"Hey, wasn't that the girl?"
Tangle the Lemur's ears perked up as she heard the whispers behind her. Glancing up from the various bracelets that were on top of the counter in front of her. Turning her head, she saw a doe and a raccoon girl making discrete motions to the dressing room.
"Nah, it couldn't be!" The raccoon shook her head before taking out her phone. Swiping at the surface, the girl paused before her eyes widened. "Holy.. I think you're right!"
"What's she doing here?" The doe scratched her head as she looked at her friend's phone. "Shouldn't she, like, be traumatized or something? She did get kidnapped by Metal Sonic…"
"Maybe she was told by her label to put on a strong front?" The raccoon shrugged. "I mean, did you see the pics of her stage outfit? She's got a whole showy punk thing going for her…"
The lemur rolled her eyes and grabbed a pair of bracelets that had caught her eye. One that was green while the other one was purple, but both had silver spikes jutting out.
Mina had mentioned that purple and green were her favorite colors when Whisper asked if she had any preferences. Maybe she would like them! They looked cool!
She had kept her promise from last night… or this morning, technically, to go clothes shopping with Whisper and Mina. She could tell the mongoose needed a new outfit after the one she had been wearing on the stage had been wrecked, plus a part of her could tell Mina didn't care too much about her stage outfit in the first place.
"I guess it makes sense. She made it look cool, but I wouldn't want to wear that thing every day."
Sally, meanwhile, had nixed any potential new outfits and just asked them to get her the same clothes she had been wearing. Not that it disheartened the lemur too much. After all, she was also a firm believer that if one looked good in an outfit then they have to own that look!
Tangle used her tail to grab the bag carrying Sally's clothes and went by the pair before saying, "Maybe it's because she wanted to? She doesn't need some jerks in suits telling her what to do."
The two clammed up, looking like they were caught in headlights as the lemur passed them by.
"Figures. They like to gossip so long as they think no one's listening in."
Tangle was never one for gossip. She had always said what was on her mind about people. What use was there in lying or acting secretive?
Sure, Jewel as well as her parents said that sometimes she could learn to keep her thoughts to herself… but it's worked out pretty well so far, right?
Going into the dressing room, she saw Whisper hanging around one of the closed stalls with an arm full of clothes she had picked for the mongoose. All varying shades of green and purple.
"I'm really sorry!" Mina's voice came from behind the stall. "I know that I should just pick something, but…!"
"It's fine." The wolf muttered. "Picking clothes isn't easy."
Tangle let out a laugh at that. "Especially for us girls!" She set down the bag her tail held and tossed up the bracelets. With a snap of her tail, it caught them mid-air before snaking over the stall door. "All the guys have to pick out are gloves, socks, and shoes most of the time. Unlike them, we got a sense of style! Speaking of which, I got somethin' for ya, Mina!"
The mongoose let out a yelp of surprise before sighing in relief. "I-I'm going to have to get used to that. Your tail is something else, Tangle."
The lemur put her hands on her hips and let out a huff. "Yup! It's awesome!"
"And thanks! These look great! Just give me a few more minutes, okay?"
"You bet!" Tangle felt the bracelets leave her tail's grip and she retracted her tail. Looking at her wolf friend she asked, "So, where are the wisps?"
Whisper inclined her head over her left shoulder and the lemur leaned to the right. She could see the wisps along with the Magenta Wisp, Bowie, fly around two objects propped up against the wall.
Whisper's Variable Wispon and the Guitar Wispon.
"They're having a debate." The wolf explained, a small smirk gracing her lips. "Over which one is cooler."
Tekno the Canary had practically begged Mina to take the wispon with her when the mongoose left to go on the clothes shopping trip. Apparently she had been waiting for someone with a Magenta Wisp partner to join the Studiopolis chapter of the Restoration to test it out, but hadn't gotten any before Mina arrived. With Mina there, the canary had found her guinea pig.
Mina had been hesitant at first… but then Bowie began making that sad look in his eye and the mongoose had given in.
"Oh man, I wonder what it'll do when we see some action!" Considering how Mina messed Metal Sonic up without one, she'll probably look ten times cooler in the next fight when she smashes that stupid badnik's face in with the guitar! "Will it sound like a guitar riff every time she hits people? That would be so cool!"
No, wait. She was getting ahead of herself. Focus!
"Well… a Guitar Wispon is cool…" She grinned at Whisper and pointed at her. "But the Variable Wispon is still the king of cool in my book, especially when you use it!"
A small laugh came from the wolf and she shook her head. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it."
The wisps' debate was apparently turning heated from the volume of things. The sniper frowned and began walking to them, probably to break it up. A good call in the lemur's book. She'd seen how heated arguments could get over the stupidest of things online. Last thing she would want is a repeat in real life.
"Would really kill the vibe of things right now." Tangle glanced at Mina's door. "Last thing I want is to see people arguing."
She'd been happy when she entered the Machine Shop and saw that Sally, Nicole, and Mina were relaxed. As if there was no longer an invisible wall of tension between them that had been there back in the club before things got ugly. Tangle had picked up on the good vibes instantly and tried to pull them into a hug before the robian had reminded the lemur that she was still recharging.
"And both of them are feeling better too!" The lemur smirked as Whisper gave the wisps a light scolding. "Apologies are great like that! Even if the situation has to suck for them to happen."
Seriously, that whole situation had been really ugly and complicated. Like, she could get where Sally had been coming from with not being Mina's biggest fan. Honestly, if someone had kicked Whisper out of her home then Tangle would be very angry at them too. But the singer was obviously sorry about what happened, and Mina honestly looked pretty bad. Like, just that whole story about her and Sally's home still being around sounded like the girl had been through a lot even before she got to Club Spin. But Sally either didn't notice or didn't care, and just laid onto the girl way more than necessary.
There was a time and place for that kind of thing, and that hadn't been it.
"At least Sally saw that, and went off to apologize before the Hooligans and Metal Sonic showed up." The former makes things even more complicated to an already pretty complicated night. "The way Sally talked about Bunnie… did she know her in the old world? Was she not a part of the Hooligans there?"
Honestly it made the whole thing pretty messed up in hindsight.
"Wonder if Sally will mention that in her report to Jewel." Tangle shuddered. "Man, a city full of survivors from a pre-reboot world, a crazy wizard king, the Hooligans, Metal Sonic, and a spy in the Restoration… today's going to suck for Jewel."
The lemur had never been more grateful for lacking her friend's skill with managing stuff and paperwork than now.
