GT: Big finale for this! This Arc will be the last arc!
SZ: Yup..and its gonna be a doozy.
GT: As always, we do not own anything used in this story except our OCs and our ideas involving this fic.
"You see?" Lien-Da gestured as Eggman had left the other echidna stunned, "He's…different. Oddly, a bit more competent than ours used to be."
"You…warned me, but still…" Gae-Na muttered, slowly shaking off her shock as she looked over at Eggman.
"Alright! All of you listen up!" Eggman declared, "Those of you damaged, report to the repair bay!" he gestured to the robot with the red hardlight replacement for a hand, "Just follow Red Alert here to go there." he pointed at two of the Gizoids, "You two go with him so we can get a scan for how an operational version of both your types is like so we can make sure to get you all to that point. The rest of you?" he gestured to a red robot with a blue head that had a strange (in a good way, oddly) presence to him, "This is Orion Pax. You are to follow him as he and Destron-16 will give you a tour of the base before bring you to the barracks for our robots."
"Please, come this way," Orion Pax spoke gently, leading the robots off.
"Gae-Na, was it? Wonderful gift, thank you! Lien-Da will take you to our on-site tailor for your on-duty uniform and several off-duty outfits. Orientation is at 8:30AM on the dot this Monday and I expect you here fifteen minutes early," Eggman informed as a Dog Beastkin with a cybernetic left arm handed her several packets, "You also need to fill in that paperwork in order to receive benefits such as medical coverage, insurance, and the like. You will be working alongside Lien-Da. Sleet has been put on mandatory leave for rest and mental recovery for personal reasons, so you'll have to wait for him to return to be introduced."
"Understood," Gae-Na responded before Eggman walked out, "...We never got benefits before. Let alone insurance."
"You see? You see?! He's different and I'm not sure if I like that or not."
Meanwhile, Eggman made his way through the building. He made his way to the medical ward for his organic soldiers and smiled as he noticed several hugging recovering patients. He approached a private room and gently knocked. A moment passed before he opened it and entered to see a happy Cassia and relieved Clove.
"You and the others did well despite the sudden twists that happened," Eggman complimented before checking the tablet on the end of the bed, "Seems the illness has been stopped at last."
"Thank you, Doctor," Clove thanked.
"Oh-hoh-no! No, don't do that. I just figured out the cause and what may work. You, Grandmaster Clove, were the one who did the majority of the effort," Eggman replied, "Oh, and how is your voice? They found you had a screw stripped that was causing an issue."
"It feels good," Cassia replied, no metallic undertone in her voice, "Man, it feels so weird not hearing it." She smiled at him, "But you did a whole lot for Sis and me, sir! You shouldn't not take credit, too."
"I suppose," Eggman chuckled before Shockwave entered, "Shockwave."
"Doctor," Shockwave nodded before he held up a set of black and red bracelets, "Research and Development have finished the test modules."
"Oh! Splendid! Were they able to test if…"
"Fortunately, Little Planet returned and we obtained a Time Stone. After three tests, it was returned it to Little Planet," Shockwave responded, "They work as intended."
"Yes!" Eggman pumped a fist.
"Um…what?" Cassia tilted her head.
"A new marvel made to deal with a dangerous scenario if something occurs," Eggman assured, "I don't want all this hard work and effort to have been wasted, so…"
"We missed all that?!" Makoto gawked, the entire team at some tables in New Mobotropolis's park.
"Yup," Ben replied as he took a sip of his smoothie.
"Knuckles must be happy having so many echidnas on Angel Island now," Noel noted.
"Er…Yeah, sure. Pretty happy," Sonic nodded.
"Can we go back to the fact you have something that can warp reality now at your command?" Tsubaki asked, quirking a brow.
"Well, not full command," Ben replied, "Each time I turn into Alien X, I have to make the same motion for me to assume control. Even then, I have limited control to an extent. The stripping Ix of all his powers, restoring everyone, undoing all damage done on the island that whole day along with restoring all the ruins on them to their peak condition for the echidnas to better settle in, and sending Ix into a place he can't ever get out of all needed Serena and Bellicus's agreement."
"So still a last resort," Sonia summed up, earning a nod from Ben.
"...No doubt if Eggman learned of its existence, he'd try to control it," Sonic joked.
"If he did, I'm pretty sure he'd be turned into a literal egg," Ben joked back with a grin.
Haseo couldn't hold in a laugh at that image in his head as Nicole giggled and commented, "He'd probably be a rotten hard-boiled one."
"Nah. He'd be scrambled eggs," Manic responded in amusement.
Sonia rolled her eyes yet retained a smile of amusement, "At least this is an ace in the hole if things escalate to the point we can't handle it without you needing that form, Ben."
"Yep. If Bro going gold can't deal with it, then it's your show," Manic agreed, nobody noticing the way Ragna frowned and glanced at his Azure Grimoire.
'Why do you shut down around the positive aspects?' Ragna pondered.
"Hmm?" Manic blinked as he reached into his pocket to pull a beeping communicator and turned it on, "Yo you got Manic…okay not sure why mom wants to see the guy…unless…no no I'll tell bro, lil' bro, step-sis, and sis…okay bye."
"What's up?" Sonic asked.
"Mom wants us to be prepared tomorrow for some special museum opening by Le Paradox."
"...Le Paradox?" Sonia repeated in absolute disgust.
"Ano…Who's that?" Haseo asked, tilting his head.
"One of the richest Mobians on the planet," Nicole informed.
"And possibly one of the smuggest jerks out there," Sonia added, the disgust not leaving her voice.
"...I'm guessing you met him before we found each other, Sonia," Sonic guessed.
"Several parties Robotnik hosted for what he conquered and for the countries that weren't part of his expanding empire, yes," Sonia replied, "Nobody amongst the elite wanted to say it out loud, but no one likes Le Paradox."
"Because he's a smug jerk?" Manic asked, "What? Is he a skunk or something?"
"Actually, yes," Sonia replied, making the green hedgehog do a double-take, "But that's not why he's smug or a jerk."
"A few of the royal guard are skunks," Mai noted, "They all didn't seem like jerks."
"Yes, but did they ever rub their wealth and whatever rare relic they find/buys in everyone's faces while sounding 'oh so much better than everyone else'?"
"...I haven't even met the guy and I want to slug him," Ragna stated after a moment.
"Thank you!" Makoto thanked as Tsubaki facepalmed, "I was just gonna say that!"
"I could look more into him if you would like, Sonia," Nicole offered, "As I am currently considered a neutral party, I could get access to things that you cannot due to your affiliation of the reestablished regime."
"I would like that….also check on my mom because why on Mobius does she want us to attend one of his parties?!" Sonia exclaimed.
"He probably wants to suck up to the old new regime or somethin'," Manic offered.
"...Manic, if you swipe something from him while we're there, I will not be angered one bit," Sonia stated, making Manic do a double-take.
"Wait, what? I…..I have permission…to steal? Your permission?" Manic wanted clarification.
"He must be that bothersome to her if she's saying that," Tsubaki added.
"...I'm gonna steal the biggest, most expensive things I can find…" Manic whispered with an excited grin.
"I don't know, Sonia-chan," Roll noted, "I mean, he sounds like a jerk, but…"
"One of the relics he brags about having recently is an ancient Neighponese katana…one from your ancestor's homeland now that I recall."
"Which one?" Haseo and Roll asked.
"...I keep forgetting how diverse your family tree is," Sonia sighed before shaking her head and clarifying with, "The ancestors that use a cane and are racoons."
"He has something belonging to the Cooper Clan?" Roll asked in surprise.
