Jewel the Beetle rubbed her temples as she stared at the report that had just come in.
"Nothing to report. All clear."
That was the sixth report sent from Restoration agents who had visited the Mirage Desert Zone.
Part of her duties as the new head of the Restoration was checking out the various reports that agents submitted when doing patrols. While she had gotten better at delegating tasks to some subordinates, her very nature required her to double check their work.
No, Jewel didn't enjoy it either but unless she did it she would never have peace of mind.
"What is going on…?" She muttered to herself as she stared at the report. "There should be at least a note of a badnik or something…"
While rogue badnik reports had gone down, especially since Eggman was back and consolidating his forces for the most part, there was usually one or two out in the wild. Stumbling around aimlessly or causing some sort of ruckus in a town. It was up to the Restoration to try and search every nook and cranny for them. If it was alone and small dry then each agent was to destroy it. If it was a 'boss', as Amy and Sonic once put it, then they were to note its location and call in for backup.
"If there were no badniks sighted then the agents are to request for a signal sweep." Jewel narrowed her eyes. "So why do they end the report without requesting that?"
She could forgive Amy for missing this. The girl had been running herself ragged trying to make sure the Resistance was still running in the middle of the war before trying to handle all the logistics of rebuilding through the Restoration. She could even forgive the lower ranking members whose eyes probably glossed over after the fifteenth report they had to certify and digitize.
But not Jewel.
Six reports all saying the same thing but being made by different agents was a cause for concern.
Jewel picked up her phone and dialed Amy's number. Putting it to her ear she listened through the rings befor e the answering machine picked up.
"Hi! It's Amy! I'm away from my phone right now but if you leave a message…"
Right. She was still on that mission to Starfall Islands with Tails and Sonic. Sighing, the beetle hung up and scrolled through her contacts.
Her eyes stopped at one particular name.
The name of her childhood friend.
"Tangle…" She really hoped that the girl was alright. While the lemur was strong and not as dumb as some people may think, Tangle also didn't do the whole thinking ahead thing. Oftentimes Jewel would have to save the lemur's butt back when they were kids. "I hope Whisper's keeping her out of trouble."
While Jewel hadn't said anything when the two showed up with the PDA that spat out a holographic lynx, she had been concerned. She had seen nothing like Nicole before. And the way she talked about Sonic and her friends, who apparently didn't exist, along with Whisper's report about an unknown Eggman battleship made her feel uneasy.
"What is it all about?" She glanced back at the report. "A ship that didn't exist until now and a zone without any problems…"
This was going to give her a migraine, wasn't it?
Letting out a tired sigh the beetle took a sip of her best friend, Mr. Coffee…
And then nearly spat it out when the door swung open to reveal a gray and white-furred hedgehog.
"S-Silver?!"
The time-traveling psychic had been a great asset during the war and especially during the Metal Virus outbreak. Without him, Jewel was likely to have remained a zombot.
"But he went back to the future! I have a report and everything!"
And the state Silver was in was also a cause of concern. He seemed… disoriented. His eyes were half-lidded, his fur disheveled, and a trickle of blood was coming out of his nose.
"A-Acorn…"
Jewel blinked. "Huh?"
Silver shook his head. Almost like a zombot he stumbled forward. The beetle was so shocked by his appearance that she didn't move an inch when he went to her and placed both of his hands on her shoulders.
She could see the haunted, shaky look in the hedgehog's eyes and it terrified her.
"I-I need to find someone named Sally Acorn! The future… it's… it's gone!"
…Yup. She was going to be getting a migraine tonight.
"…And she cut our rope." Tangle muttered as she looked up the wall next to whisper. There, cut off near the top of the steep drop they had entered the cave through,, was the white rope they had used. It fluttered uselessly in the wind while the other half lied in a pile of ash on the ground. "Great. A complete jerk until the end."
"Hrm." Whisper turned off her flashlight and holstered it on her belt. The wisps, finally relieved that there was no danger, were now wandering around using the various stalactites and stalagmites as obstacle courses for flight. The Orange Wisp was currently stomping in the ash pile letting out little happy squeaks of amusement. "Problem."
"Yeah. I can manage it…"
"Not with that shoulder."
Tangle winced as she looked at her right arm which was now in a sling. It still hurt like hell, but she could manage it. Whisper took a look at it once the battle was over and said it wasn't too bad, but she would need to see an actual doctor to get it set right.
"I can already taste the meds… yuck."
"I can use my tail to compensate. It's not a big deal." Tangle groaned. "But a rope would've made me feel, like, ten times safer! Plus there's…"
The lemur and wolf looked back at their two other companions.
One of which recently tried her damndest to kill them.
The robian, Sally Acorn, was sitting on the ground with her back to a stalagmite. The robian wasn't unscratched from their fight just an hour ago, but Tangle could tell the actual damage was on the inside. She was hugging her mechanical legs to her chest, her forehead touching her knees as the LED lights that made her eyes dimmed slightly. The oil tears she had shed had dried but left faded black stains running down her face. Eerily enough she even had eyelids, which drooped as well to show that without a shadow of a doubt that the once-normal chipmunk was still crushed.
"And who can blame her?" The poor girl had basically been one of Eggman's victims, forced to lose all her organic bits and got transformed into a robot. She couldn't even control what she did or what she said. And she saw and heard everything that Mecha Sally did…"
It sounded like a living nightmare. The stuff of comic books and weird old movies that Dad tried to get her into. Eggman basically took Sally's brain, stuffed it into a robot body, and laughed as the body did his dirty work while Sally screamed from the inside.
