December 1st

Akira's House, New Mobotropolis

Early Morning

The wolf got up early and was at his dinner table when he got a knock on the front door which he went to answer. Greeted by the appearance of Vanilla Rabbit with a basket in hand, mother of Cream and someone he's heard in passing from some of the others. All speaking well of her as a person.

Dressed in her lavender dress and burgundy vest with an orange ascot; she really did look like a much older Cream down to the creamy color of her fur. The mother rabbit smiled with a head bow.

"Morning neighbor." She says to him warmly. "My name's Vanilla."

"Akira Amamiya but everyone else calls me Gadget. You must be Cream's mother I hear Vector and them talk about." The wolf introduces himself to the rabbit. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm just here to introduce myself and to give you this…" Vanilla hands him the basket. "A housewarming gift."

Gadget lifts up the basket lid to see a pie underneath, pointing to it. "You made this?"

"Freshly baked last night. Peach flavor." She nodded. "You wouldn't have an allergy to it by any chance?"

"...Shall I part my fur behind? Do I dare to eat a peach as I come under the shade of this aging tree?"

"T.R. Ellison." Vanilla let off an amused chuckle, not expecting such a reply from her new neighbor. "My, I never took you for one being into the classics."

"Heh, I was considered a star pupil in my literacy classes…" Gadget said sheepishly to her. "Oh uh, I can eat peaches just fine. Are you much of a reader yourself Mrs?"

"Probably not on the same level as yourself but I've read a good number of books and poems myself; Ellison included."

Realizing they're just standing at the door entrance, Gadget stepped aside out of the way. "Say, would you like to come in? Share the pie together?"

"I would love to." Vanilla smiled at the offer and entered his house.

The two would be seated at the dinner table with both of them making conversation about a bunch of mundane topics. The wolf learns through Vanilla that on her husband's side of the family; Cream and Bunnie are distant cousins. Additionally, he learned both Cream and Vanilla were once residents of the Southern Baronies before moving to New Mobotropolis.

"...Enough about my vacation to Station Square; tell me more about yourself." The rabbit rests the chin above her right knuckle and leaves the elbow sitting over the other arm, having finished her slice of the pie. "How do you feel now?"

"Feeling fine."

"How do you feel about being one of Sonic's friends now?"

Gadget paused at that, setting down his fork. "...Am I really one of his friends if I a—was one of his subordinates?"

"He must think so. What about you?"

"I… I'm not sure. I like to think I'm a friend but I don't know him that well and between us, I'm some guy while he's the guy. It should be so fulfilling living the dream yet I can't look at it that way." Gadget sighs, scratching his right ear. "As for the others… I suppose I get on well with them but…"

"But what?"

"Maybe it's early days but I… I don't know if I really fit in with them. They've been generous to me so far yet…" The wolf clicks his tongue, trying to put words to his thoughts. "There exists this gap between me and them."

"Sonic and his company by extension can make bonds with ease." Vanilla took in what he's saying. "What's the issue here on your end?"

"I… I don't know what it is exactly but no matter how welcoming or inviting they are towards me, it's just not clicking for me."

Vanilla listened to the wolf patiently. Letting him get his thoughts out.

"It's like… There is an invisible barrier between us from connecting and the only link we seem to have together is Sonic if that makes sense?"

"You believe they're only giving you attention because of Sonic? Correct?" The rabbit continues after getting a nod from in response, lowering her hand. "I know you're more than old enough to understand the way the world works but that sounds to me like you're unsure of yourself. It's something we've all encountered in our lives at some point and you're currently going through a crossroad in your life. Uncertain of where the path will take you, good or bad…"

"However you might think, they all do see you as one of them now." She gives him an assuring smile. "I once knew a young princess who was once in a similar spot and thought she couldn't make friends but like eating the green apples for the first time after eating the red ones all your life and enjoying the sour taste more, that mindset changed when she started making friends here with my dear Cream being one of them."