"Sly-Itoko is going to be interested in that," Haseo noted.
"He's got lots of relics…what does he care if he misses one or whatever?" Sonia stated with a huff, "He can do without it in my opinion."
"So where is this museum anyway?" Mai asked.
"Paris," Manic replied, "We're gonna be taking a flight there this afternoon. Spend the day resting from jet lag then going to the opening gala in the evening."
"...At least the trip will be worth it," Sonia whispered.
"...I don't know how...I honestly don't know how you managed to convince me to do this," Carmelitta spoke, wearing a blue two-piece bikini as she and Sly rested along a beach shoreline.
"Well with everything that's been going on lately, I figured you'd like to take a break and relax," Sly replied as he leaned back in the sand, wearing a pair of dark-blue swim trunks.
"But did you have to offer it while we were dealing with Mugshot?"
"Did you need to 'vent' on all those thugs of his?"
"...Fair," the vixen muttered before lifting her sunglasses up to look at him, "And you made sure to return the watch he stole…right?"
"..."
"...Cooper…"
"Yes, I did return it. No, I did not return it to the people who were going to get it."
"What?!"
"Bentley looked up who originally owned it. Turned out the guy who sold it to the people it was meant to go to stole the watch from them," Sly explained, "So we returned it to them with a note on better protecting it and numbers for good lawyers that are really good people."
"Wh-?! But they…" Carmelitta paused before frowning, "That lying little weasel…." she shook her head, "I'm guessing you did the same to the Fire Ruby of India."
"Yep. The monastery is keeping it under wraps so nobody 'borrows' it again," Sly replied, "How do you think we got Murray into a Bollywood film as Abdullah Abdul-Jabbar?"
"That was Murray in that film? I could barely tell it was him…"
"Right? I..." Sly began before a buzzing went off, "...oh for…" he sighed as he reached into a nearby beach bag, pulling out a phone as he answered it, "Bentley, seriously? I thought we agreed…"
=Sly, I need you and Carmelitta to come to Paris asap!=
"...wait. Carmelitta, too?" Sly blinked as he sat up, earning the red fox's attention.
=It…It's Penelope! She's missing!= the turtle exclaimed.
"Penelope's missing? How?"
=She went to get our usual grocery order when the panic button we made for emergencies went off just a half hour later! I found the button, but no Penelope! The Guru and Murray are on their way here while Dimitri is stuck on a diving job at the moment and Panda King is, well…=
"Retirement and wanting to make sure life is better for his daughter in Hyorinmaru."
=Exactly=
"Alright, alright. I can get on the next flight from here and should be there tomorrow at the earliest."
=Thank you…=
"Sly, is everything okay?" Carmelitta asked as Sly hung up.
"Something happened with Penelope. Seems like a kidnapping based on what he's said," he replied as he stood up, "Bentley needs the both of us in Paris asap."
Carmelita smirked as she got up and stretched, "Well, hope those kidnappers know they'll be zapped and locked up once I'm through with them."
"Jsut try and not go overboard with the zaps, Inspector," Sly smirked back as he picked his bag up, "Gotta get the deets on who they're involved with to drain dry and send to the slammer. Kidnapping…" he shook his head, "Absolutely no honor in that." he phone went off again and he answered it, "Bentley?"
=Konnichiwa, Sly-Itoko!=
"Oh, Haseo? Good to hear from ya, cousin," Sly chuckled, "What's up?"
=We found something that belongs to Rioichi-san! Demo…it's in a museum in Paris?=
"Paris, huh? I'm actually heading there now. Maybe we can catch up and see how we're doing?"
=Uhn! W-We'll be arriving in the daytime!=
"Alrighty," Sly spoke before the call ended, "Seems I'll be having a lot of family over in Paris when we get there."
"...Your cousins and the royal siblings?"
"Bingo."
Ragna sighed as he laid down on his bed in the bus, the hedgehogs, hedgefox, and fox all having left earlier. He dug into his jacket and pulled the Time Stone out, looking over its ruby red surface and the distorted reflection of himself within. He sighed as he put it away.
"Can't believe I go from happy orphan to most wanted man in the world to a Freedom Fighter," Ragna noted to himself, frowning a bit as he looked at his arm, "And you…you haven't been snacking once since we woke up here. Why have you stopped? Is it because of something in the atmosphere? ...Just what the hell is going on…"
He relaxed into the fabric and mattress before allowing sleep to reach him. As he rested, the Time Stone began to shine as a red bubble formed over him.
"Ragna! Ragna, wake up!"
"Snkr! Wh-what?! What's going on?!" Ragna snorted awake as he staggered out of bed, falling out for a moment before he shot up, "Are we under attack?!" he looked around, seeing a rather cramped armored tour bus interior, with just Sonia, Manic, Noel, and Mai in there, "What the…?" He looked at his bed to see it was just a worn mattress, "What the hell?! What's going on?! I know I fell asleep on a bed and not just a mattress!"
"We were in an airplane on our way to Paris," Manic gestured to himself and Sonia, "We can't find Bro, Step-sis, or Lil' Bro."
"Ben, Makoto, and Tsubaki are all missing," Mai added, grimacing.
"We only have a really old radio before Ben upgraded stuff in here," Sonia admitted, "And none of the usual channels are working. Well…not working the way they should be."
"Huh?" Ragna raised a brow as Noel turned on the radio.
=THIS IS THE ROBOTNIK RADIO BROADCAST. REBELLION IS FUTILE. SURRENDER ALL FREE WILL=
"...The fuck?"
"Robotnik?!" Manic and Sonia's eyes widened at that.
'...wait…" Ragna paused before going up to a nearby window, a frown evident on his face as all he saw was a wasteland and polluted skies, "No…don't tell me…"
"Ragna?" Noel blinked.
"Oi, Usagi! I know you can hear me!" Ragna shouted up to the sky, "...Usagi?! ...Oi, Rachel?!...the hell is gonig on…she shouldn't be affected by this shit…"
"Ragna, what's going on…?" Sonia asked.
"...Small experience speaking, but…I don't know how, but someone messed with something in the past," Ragna stated, "It's not a time loop…but even Rachel shouldn't be affected by this! She's an Observer…she's supposed to exist outside of time…"
"This is majorly bummer," Manic grimaced before a beeping came from his vest, making him reach into it and pulled out the Binocucom to look into it, "Hello?"
=Oh finally! Something that isn't a Robotnik Radio signal!=
"Bentley? Dude, is that you?"
=Yes, it's me. I'm here with Sly, Murray, and Carmelita. The Guru was here, but…something happened and he vanished! I don't even know why we woke up in the van!=
"Dude, I was on a plane with the fam bed waking up in the passenger seat of our bus before Ben upgraded it."
=The others were on their way to mine and Penelope's place because Penelope went missing! But…that's not the worse of it…=
"Oh Chaos now what…?"
=Come to our hideout in Paris...or, rather, what's left of Paris. I'll explain there=
"...oh that can't be good…" Manic whispered as he hurried to the front of the bus, "Buckle up, guys! We're headin' to Paris…or what's left of it!"
"What's left of…WHAT?!" Sonia exclaimed, running up and taking the driver's seat.
"Ahh S-" Manic began before Sonia stepped on the gas, causing the bus to drive off at high speed, "WOAH!"
"...has…has she calmed down yet?" Murray asked as he and Sly looked at a closed door, hearing the muffled Spanish swearing of Carmelita coming from inside.
"After the call she was trying to make…" Sly began before the two winced as they heard glass shattering inside, "...no…no she has not…."