The door knob then shook and Tangle turned to see the new and improved Mina Mongoose.
Mina's purple head fur, or hair as she called it, was no longer spiked but nice and combed with a black hairband on her head. She wore a sleeveless green top that exposed her midriff while her baggy purple pants were held down by a black belt with a silver buckle. The pants were cut off just before the ankles, and further emphasizing the mongoose's new shoes. A pair of white and green sneakers with a pair of black buckles for laces.
She even wore the bracelets that Tangle had picked out, the green one on her left hand while the purple one was on her right. They matched her outfit and looked like they were a part of her white gloves which made them look cooler!
Mina smiled shyly and asked, "What do you think?"
The lemur laughed and gave the singer a thumbs up. "You're lookin' good in my book! Seriously, does Whisper know her stuff or what?!"
The wolf hid her face out of embarrassment while her wisps giggled. Bowie, meanwhile flew over to Mina and began circling around her. He continued to babble in the secret language of the wisps, but Tangle could get the gist. He also thought that Mina looked great!
"Okay, okay! That settles it then!" The mongoose nodded. "I'll go with this one! But…"
Tangle blinked. "But what?"
Mina pointed at her chest and said, "They can print designs on this, right? If…" She seemed to hesitate for a second before her gaze hardened. "…if we're going to meet Mogul, I want something on this to make a statement."
The lemur grinned.
"That's the spirit, girl!"
If they were going to confront some super bad guy from the previous world… then they might as well look cool while doing it!
"…And that's why we're going to be going to Mogul's office this morning." Sally sat in the chair in front of the portable computer, one lot sleeker and slimmer than the devices that were similar with back home. She wasn't dressed, but considering her robian body she doubted that anyone would mind even with the new societal rule that women had to wear full sets of clothing. "I recommend that you have members of Studiopolis' Restoration chapter form a parameter around the building. While I would like to avoid a fight you can't be too careful with Mammoth Mogul. You should also see if you can reach Shadow the Hedgehog or any other high powered members of the Restoration to…"
The robian paused when she noticed that Jewel seemed to be staring at the desk rather than the camera, massaging her temples through her helmet.
Nicole let out a nervous laugh in her head. I THINK SHE MIGHT NEED A MOMENT, SALLY. YOU… DID REVEAL QUITE A BIT.
The robian winced at that. She did have to go over a lot during her report. She couldn't exactly leave out any details regarding the events of the past few hours, or the facts that were relevant. Considering Mammoth Mogul's presence in this world, Jewel had the right to know about him. And, by extension, everything about the previous world, the Super Genesis Wave, and New Mobotropolis.
"Maybe I should've submitted everything else in writing and just told her about the fight with the Hooligans and Metal Sonic."
But usually the other members of the Freedom Fighters gave their reports to her in-person and she summarized them in writing later. She only made Sonic put his report in writing after that concert where she…
"I'm never going to live myself down over that, am I?" Sighing, Sally gave the camera a small nervous smile and said, "Sorry, Jewel. I know this is a lot to take in and it's pretty crazy but…"
"No, no." The director of the Restoration had her hands cover her face. "Eggman used a space laser to wreck the moon. The world blew up into pieces and we all somehow didn't die from that. The Zeti turned out to be real and tried to kill us all. Then there was literally all of the war and the Metal Virus…" Slowly, the beetle dragged her hands down and just looked plain exhausted. "So believe me when I say that my tolerance for crazy is pretty high at this point."
Sally chuckled. Yeah, that was something she could relate to. Every new thing that she and her friends had encountered always seemed to weird and wild at first. She remembered back when all the Sonics of the different Zones had gathered to formulate an attack plan against Robo-Robotnik. She'd been amazed at how many different versions of Sonic actually existed. Her mind raced with questions like if they all had their own version of her or if any of them had freed their Zone from their old Robotnik. She remembered feeling so awestruck and yet so small.
Then, the existence of other Zones became just another fact of life. Heck, eventually her making plans to invade Moebius seemed like she was telling her friends they were going down the street to beat up the neighborhood bullies.
"I just…" Jewel grimaced. "You're right, it's a lot to take in. So, we live in a world that's a reboot from another one like one of Tangle's comics. That's just..."
The princess nodded. "I know. I'm really sorry. I didn't want to dump this all on you, but the situation calls for it."
Heck, she wouldn't blame it the beetle if she decided to take the rest of the day off to process it all. Whisper certainly seemed pretty bothered by it when she first found out, considering how she actually argued with Silver back when the hedgehog got his memories back.
The fact Tangle just seemed to accept it and didn't seem too bothered by it was a miracle. One that the chipmunk was still trying to figure out.
"…And Hershey was spying on us?" Sally tried hard not to wince at the disbelief and hurt in the beetle's voice. "But… why? I don't understand. I thought that… she was a good worker. I thought we got along and she believed in our work. So why would she just go over there and…?"
She knew what Jewel was going through. She was trying to piece together the reasons for her comrade's betrayal, the reveal that they weren't who they made themselves out to be. Asking why they would just throw away everything they had, as if it were nothing but a pair of dirty clothes.
Sally had gone through that plenty of times. It wasn't bad with Drago Wolf and Sleuth Dawg. She didn't really know either and the revelation that they were traitors just made her angry that fellow Freedom Fighters would betray the cause for wealth and status.
Then there was Fiona Fox.
She and Fiona… they weren't exactly friends, but Sally had thought they got along. Fiona had been a member of their group ever since Sonic had been lost in space, showing her skill and cunning to become a valued teammate. She hung out with them, went to Uncle Chuck's restaurant with Sonic and his friends, and had even dated Sonic.
Sure, Sally had been a tad suspicious about Fiona's shady past, but she really didn't mind so long as the fox continued to show her willingness to do good.
Then, Fiona up and decided to leave them all for Scourge. The fox had cheated on Sonic, slapped Tails, and revealed a long-simmering hatred of everyone before ditching them all for a life with Sonic's opposite. Every subsequent encounter made it seem like the fox took supreme joy in her turn to the dark side, using Tails' lingering feelings for her to manipulate the boy and cruelly rubbing in her relationship with Scourge in Sonic's face.
Then Fiona actually helped Scourge conquer Moebius! As if she hadn't spent years trying to free her own home from Eggman's tyranny!
"…Damn it." Sally closed her eyes. She needed to stop thinking about the past. Jewel needed her advice, advice that she wished she had gotten years ago. "Sometimes people aren't who you think they are, Jewel. And even if you think they're your friends… sometimes the feeling isn't mutual."