The rabbit adds in emphasis; "Where you are right now; you're among great company and I will swear by that. They might have vastly different life experiences than you but you all aspire to be greater than what you already are. For some, it takes some well placed nudges to set it in motion and Sonic is usually the ignition point to facilitate personal growth."

"...Perhaps you're right. Maybe I'm the one keeping the barrier up and keeping them out..." Gadget smiled gratefully, checking the time. "I'll need to be going but it's been wonderful meeting you today."

"Likewise." The rabbit got up from her chair. "I'm only a few houses down the street and my door's always open to you anytime."

"If I'm available and you're home, I'll drop by some other time."

With an acknowledging nod, Vanilla would take her exit and head on home. Leaving behind a red wolf feeling some weight off his shoulders after talking to the mother rabbit. Maybe his worries were simply all in his head the whole time.

Central Freedom HQ, New Mobotropolis

Morning

Gadget makes his way over to the base and at the entrance stood Miraju in the middle of reading today's edition of the newspaper. Keeping up on current affairs.

"Morning." He says without looking up from his paper. "Slept well?"

"O-Oh, uh yeah I did…" The wolf replied quickly. The sophisticated raccoon shook his head at the reply.

"Next time when someone asks you a question, just answer with a yes or no and say no more than what's needed. Some people would take your response there as you coming off as not being well educated and likely take you for an idiot. Dismissed without a chance to actually prove your smarts." Miraju said to Gadget, seemingly giving him some advice but the way he phrases it makes it hard to tell and would immediately move right on from there. "You better have gotten enough rest beforehand because you'll need the energy for what's ahead."

The wolf raises a brow. "Why, what's going on?"

"Ask Sally. I just got the message to come to the briefing room." The raccoon rolls the paper up and tucks it under his arm before heading inside. "Come on…"

When he got to the briefing room, a heavy air hung in the air and he could pick up on it. Gadget looked over to a seated cross-armed Sonic; seeing him looking a little stoic with the mouth a straight line and the brow a little arched over to make him appear serious. His eyes focused on a holo-projection of one Robian Mecha Sonic.

"What is going on and why the urgency?" Miraju voices a question Gadget was going to ask. Sally looked over to him.

"Take a seat." She simply says with the two taking a seat at the table; Gadget sitting next to Sonic before the chipmunk begins. "As you're already aware, Sonic and his team were sent out last night to go get Lindsey's gang and the stolen project in the Great Jungle. The good news is that we caught most of their numbers. The bad news is that not only Lindsey and a few of her remaining accomplices got away with the project but they've hospitalized one of our own people, Monica Sprout."

"H-How bad is she?" Gadget asked nervously.

"Lost plenty of blood from two shots to the body and had to be rushed to the hospital upon return." Johnny let out a slow head shake. "We're currently waiting on Cobalt to give us the update on her condition status."

"On top of that, it appears the Eggman Empire is involved in the theft with the appearance of a Mecha Sonic." Sally directs the uninformed to a recent image of Robian Mecha Sonic taken from Rotor's own battle suit. "That is only an assumption but it does help narrow down the list of parties who would be after the cold fusion project. What you see here was taken by Rotor a few hours ago and this exact model matches this Mecha Sonic here last seen four years ago."

Sally gestures to the full-bodied Mecha Sonic hologram next to the image.

"Hang on. That other Mecha Sonic from 3235 was Sonic here when he got roboticized once and we never saw another bearing that design until now." Miraju pointed out while Gadget is left shocked at the info, hearing about Sonic's incident for the first time just now. "As far as we are aware, the original specs Julian obtained from him were lost after his demise. Do we know if he could be a reshell of an existing model or a new design?"

"We're still determining the identity of this robot if it is a machine we've encountered somewhere before and if so, who is this one exactly." Sally replied before continuing on. "On other news; I can report that we have gotten some more intel on the project itself."

"Lay it on us."

"According to one of my contacts from what they've been told, the theft was likely an inside job with Lindsey and her group able to easily bypass security at the Westopolis Advance Research facility as inspectors and went undetected until an unfortunate victim found out their ruse before getting killed. The building going on alert when someone found his body in a store room. The manner in which the job was set up and executed suggests it had been planned for a while."