And the worst part?
Sally wasn't the only one, according to Nicole.
Nicole was by Sally's side, still in her hologram form and placing a comforting hand on the robian's back while leaning on her. The holo-lynx was whispering something to the supposed princess, but she couldn't see if the girl was responding.
"She needs time." Whisper muttered. "What happened to her… she needs to find herself."
She could get what the wolf was saying. Yeah, some people needed their space when dealing with some heavy stuff. And what Sally was dealing with was probably the worst there is.
But still…
"Y'know. I wasn't a zombot for long." She glanced at Whisper, who stiffened at the memory. "But… even though it was horrible. Knowing I was being turned into one of those things, that my body was going to go after the rest of you, and that I couldn't do anything to stop it… I was also kind of relieved at the end." She saw Whisper's shocked expression and chuckled nervously at it. "Terrible, right? I felt my mind slipping away. Everything was going black. I was there holding back the horde and when the lights were going out I was happy that …. That I wouldn't have to watch."
That was the small comfort given to everyone that was a victim of Eggman's Metal Virus. They got turned into an unthinking and unfeeling horde, and that happened because each of them sort of knocked out when the infection fully took over. The virus was in control and apparently it didn't really need their minds to operate. Just their bodies.
"…I'm sorry." Whisper looked down, a sad frown forming on her face. "If I had been there…"
"Nah, don't be like that. We talked about this." It was actually one of the few times Whisper talked more than her. Her friend was just apologizing a lot, saying how she should've been her backup. That she could've protected Tangle from the infected Jewel and she wouldn't have to experience becoming one of those things. But Tangle just kept assuring the wolf that it wasn't her fault and it turned out all right in the end. "I'm just glad you, Sonic, and the rest were alright. That is all that matters."
"…Why?"
Well, that was a loaded question. The lemur scratched the back of her head. "I… I guess I also thought it was just something I had to deal with on my own. I didn't want to worry anybody. But…" Tangle smiled crookedly. "It… kinda didn't help. I still felt bad, and until now I just thought it was something I would have to deal with for the rest of my life." She pointed over to Sally. "She needs someone to talk to. She's got Nicole, but… y'know."
She needed others to talk to. To listen.
Maybe it wasn't the best idea… but Tangle couldn't just stand by seeing someone in such obvious pain.
And Whisper knew it.
Listening to her struggles, the pain of her past and helping her through it, was why she and the wolf mercenary became friends.
The sniper mulled over the thought for another few seconds before slowly nodding. "Okay. I'll go with you. Just in case."
Tangle chuckled. "Thanks, Whisper."
They both began walking towards the robian and holo-lynx.
"Hopefully I won't screw this up."
"Sally… we never stopped trying to find you."
"…"
"Everyone was so worried. They wanted to do everything in their power to get you home."
"…"
"W-When you… the thing that controlled your body… came for us we didn't want to hurt you. Nobody did. They just wanted to stop you and find a way to fix things."
"…"
"Sonic never stop-."
"Nicole." Sally muttered, the claws that were now her hands balling into fists. "Please. Just… don't."
She felt horrible. She didn't want her friend to stop talking. But the holo-lynx's reassurances were making her feel even worse. It was maddening. Glancing at Nicole she saw the heartbroken expression on her face and felt like one of the most horrible people alive.
"What the hell's wrong with me?"
Well, that was easy to answer. She was trapped inside a roboticized body that had been torn apart and weaponized for the sole purpose of hurting her friends. She remembered every single moment of Eggman transforming her into this… this thing. She couldn't feel any sort of sensation, breathing seemed to be done more out of habit than anything since she didn't have lungs anymore, and she felt like a total freak.
"Is this what Uncle Chuck and Sonic's dad felt? Is this what every robian felt when they regained control of their bodies?"
Sally's shoulders slumped and she muttered, "Nicole, I'm… I'm sorry. It's just a lot to take in."
The AI bit her holographic lip and nodded. "I understand Sally. It's just… I wanted you to know that Sonic and the others never gave up on you."
"Then why isn't he here?! Why aren't any of them here?!"
It was a thought so filled with venom that it surprised even her. It was a stupid and selfish thought. One unbecoming of her as a friend and as a leader. If they weren't here then it must be because they were handling something above. Maybe trying to distract Eggman's forces while Nicole did her thing.
But that same horrible thought kept bouncing around her head when the two Mobians led her and Nicole out of the ruins of the Death Egg.
"Hey." Sally looked up and saw the lemur grinning crookedly at her while waving her left hand. "Do you mind if I sit here?"
The request stunned the princess for a second. This girl seriously wanted to sit next to her, the robian that just tried to kill her? She glanced over the lemur's shoulder and saw the wolf just behind her, her mask once again drawn down while those strange little creatures…
LIFEFORM IDENTIFIED: WISP. NATIVE TO PLANET WISP (FILE STILL UNDER DEVELOPMENT). BORN FROM HYPER-GO-ON (FILE STILL UNDER DEVELOPMENT). RELATED FILES: PLAN COLORS (PREPARATION STAGE. REQUIRES MORE STUDY).
Sally clutched her head and grimaced as the text faded from her vision. Just another gift from Eggman. "Shut up." Shaking her head she looked up at the lemur. "…If you're okay with it."