Jewel stared at the camera for a few seconds before the gaze drifted down and a sad frown formed on her face. "...Maybe you're right. I'm… I'm going to have to tell Lanolin. She and Hershey got along and hung out a lot, and I'm going to have to tell everyone to change their passwords and…" The beetle pinched her nose. "What a mess."
Nicole came out of Sally's body and went into the portable computer. A small icon looking like the lynx's face appeared on the screen. "I can assist with your cybersecurity, if that'll help."
The beetle let out a yelp and leapt back before pausing, seeming to register that it was Nicole. Letting out a calming breath she shook her head. "T-Thanks, Nicole. But no… you guys need to focus on your meeting with Mammoth Mogul. Just… try to avoid a fight if you can." Jewel winced and looped to the side. "I want to trust you but you have to understand, Mogul is someone who's done nothing but help and be supportive of the Restoration. The people love him for his philanthropy. If you attack him…"
Sally clenched her hands into fists. Even in this world, Mogul was playing his game of being the owner of a legitimate business to stop everyone who knew better from taking him in. Even worse, none of the horrors Mogul had committed in the previous world ever happened in the eyes of the people in this one. "We'll try."
"G-Good. That'll be all." Jewel reached towards the screen and muttered something under her breath about immortal magic businessmen before the video feed ended.
Nicole came out of the laptop and sat on the table, kicking her legs as Sally pushed herself away. "…We cannot discount the possibility that Hershey might have placed surveillance equipment in Restoration HQ."
"I know." The robian got up and closed the portable computer. "But Jewel's probably thinking the same thing. She and the others will handle things over there. Right now we have to focus on what's happening here."
A small smile graced her friend's lips. "You really trust her and the Restoration, don't you?"
"Jewel's a leader now. These kind of thoughts and decisions are something a leader has to deal with." Even if the Restoration hadn't been around for nearly as long as the Freedom Fighters, that wouldn't mean that the Restoration was lacking in the qualities their group had. Sally had to have some faith in them. "Besides, it wouldn't look good if I just began telling her what to do. I'm supposed to be her subordinate."
The holo-lynx grimaced at that last word. "I suppose. It's just…"
Before Nicole could finish the door knocked.
"Hey, Sally?" Mina's voice came from the other side. "We're back! I've got your new clothes."
"Coming!" The robian walked over to the door and opened it. "Thanks, Mina. I…"
She blinked and took in Mina's outfit. The shirt, pants, bracelets, and shoes were certainly a huge change from Mina's old clothes. More casual and slightly more punkish, though not in the strange artificial way her outfit from last night was.
But what stood out was the insignia on the front of her shirt.
It looked like the outline of an acorn, but messy and crude as if it had been spray painted on the shirt.
A nervous smile graced the mongoose's lips. "Like it?"
"I…" The robian shook her head. "It certainly looks nice. But why…?"
The smile disappeared. The mongoose stared Sally directly in the eyes and said, "It's a symbol. Of our old home. Of our old world. And…" She hesitated slightly before her gaze drifted to Nicole behind the robian. "…and that from now on, I'm with you guys until the end."
Sally paused for a second, carefully going over the words Mina had said in her head.
Then, she smiled and put her right hand on Mina's shoulder.
"Then let's go and show Mogul that the Freedom Fighters aren't dead, Mina."
Julie-Su felt herself being dragged on the floor, her vision swimming as she gazed at the Master Emerald shining down at her. It was the only thing giving any light, the clouds overhead obscuring the sun in a gray haze.
"Y'know, I really didn't want to hurt the bee girl."
The echidna lifted her head up and looked to the mobian dragging her by left foot. Narrowing her eyes, she saw the massive purple-furred back of Thrash the Tasmanian Devil.
"I've got no problem with bees, and I've heard about what happened to her boyfriend." Thrash looked over his shoulder, and she saw that his face lacked the savage grin he had when he first ambushed Julie-Su and Saffron Bee. "But she was with you, and knowin' you Chaotix types she would've fought tooth and nail to keep you safe unless I went all out."
The pink echidna grit her teeth. Her head was throbbing in pain from the blow the massive mobian laid on her. "S-Skew…you… Brin' 'er back…!"
The words turned to mush out of her mouth. She likely had a concussion, which explained why her body felt like it was made of lead. The bastard really hit her good.
She heard two growls and turned her head to see the two wild dog-things that had accompanied Thrash. They had come down on her and Saffron when their attention was on the Tasmanian Devil, who swaggered up to the shrine bragging about his plan. The plan to use the Master Emerald to supercharge a Warp Ring to banish the remnants of the Echidna Race for what they did to the Tasmanian Devils.
Saffron, her dear friend who had suffered through so much, tried to reason with the man. But he wouldn't listen. He said that the Echidnas deserved what was coming to them for what they did to his people. To his grandmother. To his mother. To his sisters.
Then, as if on cue, the devil dogs pounced on them. One biting Saffron's arm while dragging her down while the other bit its jaws into Julie-Su's leg and distracting her long enough for Thrash to make his move.
She should've shot the bastard in the head while he was monologuing.
That was what a soldier of the Dark Legion would've done.
The Tasmanian Devil shook his head. "No can do, echidna. If I did that then she could wake up and warn Knuckles and the rest of his mates. An' I can't have that until I do what needs to be done."
"Charmy…"
A pained look crossed Thrash's face before he turned it away from her view. "…The kid'll be fine. He's got his mates. And I won't blame him for comin' for me if his head gets unscrambled, but I can die a happy man knowin' I avenged my people and banished you echidna filth."
The thunder boomed overhead, and she felt the droplets of rain hit her face as the glow of the supercharged Warp Ring shone ahead.
"N-No…" She groaned, using her left hand to grip at the ground. But it just dragged dirt. She couldn't get a firm hold of anything. "No…!"
"Feelin' it?" Thrash chuckled. "Feelin' helpless, knowing that the inevitable is happenin' and you can't do anythin' to stop it? Congrats, echidna. You're experiencin' a fraction of what it is to live my life."
"Bashtard…" Tears were coming out of Julie-Su's eyes. Damn it, why couldn't she move?! She needed to fight back! To call Knuckles and beg for someone, anyone, to stop Thrash! To save her people and rescue Saffron! "Innocent…! Never did anythin'…!"