"Any clue on who their inside man is?"

"They haven't determined their identity yet but I reckon they're an employee with a high level clearance or one of Lindsey's guys impersonating a member of the facility to know how to get around most of the security measures present. Had that person not walked in on them, they would have made off with the project well before G.U.N was alerted to the theft."

"Anything else they could tell you about?"

"We have the names of the team working on the cold fusion project. Our good friend Professor Caninestein was actually attached to it at one point but only to help with the container casing whenever they had issues designing one that can safely contain the fusion energy. Doubt he knows too much of what went on with it."

Sally gestures to bring up three images of four people with one highlighted in red while having 'deceased' over the image and one having the word 'missing' on it over a question mark. "Doctor Paul Masters, Doctor James R. Kirk, Doctor Clara Monty and Doctor Lew Kitching. The last one had gone missing around a week prior to the theft that would claim James' life."

She then points to the missing profile belonging to Lew Kitching. "One of our informants suspects that it's not the man's real name and the lack of a photo suggests this individual is someone who G.U.N wanted to keep the identity classified for whatever reason which would also be the reason for the scarcity in details. They had also told me that HEXAeco is one of the donors behind the project's funding."

"Who'd be the key members of the project?" Gadget put a hand up.

"Paul, Kirk and Clara. Paul handled the technical logistics with Lew helping out as an assistant, Clara did the data analysis with the experiments and Kirk's the one who did the calculations and formulas plus the one who supposedly cracked the code on cold fusion itself. We believe that the stolen briefcase may have contained all of his notes for it. Notes that he kept close to him about; no one else involved knows what's on them but they're enough to yield positive results and continue receiving the funds."

"What has Kirk done that enables cold fusion to be scientifically possible while all others failed to do so?" Tails held his chin in thought. "As Rotor has said before; that's assuming it is cold fusion and not a new form of energy that's been discovered."

"Unless we can get more information, we can only speculate. We have an insider and the stolen materials to hunt for." Sally says as Cobalt came in. "What's her status Cobalt?"

"She'll survive for now thankfully but Doctor Quack says she will have to stay at the hospital for now to monitor her condition. Lost a lot of blood and in no shape to do anything." The cobra sighs, rubbing his eyes. "Her twin's taking it very hard."

"All the more reason we need to be hunting down Lindsey and her gang." Sonic spoke up finally since Gadget came in, sounding serious. "Bring them all to justice."

"And we will but we can't rush ourselves." Sally nods, understanding his sentiments as did everyone else after what happened to Monica. "Luckily for us, we have a tracker on Mecha Sonic that gives us an idea of where they're heading to."

"We can get a location out of the guys we've captured." Miraju pointed out.

"They were interrogated a few hours ago but given Lindsey's profile, they're likely fed false information in the event they're captured and questioned. The tracker should give us an idea where they're heading. Rotor if you would kindly show us their current position…"

The walrus nodded and got Nicole to display the tracking coordinates on a holo display for everyone present to see.

Gadget glanced over to Sonic; finding the blue hedgehog unreadable and focused on the topic. Is this what he's like whenever he isn't acting carefree and casual?

As if aware of the eyes on him, Sonic looked to the wolf and flashes him his smile but the corners of the lips didn't quite reach the eyes as they should have before looking back to the holograms.

"...Based on their movements, that would take us to Resort Island where Robotnik used to have a factory on." Tails says out loud after looking at the coordinates, current trajectory, geographical knowledge and his own recollection of the place.

"Zhere could possibly be a connection between ze zheft and ze new factory due zo open, non? Resort Island was once a turf of ze Robotnik Empire before losing it after Project: Doomsday failed." Antoine interjects. "Snively might be up zo something here with zhat Mecha Sonic running about."