"I really hope that wasn't my brownie pan."
"We'll buy ya a new one once we fix…whatever this mess is," Sly spoke before looking out the window, frowning as he saw rubble of buildings and tall metal ones shooting into the sky while bellowing out black smoke, 'What the heck is going on with her and Bentley …?'
A knocking sound soon caught the two's attention, prompting them to cautiously approach the door, Sly prepping his cane while Murray pounded his fist together. Using his Cane, Sly slowly pushed the grate aside a bit as he peaked out, seeing Manic and the others looking in.
"...what's the password?" Sly asked slowly, wanting to make sure this wasn't a trick.
"M452Q."
"...Phew it's you guys Bentley called…" Sly sighed in relief as Murray undid the locks, letting Manic and his team walk in..with Noel escorting Sonia in as the magenta hedgehog was pale with wide eyes.
"Gone…its…all gone…" Sonia whispered before Noel helped her into a chair, "P…Paris…the City of lights…the one place on Mobius I wanted to go….it's all gone…"
"Along with almost every other country," Bentley spoke up as he wheeled over.
"Where's…" Manic began before he heard another shatter, "?!"
"Venting due to a call she tried to make," Sly replied before looking at his tech expert, "Seriously though Bentley…just what the heck is going on here…? You and Carmelita have been acting weird all morning."
"That's because she most likely found out she's now a wanted felon for refusing one of Robotnik's orders..and is now being hunted by her own - and now Roboticized- unit," Bentley explained.
"GYAHHHHHHH! MIERDA GORDA!" Carmelitta snapped before more glass shattering went off inside the room.
"Wait, what?" Sly blinked in shock at that, ignoring the sound going off as he looked at Bentley, "Bentley….what do you mean Carmelitta's a wanted felon now?"
"That brings me to my next point…" Bentley responded as he reached into his shell, pulling out the Thievius Racoonus as he handed it to Sly, "Just look."
"...Bentley, why do you have my…"
"Just look!"
"Okay okay…" Sly muttered a bit as he opened up the book…however as he read on, his eyes widened. Page after page…voided or blank of any information, not even notes or pictures of his ancestors. As he reached back further, he saw it…words and pictures within were slowly vanishing, "Wh…what the…?"
"Exactly!" Bentley exclaimed, "Something is happening in your family's history and it's resulting in this new reality..one where Robotnik was never defeated!...actually an example. Murray, how's Guru been these days?"
"Who?" Murray blinked.
"He was your master you trained with in Downundah."
"But…I've never been there. Downunda sunk thanks to that Eclipse Cannon of Robotnik's."
"EXACTLY! Because you don't remember it!"
"...O-Okay I am lost here," Sly held his hands up as he shook his head a bit, "Bentley, what are you even talking about? Why do you have my family's book? You know the Fiendish 5 stole it…as a matter of fact how…did you get the pages…? I thought the volcano burned it to ashes when we finally got them all…"
"Perhaps a gumball for your thoughts?"
"?!" everyone jumped as they turned, seeing a smiling Paradox looking on at them while offering a gumball.
"Ooh~! Yes, please!" Murray beamed.
"Who are you?!" Bentley gawked as Carmelita kicked the door down, aiming her gun at the new stranger.
"Professor Paradox, my intelligent reptilian friend," he replied, giving a handful to Murray, "I happen to be a friend of Ben Tennyson and his friends…though…" his smile vanished as he looked around, "...it would seem even he couldn't escape this level of change…"
"Oi, old man. What the hell is going on?" Ragna questioned, "Why hasn't Rachel…?"
"She exists still, I assure you...but this event has prevented her from even observing this new reality forced upon you all," Paradox stated before frowning a bit, "And you and Bentley here are correct…someone changed something within the timeline itself to a drastic point this is your new reality." he looked at them in sadness, "I barely reached Sonia and Manic before they could be erased."
"...what do you mean?" Manic slowly asked.
"In this…dreadful new timeline…Robotnik succeeded in his coup still…but before your mother could get you three to safety, he had you three killed before she could even reach you," Paradox explained, making Manic's eyes widen in horror, "I managed to save you two from being erased, but….with no Sonic…the sense of freedom the wind provides does not exist. No one to stop Robotnik in his takeover..no one to stop him from using Chaos as a living 'battery' for his acid plants..no one to stop him from taking over the ARK to use as his own personal weapon. No one...to even give a glimpse of hope."
"No…" Sonia gasped.
"...but…what about…"
"Locked away in the deepest dungeons…her mind broken from grief and seeing her beloved planet reduced to such madness."
"Ryugou?" Carmelita asked.
"Never existed because a certain ninja never made it there."
"...Rioichi," Manic and Sonia realized.
"Indeed."
"...but…what about…?" Noel began in worry.
"Considering Sonic and his siblings are not alive in this new timeline...no one was there to awaken both Ben and Makoto…Tsubaki was captured and turned into one of Robotnik's most deadly generals…"
"But…what about the Plumbers?" Mai asked, "Surely they…"
"They tried…due to the advancements in Robotnik's forces, he wiped out the entire fleet sent to rescue this planet from him," Paradox replied in a grim manner, "Max Tennyson…was amongst the casualties in hopes he could find Ben here."
Ragna slammed a fist against the wall, "DAMMIT!"
"This….this is horrible…" Sonia whispered as her hands shook, "What…maniac would want this?!"
"The answer lies in the past," Paradox replied, gesturing to the Thievius Racoonus before smiling at Bentley, "Ragna has the last piece you need for you to finish your project."
"He does?" Bentley blinked.
"I do?" Ragna blinked…before everyone jumped as Paradox was gone, "...god damn it, old man…."
"...I..I think I need some air…" Manic whispered as he walked over to a nearby window, trying to register all the information he was told.
"That explains it…that explains why everything feels so wrong…" Sly whispered to himself with a frown…before grinning as he looked at one of his best friends, "Though something tells me you already have a plan..and it involves what the professor just told us."
"...time is of the essence, so no time for secrets…" Bentley spokw as he wheeled himself over a wall, pulling the candelabra nearby down as it opened up, revealing the Team Van with something large attached to it, "I had to get this prepped up after you arrived, Murray."
"But…what did you attach to my van, Bentley?"
"My and Penelope's latest invention…a time machine!" Bentley declared, "I was going to show it to Sly before Penelope went missing, but time is literally on us right now! Basically we insert something from a certain time period, then the machine registers it and sets the coordinates to that specific time period it originally came from!"
"...where you planning on using this to try and st-" Carmelitta began with a frown.
"However….there's still something I'm missing from it," Bentley cut her off before looking over at Ragna, "And if what the professor suggested is true…you have something that'll help complete this project…"
"I don't even know! It…wait…" Ragna paused as he reached into his pocket..and pulled out the Red Time Stone from it.
"What the?! Ragna you stole one of the Time Stones from Little Planet?!" Sonia exclaimed.
"I didn't steal shit!" Ragna snapped back, making her flinch, "I grabbed this just in case something like this whole time travel shit happened! …What better time huh…?" he muttered as he offered Bentley the Time Stone.
"Time Stone?" Bentley repeated, looking it over.
"It's basically part of a set to help keep time regulated on a small Planet that appears in specific spots every couple of years," Ragna summarized, "Stopped some smug Galvan prick from using them to upgrade his copycat Omnitrix."
"...yes. Yes this is actually perfect!" Bentley beamed as he held the Time Stone up, "With this, we won't have to worry about the machine losing power on us! We'd be able to travel the timestream without any complications!"
