's knife," Roll explained, "Eventually, he transformed and Ragna-san used the Azure Grimoire to fight him evenly."

"He WHAT?!" Kokonoe exclaimed, "Ugh...What a fucking idiot!"

"Eh?"

"He...ugh. Continue…"

"Right. Well, they did win, but Sis told us that when they were gonna head back to the bus, this robot showed up with that bird robot being used as chest armor," Sonic noted before scowling, "Somehow, he has an Izayoi...the Izayoi that I thought I destroyed when I first got my sword."

"...what else?"

"Well...things were as bad on our end because...well the bus blew up, and Sonikku and I were taken by Metal, who stole our Time Stones," Roll continued, "I blacked out after that and then we came to with just Sonikku and I were alone with him. He wanted to fight Sonikku and 'take me.'"

"The Bond doesn't work like that!" Skye called offscreen.

"I kept saying that, but only Sonikku believed it because he listens and read the pamphlet," Roll replied.

"While they were with the metal reject, I woke up alone with this hunter named Khyber. Turns out he was Rexy's previous owner and he was hired to 'hunt' me," Ben noted with a frown, "And the Nemetrix's new wielder was a Panuncian."

"Doesn't sound that…" Tager began.

"Panuncians can multiply indefinitely to hunt Splixsons," Ben explained.

"Continue," Tager noted with a sweatdrop.

"Well, he gave me a headstart before his pet went after me," Ben continued, "Eventually, I ran into Makoto and turned out she woke up in the jungle he had in the place and got chased by duplicates of the Panuncian...doesn't help the Nemetrix also had an Ultimate Feature...which was a huge red flag for us and made me realize WHO was on Little Planet..."

"Who?"

"Albedo…" Ben replied with a scowl, "Turns out that he learned that I was on Mobius once Sonic and his siblings opened those containers Makoto and I were in because my Omnitrix reconnected with Primus once they were opened.

"From what I understood once all was said and done, he keeps going after Ben's Omnitrix because he used a duplicate he made and got stuck looking like Ben which he doesn't like," Sonic noted, "And unlucky for us, the others ended up running into Albedo when they found where the chain keeping Little Planet stuck to Mobius was."

"He broke Haseo-chan's new tool while beating everyone and also turned out to have all but one Time Stone which Metal had," Roll noted, scowling at the start.

"Roll, we've been over this," Ben sighed.

"It'd still make me feel better if they left him in that spot for a few more seconds," Roll muttered, "Hurting my little brother and destroying something he made and hurting our friends…"

"Let's just move on," Kokonoe ordered, "So what happened with your metal copy?"

"He started using the Time Stone he had to mess with me and then froze Roll with a time bomb made using Clank's powers. He took Roll's family sword and used it on me," Sonic explained, "And...well...things got kinda weird for me. I think my mind got pulled into my sword and ended up meeting my ancestors that used the sword before me...including my grandpa."

"Really?" Ben asked, raising a brow.

"Turns out that the sword-Caliburn-was cursed by Morgana Le Fay and apparently a lot of stuff our historians 'learned' turned out to be false," Sonic explained, "Metal Sonic didn't realize that the blade can't cut normally unless you channel energy through it like Roll does."

"It's in the book," Roll noted, holding up her family's book, "The family sword is only capable of cutting 'that which can't be cut physically.' It's why my sword was able to kill the dragons that mean rooster conjured."

"I got put back in my body after we talked a bit more on taking down Metal Sonic. Once I was back in my body, I managed to get the Time Stone in a surprise attack and figured that since it messes with time, I'd try to reverse my own time to be nice and healthy," Sonic chuckled, rubbing the underside of his nose, "After that, I made sure that Metal Sonic couldn't hurt anyone ever again."

"Not gonna say how?" Kokonoe asked.

"Nah. Not right now," Sonic shrugged as Roll glance away from Sonic, a bit of an uncomfortable silence following.

"...Right. Might be sensitive then. Ben, how'd fighting the multiplying issue go?" Kokonoe asked.

"Makoto finally convinced me to go Ditto to make enough of me to fight the Ultimate Predators, but I got slapped out of it by the Ultimate Panuncian," Ben replied, "Eventually, I changed into a new alien that Kirby helped me unlock; Toepick."

"...Toepick?" Kokonoe repeated, raising a brow.

"I terrified the predators into a single traumatized Panuncian by just showing Toepick's face," Ben explained, "Eventually, we ran into Khyber...and Albedo. Eventually, they got Makoto to force me into going Omniketsu. We got away by crawling through the vents, but it turns out they had a counter to Omniketsu. Apparently, there's a unique light wavelength that freezes me in that form and reverts me back to a school girl's outfit."

"How did you get out of that?" Tager asked.

"Turns out the DNA I had for Splixsons was 22 years of age," Ben replied, "So my fifth copy I made as Ditto-Five-ended up splitting from me when that Ultimate Panuncian slapped me as Ditto just as I made five copies of myself. He ran interference by shutting off the power and then got Khyber to chase him. No clue what happened between them and Five didn't say a word on what happened."