"Sweet. Thanks." The girl slowly sat on the ground, wincing ever so slightly as her right arm shifted in its sling.
"Right. Because I broke it."
"So…" The lemur leaned forward and smiled. "Want to talk about anything?"
The question was so simple that it actually got a chuckle out of her. Even then it sounded more like a bark from a computer than a natural nervous laugh. "Not much to talk about, other than the fact that I'm a robian now."
"Yeah…" The lemur nodded. "But it's something, isn't it?"
Okay, now that was funny. A few more chuckles came from what used to be Sally's chest and out of her metal mouth.
"Tangle, is this really…?" Nicole began, but Sally lifted her head and shook it.
"No. It's fine Nicole." Sighing she loosened her grip on her knees. "Tangle, right?"
"Yup! And that's Whisper!" Tangle pointed to the wolf, who shifted slightly. Even the Princess could tell that she was uncomfortable. "I know that we kinda met before, but you were a bit out of it."
"That's one way to put it." She admitted while glancing at Tangle's sling. "I'm sorry."
"Hm?" The lemur tilted her head. "For what?"
For what? Was this girl for real? "For hurting you. For being the reason why you're down here." Sally motioned to the torn rope. "For being the reason why you're stuck here."
Tangle shook her head instantly. "Come on, don't say that. You weren't in control."
Sally knew that was true. Hell, she had experienced it. "But it did use my head. It… it did things I would've done if I had been in charge." Sally shook her head. "I tried to kill you. I tried to kill Nicole. I tried to kill Sonic, Bunnie, Amy, my mother, my father… Oh, Antoine…"
She remembered now. How Meche Sally… how she led the charge with Metal Sonic on Feral Forest. Her friends and family had done their best to stop her, to stop Mecha Sally, but while the attack had been repelled Metal Sonic exploded and… and…!
She remembered screaming on the inside, thinking that she had helped to kill him.
"Hey!" Tangle's shout caused Sally to snap out of her memories and focus on her. The girl was glaring at her and wagging her finger. "Come on, that's such bogus! You and I both know you couldn't do a thing with that jerk in control."
A part of Sally was frustrated. Of course she knew that. "But it was still me! Still a part of me!"
"It was just a sadistic bully doing its best to try and imitate you." Tangle pointed at her. "You wouldn't believe how much it tried to guilt trip Nicole when we had it on the ropes. It just wanted to see her crumple up and cry!" The lemur scoffed. "And from what I can tell, you aren't the type of person who would do something like that."
No. No she wouldn't. It was a tactic of cowards who never even held those memories close to their heart. A part of her remembered Fiona Fox and wanted to punch her again.
"Nicole… She told me a lot about you." The lemur nodded over to the holo-lynx. "Well, not a whole lot but I got the gist. You're strong. Stronger than Eggman or that thing ever gave you credit for. That's why she and your other friends wanted to find you so badly. Because they knew you were fighting in there too."
"We did." Nicole whispered, and the princess saw her friend smiling softly. "Sally, all of us knew that you were in there fighting. The princess we knew wouldn't take any of what was happening lying down."
This girl probably took pep talk lessons from Sonic. "I wasn't always fighting." Sally admitted. "Eggman and Mecha Sally put me in a box."
"Yeah, but Nicole got you out of that box." Tangle grinned. "So maybe just consider it a little nap to get you nice and rested for the second round. Because obviously you kicked that thing's butt."
Sally really couldn't help it this time. She erupted into a fit of giggles. It was just so funny. So ridiculous. Here she was, going through one of the worst experiences anyone could ever face, and here was a lemur who she hadn't even met telling her how strong she was and how strong her friends saw her.
It was just too funny.
Tangle was even joining in. Heck, she probably saw the inherent ridiculousness in the situation.
As the giggling died down she saw Nicole giving Whisper a pleading look, who was shrugging in response. Feeling self-conscious, Sally put a hand over her mouth and let her laughter die down. "Thank you…" She smiled at the lemur and prayed that it wasn't scary. "I needed that."
"Hey, it's what I do. Heroes gotta help out anyone that's in need." She pointed at herself with her thumb. "Learned that from Sonic himself!"
"I bet you did." Sighing, Sally shook her head. "I guess you joined the Freedom Fighters recently? I don't think I ever met you or Whisper."
An uneasy look passed over Tangle's face, as if she didn't know how to respond to that.
"But why wouldn't she? She's a part of the Freedom Fighters. How else would she know Sonic and be a part of this operation?"
She looked over to Nicole, whose expression had become very solemn.
"Sally…" Her friend muttered. "…I don't think there are Freedom Fighters here."
It took Sally a few seconds to register what the holo-lynx had just said.
"What?"
Jewel watched as the turquoise streak that was once Silver the Hedgehog cut through the air in a direction she could only assume lead to the Green Hill Zone and groaned.
"Well that's just perfect." She muttered and closed the window. "He could've at least seen the doctor before he left!"
The psychic hadn't been making much sense when she asked what had happened to his home. Trees fading in and out of existence, people overlapping with ghostly versions of themselves wearing different clothes or starting to fade from existence, people changing species with each step, a magenta light that was enveloping everything…
Whatever it was, it sounded terrible.