"Which leaves something we can use to travel back in time," Mai noted before holding her chin in thought, "Question is…where can we exactly find one in this…now apocalyptic wasteland that is now Mobius?"
"...better question, why is that museum the only one that's not metal or broken debris?" Manic spoke up to the others as he looked out the window.
"Manic what are you…" Sonia began as she walked over to look out, seeing a daily large museum building in the distance…and much like Manic said there was no damage to it, nor was there anything metal on it outside of the fence surrounding it. Even spotlights were on and shining into the sky, "?!"
"...Hey Bentley dude, before you go all tech crazy…what's that museum over there?" Manic called out to the turtle.
"Hmm?" Bentley blinked as he wheeled over, "...huh….that is odd…it's in the same condition it was in back in the old timeline…"
"?"
"That's the new museum owned by Le Paradox, which…..shouldn't exist…..huh…."
"...he's a part of this," Sonia spoke with narrowed eyes, "He's a part of this. I don't care if he is or not, he's somehow involved in this."
"And lucky for us? One of Rioichi's swords is there," Manic said with a grin.
"Then we have a gameplan," Sly grinned a bit before looking at Carmalita, "You want in, or do you not want to be associated with a th-"
"I'm in."
"Th-that was a fast response," Sly blinked, taken a bit back at the quick response.
"Sly…I'm wanted because I refused Robotnik's order to kill children just because they made a picture mocking him…whoever changed our world needs to be punished to the fullest extent on the law," she stated, "I'm a wanted felon in this timeline…I don't care what I'm labeled with at this point. If Le Paradox is behind this..or indeed has a part in it, he needs to be taken down."
"...hm. Then welcome to the Team, Inspector Fox," Sly replied with a slight grin.
"F…Former Inspector Fox to you, Ringtail," Carmellita corrected, her tail flicking a bit in anger at trying to say the word 'former.'
"Let's get to planning," Bentley smirked, "We've got a good roster and if the museum blueprints haven't been altered, the ones I still remember memorizing from the original timeline should still be effective."
"I'd be happy to lend a hand," Sonia offered.
"Splendid!"
As they started to discuss and plan, Sly noticed Manic walk away, shoulders slumped. Quietly, Sly followed the hedgehog as he got to an emptier part of the hideout and sat down on the cold floor, pulling his knees up to his face. Sly walked over and sat by him, letting them stay in the silence for a few minutes.
"I…never worked up the courage…" Manic's whisper pierced the silence.
"Hm?"
"Tsubaki…I…I really like her," Manic admitted, "She…She just has this…this awesomeness to her. She's smart, pretty…a really good leader, but…her family is rich and stuff…not even sure they would approve of someone like me. Hell, I'm probably not up to their standards just because I'm not…"
"Fully law abiding?" Sly provided.
"That, yeah. I may be a prince, but…I grew up as a thief," Manic went on.
"So did I until my gang went Freedom Fighter, and Carmelita barely tolerates me," Sly replied with a slight joking grin before rubbing his chin, "...I don't fully get it, but if what I saw in the book is right, maybe helping Rioichi will help…" he gestured to everything, "...not be this and this 'Tsubaki' girl you fancy will be herself again." he patted Manic's shoulder, "We get this all fixed and then you don't hold back. It's how you and her feel that matters most, Manic. Plus, you might have a way to get a feel for how she felt about you indirectly through those girls you're here with."
"Noel and Mai? Mmm…Maybe," Manic nodded.
"Don't be afraid of 'what ifs,' Manic," Sly advised, "If I was, I wouldn't have gotten Carmelita to come with my gang and not try something crazy when she was already in deep trouble with her refusal to shoot kids."
"Wow! The van is a lot bigger on the inside!" Murray noted, the van steadily moving across the wrecked city to stop in the shadows of a dilapidated motel near the museum, a troop of SWATBots marching by without any notice towards the vehicle.
"Ben upgraded the van," Bentley explained, "It was a 'thank you' from him."
"Wow! He's got the passenger seat for a month!" Murray beamed as everyone got out and looked out to the museum.
"Okay, you all remember the plan, right?" Bentley asked.
"You only kept reminding us of our jobs in this almost every five minutes, Wheels," Ragna rolled his eyes.
"I'm nervous, alright? New timeline, new and old threats…It feels like Egypt when we were off to get the Clockwerk parts they planned to display."
"But Robotnik's forces blasted that weird chip that popped out of his body and it all rusted away back at the volcano," Sly frowned, "...Other timeline?"
"Yes. It's how I lost my ability to walk there and not from a stray armor-piercing bullet lodging into my spine at the Krav Karov Volcano," Bentley replied, adjusting his glasses.
"Dealing with dual memories must be a pain," Sly noted.
"Can we please focus on the mission?" Carmelita growled before clearing her throat, "We only have one shot at this, so nobody messes around or they get a paralyzing punch from a powerful pistol."
"It's going to be okay, Carmelita. You studied the techniques you'll need to follow me, so we'll do fine," Sly assured.
"Still can't believe that the only way I can even read it is because I had your tail on me," Carmelita huffed before fixing her gloves, wearing an all black jumpsuit with a few armored bits on it as she fixed the goggles on her face, "But, yes, I made sure to memorize the ones you specifically pointed out before some vanished from the book."
"Nice rush job, Manic, Noel," Mai commented, wearing a similar outfit with the armor a light lavender with butterfly patterns going up the right leg to the left arm.
"Needed something to focus on," Noel admitted, wearing a navy blue version with brown armor and green tron lines that formed a '10' on her chest and a squirrel tall design on her back, while Manic readjusted the cream vest with a red scarf he had adopted for the venture.
"We're splitting into three teams," Sonia reminded them, wearing an outfit similar to her original but colored in Sonic's colors with a heart on her gloves, boots, and chest, "Ragna, Murray, and I go one route. Noel, Carmelita, and Sly on the rooftops, and Manic and Mai will follow Bentley into the sewers."
"The windows leading to Rioichi's sword are decked out with alarms set to go off if anyone so much as touches them. Luckily I found an old computer in the sewers that's connected to said security system," Bentley stated as his wheelchair's robotic arms 'cracked' its fingers, "Just leave the hacking to me."
"And our job is to protect him if there's security down there," Mai added, Manic smirking as he twirled a drumstick.
"Perfect, then let's begin then," Sly nodded as he picked his cane up.
"Alright everyone, lets go," Bently spoke as he fixed his glasses, "It's time for Operation: Time Tripping Ride."
Various helicopters flew around the museum as a few rats in hazmat suits walked around the area, breathing through their masks as they held an odd-looking weapon. A troop of SWATBots marched by a wall before Sly phased into view with Carmelita. The two quickly made their move as a spotlight shone on where they once stood. Slipping into a nearby bush, they waited for a few moments before they both poked out, Noel moving from behind a nearby light post before they began to climb up a nearby ladder to a rooftop.
=Careful, you three. Those Security Choppers are bad news= Bentley whispered into their comms as they reached the rooftop, ducking into the shadows as one of the helicopters flew nearby, shining a spotlight on the roof before it flew off.
"Why? They have Roboticizers in them?" Sly joked.
=No. If the spotlights spot you…= Bentley began as a pungeon flew by..only to squawk when a spotlight shone on it as it was instantly reduced to ashes =You'll be reduced to ash=
"Ohh…" Sly grimaced.
"Those are supposed to be illegal…" Carmelita whispered as her eyes narrowed.
"Hai," Noel agreed.
"We'll have to be extra careful then," Sly whispered before jumping up, bouncing off a few chimney stacks as he began to walk across a power line.
"Stay on my back, Noel," Carmelita advised as the blonde got on her back before she followed the path Sly took.