"It would seem like something he'd do given recent events…" Sally agreed, seeing the signs seemingly pointing towards the Eggman Empire being involved and likely in a desperate enough state to hire a gang to steal a resource for them. "If that's where they're going, then Resort Island it is. We might have to accept that invitation to Radical City after all…"

When Sally dismisses the meeting after further briefing the group on new developments, Gadget catches Sonic as he was about to head off. The hedgehog's earlier tense posture relaxes when he turned to see who approached him.

"Sup Buddy?" Sonic stops what he was going to do to speak to the wolf, fists rested on the sides of the hips. "How's things?"

"Been getting my bearings if that's what you mean…"

"If this is all happening a little too quickly for you, that's on me. Thought you deserved it for everything."

"N-No, it's just that I find it very sudden after everything that's happened." Gadget rubs the back of his neck, brow bunched up and averting Sonic's gaze. "Supposed I'm not used to being in the fast lane like the rest of you..."

"Don't fret. Some can get off to a great start, others stumble at the starting line; you gotta think on your feet, power on ahead and hopefully not trip on nothin'. You just need time to find your own waves to sail by and find your mojo." Sonic offered his encouraging words to the newbie with a smile. "You got this."

With his words of wisdom, Gadget's posture straightens up. "You know how to tell people what they want to hear."

"I tell them what they need to hear because they aren't giving themselves a chance. For you; I see a dude who can go places but has an iron ball chained to his neck holding him back and only he can take the collar off." Sonic replied nonchalantly with a charming wink. "But hey, I'm just a blue handsome hedgehog following where the wind tides goes."

"If you say so..."

"Hey, it never hurts to believe in one's self. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

Gadget purses his lips. "...Do you… No, never mind. Stupid question."

"Come on…" Sonic drawls, gently putting a hand on his shoulder. "You can tell me what's up. We're friends now, aren't we?"

"...W-Well, do you ever have…" Gadget hesitated for a moment and let out an exhale before continuing. "Those doubting thoughts yourself?"

"...Sometimes, yes but I just try to soldier on through. Focus on what matters in the now. Worry later or worry none." Sonic took a moment to answer Gadget's question; measured his answer in a way that doesn't give away how he's feeling inside. "As I sometimes like to say; nothing starts until you take action. If you have time to worry, then run."

"There you are."

Sally comes over to them. "Sonic, Gadget; you're both selected for my Resort Island team. Thought you should know."

"Who else's coming?" Sonic inquires.

"Myself, Tails, Manic, Bunnie, Shortfuse and Miraju. I had hoped to get Amy on but she's tied up with that situation over in Seaside City; so I've asked Knuckles to come along."

"Excuse me but why him?" Gadget asked.

"Consider it a precaution. If Lindsey's client is employing a Mecha Sonic, who knows what else they'll throw at us and we need his power just in case. Plus if the Mayor of Radical City wants us over for the opening ceremony, we might as well bring him Team Sonic."

"It's been a good while since the three of us were all together; this'd be fun." Sonic nodded. "When do we head off?"

"Whenever Knuckles gets here. I suggest you hang around for a bit."

The noblewoman then excuses herself to go and dig further into the stolen cold fusion case. Something about it bothers her and she wants to know why.

"Welp, no jogs for me…" Sonic sighs, turning back to Gadget. "What about you? It looks like you'll be getting a taste of the action soon."

Before the wolf could get a word in; Tails came over to them, having just gotten out of the briefing room following a discussion with Rotor. "Hey Gadget, are you good for continuing with the S7 today?"

"If we have the time for it, then I'm down for it."

"Wanna come and watch?" Tails looked at Sonic with the hedgehog nodding; more than happy to have something to take him off his mind. "Great! Let's go!"

Radical City, Resort Island

Morning

In a white cottage house just outside of the outskirts of the hi-tech city, an exchange was taking place over a table at the dining room. A few bodyguards present.

"...You have your stuff." Jason gestured to the container and the briefcase, sitting back in his chair with Lindsey next to him. "Now can we get our pay?"

"You do not have much patience yourself even if you know you'll receive what you are owed."