He just kept asking about Sally Acorn. The friend Nicole supposedly had that she was searching for in the same ruined Eggman battleship. When she had pointed this out and tried to assure Silver that Tangle and Whisper would bring her over he just jumped out the open window and flew off!
"I better inform the team about this." With the state Silver was in, anything was bound to happen. Flying over to her computer the beetle typed up a quick email and sent a message to the team she had already sent to the Green Hill Zone to check up on Tangle and Whisper. "I hope nothing bad happens. But I've gotta be sure."
She heard a knock on the door and shouted, "Come in!"
The door opened and a black cat with white fur along her face and ears stepped in. She was wearing a pair of camouflage pants that were tucked into blue boots. Her orange vest was buttoned up and a blue ascot tied around her neck.
"Ma'am, I got you the coffee you wanted." Her assistant announced while placing the mug on her desk.
"Thanks. You're a lifesaver." Jewel took the disposable cup and dipped at its contents, her antennas wagging in bliss. "I don't suppose you saw our guest on his way in."
The cat's face twisted in shame. "I'm… afraid I was in the bathroom. But I saw him fly out the window. Wasn't that Silver?"
"Yeah." The head of the Restoration groaned. "Apparently something else ruined the future and he's back to try and stop it… Honestly, I'm starting to think the future is made out of glass or something."
Her assistant chuckled at that. "Perhaps it is, in a way! I mean, he can travel back and just do things to fix it to his liking!"
"That'd make it more like clay." Jewel pointed out. "I'm just worried about Tangle and Whisper…"
"Why?"
The beetle waved her hand. "They're off on a mission. Apparently Tangle found this crazy AI that thinks it's friends with Sonic and a bunch of other people, so they're now searching for this weird Eggman battleship Whisper found." She brought the coffee to her lips. "They got a distress signal from one of the people that AI, Nicole, is searching for. Sally Acorn." She chuckled. "A princess, if you can believe it!"
"That's… interesting."
Well, at least she isn't the only one who found the whole situation strange. "Yeah. I think that's enough excitement for one day." She stretched, locked her computer, and said, "I'm heading home. You need me to help clean up?"
"No, ma'am. I can handle everything from here."
"Okay, good night."
With that, Jewel flew out of her chair with coffee in hand.
However, just as she was about to close the door, she heard a soft "Damn."
"Maybe I should turn in a bit earlier." The beetle thought to herself as she flew away. "Hershey probably hates these late nights."
"So there wasn't a Great War?"
"The humans had their great wars." Whisper muttered while crossing her arms. "But for the most part we've kept out of their conflicts. They don't bother us and we don't bother them."
"Humans…" Sally shook her head. "You call them humans and not Overlanders."
"Yeah." Tangle raised an eyebrow. "Why would you call them Overlanders? We both live on the land! Name doesn't really make much sense!"
"That's not why they're named that." Nicole raised her hand and pointed a finger up. "You see, the origin of the Overlander species name comes fro-."
"Nicole." Sally patted the lynx on her shoulder. "Nicole, please. That isn't important now. It's not…" She shook her head and looked desperately at Tangle. "B-But what about Eggman?! He controls most of the planet! That's why Sonic and the Freedom Fighters…"
"Resistance." Whisper corrected.
Sally threw up her hands. "WHATEVER!" She must sound crazy. But how could she act anything but?! Everything these two were saying was contradicting facts about reality! "That's why they formed to fight him! It's been going on for years!"
"Years? Nah, it hasn't been years." The lemur shook her head. "Eggman's caused a lot of people a lot of grief." She looked over her shoulder to Whisper, whose head only went slightly down in acknowledgement. "He's hurt people a lot." She sighed and looked back at Sally. "But those are always for a short time. Sonic and his friends always stop him. The longest time he's ever been in control was…"
"Six months." The wolf finished. Her hands tightened into fists while the Wisp creatures cooed and seemed to hug her arms. "Six months. We fought him and his army for that long. That was the war."
"Six months…" The robian chipmunk put a hand to her head. She tried to run her hand through her hair.
WARNING. COSMETIC DAMAGE IMMINENT!
Hissing, Sally took her hand from the metal waves that were only a copy of her locks and put them on her forehead. "What is going on…?!"
She didn't understand! Why? Why was nothing Tangle and Whisper saying making any sense?!
Robotnik… Eggman… he should've been in control when they were kids! They would've lived in the Kingdom of Acorn or one of the neighboring kingdoms, and have fallen victim to the mad scientists forces!
They were treating Overlanders… humans… as if they weren't some big deal! As if they weren't mutants that lived underground who Sally only found out about a couple of years ago!
And the stuff they said about Sonic… him going to space again as if it were no big deal, him finding some lost continent in the sky and fighting demons, Sonic becoming a werehog…!
"None of that happened! A-And if it did, Sonic would've told me!"
When Sally first saw Angel Island, it was when Robotnik took it over and turned it into a floating fortress. Sonic and Tails had to awkwardly report, far too late, that they had met Knuckles and discovered Angel Island before but had forgotten to say anything.
It took everything she had not to explode on the two back then.
After that she had Sonic promise to tell her about any adventures he may have when he was wandering around without her, no matter how ridiculous they may sound.
And they got frankly ridiculous, if the mere existence of Verti-Cal and Horizont-Al were anything to go by.
"I…I had suspected something was wrong." Nicole muttered as she put her hand on Sally's back. "When I was searching for you and the others, the KIA and MIA figures were too low. They weren't high enough to indicate years of combat against the Eggman Empire, nor was there another field that accounted for all roboticized Resistance members."