Thrash dropped her leg and reached down to pick her by her collar. He brought her up to his face and his glare radiated pure hate. "An' my people did nuthin' to yours. Yet you monsters twisted their bodies and minds until they became little better than mobini."
Taking her chance, the echidna screamed and used all her strength to punch at the Tasmanian Devil. but he lifted his right hand and caught it with ease.
"Do you know what it's like, watchin' your mum die while yer gran withers away to nothin' and not being able to do anythin' about it, because normal medicine don't work thanks to the poison in our genes?" Thrash hissed out. "To see your mum give birth to animals, and have to take care of them knowin' they're your siblings?! Knowin' you're the last of your kind while you echidna scum get to live and pretend nothin' happened?!"
Julie-Su spat in his face.
As the saliva dripped down his snout he grinned. "Good. You've still got some fire in you."
Thrash threw her into the Warp Ring and, in a flash of light, Julie-Su landed in sand. She felt the hot sun beating down on her body as she looked up to see the still unconscious and wounded Saffron lying in front of her.
"No…!" Adrenaline was coursing through her veins. She pushed herself up, even though every muscle in her was screaming in pain. She stood up and ran towards the still open Warp Ring that was beginning to blink out of existence. "No!"
Her blaster was thrown in as the ring reduced to half its size.
"You're gonna need it."
It then fully disappeared as Julie-Su lunged forward, screaming out a single name.
"KNUCKLES!
"KNUCKLES!"
Julie-Su was hyperventilating as she sat up, reaching out to try and grab the Warp Ring in her dream.
The same dream she'd been having for months.
Instead she was reaching for empty air on top of the Master Emerald Shrine, the green calming glow of the massive gem mixing with the sunlight as the flickies' chirps filled the air.
The pink echidna grit her teeth as her right eye swam with tears. She was home. She was finally home and that moment would not leave her. Her people were safe and they were no longer wandering around the Multiverse trying to find their Mobius!
"The nightmares should've stopped when we got back!"
"Julie?"
The ex-Dark Legionnaire turned her head to see her friend Saffron Bee standing on the top of the steps leading to the shrine. She had abandoned the dark cloaks that they had once worn during their journey, trading it in for her old and worn sleeveless brown vest that was zipped up with a pink skirt that matched her pink boots. Like Julie-Su, she had also changed during her journey. Her right antenna was now made of metal, legionized so that she could be more effective on the field after Thrash's Devil Dog bit it off.
"Are you having nightmares again?" Saffron tentatively asked. "Was it about…?"
"It doesn't matter." Julie-Su snapped back. "It's just a stupid nightmare. We're home, so it doesn't matter. We're…" She paused and saw the hurt look on the bee's face. Looking down she muttered, "I'm sorry. I just… I'm sorry."
Damn it. She didn't want to snap at Saffron. She knew that the bee likely had been having her own nightmares, and that was not counting the worry she was feeling for Charmy. The boy she loved with all her heart… and had to take care of because Eggman's damn grapes had fried his mind until he had the mind of a child.
"It's alright." Saffron flew over to the echidna and put her hand on Julie-Su's shoulder. "You can talk to me about it if you want."
"No." Julie-Su shook her head. "No, it's fine. It's already morning so there's more important stuff to do." She picked up her cloak which she had been using as a pillow and tucked it under her arm. "What's up? Were you just checking on me or…?"
The bee hesitated, likely mulling over whether to push for them to talk about the dream or not, before saying, "Lara-Le and Remington want to talk to you. It's about Knuckles…"
The pink echidna did not hesitate. She began marching to the steps and remembering the path to the small abandoned village she and the others had discovered after making their way out of Sky Sanctuary.
The one she didn't recognize despite all her time staying at the island.
"Who are you?"
Julie-Su took out her blaster and turned on her heel. She fired without hesitation at the source of the voice.
There was no cry of pain or a body hitting the floor, just Saffron's surprised scream.
Julie-Su thought she saw a ghostly image of an orange echidna wearing the garb of a Soumerca tribe. Her face was one filled with curiosity but sadness.
That was what her right eye was telling her.
Julie-Su's artificial left eye was telling her nothing was there.
Then, the pink echidna blinked and the ghost was gone.
"Julie! What was that for?!" Saffron flew in front of her and looked completely bewildered. "Nothing was there!"
"You didn't see…?" Julie-Su shook her head and holstered her blaster. "Nevermind. Just my head messing with me. Let's go."
"But…"
She didn't have time to argue. Instead she ran to the stairway and bounded down on them, the bee flying as fast as she could to follow her.
But the pink echidna did glance over her shoulder to the rapidly disappearing Master Emerald.
The orange echidna was now sitting on top of it. Watching her with those sad but curious eyes.
"I'm starting to see ghosts. Great."
She made her way to the settlement that was just next to the ruins that surrounded the shrine's grounds. They were stout things with walls made of mud and stone with thatched roofs. Holes lined the walls and roofs, and some of them had crumbled into ruin.
But to her people, they were close to paradise.
She could see them as she ran by. The various members of the Lost Tribe were helping the citizens of Echidnaopolis to help repair the huts still standing. Children were wandering with their parents, or their caretakers for the children whose parents died during the journey, looking around in awe and wonder. Meanwhile, the members of the Dark Legion who had defected and joined with them were standing around still garbed in their cloaks with their firearms gripped tightly. All of them were scanning the distance and horizon in case someone or something attacked.
Eventually, Julie-Su made her way to the biggest hut and skid to a stop. She could hear the voices inside already.
"Matriarch, you saw the ruins of Sky Sanctuary like I did."
"I know."
"Those hieroglyphics, those carvings, and even the architecture… none of it was there before."
"Maybe it was an unexplored region?"
"No. Those devices that the Chao led us to which teleported us from Sky Sanctuary to Mystic Ruins… if those had been there previously, Knuckles, our kind, or the Dingos would've used them before." The male voice hesitated. "Matriarch… something is wrong."
Okay, she had enough.
"Nothing's wrong." Julie-Su stated as she went through the door and walked inside where two echidnas were sitting around a small fire in the center of the hut.
One was Remington, former constable of Echidnaopolis and current head of security amongst their people, with a tuft of black hair swept over the front right side of his face. The other was Lara-Le, Matriarch of the Knuckles clan and the mother of Knuckles, who had most of her dreads braided save for the front two. They were now artificial like Julie-Su's own.
A gift from Lien-Da.
Julie-Su hoped that she was rotting… wherever she was.