Across the table from the five human thieves sat a gray-furred individual resembling an anthropomorphic anubian jackal dressed in a red toga with purple lining, his elegant seating posture conveying a sense of seasoned life experience and class compared to Lindsey's group.

He shakes his head; "I could have just as well picked your fellow contemporaries to pull off this job and receive the big pay instead."

"I don't care. I just want my money for this job." Jason rudely responded. "If you're gonna stiff us, you're messing with the wrong people."

"Can it Jason." Lindsey curtly cuts in, arms-folded. "Look, we had to decline another job, lost half of the crew I assembled for the job and I had to go through that stinkin' jungle too. I'd like to come out of this with a good return."

"I am a jackal of my word."

The toga-wearer gestures to one of the guards present to bring over a silver briefcase and sets it down in front of Lindsey who opens the case to quickly count the mobiums; finding the total to be fifteen percent more than originally promised. "And I even threw in a pay bonus as an enticement should you be interested in further work."

"Well…" Lindsey's disinterested mouth twists into a lopsided grin. "If you're as generous as this; you have my full attention. Say Doc, whatcha using the cold fusion for exactly? Been meaning to ask you about it."

"It's for a project. One that can reshape the world…" The owner of the cottage responded calmly, gazing upon Lindsey with red irises and speaking in an accent that's difficult for her to identify the region or nationality of but there's a learned culture to his voice. "But that remains to be seen."

"What's with the getup man?" Jason starts speaking again, pointing at the owner's red toga. "I've heard of eccentric but that's pushing it."

"I expected such… Ignorance from you. Your peers in the underworld do speak of you as rude and demanding." He made Jason feel nervous with his piercing red eyes. "How I dress is my own business and I'd refrain from running that mouth should you anger the wrong people; just a suggestion Mister Jason..."

"Don't mind my partner here; I'm the one wearing the pants in the outfit." Lindsey brushes her loose hair to one side. "So, what's the next job you have for us?"

The doctor running his fingers over the stolen briefcase, looks up to her. "Currently, I have none at the moment but you'll be notified whenever I require your services. I suggest you stick around and enjoy what pleasures Radical City has to offer in the meantime..."

Frederick Airport, New Mobotropolis

Lunchtime

"...Looks like we'll be working together today." Knuckles says to Gadget as they were boarding the F.F.S Mk. III. "How have you been doing?"

"Doing good. You?"

"Performing my duties as Guardian of the Master Emerald and a recent test of strength with Mighty. You should come visit Angel Island sometime."

"If you don't mind not having any technology around." Sonic chimes in with a mock yawn. "Let Knuckles start talking to you about the history of echidnas and you'll be there for eternity."

"I'd be interested to know more." Gadget replied back with Knuckles smirking triumphantly at Sonic.

"This one is at least interested in learning history and has the patience for it." The echidna said to the hedgehog. "More than what I can say for you."

"Rather rich coming from the guy with a short wick to light." Sonic responded back cheekily. "I just have to take a matchstick to you and you're off to the races."

"For your information Sonic, I've been working on it."

"Sure you've been working on it big guy…" Sonic then adds; "She probably likes it~"

"Why you!" Knuckles tries to swat Sonic but the hedgehog quickly moves to avoid his friend and titters to himself. Sonic got to him again.

"Uh what?" Gadget spoke up.

"You'll understand when you're with someone someday..." Knuckles told him, grumbling to himself and throwing an unamused glare at Sonic. "Especially when he'll torment you over it."

"Torment? Nahhhh…" Sonic rebuked with a cocky grin. "I'm more of the type of guy to nudge lovebirds in the right direction."

"That's Amy's job and your history of romance leaves something to be desired…"

"Woah, that's a low blow there."

"You started it."

"Did not."

"Did too!"

"Guys…"

Tails sighs as he came in between the two and had arrived at the craft to see them butting heads again. "Can we just get on the ship and stop heckling one another over romance?"