"…That many people died against Eggman?" Tangle whispered, her eyes wide in fascination and horror.
"…If the war had gone on longer, casualties would have likely reached into the hundreds of thousands. At minimum" Whisper sighed. "That was part of the reason why the Diamond Cutters were formed. We ran the numbers. He had to be stopped."
Nicole grimaced. "And… from what I can tell, the concept of robotization is a recent thing for them. It was created as a techno-organic viral infection by Eggman, not by a ray or another machine." She looked down at her friend. "Sally, there's only one logical explanation for this."
Sally looked up and stared disbelievingly at Nicole. "What?!" She saw Nicole grimace from her screaming, and grimaced. Damn it, why the hell was she screaming at her friend? She wasn't doing anything wrong! "I… I just don't get it, Nicole. What could possibly explain…?"
A memory struck her. Of that monster that called himself Eggman, gloating in front of her still and mechanical body.
"A simple press of a button from the both of us… that's all it'll take to mold reality itself as if it were clay!""
"No…" Sally clutched her head. "Nononono…!"
"Sally?" Nicole was bringing herself closer. "Sally, please! Please remain calm!"
"What's happening to…?!" Before Tangle could try and bring herself closer to Sally, Whisper was on her knees and holding the lemur down by her left shoulder. "What the…?! Whisper, what are you…?"
That couldn't be it, could it?! There was no way this was happening, right?!
"Did that monster do it?! Did he just reshape reality like he promised?!"
Yes. Yes he did it. He did it and erased the Freedom Fighters from existence. He left Sonic all alone and…
"No… no he isn't alone."
Tangle… hadn't she mentioned Amy running the Resistance with Knuckles and Tails?
Hadn't she said that Eggman lost the war?
Slowly, her hyperventilating gasps began to slow down.
"If… if he had control over reality, Eggman wouldn't have let Sonic win. There wouldn't even be a Sonic, period!"
Her grip on her head began to slack.
"Right! This can't be a reality that he had created!"
He didn't win.
"He didn't win…!" A relieved chuckle came out of Sally's throat. Her hands fell to her sides and she threw her head back and laughed. "I told you! I told you he'd beat you!"
Her mechanical laughter filled the cave, echoing in each direction back at them. It sounded as if it were coming from some robot on the brink, but it was her own voice. Her new voice. The voice that the madman who had taken her apart for kicks, so full of belief in his own victory, had given her.
And now? Now that same man was the pathetic evil loser yet again!
All thanks to Sonic and her friends.
"Uh, Sally?" The nervous voice of Tangle made Sally look down and see the lemur was giving her a smile. It wasn't a genuine one. It was a smile that belonged to a girl who wasn't sure what to do, whether she should stay or take her chances climbing the wall right now. "Y-You good?"
The princess forced her laughter to die down. Instinctively she wiped her finger under her eye and looked down to see some more oil. Was she laughing so hard she began crying again? "I'm… I'm fine, Tangle. Just… relieved." She let out a sigh. "So relieved…"
Everything was fine.
Everything was normal.
Sonic had won.
All was right in the world.
"Then where are we? If they don't know who the Freedom Fighters are but have a Sonic then…" Sally gasped and her eyes widened. "A zone…!"
The lemur blinked. "Zone?"
Before Sally could explain, Nicole rose to the task. "A Zone, in this instance, is an alternate reality. A parallel world, if you will. We live in a multiverse full of parallel worlds, each one different from the last. Some have small changes, like you deciding to continue looking for Whisper rather than heeding your landlord's threat of eviction…"
"Come on, why the heck did you have to mention that?" Tangle muttered, her cheeks turning red.
"Or ones with radical changes." Sally whispered. "Moebius, or me being a magical girl…"
She really hoped that her alternate's uniform was at least cute.
"So parallel worlds…" The lemur rubbed her chin. "So like Captain Pureheart!"
Nicole blinked. "Captain Pureheart?"
"Yeah! Superhero comics!" The grin grew on the girl's face as she continued. "I read them all the time! Sure, it gets really annoying whenever there's an event or a reboot but they're so cool! Anyways, in the comics they deal with parallel universes all the time! Like, Captain Pureheart visited a world where he was evil in one storyline while in another we got a peak into a world where he was just an ordinary human teenag-."
"That can't be possible." Whisper interrupted, cutting her friend's speech short. "Multiverse theory is just a theory."
…Okay, yeah Sally couldn't argue against that. The concept of Zones would be ridiculous if she hadn't experienced them herself.
"But isn't Silver a time traveler?" Tangle shot back, a mischievous grin on her face. "Pretty sure time travel was also a theory until he showed up!"
The wolf let out a few squeaks before looking away. The Wisps mirrored her motion.
Nicole and Tangle couldn't help but giggle at the display.
"We've traveled to another Zone, Moebius, before." Sally explained, feeling relief wash over her with each word. "Me, Sonic… my version of Sonic, and the Freedom Fighters had to stop Evil Sonic, or Scourge…"
"Ugh… Scourge?" The lemur stuck out her tongue. "That name just screams tryhard! Please don't tell me you called him that!"
Now it was Sally's turn to chuckle. "No, he named himself."
"Man, he sounds like a tool."