"Tails and Rotor probably made some modifications or something while we were gone." The pink echidna continued, crossing her arms. "Probably to aid in security so that another attack like Thrash's can't happen again."
Both Remington and Lara-Le winced at the name. Even now, the memory of the last Tasmanian Devil was still burned into their memories.
But the male echidna composed himself and glared at her. "But you saw the ruins too. They are not like the ones this island held before we were banished. Even the Master Emerald's shrine is different!"
Saffron landed on her feet and stood next to Julie-Su. "I-I noticed that too. But, that can't be right can it? Maybe we're remembering it wrong…?"
Julie-Su narrowed her eyes. "We saw a lot of stuff during our journey. It wouldn't surprise me if our memories got scrambled because of that." She pointed at Remington. "Plus, I wouldn't trust your memories of how things were on this island."
The pink echidna herself had been the subject of not just one, but two memory wipes thanks to her half-sister and brother. But Remington had the honor of not just going crazy thanks to his imprisonment during the dingos' occupation of Angel Island but also getting stuck in an Egg Grape before being mind-whammied by Doctor Finitevus.
Remington bristled at her comment and stood up. "How dare yo-!"
"Enough!" Lara-Le shouted, causing both of them to freeze and stare at her. "Constable, while I do think your suggestion has some merit we cannot act on it until we are certain. Have your men reported back yet?"
"No, Matriarch." The former constable sat down again. "Right now they're still exploring and searching for the remains of Echidnaopolis and of the Frost Legion camp for supplies."
Lara-Le nodded before looking at Julie-Su and Saffron. "And have you been able to get in contact with the Kingdom of Acorn or the Chaotix?"
"No, ma'am." Saffron muttered, hugging herself. "All the channels and frequencies they've used… it's just dead air. I don't know why, but nobody is picking up!"
"What the hell happened?" Had Eggman wrecked the kingdom so badly that the communication network was gone? Shaking her head, Julie-Su asked, "Matriarch, about Knuckles…"
Remington and Lara-Le glanced at each other before the leader of the tribe spoke, "…We believe he is currently in Cyber Space."
"WHAT?!" The pink echidna shouted, her hands clenched into fists as she stared at the two. "How? How could he be in Cyber Space? We would've…!"
"Cyber Space is vast, remember?" Remington shot back. "He was likely in an entirely different section than us."
"Then there were the visions we got." Lara-Le muttered. "Of Sonic in his super form fighting against the flying creature. Knuckles was there, but he was not assisting…."
Right.
Julie-Su had seen it in the skies of the mysterious roads that her people had been traveling to try and find Mobius. The battles Sonic was having in his super form against giant monstrosities that she had never seen or heard of before. When the first one had been defeated, reality shook and twin pillars of light had shone. Markings for doorways to two different Zones.
One of which they had banished Lien-Da and her supporters to.
Julie-Su could still hear her half-sister's scream of rage while lying on an unknown alien beach as she holstered her blaster and went through the gateway.
The other had been locked, but when Sonic defeated the giant flying monster they were finally able to step through and return to Mobius.
"Then let's go and get him!" The pink echidna motioned to the door. "He's probably in there looking for us! Whatever he and Sonic were doing was probably to try and find us! They need our help!"
Lara-Le closed her eyes. "Remington had reported that we're unable to access the gateway."
Julie-Su's blood ran cold.
"What do you mean?" Saffron asked, her eyes wide in shock. "We've always been able to enter the gateways without a problem! Even if the Ancient's technology is advanced, there was nothing they had in there that stopped…!"
"The gateway is dead to us." Remington shook his head. "The scientists in our clan have done everything they could. But something in the system is preventing us from uploading ourselves back into Cyber Space. I'm sorry."
She couldn't believe this.
All this time… all the struggles and pain and effort they went through to get back home… it all lead to this?
They returned home only to find out that Knuckles is trapped trying to get them out?!
"Damn it!" Julie-Su shot her left fist out but stopped short of punching the wall. Even in her anguished state, the last thing she wanted was to have the place collapse on them. "Why?! How could this have happened?!"
Nobody had an answer for that.
They were quiet for a few seconds, allowing for this moment of heartbreak and helplessness to pass through them before Lara-Le spoke again.
"I don't know. But…" The matriarch's eyes drifted to a corner of the room where a young echidna was sleeping. Kneecaps, Knuckles' half-brother, who had seen so much far too early for a kid his age and had to suffer through such a horrible journey home. Lara-Le then looked back at Julie-Su and her gaze was firm as she spoke. "I won't let my son remain trapped there, or for our people to not receive the help they need. Julie-Su… I want you and Saffron to leave the island."
Julie-Su stared at her leader. Did she really just say what she thought she did? "But… Ma'am, you guys need me. Without me who will protect…?"
"We can hold our own." Remington said with a nod. "While the Brotherhood of Guardians has reduced in number, there are still enough to hold off attacks." He frowned at her. "You don't need to believe you have to do everything."
The pink echidna frowned and, almost unconsciously, raised her left hand to touch her artificial eye. "I… I just don't want to lose anyone else."
Lara-Le nodded. "Good. Find the Chaotix and all your friends. Tell them what we have seen and what we know. They must know everything, for both our sakes and Knuckles'."
Biting her lip, Julie-Su saluted like the soldier she had relearned to be. "Right. I'll return as soon as possible, Matriarch."
With that, Julie-Su ran out of the hut with Saffron following behind her.
"So what now?" The bee asked tentatively, but when the pink echidna turned her head she saw the look of relief and longing. And why wouldn't she? After all, she was finally going to see Charmy again.
It was something Julie-Su could relate to.
"Now?" After what had seemed like an eternity since the last time, a smirk formed on Julie-Su's face. "Now we've just got to find a way off of this stupid island."
"Mr. Mogul will see you now." The doe at the reception desk said, not taking her eyes off of the laptop in front of her as she typed away. "His office will be in the penthouse, so just push in the PH button."
"Ugh, finally!" Tangle stretched and yawned on the couch. "I was starting to get bored!"
Silver the Hedgehog wished that he could have the lemur's calmness to the whole situation.
After all, they were going to see Mammoth Mogul.
"Then again, that probably doesn't mean much to Tangle or Whisper aside from what Sally told them about him." Silver looked down. "Heck, it didn't even mean much to me until a few days ago."
He was still accepting the fact that he even had a master to begin with. Silver, in this timeline, never had anyone who helped to teach him how to control his powers. It was just something he learned to do on his own, and he had to be a quick learner considering just how nightmarish and horrible his original future had been.