"Fine. I have better things to do than this." Knuckles nods to Tails before heading on inside the ship. Sonic heading up afterwards.

Gadget looks to Tails. "...Does that happen often?"

"You wouldn't believe how often I have to lay mediator between them when they pop off and I'm younger than them…" The fox shakes his head; the pair heading up the ramp. The look of exasperation on him tells Gadget everything.

Once Sally came on board after taking a call with the Mayor of Radical City, the aircraft would set off for Resort Island.

"...Everyone got their Christmas shopping yet?" Manic would casually ask out of the blue on the way to their destination. A few of his colleagues would look at each other.

"Uh… I'm workin' on it." Bunnie would answer first. Glancing over at Tails in the pilot seat when she said that.

"Me too…" Gadget rubs his neck. Still needing to get his parents a gift each and having them sent over; the whole war having sent his plans for December into a fritz with him originally intending to head over to Golden Bay City to visit them all year for Christmas.

"Great. Sounds like some of you haven't even gotten your affairs in order…" Miraju shook his head with a sigh, smoking a cigar in hand. "Unbelievable."

"Yeah? I bet you don't have your gifts ready this year with you busy renovating your estate and having to catch up on stacks of paperwork." Manic snorted at the upper class raccoon. "Probably panicking on the inside right now dude."

"For your information since you are heavily presuming there, I already have the presents secured and put away for December. Despite having my hands full tending to my business, I spared some time acquiring the gifts in a timely manner." The cigar-smoker replied with an exhale of his smoke. "You got your dear sister a present?"

"I… Uhh…"

"My point exactly."

"But it'll be better than yours!"

"Hah!" Miraju taps the ashes of his cigar into his ashtray. "As if…"

"We're not all made of money like you are..." Manic mutters as he turns his head to Sonic. "Yo, you got your shopping list sorted yet?"

"All but four…" Sonic answered in a low voice, eyes half-closed. "They're the hardest one to get for."

"Oh? Who among those four might be my brotha?" The green hedgehog said curiously bordering on nosiness.

"It's none of your business Manic."

"Come on, you can tell your brother what's up. I won't tell. Promise."

"...Alright." Sonic relented. "I'll tell you but not here. Happy?"

"Happy as larry. I'll hold you to that one bro." Manic rests the hands behind his head on the headrest; then looking over to Gadget next to him. "Hey. If you're hitting a brick wall on what to get, I'm your dude for the job."

"If I were you, I'd be wary of his wares." Miraju interjects. Manic tutted.

"Ignore Sourpuss there." The green hedgehog tells his new red friend. "I know what it's like to be in your shoes and know the struggles. Maybe we can hit the streets when we're up there?"

"I think I'll be using the order forum to get the presents I'm after. Lost some time trying to not end up on the streets." Gadget replied. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize man; I understand. You have your priorities." Manic says, pointing a thumb at himself with a grin. "If you do change your mind later, you know who to reach out to."

"...If Eggman's involved, then why would he hire thieves and have one of his own robots with them when he's trying to keep a low profile?" Knuckles raised a decent point to Sally. "He could just as well send out his own robots to do the job."

"And that's what is bugging me about it. Why this approach?" The leader of the Knothole Freedom Fighters held her chin, having tried to make sense of what's going on with the limited info available. "The potential of the cold fusion, I get it. But hiring thieves and making it into a heist job when G.U.N is still rebuilding itself to be much of an opposition? That's what I'm trying to figure out."

"You know Eggman. He never does things simple and straightforward."

"I concur." Sally smiled at that. "Still, the power of the project is too great to leave in the wrong hands. We only just got out of one doomsday event with one weapon of destruction; imagine what destructive power this could do if they know how to use it."

"All the more reason to destroy it."

"Knuckles. This could be key to a greener, more prosperous future."

"Or a charred, desolate future as Silver would say. Tails says this cold fusion is nonsense science."