"We ended up regrouping with the others when Albedo crashed near us from the Omniketsu-powered Makoto smackdown she was giving him," Sonic recalled, "And, well...he went Ultimate Clockwork on us. And when that happened..."

"Everyone was getting hurt badly because he froze time using his time powers and the seven Time Stones together. He even cut off Noel's arms with the sword he got in that form," Roll recalled with a cringe.

"...He got Makoto bad, too…" Ben recalled as he frowned greatly, "But before she passed out...she managed to change me into Clockwork, who I instantly went Ultimate with and fought Albedo the best I could."

'Ugh...that was a pain. I couldn't do a thing to help and I'm supposed to be fast!' Sonic thought in annoyance.

"Eventually, I managed to get one of the Time Stones and eventually beat him. Using the Time Stones, everyone got healed up and Noel snapped out of that weird state she was in," Ben recalled, "Then Little Planet began to go back into the timestream since that last attack made a impact strong enough that the shockwave broke the chain holding it to Mobius. In my panic, I went Stinkfly and got us off using a net made of Stinkfly's goop."

"And none of us were happy with you for a few days since the stink got stuck on us for several days," Sonic deadpanned.

"You're never gonna let that go, are you?"

"Oh ho no~" both replied.

"...Ahem. Anyway with Paradox' help, we got the team bus back, but...he hinted something about Angel Island," Ben explained.

"And with how Ben told us about Paradox and his hinting? Well, we're thinking of heading there once we're done resupplying back in New Mobotropolis," Sonic noted.

"And since everyone knows about this chapter already, let's move on," Kokonoe informed.

Questions

"Ah, so many questions!" Kokonoe laughed in glee, skipping around with the box of questions, "Which one to start with first~?"

"...Is she okay?" Sonic asked.

"Given how there were no questions last time...she more or less needs this," Tager deadpanned a bit.

"Ok...Redrangerlegacy first…" Kokonoe muttered as she pulled a question out, "...no. He already has one OP form in the form of Alien X. Even if it is already locked up once more, still no."

"Raidentensho next," Sonic noted, looking at the question, "Um...well...not really on purpose. The main author for this story knows barely anything about any of those series."

"Next up is Victor John Foxfire and his series of questions in one review," Kokonoe noted, looking at the questions, "No, that isn't that involving Relius. Little Planet is normally in the timestream. What Makoto was experiencing was seeing what happened to another her. As for foes becoming allies before they cop it...yeah, not really. You read how it went down for everything else on Little Planet." she pondered for a bit on the next set of questions, "Umbra Warframe? Tenno Operator? Hmm...I think I'll look into them."

"She will; but the authors probably won't!" Skye replied offscreen.

"Oh shut up!" Kokonoe barked, "And as for fragmenting a soul...I don't work on souls and I do not want to know that. It seems disturbing and could probably result in disfigurement, impaired thought, the loss of sanity, and the eventual death by a whiny angsty teen that you got killed by when he was barely a year old all because of a manipulative gay old bastard with a long beard and twinkly eyes."

"Uh...oh hey. Another Redrangerlegacy Question," Sonic noted as he looked at another, "...if I got my own Omnitrix? ...tempting, but given how Albedo looked, I'd rather keep my blue fur than look white and speak with a British accent...and get an obsession with chili fries."

"He already has enough with chili-dogs," Ben joked, earning a light slap on his elbow from the smirking blue hedgehog.

"Next is Kamen Rider Yokai," Tager noted, "Zed? Do you mean Rexy? Well, she is a pet…" he looked at the next ones, "No idea. For all we know, it could've been a memory of Relius being there. No idea who will have the Nemetrix next-not even sure if it left Little Planet-and not sure on Carl."

"Some more from Raidentensho," Ben noted, "...Newest incarnation of...huh? Shockrocks?"

"Give me that," Kokonoe huffed as she snatched the question, "...There might be, but considering the primary author's opinion on the current incarnation...not likely."

"There may be more armors for me with Yacker-chan," Roll replied.

"Buso Renkin are forbidden from being made in the lab!" Skye called offscreen.

"Shit," Kokonoe muttered.

"Ultimate-Zelda-Fan is next," Sonic spoke, "...Look back at chapter 58 and you'll see your response. As for...oh ho~"

"Hmm?" Roll blinked as she looked over his shoulder, "Ah...Well, we'll keep that a secret longer just because."

"Victor John Firefox, I have no clue what those are, but I think I will study them," Kokonoe replied.

"She will; authors won't!" Skye called offscreen.

"Oh piss off!" Kokonoe barked.

"See 59, Raidentensho," Sonic deadpanned, "And what's a Kamen Rider?"

A fishing hook snagged the question from TrimusicaDrag00n90 and pulled it to Skye, who whispered, "It's because the Time Stones interfere with the Master Unit's power to reverse time and also 'blind' the Master Unit from 'seeing' anyone holding one. Because Ragna grabbed one in the panicking, he has 'blinded' the Master Unit from him. So now, the Master Unit is more than likely panicking because not only can it not reverse time, but now can't see their 'hero.'"