He didn't remember much about it. It was like something was blocking his memories. He just remembered fire, and lava, and… and… a trigger?
Silver's gaze went to Blaze, who seemed to be meditating on the floor for some reason, before he shook his head.
"What was that about?"
After he fixed whatever caused that future, he usually practiced by sneaking out of the house and going to an abandoned lot.
Nobody taught him anything.
All versions of his parents seemed to know about his powers, but they said that he eventually got the hang of it and never mentioned anyone teaching him.
But Mogul… in the previous timeline, he taught Silver everything he knew.
He had been there for the hedgehog when there was nobody.
He'd been like a…
"Thank you." Sally got up from her seat and motioned everyone to follow her. "Come on, guys."
Mina was the first on her feet, still clutching the Guitar Wispon in her hands while Bowie was floating by her shoulder.
"Just stay close to us, okay?" Sally whispered to the mongoose. "If a fight breaks out, you need to make sure you're nearby someone that can assist."
"Right…"
Whisper followed the pair with her wisps and Tangle in toe, not saying a word but shielding her face with her mask. Blaze, meanwhile, uncurled her legs and got onto her feet before dusting her face.
"You meditating to calm down?" Silver asked the cat, but chuckled when he saw the raised eyebrow. "I-I just remember my master from the previous timeline teaching me that trick. Apparently it helps? I know Amy tried to teach me yoga once but I just couldn't really see the appeal."
"No. I'm making preparations." Blaze's gaze turned to the elevator they were approaching, which had a man and a woman on both sides of the doors dressed in white suits. "Whoever this Mogul is, he tried to enter my mind."
"…You too, huh?" He muttered, looking down at his feet. "Did he try to tell you anything?"
"No. I believe he was trying to influence me." The cat's hands clenched into fists. "Possibly to find some way of having me give up the Sol Emeralds."
"…" That didn't sound like the Mogul from his memories. The master he had known never wanted power. He simply wanted to help. To help save the world through Silver. He was a kind and patient, but firm master who encouraged Silver… or the previous Silver… to be a hero that the future needed.
"I wish only to save you from making the same mistakes I made in the past. I made many, and most of them dire, I am sad to say."
Was this the Mogul that had made those mistakes?
The summarized stories that Sally told about Mogul's deeds to the group earlier today… it had chilled Silver to the bone.
How could such a power hungry thing be the same kind and caring master from his memories?!
"Yo!" Silver looked up and saw that the woman by the elevator was the porcupine from last night. "Glad to see you guys again! Man, you look great for a bunch of people who got beaten up by the Hooligans and Metal Sonic!"
The other one was the basset hound that had collected from the front of the club last night. He rolled his eyes and said, "Come on, Trigger. We're just supposed to deliver them to the boss. I want to get this over with."
"Aw, don't be like that Pluto!" The porcupine giggled. "I'm sure your girlfriend will understand! She knows that a big and handsome young man like yourself has got an important job to do!"
Pluto's cheeks turned a shade darker as he shouted, "S-Shut up, Trigger!" He began pressing the button to the elevator before the doors opened. "Just get in!"
Tangle stuck out her tongue at the hound, who growled in response as the group entered with the two employees of Mogul following them inside.
"So, you guys watch the news?" Trigger asked. "You're really famous now, y'know? Everyone's talking about the super awesome badnik Restoration member, Sally Acorn, helping to save the newest music sensation Mina Mongoose from Metal Sonic!"
"Yeah, I've heard." Sally frowned. "Do we have Mogul to thank for that?"
"Hey, refer to the boss with respect!" Pluto barked at the badnik, only to meet the glare of Sally, Tangle, and Blaze. Whisper either wasn't looking or was glaring through her mask while Mina was just looking down. Silver, meanwhile, was just staring at the doors.
"I'm going to see him again…"
"Hey, it's fine!" Trigger waved her hand. "The boss isn't throwing a fit about it, which means that they're nothing! So cool off, will ya?"
"Hey, who are you callin' nothing?!" Tangle shouted just before the elevator stopped and the doors opened.
They walked through a waiting room with posters of movies that Silver had never seen and a few paintings on the walls that he didn't understand. But there was electricity in the air as they moved forward.
As if there was another presence in the room.
By the door was the albino fox that was with Mogul last night. He turned his head slightly to gaze at them before asking, "They cause any trouble?"
"Nah, but the robot's got a mouth on her." Pluto snorted. "Might want to keep an eye on her, Shiro."
Suddenly, Sally's eyes narrowed and she pointed to the corner of the room. "Who's that?"
Everyone turned to the corner, only to find an empty space. Before Silver could question it, the air seemed to shimmer before a young girl wearing a similar white suit was revealed. She looked like a cat with pink fur… but the skin around her eyes lacked fur and looked leathery. Her pupils were slit, but extended to the top and bottom of the eyes. Meanwhile, her tail was curled and pink but lacked fur and looked… reptilian?
Was she a hybrid?
"T-They noticed me…" The hybrid muttered, seeming to shake like a leaf as she gazed at Sally. "They noticed me, even with the boss' gift. T-They're probably strong too…"
"Hey, come on Cheshire!" Trigger strolled forward and put her hand around the poor hybrid's shoulders. "It's just because the badnik's got a bunch of stuff installed in her head! Don't beat yourself up over it!"
Cheshire, however, didn't seem convinced. "I-If a fight breaks out, we're all going to die…"
"That's your first assumption?!" Pluto asked incredulously. "Cheshire, you've got to grow a freakin' spine one of these days!"
"Don't let their personalities fool you." Blaze whispered. "I can sense it. They carry the strange energy I felt radiating from Mogul…"
"So he's doing that trick here too…" Sally muttered before she stared at the fox, who hadn't reacted throughout the whole exchange. "Are you going to let us in or not?"
The fox took off his glasses and narrowed his eyes. "You don't make demands of our master, Sally Acorn. You…"
"Enough." A loud, booming voice echoed from behind the door. The four employees suddenly stopped moving or talking as the door opened and a green-furred hedgehog woman in a dark red suit sauntered out.
"And that's my cue to leave." The hedgehog drawled out while waving behind her. "It was a pleasure doing business with you, Mogul Darling." She paused and looked at Sally before a seductive smirk grew on her face. "Well, aren't you dashing."
Silver blinked. He… had not been expecting that."
Apparently, neither did Sally. "Uh…"
"Shame about the clothes, though." The hedgehog drew near and poked at Sally's shirt. "You have a well built body, darling. You should flaunt it."