"Nonsense or not, we're obligated to retrieve it. The world's a different place now after six months of war and everyone worries about what the future will look like from years on." Sally says with a wistful look. "What will be there for our future generations when food crops become unable to grow, resources like oil drying up, key minerals becoming scarce and everyday necessities like oxygen production becoming hard to generate? If we don't take steps to address the problems now, what then?"

"Perhaps you're not letting nature do what it needs to do for the planet and letting scientific progress outpace it." Knuckles speak as an echidna of the natural wilderness. "Nature provides our vital needs; everything else is secondary and only disturbs it. We survived for billions of years without computers."

"But without computers and science, much of the universe's secrets would be out of our reach. The ability to cure a number of diseases and flus included." The chipmunk responded back against his point. "We'd be stuck in superstition and ignorance without science on our side."

"Or perhaps nature and science need each other?" Gadget would quietly chime in on the debate, suggesting a third way before shyly averting his gaze; feeling like he uttered a stupid statement in front of the others. "Or maybe not. Dumb comment..."

"No. Ah'm thinkin' yer raisin' a good point there." Bunnie tells him. "Think ya could elaborate more on that?"

"Yeah, I'm curious to hear your take." Knuckles adds.

"O-Okay…" Gadget took a breath with the focus being on him. "Umm, I think both nature and science both need one another because both can bring out the best in each other. Science… Science unlocks the secrets of nature and aids it when used properly. Nature gives science a foundation to start on and tempers science in a healthy, constructive way…"

Sally listens to him talk as did Miraju with the raccoon looking over to the wolf.

"...If nature and science worked together in equal parts, we would learn the answers to many of life's mysteries than if we just went with just one or the other. Create life when the usual means doesn't work including reproduction. Cure ailments traditional methods can't cure or eradicate." The red wolf finishes. "Infinite combinations, infinite possibilities."

Before the chipmunk or echidna could comment, Miraju voiced his thoughts; "No offense but we already figured out the answer to that issue long ago. We have plenty of researchers in the fields doing exactly as you've just discussed."

Although not being intentionally mean as he was telling it as it is, the words deflated the wolf's vibe with the ears lowering. That set off Knuckles in a bit of anger.

"You're so hard to please..." Knuckles said, a little peeved by the raccoon's response. "You just have to humiliate him in front of Sally here no less!"

"It is not my intent to do so as it was to let him know his idea has already been done."

Manic chimes in. "You didn't have to be such an as—"

"I-It's alright..." Gadget quietly squeaks out. "It was a dumb question anyways…"

"Miraju. I know you're just being frank with him but show some restraint with your words; they might be soul crushing and harming for some. Not everyone shares your thick skin." Sally chided Miraju before focusing on Knuckles and Manic. "I know you're standing up for a friend and it's the right thing to do but we should be focusing our anger at the culprits, not at a fellow teammate."

"If there's anyone to get angry at, it's the bad guys that's got the stolen project and that goes for Monica's shooter as well." Sonic added onto her statement, the arch of the eyes narrowed to a determined one and a slight edge to his words. "She deserves justice for what happened to her."

"And she will but only when cooler heads prevail."

"Hey."

Bunnie says to Gadget with a kindly smile, patting his left hand assuringly as she is seated next to him. "Don't let this get ya down."

"...What worth do I add to the conversation?"

"Everyone has somethin' worthwhile to add to the discussion no matter what anyone thinks and they deserve to have their voices to heard; we are a team after all." The golden rabbit winks at him. "Plus you got a pleasant speaking voice to go with that cute face there sugah~"

Gadget felt his cheeks going warm and having a red color to them like his own fur, putting a hand up to hide the blushing on his face. "B-Bunnie, aren't you already married?"

"And happily so." The southern bunny giggled in response, playfully nudging his shoulder. "Two years runnin' and countin' hon."

'Maybe things won't be so bad afterall…' Gadget hid his blushing face from the others. Least he knows he's getting somewhere with his new teammates if that's anything to go by.

Author's Notes: Not much to say other than that this is yet another incarnation of Avatar/Akira/Gadget I've written who gets on well with Vanilla and more character building is presented on his end.