"Haven't been in Paris's sewers since all that GUN nonsense," Bentley noted, "Now if I did my math right, and I always do my math right, the computer should be at the end of this tunnel."
"Anythign to look out for aside from possibly SWATBots?" Mai asked.
"Well, since there was no powerful rebellion this time, Robotnik really didn't work too hard on cyber security this time," Bentley noted, laptop in lap, "He's made a few sewer-based robots to wipe out the Thieves Guild. Mousers are what the blueprints say they're called. They eat through almost anything in order to burrow underground. Along with them are Snakes, serpent-like robots that can pop out of small pipes and deliver a paralytic bite for capture to be Roboticized." He frowned sadly at Manic, "Their AI is integrated into a machine…that was built on the Roboticized Ferrel to use his knowledge to do the wiping out."
Manic grit his teeth, wolf-knife in hand, "The faster we get things done, the faster we can change everything back to the way it was."
"Agreed…" Mai nodded with a light frown, having gotten to know the master of the Thieves Guild well during the reconstruction.
With that, the trio proceeded on. As they did, they passed over various gaps and tunnels, avoiding the sight of a few drones as they used some parked trolley carts to hide from view of them. They soon came upon a set of steel bars blocking the way.
"Stay back," Bentley advised as he wheeled up to it and produced two mechanical arms from his chair, one holding what looked like a tiny shell with a blinking light on it.
He fastened it to one of the bars and quickly wheeled over to the two. The blinking increased before it exploded, tearing the bars apart.
"Thank you, technology," Bentley joked as he wheeled on ahead.
"Yo Sly, sis, how are things going on your ends?" Manic asked into his binocucom.
=Good so far. We've reached the museum, but the pipe leading up to the roof broke, so we'll have to take another route= Sly replied.
"Alright," Manic nodded.
"As for us, Manic? We're ready for the signal," Sonia replied as Murray did a few push-ups as Ragna leaned against a broken light post, eyes focused on a pair of locked gates.
=Good news then, Sis. Bentley's at the computer= Manic replied =He should have things all set up in about…= the gates opened =Now=
"Thanks," Sonia thanked before putting the magenta pair given to her away, "Alright boys, we're on."
"The Murray is always on!" Murray declared.
"...Never say it like that again around me," Ragna groaned.
"No promises, for Murray…" Murray began as he cracked his knuckles, taking a few steps back before he charged out headfirst, "Is like a wild angry rhino!"
A loud yelling caught a few guards' attention, making them turn before Murray charged right through them, sending them flying up in the air as a few SWATBots crashed into pieces upon hitting the floor.
"Oh crap!" one rat guard exclaimed, "Billy, Billy get out here!"
"Oh for what, Stu?! I'm trying to get out here as f-" another began as it ran out...and skid when he saw Murray pounding away at some of the other guards, "...Stu…"
"Yeah, Billy?"
"I hate you."
"Wh-?! What did I do?!"
"Do you know who that is?"
"Well, it's an intruder…"
"That's the infamous Pink Tornado, the Motor Rebel, The Murray!"
"Wasn't he a racecar driver?"
"NO YA DINGBAT!" Billy snapped, shaking Stu before an explosion went off, "..." he slowly turned his head to see Sonia firing another shot and hitting another SWATBot, "...Stu."
"Yeah, Billy?"
"Do you know who that is?" he asked.
"Um…a very fashionable magenta hedgehog with a keyboard?"
"That's one of the Royal Triplets, Stu! The middle one, Sonia! They were supposed to be dead in this timeline!"
"It's just one girl."
"One girl?! She is the physically strongest of them! She has been known to throw people several times her size around with a single throw!"
"Oh well least we can get a bonus if we capture her r-" Stu began before his and Billy's heads were smashed into one another by Ragna.
"And fuckin' Ragna the Bloodedge…I hate you, Stu…" Billy groaned as the two grunts fell over.
"Well screw you, too, asshole," Ragna snorted before grabbing a SWATBot by the headunit and throwing it into several rats.
"Come on! The Murray ain't finished with you yet!" Murray shouted as he threw several punches, smashing some SWATBots' heads while sending more and more of the rat grunts flying, "I got plenty of Knuckle Sandwiches for everyone!"
"And you guys didn't introduce me to this guy sooner because…?" Ragna asked, cleaving through a SWATBot before slamming a vicious roundhouse to a rat.
"One: you never asked. Two: he was with his master called the Guru finishing his training in Downunda under him," Sonia replied, shooting at several Rats before switching her keyboard into its spear mode and teleported in a burst of flames to appear above a SWATBot about to shoot Murray in the back and impaled it with her spear, "And three! You never asked."
=Uh…Everything okay up here, Murray?= Bentley asked as they got into the loading docks.
"You bet it is!" Murray whooped.
"We've arrived at the loading docks," Sonia informed, "What now, Bentley?"
=There should be a few fuse boxes inside of there. Take them out and it will disable the alarm systems to let Sly's team get inside and grab the katana= Bentley informed.
"Gotcha, Wheels," Ragna replied as he looked around, spotting a nearby barrel as he picked it up...before chucking it right at a nearby system.
"RAGNA!"
"What? He said take it out," Ragna bluntly stated.
"YEAH!" Murray cheered, stomping down and sending a crate up before throwing it at another system, "I always love it when we get to smash stuff!"
"...ugh. Screw it," Sonia groaned before throwing her spear into another, causing it to short circuit, "Okay. The Alarm systems are down."
"Good. We're finished setting things up on our end," Sly replied as Carmelita finished tying a rope around him.
"Still can't believe I'm doing this…" the vixen sighed a bit, "..but it's for a good cause…Noel?"
"We're all good to go," Noel spoke up, her guns converted into a sniper rifle as she looked through the lens, "No signs of any guards near the katana. Huh…It is impressive that the sheath looks to be in ideal condition despite the years."
"All the better to get a good connection to get back to his time then," Sly spoke, "I'm going in."
With that, he jumped down through the opened sunroof and fell down towards the glass case housing an ornate katana. Carmelita grunted, digging her heels into the floor as she held the rope tight. Sly slowly came to a halt just inches before the case. He took in a deep breath and pulled out his cane from off his back. He reached out and plucked the katana from the case and strapped it onto his waist. He reached into his shirt and pulled out his calling card and gently placed it into place inside of the case. He gave a thumbs up and Carmelita began to pull him back up. Within moments, the fox grabbed the raccoon's hand and pulled him up onto the roof.
"...Huh…" Noel blinked a few times.
"What?" Sly asked.
"It feels like something went amiss," Noel admitted.
Carmelita smirked, "Well, that's because this is normally the time where I'd come in and catch Ringtail here in the act when I was in Interpol."
"Yep. Up until Robotnik managed to take over the country after the Clockwerk got destroyed by his troops," Sly noted before looking at the Thievius Raccoonus, "It…feels so weird."
"How?" Noel asked.
"This book? My family's legacy and everything in it was lost in that volcano," Sly explained, "All the hardships and turmoil me and my friends went through…Raleigh, Mugshot, Mz. Ruby, Panda King…reclaiming all those pages and never really getting a real chance to look at everything."
"But…why?" Noel asked.
"Well…after an explosion, the book got separated from me. I was going to go for it, but…there was someone more important to save," Sly replied, looking over at Carmelita, who blinked a few times before she realized what he was implying, "I'm…not sure what you remember from this time or if remembering that better timeline got rid of it all…"
"It's there," Carmelita replied, "Sorta like dealing with two identical sets of memories that diverge at that blasted volcano." she frowned, "You know…you handcuffed me to a railing in the previous timeline."