"He really was." The princess shook her head. "If what we're thinking is right… then we're not in our Zone. We're in one where the Freedom Fighters never had to exist, one where me and my friends were never born, and there was no Kingdom of Acorn."
One with the looming threat of Eggman, but a manageable one.
One could be stopped sooner than… than hers.
One where the horror that was robotization was contained to a single but horrible Metal Virus…
"Say we believe you." Whisper crossed her arms. "What do you plan to do now?"
"I believe 'em!" Tangle raised her hand. When she noted Whisper's slumped shoulders she shrugged. "I heard Sonic once went on an adventure with his younger self! If time travel is on the table then so's multiverse shenanigans!"
"Okay… I'm going to have to put a pin in that."
"We'll have to find a Warp Ring to bring us back home." Nicole opened her palm and a holographic ring appeared floating above it. "It is a piece of technology imbued with magic and chaos energy. They can transport the user to any location they wish…"
"So cool…" The lemur's grin spread from ear to ear. "I want one of those!"
"Those can bring you to parallel worlds?" Whisper shook her head. "We don't have that technology. If we did…"
The princess' shoulders slumped. Right. If they had Warp Rings they would've used them to get out of here.
"Oh! Oh, but Blaze comes from a parallel universe!" Tangle shouted, causing Sally's head to snap up. "And she helped us out a couple of times! She's friends with Sonic, well our Sonic, and if you ask him when he gets back he can probably find a way to contact her!"
"Blaze… does he mean Blaze the Cat?" She vaguely remembered Sonic telling her about the alternate reality hero. The strange cat that seemed to act as a fusion of roles between him and Knuckles who guarded the Sol Emeralds and Jeweled Sceptre. "But I thought there was only one version of her?"
As if reading her mind Nicole said, "It… would make sense if, as a guardian of an object so important to the Multiverse, she traveled to Zones other than our own."
"Right… that kind of makes sense." Sally scratched her head. "But why does it feel wrong?"
"Then it's settled!" Tangle leapt to her feet and after wincing from moving her right arm she pumped her left fist into the air. "Our next mission is to get you home!"
"That didn't take long." The wolf muttered while shaking her head.
"You don't have to." While the offer was flattering, the robian princess couldn't help but feel uneasy about the Resistance fighter's declaration. It wasn't her problem, and there were probably bigger problems in this Zone than Sally and Nicole's situation. "We can find your version of Sonic on our own."
"Please." The lemur rolled her eyes. "As if I can just sit back and let you go off on an adventure all by yourself! Besides, I wanted to leave Spiral Hill Valley anyway!"
Sally looked over to Whisper, who had crossed her arms.
"…Where she goes, I'll go." The wolf muttered with a nod, which the Wisps copied.
"I think it might be a good idea." Nicole added, smiling slightly at the two. "We do not know this version of Mobius very well…"
"Mobius?" Whisper asked.
"The planet." Nicole clarified.
Tangle stared at them for a few seconds before groaning. "Man, even your world's name is cooler! We just call ours Earth!"
Giggling at the reaction, Nicole turned her full attention back to Sally. "And these two… they're very good people, Sally. They helped me, even when I had nothing to support my claims about you and the others. They listened and did everything they could to help you because I asked. And… they are friends with their Sonic. And any friend of Sonic's…"
"…is a friend we can count on." Sally finished, smiling a bit at the memory of the blue hedgehog. The carefree soul that was so strong in face of impossible odds.
The boy who held her close and kissed her before… before…
"No. Don't think about it now. Focus on the mission. Focus on getting home."
Slowly, Sally pushed against the floor and got onto her feet.
She didn't feel any sensation, and yet the body she was trapped in seemed to balance itself instantly.
"I can't feel my weight on my feet anymore… No, stop it. It'll be over soon. Once I get home, this nightmare will be over."
"Thank you. Both of you." She told the lemur and wolf with a smile. "There's not much I can do to repay you, but I promise I'll find a way."
"Hey, don't sweat it." Tangle chuckled. "If I wanted to get paid I wouldn't have become a hero!"
"…Money is nice, though."
Tangle, Sally, and Nicole stared at Whisper who turned on a heel and began walking to the cave wall that had the destroyed rope overhead.
"Did she just make a joke?" Nicole asked, pointing at the wolf.
Tangle grinned. "Yeah. She's really funny when she wants to be! Once she told me this hilarious joke… ah, I can't say it. You have to hear it from Whisper yourself!" With that, the lemur ran after the wolf sniper while waving her hand.
"…They really are good people." Sally told her friend, a sad smile forming on her face. "I would've loved to have them as part of the Freedom Fighters."
"They could possibly exist in our Zone." The holo-lynx reminded her. "Perhaps they are members in a different cell."
"Hopefully." The robian looked up at the wall. It looked like a dangerous climb even for a trained professional. While it said a lot about Whisper and Tangle's skills as climbers, going up without any safety gear was dangerous. Doubly so for the lemur, who had a possibly fractured shoulder. "How can I…"
When her gaze fell on the ledge of the cave entrance a circle appeared around it. Text began to appear in her vision once more.
OPTIMAL SOLUTION: ACTIVATE BOOT JETS
Sally's eyes widened. Right! Mecha Sally could fly using the rockets in her feet! That was how she could even keep up a bit with Sonic and Metal Sonic!
"But if I used them… Wouldn't I just be doing what Eggman wanted?"