"AX-00's asking about your sword, Roll," Sonic noted.

"Soka...Well, I'm not sure. Maybe runes scribed inside of the blade during the forging process?" Roll replied as she looked at her family's katana, "You'd have to ask whoever made it."

"Wait, wait, wait. What new weapon is Kamen rider Savior talking about?" Ben asked, ripping apart the last question with a faint blush.

"He means the version of you's weapon from Seanzilla115's story, Omniverse Shift," Kokonoe explained before looking at Kamen Rider Yokai's next set of questions, "No clue what a Springtrap is."

"Considering that Knux already has Chomp, he might not be surprised seeing another dino-dog," Sonic noted, "And who's Kenny and why does Makoto have a son already?"

"Must be future stuff," Ben muttered, his cheeks pink before looking at the other questions, "That is still kinda weird. Come to think of it, though...I haven't seen them at all. Then again, I did black out because Big Chill was in control so I have no clue what they look like."

"It was a bit of a headache for Sis and Manic since Five flirted with Tsubaki and sis," Sonic noted in amusement, "I tended to crack up more often than not at his jokes."

"Metal Sonic might appear again, Master S96. It depends on the plot needing him," Kokonoe replied.

"We'll explain it in the last section, Kamencolin. And who is Evol and why does the name terrify me?" Ben asked.

"The main author, GammaTron, never heard of Dante until he debuted in Death Battle, Ultimate-Zelda-fan-san," Roll explained, "And even then, he didn't plan for Dante to be in this until it was suggested by Seanzilla115-san and Kamen Rider Z0-san. As for the Jojo's Bizarre Adventure references..I think it was a coincidence."

"As for Five, it's been constantly hinted at since Ben debuted the form in Ryugu for that festival because of the family katana being found and Sly being brought to Ryugu," Sonic informed.

"'estubo muy bueno el capitulo, aunque note algo de KR Ex-Aid en la pelea de ben y albedo, podria ser que Ragna pueda destruir La unidad maestra ya que conserva la piedra? y si no tienen preguntas es porque la hystoria esta muy bien explicado,'" Tager read Felipexza's review before quickly translating it in his head, "Ah. Well, the lack of questions because of the history being well explained...that was quite nice of you to write that."

A fishing hook took the question and Skye whispered, "No, he can't. They only interfere with the Master Unit's powers. They can't destroy it. Good catching on some references, too."

"And one more from Redrangerlegacy. Hmm...What the heck is a Saiyan?" Kokonoe asked.

"Not in this universe!" Skye called offscreen, "The main author isn't a fan of the series outside of the original Dragon Ball when things made sense to him."

"That's the last one," Tager noted.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

"So...Ultimate Clockwork. Spill it," Kokonoe ordered.

"Huh?" Ben blinked.

"How does he work?!"

"Oh! Well…" Ben noted as a monitor lowered, showing an set of images of Ultimate Clockwork, "Ultimate Clockwork is, in essence, one with time even more so than anything else. When I went him, if I didn't focus on the present then I would probably freeze up like in Alien X but instead of two floating heads arguing on dinosaurs and them surviving it'd be me being 'lost' in time." he pointed at the wings, "Those wings are actually made of time itself and sorta act like Hugo, Professor Paradox's assistant, before we stopped him from being turned into a time-accelerating being that'd destroy the whole world in that the wings can accelerate time of whatever they touch or reverse time of whatever they touch. I'm also faster and stronger in that form than I am as normal Clockwork."

"I see...interesting~"

"WOAH!" Ben yelped, seeing Kajun before him, notebook in hand.

"What the?! Who let her in here?!" Kokonoe snapped.

"I have no idea!" Skye replied offscreen.

"So there really is an evolution feature built into it," Kajun noted, writing down in her notebook, "Interesting...what kind of effect does it have on your other forms? Does it have a limit? ...can you use it on yourself?"

"...uh…" Ben drawled out, starting to get a bit nervous as he began to step back from her.

"You're done here! Flee!" Kokonoe ordered as Tager grabbed the back of Kajun's uniform and pulled her away.

"Gh!" Ben tensed as he bolted out of there.

"M-matte! I still have more questions!" Kajun called out, struggling to free herself, "...Maybe I'll ask the prince and miss Sakurai about how Chaos Emeralds work on him...or how Wisp work…"

"...Sonic, Roll...run!" Skye called out offscreen.

"Hai, Tou-san!" Roll yelped as they ran off, Roll hugging a frightened Yacker close.

"Yeah...I'm sorta glad they don't remember...but I'm also worried they won't remember," Kokonoe noted with a sweatdrop as she watched Kajun struggle to get out of Tager's grip as the curtains fell.

GT: Phew...That's Chapter 60.

SZ: And it took a while...life getting in the way again.

GT: Yep.

SZ: Hai..but tune in next time guys..though I might not be helping as much. Job and trying to get one and all that…

GT: So please read and review!