"Say what?!" Sly gasped.
"No Robotnik attacking or anything like that," Carmelita assured, "He remained kowtowed to Northamer, Soumerca, and a few other parts of the world that didn't have the UN involved. But after you and I defeated Clockwerk, I gave you a ten second headstart before you managed to get my own handcuffs onto my gun shooting hand and the railing we were on. You made sure the key was in my other hand so I could get out immediately, but you and your gang were already racing down in your van."
"So we destroyed Clockwerk?"
"Took about two more years," Carmelita replied, "You, Bentley, and Murray all worked to get the parts from an organization known as the Klaww Gang and managed to get almost all of them until their leader got them all back. You and I smashed that lousy metal bird apart again and Bentley got an item inside of Clockwerk called the 'Hate Chip' out of the body…" she sighed, "...before its head came down on him and rendered him unable to move his legs."
Sly flinched, 'That's way worse than one of Robotnik's robots using armor piercing rounds to go through the shell and into his spine.' "So this 'Hate Chip' thing was what kept him alive?"
"It was what allowed his parts to remain pristine no matter the ages," Carmelita replied, "You and Murray were in no shape to break it, so I gave it a good stomp or seven. You went with me willingly into a police chopper in trade for Murray and Bentley being allowed to go free…and then those two replaced the pilot with a program that made the helicopter go around and around the Eiffel Tower for over two hours!"
"So you two were in a helicopter for two hours? Around the Eiffel Tower?" Noel asked, "Oh, you must have…"
=Noel, we do not have time for you to swoon over romance at the moment= Sonia sighed as Carmlita blushed.
"Y-Yes…Thank you, Sonia," Carmelita thanked before lights shined down on them, making them look to see several helicopters looking down upon them, "Oh no…"
"Good evening, this is Sly Cooper. I would like to request for a ride for three," Sly requested.
=Cute, Sly= Sonia sarcastically commented.
=Quit messing around and get down here! We're all situated in the van and ready to roll!= Bentley declared.
"Gotcha," Sly replied as Carmelita and Noel took several shots, taking out a few of the searchlights before they avoided laser fire, "Our ride's here, ladies!"
"Good timing," Carmelita nodded as she and Noel followed after Sly towards the edge.
"Eh? Wait, are we…?" Noel began.
"Au revoir!" Sly taunted to the helicopters as he jumped off.
"I still can't believe I'm doing this," Carmelita groaned as she followed after.
"Oh my!" Noel screamed as she jumped last, barely avoiding a shot from one of the choppers and landed on top of the Cooper Gang van, sporting several new attachments to it, "Oh phew…"
"Floor it, Murray!" Sly called, hitting the roof with the bottom of his cane.
"Buckle up, folks! It's gonna be a demolition derby!" Murray shouted as he kicked it into gear and peeled out, breaking down a fence and knocking away or running over several machines.
"Look out!" Sonia screamed before the van rammed down a steel fence and went across the yard of the front of the museum with several rats and SWATBots shooting at them.
"Ugh…I think I cracked my shell…" Bentley groaned.
"Watch out for those statues!" Manic panicked, the van barely avoiding a statue of a skunk only for a van piloted by a rat crashing into it.
"This has got to be the most amusing escape I've ever had," Ragna chuckled from the passenger seat before a hovercar operated by a SWATBot moved in front of them while a rat-piloted car moved behind them, "Crap. They're sandwiching us in."
"No worries!" Murray assured, seeing a cart nearby.
"Murray, what are you doing?!" Mai asked.
"Just settin' up for the jump!"
"Jump?!" Noel panicked before seeing the cart, "Oh no."
"Welcome to Air Murray!" Murray whooped as the van hit the cart and used it as a ramp, flying right over the fence, "Thanks for flying!"
"MURRAY!" Carmelita, Sonia, and Noel screamed before the van crashed down perfectly safe on the other side and spun around to face a straightway that was mostly cleared.
"That was worse than Kaine Island…" Sonia groaned as Carmelita, Sly, and a shivering Noel got inside.
"You okay?" Mai asked before catching the collapsed Noel.
"C-Can we go now?" Noel pleaded.
"Here you go, Bentley," Sly spoke, handing over the katana.
"Thank you, Sly," Bentley thanked as he put it into a receptacle, "Perfect. Isotopic decay calibrated…adjusting fusion synthesis…and bingo!" he looked over at Murray, "Anytime you want to punch it, Murray!"
"You got it, chum!"
"How fast we gotta go?" Manic asked.
"We need to reach 88 miles per hour to generate the necessary 1.21 Gigawatts of energy to achieve time travel!" Bentley replied.
"Wait…88…1.21…Now wait just a…" Ragna began.
"Incoming!" Mai's shout interrupted them as the two in the front looked ahead to see oncoming SWATBots beginning to approach.
"Do not slow down, Murray!" Bentley shouted.
"I NEVER DO!" Murray declared, pressing down harder on the gas.
As they charged for the robots, the wheels tilted downwards to become miniature hover engines that only furthered their speed. Meanwhile, the oversized clock on the top of the front of the van began to spin rapidly counterclockwise. Blue sparks began to race off the van as the Time Stone nestled into the center of the clock shined bright. A flash of light went off and the SWATBots paused their march for two reasons. One: There was no more van filled with rebels inside of it. Two? All that was left was a spinning license plate reading 'C00P-1' between two trails of flames going in straight lines parallel to one another.
"...Is everyone okay?" Manic's voice spoke from within pitch black darkness.
"A bit of whiplash, but I'm fine," Bentley replied, readjusting his glasses.
"My cane shoulder's a little sore, but I'm sure we're good," Sly assured, one arm gripping his cane that was firmly hooked to a thick bar in the van while holding Carmelita with his other.
"I am so glad I was sitting," Mai groaned, head against the small table in the van while Noel was flat on her back upside down behind the passenger's seat, swirls in her eyes.
"That was wicked! Let's go again!" Manic whooped.
"Let's not and say we did," Sonia groaned, in a similar position to Noel but with the Driver's seat.
"Can someone turn on some fucking lights?!" Ragna snapped.
Murray flipped a switch on his side and the headlights turned on for the van, illuminating a cave wall ahead of them. They then soon heard the rush of flowing water, making them look out to see a veil of water and ivy covering an entrance of sorts. Sly got out of the van and cautiously walked up to the ivy. He reached out with his cane and moved it to the side while he gazed out and his eyes went wide.
A sky so pure and clear to see all the stars in the sky…How long had it been since he last remembered a visage so clear? Not since his childhood before the Fiendish Five appeared, that's for sure. The cave overlooked a valley of sorts, a city of wood, bamboo, and stone within. Bentley wheeled over with Mai and Manic and all three looked out as well. Bentley grinned once he got a good look at the stars above and then at the city.
"Welcome to the city of Edo, Neighpon…in the year 1603," Bentley declared.
"Whew…man…" Manic whispered in awe as Ragna and the others followed suit.
"...Something's not right…" Ragna whispered with narrowed eyes.
"Of course there's something wrong," Bentley replied as he held up the Thievius Raccoonus, "Rioichi's entries are one of the pages going blank in here."
"And he's one of the biggest ones we need to find out what happened with," Manic frowned, "He's the dude who helps make Hyorinmaru what it is today and where Step-Sis and Lil' Bro were born."
"Who?" Murray asked.
"An entire clan is born and a whole nation thrived thanks to Rioichi. So him being in trouble means they never existed," Bentley grimaced.