If she used the rockets she would be acknowledging that her body was…
"But this isn't my body. Not all of it anyways."
Her hands clenched into fists.
"Sally?" Nicole asked and Sally shook her head.
"I'm fine." She took in a deep breath, but was annoyed that she didn't feel the air and let it out. "Nicole… Do you think you can go my systems and help me?"
The lynx looked shocked at the request. "I-I can, but… are you sure?"
"Yeah." She nodded. "I don't know how to use the thrusters. And I want to help us get out of here."
"But…"
"Nicole." She put her hands on her friend's shoulders, being mindful of her current intangibility, and said, "Eggman tried to make me his tool. He put so many weapons and horrible things in me… but they aren't his anymore. They're mine now. And if this body is going to be a tool, it's going to be one that'll help people."
Yes. That was the right way to think of this.
It was a good way to keep herself sane for what was about to happen next.
Slowly, the holo-lynx nodded and closed her eyes. She turned into a stream of pure data and flowed around Sally, seeping into every crevice of this horrible body until…
SALLY. ARE YOU THERE?
Her friend's voice reverberated in Sally's head and a smile formed on the princess' lips. "I'm here, Nicole.
GOOD. THAT'S GOOD. Nicole let out a sigh in Sally's head. I NOW HAVE ACCESS TO YOUR SYSTEM. HOWEVER, THERE ARE CERTAIN SUBROUTINES THAT APPEAR TO BE LOCKED. I CAN ATTEMPT TO UNLOCK THEM FOR YOU.
"We can deal with that later." Or never, if Sally had any say in the matter. She began walking to Tangle and Whisper. "For now let's just focus on the thrusters."
"Thrusters?" Tangle whipped her head around and looked at Sally. "What do you…" She gasped and put her hands on her cheeks. "Ohmygosh do you mean the rocket boots?!"
The robian smirked. "I… guess I do." She noticed Whisper's uneasiness and explained. "I want to help you out of here. It's the least I can do to repay you for freeing me."
"I'm…" The sniper hesitated. "I don't…"
"Come on, Whisper?" The lemur whined, her eyes almost watering as she moaned, "I always wanted to fly while being held by someone with rocket boots! It's part of my bucket list of cool stuff to do before I die! Please?" She sniffed. "For me?"
Whisper shifted in place, seeming to mentally debate on the pros and cons of the action. Then, with a sigh, she nodded.
"YES!" Tangle pumped her fist into the air and got in close. "So how are we doing this?!"
"That's actually a good question." She looked up. "Nicole?"
I WOULD RECOMMEND YOU PUT YOUR HANDS AROUND THEIR WAISTS. AND TELL THEM TO HOLD ON TIGHT.
Okay. This was going to be awkward.
She snaked her robot arms around the two girls' waists and held them against her body. Both Tangle and Whisper let out a surprised squeak.
If she had her body right now, Sally would probably be blushing up a storm. "H-Hold on." She muttered and looked up. "Nicole?"
ACTIVATING BOOT JETS.
The floor below rippled as flames shot out from the body's feet, bringing the three up a few inches from the ground.
"Wow!" Tangle shrieked with joy. "We're flying! We'r-!
INCREASING OUTPUT.
That was when they shot off like a rocket.
"-HOLYCRAPAWAWAWA!"
Tangle's lips and cheeks were flying all over the place as the three of them shot through the air and reached the top of the ledge in a matter of seconds. Then they went further up, shooting above trees and the loops themselves.
"Nicole! Nicole, please stop!"
Complying, they stopped flying up and remained in place. Sally looked around, her jaw dropping in wonder.
"I-I remember this place." She muttered. "Green Hill Zone?"
It looked so beautiful at night… especially with the full moon.
The sound of Tangle throwing up made her snap out of it.
"Down." Whisper wheezed out. "Put us down, please."
"R-Right."
DECREASING OUTPUT AT A STEADY RATE. SORRY, SALLY.
Slowly, the three floated gently to the ground. Once there, the robian princess let her two companions go.
"O-Okay." Tangle wheezed with both of her hands on her knees. "Next time, maybe a bit slower?"
"Sorry." Sally chuckled nervously before looking at Whisper. "Are you okay?"
Whisper said nothing and instead waited at the edge. Slowly, the Wisps came up and hugged onto the sniper.
Nicole came out of the PDA at Tangle's belt and smiled. "I think she's fine."
"That's good…"
They heard a rustle in the bushes. But before Sally could turn around and see what was coming out her body froze up.
"W-What?"
ERROR! ERROR! PSYCHIC FORCE DETECTED! INHIBITING MOVEMENT!
"A-A Badnik?" An unfamiliar male voice wheezed out. "You're not going to…!"
"Wait, Wait!" She saw Tangle turn around and wave her arm. "Silver, don't!"
Silver? That time-traveler that Sonic had told her about? The one that was accusing practically everyone of being the traitor of the Freedom Fighters?
Nicole growled as she shouted, "Silver! Let her go!"
"How do you know my name?! Who are you?! You're not… are you an AI?"
Whisper had said nothing, but Sally could see that she was slowly reaching for her Wispon. This was going to get messy.
She needed to diffuse the situation, and fast!