"Breezie." The voice inside the office growled, a hint of a warning in it.
The hedgehog pouted. "Fine, fine…" She drew away and walked by the group but not before giving Sally a wink. "Call me whenever you're in the neighborhood again, dear."
Silver had only one thing to contribute to the entire event once the hedgehog entered the elevator doors. "…That was so weird."
Mogul then commanded, "Let them enter, Shiro."
"Of course." The albino held the door open and motioned them inside.
Silver saw that Mina was shaking, but it stopped when Bowie placed one of his tentacles on the side of her face. Letting out a breath, she went with the group into the office.
There, Mammoth Mogul stood overlooking the buildings and streets of Studiopolis from the window. One hand on his cane while the other held a glass of wine.
"Princess." Mogul stated as he took a sip.
Sally nodded and narrowed her eyes. "Mogul."
Slowly, the mammoth turned and smirked at her. "I must admit, your new appearance is certainly an interesting change. I've read the reports, of course. But seeing it in the flesh, so to speak… the doctor has really left his mark on you, hasn't he?"
The princess said nothing, but her hands clenched into fists before relaxing.
"Oh brother." Tangle groaned. "Just going straight for that? You really are like one of those supervillains from the comics."
Mogul's gaze turned to Tangle and it looked like he was just noticing an annoying fly. "And I see you brought natives of this new reality. Am I to assume that you told the Restoration about me?"
"I did." Sally crossed her arms. "They deserve to know about what a monster you are."
Mogul chuckled. "Ah, but that's the tricky thing isn't it? You're talking about the so-called monster of a world that has ceased to be. Here, I am merely Mammoth Mogul. Head of Mammoth Studios and known philanthropist. There is nothing linking me to any crime… and I'm a well known friend of the Restoration. It's because of that I can assume the new director encouraged you not to do anything foolish, right?"
"I didn't need to be there to see that you're a jerk." Tangle shot back. "Oh, and by the way? Your movies are super boring."
The mammoth sighed and took another sip of his wine. "That child is starting to remind me why dealing with you, the hedgehog, and all your friends is so tiring."
"Ma-!" Silver stopped himself and grimaced. No, this wasn't his master. He never had a master in this world! He needed to remember that. "…Mogul. Why did you make Mina work for you? Why did you make us go into the club to see her? Why did you ask us to come here?"
"It's quite simple." Mogul set down the glass. "I wanted you to be aware of New Mobotropolis' continued existence in this new reality… and of course to come here begging for answers."
"For a price, I suppose." Blaze crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "I will not hand over the Sol Emeralds to you."
The giant mammoth waved his hand. "Oh please, I do not seek them. I merely tried to influence your mind to see if you had any defenses for an attack of that nature. Believe me, if I were to make a serious attempt…" His voice was sapped of any mirth as he said, "…you would know."
And the horrible thing was that Silver could tell from those three words that Mogul wasn't exaggerating.
"Why?" Mina asked, causing Mogul's gaze to turn to her. "Why are you being so cryptic? What's even the point? Just tell them! Tell them how we're alive because of you!"
Silver's eyes widened. Mogul was the reason New Mobotropolis still existed? How? Why?
A memory creeped into Silver's head…
SILVER. I AM SORRY. I NEVER INTENDED FOR THIS TO HAPPEN.
"It's the details that are important to the princess. Details and information." Mogul then pointed at Silver. "And in exchange… I want details and information."
"What…?" Silver whispered. "I don't…"
"You're from the future." The mammoth pointed out. "I have done research into you ever since I arrived in this world."
Silver's hands clenched into fists. That's all he cared about?! Getting some information about the future?! "It would all be useless to you! The timeline changes every time I go into the past!"
"Any information would benefit me. One could not be too careful. It's how I stand before you today." Mogul grinned. "And… I have taken a small peek into your mind already. You bear my mark, Silver the Hedgehog."
"What? But…?" But he hadn't even known about Mogul until two days ago! How could he have some sort of mental fingerprint from…?
His eyes widened.
"The Mogul from the future! Did he do something to my head?"
"You're not getting anywhere near him." Blaze hissed as she stepped forward. "I don't know what game you're playing, Mogul, but you're not touching Silver."
Silver clutched his head. "Why? Why would he do that? He probably knew I was just as likely never to get my memories back."
"I agree." Sally said firmly. "Giving you that information could hurt Sonic and the rest of the Restoration in the future. We cannot risk it."
Mogul shook his head. "Then you get nothing."
"Were you leaving something for me?" Silver closed his eyes. He didn't know Mogul. But the memories in his head… they spoke of an old man burdened by his mistakes. One that wanted to help. A mammoth that cared for and raised a Silver who had nobody. "Master… can I trust you?"
"Then this was a waste of our time!" Tangle huffed and turned on her heel. "Come on guys, we're…!"
"Wait!" Silver shouted, causing everyone to pause and look at him. Taking a deep breath, the gray-furred hedgehog looked up at Mogul. "I'll do it."
"What?" Sally put her hand on his shoulder and looked torn between incredulity and fury. "Silver, did you even listen to what I just said?! Giving Mogul any information about the future will hurt countless people!"
Whisper said nothing, but her hand was inching towards her Variable Wispon.
"Princess." Blaze put her hand on Sally's own, lightly pushing it away. Then she turned her gaze to Silver and asked, "Are you sure?"
No. No he really wasn't.
But he had some faith, and maybe that would be enough.
Silver grinned. "As sure as I'll ever be."
The cat nodded and glared at Mogul. "If you do anything to harm him…"
"Save your threats for someone else, Princess of the Sol Dimension." Mogul raised his hand and placed it on Silver's head. "The boy has made his choice."
"This is a bad idea." Mina groaned out from behind him.
Silver closed his eyes.
"Please… please tell me I made the right call, Master Mogul…"
The world turned.
And Silver the Hedgehog screamed as he was flung into the blackness.
"Foolish boy."
Silver looked up and saw Mogul's body descending upon him. The hedgehog raised his right hand only for Mogul's own to grab it and squeeze. It turned into gelatin that seeped through the mammoth's fingers while Silver could only look at it in horror.
Mogul's eyes glowed its strange gray and magenta glow as he said, "You gave me full access to your mind. While I had planned on meeting you eventually, your presence presented an opportunity too good to pass up." The mammoth leaned down and hissed in dark glee, "I shall impose my will onto yours. With your knowledge and power, I shall have access to the very fabric of time itself. Once that annoying pest of a hedgehog and the princess are dead and buried, I shall use you to reshape everything in my image. I…"
YOU WILL NOT TOUCH THIS BOY.