"We're going to have some hard work set out for us," Carmelita noted, "Let's keep the van here but set up an HQ down there."
"You sure?" Murray asked in concern.
"Not to worry, Murray. Since this is the van that Ben altered, it's got the greatest security system known to Mobian," Bentley assured.
"He talked with this dude named Bosco from Sin Alley about how his B-TADS system worked," Manic chuckled, "Any intruder tryin' ta get in our old bus would get smacked with a steel-toed boot to the skull then wrapped up in duct-tape."
"...Now the Murray really wishes he could've met him…"
"If things go right, you guys may start remembering things as we help Rioichi with whatever is happening," Bentley assured as he pulled out his Binocucom and looked down at the city, "Hmm…How about that building there? Close to the center of the city."
Carmelita pulled out her own pair and looked down at the city, "Where?"
"The one on the right over there in the center. Near some carts and a boar guard walking away from it."
"Looks like the ideal location," Carmelita agreed after a moment, "Let's move out!"
A soft humming came as a lone figure walked along a dirt road, the monk robes hiding all but the rather fluffy brown fox tail peeking out of it while the moonlight was blocked by the conical straw hat atop their head. The figure reached the top of a hill and looked down upon Edo before gasping in awe.
"So this is Edo? It looks more beautiful than Okaa-san said it was to be," she noted before pulling out a scroll and unfurled it, showing a sumi-e of a child-like tanuki sitting atop a giant piece of sushi, "Yosha. Okay, Kūpā Ryoichi-san, I really hope you're open. I want to try this 'sushi' thing."
On the other side of the village outskirts, two figures raced along treebranches before dropping down, revealing a pair of lynxes in navy blue garb that hid all but their eyes. The slightly taller of the two pulled out a scroll and opened it. They looked between the scroll and the view of the city before scowling behind their mask.
"This information is outdated," they spoke in a deep male's voice, "Nee-san, we must be cautious."
"Hai, nii-san," the other replied, narrowing her eyes, "Cooper Rioichi, you will join the Raiju so that Obaa-san's sword may be reclaimed from that thief."
The duo were about to head out before stopping and hopping on top of a nearby rooftop as they spied a pair of boars in armor walking around, eyes narrowed as they held their weapons ready.
"...What is this…?" the male whispered, "Edo is supposed to be peaceful right now…"
"...?! Nii-san," the female whispered, making him turn as she pointed to a wanted poster in Neighponese, the kanji reading 'Kūpā Ryoichi, 'wanted for poisoning and attempting to assassinate the Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa. Will face execution by the visiting lord Ode Iou and his bodyguard in the Shogun's place.'
"..."
"That does not match the information we were given of Cooper Rioichi. Shinobi he may be, but he does not poison," the male spoke.
"We must gather more intel before we confront him to join the Raiju," his sister replied, earning a nod before the two went off.
HELP ME! Professor Kokonoe
"...Hello…Hello?!" Kokonoe shouted in her…now empty and dilapidated lab, "...ugh…god damn time paradox shit…It even affected my lab…" she looked to the side at the Reader, "..." she sighed, "One moment, folks." she pushed a button and a red curtain dropped before several loud machines went off and the curtains rose up, revealing a more intact lab, "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 and this world in general," 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 canon to the story, regardless of how crazy, funny, or even lovey-dovey it is. If I get one message asking about if this was canon 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.
Sly and Sonic entered with the former raising a brow and speaking up first, "Okay…What's going on?"
"We're 'lost children of the day,'" Sonic replied before looking over at Kokonoe, "Hey, doc!"
"Hey, and you technically are supposed to be dead."
"...Wait. I'm dead?!" Sonic freaked.
"This is considered non-canon outside of the third section's information, Professor Kokonoe!" Tager called out from offscreen.
"Ugh, damn it…" Kokonoe groaned, "And with how long we've been away, not a lot of questions, right?"
"Well, aside from asking when this will update? Just one from 'Sarcasm Sage 626,'" Sly replied, looking at a review, "'Quick question, completely off topic, but does Ben still have a Mobian DNA sample in the Omnitrix? Was it removed when Shadow pulled him out of himself, or does he still have the DNA, just locked? If not, can he get a sample from another Mobian?'" he looked over at Sonic, "Um…You got this one?"
"No prob. There's a failsafe in the Omnitrix. Since the DNA got forcibly removed by Shadow pulling Ben out of him on the ARK, the Omnitrix no longer accepts Mobian DNA of any kind," Sonic replied.
"Huh…A bit sad on hearing that. Would've been interesting if he copied my DNA," Sly chuckled, leaning a bit on his cane, "It'd be like a Cooper turning into a superhero and nobody but us would know it."
"That'd be great!" Sonic chuckled.
RECAP:
"Considering how long it's been-what four years?-, best to recap with a bit more detail than usual," Kokonoe advised.
"Kinda curious myself what my cousin and you guys have been up to since I've been enjoying a vacation with Carmelita while Murray was off finishing his training with the Guru, Panda King going into retirement to screen any boy that wants to date Jing King and make fireworks at Ryugou, Dimitri doing a television show about deep sea diving for 'legitimate' funds for the gang, and Bentley and Penelope having fun with this project they thought up of back in Paris," Sly added.
"Ah well, after that big shockwave from the Master Emerald went off knocking folks out on Angel Island, we eventually woke up and Ben decided to use parts of that big Combiner monster thing they had to repair Shockwave and then Lien-Da's cybernetics. Then more of these echidnas with these weird white robots showed up and things got trippy. Even more echidnas appeared and were enemies with the first group. We went with the second group, the Nocturnus, and fled from the first, the Dark Legion."
"Huh…Nocturnus, eh? The Guru told stories about them, said they were a nomadic tribe of Echidnas back in ancient Downunda before a white comet struck," Sly noted.
"Yeah, turns out they were stuck in this Twilight Cage where time moved super slow in there while things moved fast out here. They got freed thanks to whatever Eggman and his guys wanted to do with the Master Emerald," Sonic replied.
"They were using the energy of it to contain an Izayoi and sever its connections to all the folks affected by it, including Clove's sister Cassiopeia," Kokonoe supplied.
"Yikes…" Sonic grimaced, "Well why didn't they just ask, huh? …No, wait, wait. It's Knuckles we're talking about. Okay, moving on. Speaking of the knucklehead, turns out that the place we retreated to was the emerald chamber we had originally planned to put the Master Emerald in way back with those Zone Doubles of ours showing up and needed that Mugic thing. The whole Nocturnus group was there…and turns out all the folks, well minus most of the elderly, survived that void Julie-Su came from! Even her best friend, Saffron, survived! But…she kinda deaged because of this Genesis Wave managing to graze her as the last one out. And Knuckles had to deal with being called this 'Avatar' guy by 'em." he frowned, "We soon met their leader, Ix. Honestly, thought he was a pretty chill guy at first, looking out for his people and helping things out. And then he went out for a walk and we thought he got killed. Ben was gonna use Clockwork-his Alien form, not the mechanical owl, Sly-to 'see' what happened when the Dark Legion attacked! Ben, somehow, unlocked some new forms but…we got our butts kicked hard. Manic, Julie-Su, Ragna, and Sonia managed to get almost everyone away while me, Ben, Roll, Shockwave, and Lien-Da got caught."
"What about Knuckles?" Sly asked.
"He got knocked out and buried under some rubble. Next time I saw him, he was being carried to the shrine by Kragok, the leader of the Dark Legion," Sonic replied, "And that was after he threatened to Legionize me and Roll if Julie-Su wasn't brought to him in an hour!"