"Silver." She said calmly. "I am not a threat. I am not serving Eggman. I am here because Tangle and Whisper saved me from being his slave. If I was hostile to you…"
INCREASE IN THRUSTER OUTPUT: 0% OF ESCAPING PSYCHIC ENTRAPMENT. LASER BLADES: INEFFECTIVE. LASER BLAST: INEFFECTIVE. RECOMMEND SELF-DESTRUCT.
"…you would know."
Silver was silent for a few seconds before the soft hum in her ears died down. Tentatively, Sally moved her arm and saw that it complied with her request.
PSYCHIC FORCE NO LONGER HINDERING MOBILITY. ELIMINATE PSYCHIC CODENAMED: THAT SILVER RODENT.
"Shut up." Turning on her heel she looked at the hedgehog.
The gray and white-furred boy looked like he had seen better days. He looked completely exhausted, his eyes half-lifted and a hand on his right knee, as if he could barely stand.
"Silver?" Nicole asked, concern in her voice. "What… What has happened? Are you alright?"
"No! No, I'm not all…!" He grimaced and clutched his head. "Damn it… it's starting to fade!"
"What is?" Tangle waved her arm. "What's going on, Silver?! I thought you went back to the future!"
"The future?" Silver shook his head. "There isn't a future anymore! It's just gone! One second it's fine and then there was a magenta light and…" He lifted his head, pure desperation in his eyes. "I need to find someone named Sally Acorn, right now! She's… she's supposed to be the thing that can stop it!"
"Me?" The word was blurted out of her mouth before she could stop it.
The hedgehog seemed equally surprised. "You?!" Wait, what even are you? Are you like Omega or something?"
For some reason, that made Sally wince.
"No, no!" Tangle walked over to Silver, her hand up as if she were pushing back at Silver's confusion. "She's a robian! It's… well, it's not like a zombot. It's more like that robotomy thing that Eggman was talking about during the war."
"But that doesn't make sense!" The psychic blurted out. "I looked it up at home. Eggman never implemented robotomy! The resources for that went to the Metal Virus!"
"That's what I'm saying! They aren't from our world!" Tangle took out Nicole's PDA and showed it to Silver. "They're from a different dimension, like Blaze!"
"Different dimension?" Silver reached out to the PDA. "That doesn't make any sense. Why would the future be destroyed if…?"
Suddenly, a spark of electricity came out of the PDA and hit Silver's outstretched hand. His eyes widened and his pupils dilated. He stumbled back clutching his head and muttering, "W-What is this…?!"
"Nicole?" Tangle looked over to the holo-lynx, who was staring at the scene with shock. "What's going on?! What's happening to Silver?!"
"I-I don't know!"
Rushing over to the hedgehog, Sally found herself helping Whisper bring the Psychic down on the ground where he sat clutching his head.
"These… these memories…!" Silver muttered. "I… I was a Knight of Kronos? What? Master… I had a master! Master Edmund! B-But he wasn't there… he wasn't there when I got back!"
"Silver? Silver, I need you to stay with me." Sally had to help out members of the Freedom Fighters when the fighting was just too much for them. When they seemed to be unstuck from time, not there in the minute and retreating into their heads in the middle of the field. "Please, I need you to focus on my voice, okay? You're in the Green Hill Zone. You're with me, Tangle, Whisper, and her Wisps. You came here looking for Sally Acorn…"
Slowly, Silver seemed to relax. He took deep and calming breaths and he stopped shaking. Slowly, he looked up and focused on Sally.
"Princess? Princess Sally?" Before the robian could react, Silver threw his hands around her and shouted, "I can't believe it! You're back! Oh man, Elias is going to be so happy!"
"Y-You know my brother?!"
When?! How?! What was going on?!
"Silver?" Nicole asked nervously. "You… know about us?"
"Yeah! Yeah I…" Silver looked around and spotted Tangle and Whisper. "Oh… Oh no. Now it makes sense…!"
"What? What does?!" Silver's arms released her from his hug and he put his hand to his forehead. "Silver, what's going on?"
"Could it have been a multiversal collapse?" The hedgehog muttered to himself. "Another Genesis wave?"
Okay, now Sally had enough. "How do you know about that?! Silver, if you're from the future of my Zone then what are you doing here?!"
"I… I am from the future. This future." He shook his head and looked at her sadly. "Princess, this isn't an alternate Zone. There aren't any Zones other than Blaze's!"
Her eyes widened. "…No."
"Wait, time out! I don't get it!" Tangle stepped forward, confusion written all over her face. "Silver, if you're from our future then how come all of a sudden you know Sally? She's supposed to be from a world where she and her friends exist and Eggman ruled the world for a super long time!"
"No. Nonono…"
"Because…" He swallowed and looked down. "This is that same world. Eggman… he did something to change it. To reset it. I-I'm sorry, Princess Sally. But… but this is our home Zone. The only Zone."
With that last sentence, she fell to her knees.
Somewhere, Sally Acorn could hear the monster laughing.
To Be Continued…
Notes: Man, I'm pretty sure these are the fastest three chapters I ever pumped out.
Must be because of all the engagement.
So yeah, lots of stuff going down! Old faces reappear and some memories regained! I wanted to give Sally and Nicole and in-universe reason as to why they don't just jump to the Universal Reset possibility. Also partly because of a desperate wishful thinking on their part.
Some of the stuff at the later half I tried my best to sell. But, personally? I feel like I just wanted Sally to suck it up and activate her rocket boots.
Still, not a fun time for our princess.
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Yes, I'm as surprised as you are that it exists.