Sly scowled at that, "That guy sounds as bad as Tsao."
"You said it," Sonic huffed, "But what we didn't know was that the Julie-Su they brought was this echidna named Shade instead, using an ID Mask to hide as her. Once she got found out, everyone that hadn't been caught was on the attack! Roll got us free since they didn't restrain her tail so she picked the locks on all of us and Knuckles got this power up from the Master Emerald! Lemme tell you, that was insane! He was punching extra fast now and I think his body was crackling with this red electricity! And then his fists exploded into literal fire as he delivered this massive blow that completely destroyed this one Dark Legion guy who had the power of Energy Absorption but not Nullification."
"Fire punches, huh? Sounds like something Murray and the Panda King know," Sly noted.
"Yep! And just when we were gonna tie 'em all up, Ix shows up and reveals he wasn't dead; it was a body double who got offed. And then, he got Shade to do a ritual with him and used her, Julie-Su, and Lien-Da to get this power and started calling himself 'Enerjak,'" Sonic huffed, "He ripped out almost everyone's soul and turned them into these metal slime duplicates that went after all of us, so I decided to even the playing field."
"Even the playing field?" Tager repeated.
"I went Super using the Master Emerald," Sonic smirked, "Oh man, it was great! …At least, up until I got my soul-and Roll's from feedback of our Bond-ripped out and made into two more. Don't remember anything after that."
"That I can supply," Kokonoe replied, a monitor dropping down and showing Alien X dominating against Enerjak, "Shockwave used the Omnitrix's failsafe…by shooting Ben through the heart."
"Aw what?! Not cool, metal man!" Sonic shook a fist at the screen.
"Considering it was still stuck on recharge, it was needed," Kokonoe countered, "What happened next was, well…a Celestialsapien against a newly empowered pseudo-God. In other words? A tsunami against an ant…and Enerjak was the ant."
"Hey, um…What is that portal he got thrown into, anyway?" Sly asked, cringing at what the fate of Ix was.
"The Florpus," Kokonoe replied.
"...And a Florpus is…?" Sly urged.
"Nothing important outside of it being a Shout Out," Kokonoe waved off.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
"So…what was that about me being dead?" Sonic asked.
"Why do you think this room is all tits up?!" Kokonoe snapped, "Someone fucked with the timeline to the point Amaterasu can't even interfere and Rachel can't do shit in Observing!"
"Right, right. So…again. I'm dead?"
"Not just you," Kokonoe replied, "Lemme tell ya this: it's a doozy of a new timeline."
"How so?" Sly asked.
"For one, Ryugou never got up off the ground was ended up wiped off the map in about 100 years after it had been founded," Kokonoe replied, "Meaning everyone born from there? Don't exist anymore."
"But…Mom was from there," Sonic pointed out.
"She moved there as a baby when a relative of hers got Bonded to someone there and her parents went to the wedding and liked it there," Kokonoe replied, "Robotnik's Coup? Still happened, but a lot worse. The Oracle of Delphius never existed for some reason in this timeline so no warning was given. Azure's dead, you and your siblings? Dead. Your mom? Locked up in the dungeons, mind completely lost because you three got shot up to death right in front of her face."
"...WHAT?!"
"Yeah, gets a lot worse," Kokonoe chuckled dryly, not at all amused either, "About two, maybe three, years back? Instead of the Cooper Gang being all triumphant and getting the Thievius Racoonus back? They lost it in a volcano because Robotnik was laying siege to that country at the same time! Also, he destroyed the Hate Chip that gave Clockwerk immortal life...because, frankly, I think he wanted his getback for making him shit his pants during their first encounter."
"So Bentley…" Sly began.
"Got shot in the back with an armor piercing round that destroyed one of the bones in his spine, leaving him paraplegic still? Yes, that did happen," Kokonoe stated, making Sly slump, "Oh, and Carmelita? She's a wanted criminal now because she didn't arrest some little kids before getting owlnapped by Clockwerk. Whole precinct she worked at? Roboticized. All of Paris? Was sieged before the country that volcano was in."
"What about Ben? And Makoto?"
"They've never been found. Never had a 'lost child of the day' in this timeline, so no map got given," Kokonoe shrugged, "Whereas what happened to Tsubaki and the Plumbers? She was found...but was turned into one of Robotnik's top generals after Roboticization while the Plumbers-Max Tennyson included, sadly- was obliterated by Robotnik's advanced forces and the reprogrammed Eclipse Cannon before they could even land."
"What?! How'd he know about the Eclipse Cannon?!" Sonic gawked.
"GUN, of course. He took all their stuff after laying siege to them and Prison Island," Kokonoe replied, "Roboticized everyone there! Well…except Mai. A Kinecelleran managed to get her away but got fatally wounded in the process."
"And Chaos?"
"Literally a living battery for his acid and toxic plants," Kokonoe replied.
"...Noel and Ragna?" Sonic grimaced.
"Okay, yeah. Funny story about them," Kokonoe noted, "Woke up all alone and ended up fighting off some of Robotnik's robots together. The little of the Freedom Fighters managed to find them and they joined up before finding Mai. Called themselves the 'Rebellion Freedom Fighters.' Even went on a few missions with the Cooper Gang since they're Freedom Fighters in that bad timeline."
"We are?" Sly asked, "Huh. Makes sense. No sense being a Master Thief if the world is in permanent danger thanks to Robotnik…" he frowned, "...Kaine Island?"
"Sunk," Kokonoe replied, "Dr. M and his creations tried to fight him, but…an Eclipse Cannon to the island is kinda hard to fight off."
"...the Klaww Gang?"
"Personally executed by Tsubaki…but Constable Neela got off easy and was made her second in command after being Roboticized. Funny enough, she got wing attachments."
"The Guru?" Sly asked.
"Lost when that part of Downunda went 'unda' from an Eclipse Cannon blast when Robotnik got word of Freedom Fighter activity down there managing to make headway. Don't ask about Panda King. Not…Not a pretty picture."
"...Pene-"
"That's highly classified, so ask about something else that's been changed in this fucked up timeline. Like how Angel Island was shot out of the sky with the Eclipse Cannon…while using the Master Emerald to power it up."
"...Robotnik sure loves that Cannon…" Sly muttered.
"To true," Kokonoe agreed, "But fortunately for us all, Paradox managed to keep the original memories of quite a few folks and protect your brother and sister from this change in the timeline so they'd wake up in the tour bus the Underground Freedom Fighters were using as their home and Ragna had that Time Stone protecting him."
"He had a what?!" Sonic gawked.
"Time Stone. Keep up, slowpoke," Kokonoe replied, waving him off, "Now then, just trust your pals will save you and bring you back to life and that these changes they're doing to correct the timeline also make your jokester version in this timeline go back to being you, Cooper."
"Wait, wait, wait. One last question? What happened to Lien-Da?" Sonic asked.
"Straight into the Roboticizer and her own cybernetics blew her up with the plant."
"Wow," Sonic blinked a few times.
"...Yeah, know what? You, Cooper, can go. Sonic, you are staying until you come back to life in the timeline," Kokonoe stated as the curtain fell.
GT: Well…This is a grim start.
SZ: Indeed…really bad
GT: well…Good thing for Paradox and that Time Stone. Now it's up to a ragtag team of Freedom Fighters, Interpol, and Master Thieves to save time itself because of someone messing with Rioichi Cooper. Hope you're ready, folks. Because we are going to be throwing out the script in most places! And I think you may enjoy what we do. Until then, please Read and Review! …Seriously, review. Kokonoe will throttle us if we don't get more questions for the next segment in five chapters.