Silver gasped as he looked behind him. They were no longer falling in pure darkness. Now they were in the palm of a massive hand.
The hand of Master Mogul.
The older mammoth's eyes looked upon Mammoth Mogul, who was stumbling back in surprise, with pity and shame.
I KNEW YOU WOULD COME FOR HIM, EVENTUALLY. Master Mogul intoned. THAT IS WHY I LEFT A PIECE OF MYSELF IN HIM. TO PROTECT HIM FROM THE CRAVEN AND FOOLISH CHILD I ONCE WAS.
"Child?" Energy crackled from Mammoth Mogul's eyes and hands. "You dare call me a child?! You had access to this boy all this time, and you never used him to rule?! To conquer the world and shape it in our image?! I am a god! Not…"
YOU ARE BUT A CHILD. ONE THAT DOES NOT SEE THE BEAUTY AND WONDER THAT IS AROUND YOU. ONE THAT WILL RUIN IT BECAUSE THE OTHER CHILDREN WILL NOT FOLLOW YOUR RULES. With his other titanic hand, Master Mogul pointed at his past self. BEGONE FROM HERE. BUT WITH YOUR LEAVING… I GRANT YOU THE KNOWLEDGE YOU DESERVE.
The energy radiating from Mammoth Mogul's eyes and hands disappeared, and he clutched his head before letting out an ear piercing scream. Then, he slowly faded out of existence as if he were smoke.
And Silver found himself alone with his master.
"Master Mogul…" Silver whispered as he looked upon the mammoth. "You… why?"
His master sighed. It was one full of weariness. I AM NOT YOUR MASTER, SILVER. I WAS NEVER MEANT TO BE IN THIS WORLD. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER IF THINGS REMAINED THAT WAY…
"But you're here!" Silver cried out, tears forming in the corners of his eyes. "You're here, and… and…" He couldn't help it. He let out a sob. "I messed it up… I messed everything up! If I… If I had just found the traitor in the old world instead of just accusing everyone… I could've saved them all! Sally, Nicole, and Mina wouldn't be suffering because their world is gone! Naugus wouldn't have been king! All those people… all those universes… all of them are dead because…!'
The telekinetic hedgehog felt a hand on his forehead.
Kneeling before him was Master Mogul.
IT IS ALL IN THE PAST. Mogul intoned.THE YOU THAT EXISTED IN THE PREVIOUS WORLD TRIED HIS BEST. HE NEVER COULD HAVE FORSEEN WHAT THE DOCTOR WOULD HAVE DONE. DO NOT FEEL SHACKLED BY HIS ACTIONS. DO NOT BE BURDENED BY WHAT CAME BEFORE. CHERISH THIS WORLD AND ALL THOSE THAT LIVE HERE, IN BOTH THE PAST AND THE FUTURE. YOU ARE NOW WORKING TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT, AND THAT IS MORE THAN I COULD EVER ASK OF YOU.
Silver's eyes widened as Master Mogul's form began to fade. "Master?"
The mammoth smiled at him.
I HAD MADE MANY MISTAKES IN MY LIFE, SILVER THE HEDGEHOG. He said as his lower body blew away in the nonexistent wind. BUT YOU WERE NEVER ONE OF THEM. I COULD NEVER BE MORE PROUD OF YOU… MY SON.
"MASTER!" Silver tried to reach out and grab onto the body, but it was too late. It blew away like smoke, and the gray-furred hedgehog was left kneeling there in his own mind hugging himself. "Master Mogul…"
He was now alone.
All alone yet again.
"LET HIM…!"
He heard the riff of an electric guitar as he felt the world turn once more.
"…GO!"
Silver was back in the real world as he saw Mina Mongoose slamming the face of the Guitar Wispon into the side of Mammoth Mogul's head.
He fell to his knees and clutched his head as blood dripped out of his nose and onto the floor. It felt like his brain had been split open! How deeply had Mogul tried to peer into his mind?
The mongoose was gasping for breath while holding onto her Wispon. Mammoth Mogul was floating in the air, his eyes wide as they tried to focus on her.
"You… You DARE to strike me?!" Mammoth Mogul roared.
"Consider that my letter of resignation, Mogul!" Mina shot back and then hit Mogul again with the broad side of her guitar. The mammoth bounced forward and crashed into the desk as a sharp guitar riff filled the air. "And that's for the stupid outfit that your sleeze of a manager stuck me into!"
Silver looked around and saw that it was pure chaos.
Tangle was screaming as the hybrid girl ran down her tail with a hammer in her right hand. Sally was being thrown through a wall by the hound, who had far more strength than someone of his build should have. Whisper was firing wildly at a streak of white while new bruises the marks of fists appeared throughout her body. Blaze, meanwhile, was leaping out of the way of a brown and white Spin Dash while using her flames to incinerate quills that were shooting out towards her.
Just what the heck did he miss?!
Silver grit his teeth and reached within him. The powers of telekinesis rolled off him in waves as he shouted, "ENOUGH!"
He needed to be precise. To be careful and accurate with what he grabbed with his mind. To picture the object and seize it.
It's what he taught himself in this life.
It's what Master Mogul taught him in the previous one.
The four suited servants of Mammoth Mogul now found themselves encased in teal energy, their eyes wide in shock by this recent development.
"H-Hey!" Pluto screamed. "Let us go, damn it!"
Silver ignored the barking and stepped forward. Mina got out of his way as he approached Mogul and said, "It's over. You got what you wanted. Just tell us what we want to know."
The mammoth looked at him, eyes filled with bewilderment before they morphed into one of recognition. He closed his eyes and got off the floor, and while dusting his suit he said, "Let the Fearsome Foursome go, and I shall explain it all to you." He glanced over to his men and intoned, "Once you are released from his grasp, you are to leave us. No harm shall come of them once they leave this office."
"What?!" The hound barked out. "Oh that is just…!"
"PLUTO!" Shiro snarled. "We serve our master without question!"
The hound turned away and clicked his tongue.
"Wha…?" The hybrid blinked and looked around. "What happened? Did I… black out again?"
"The party's over?" Trigger groaned and rolled her eyes. "Bummer."
Nodding, Silver lowered the four and released his hold on them. As instructed, they all turned and began to walk out of the door.
They passed by Sally, who was glaring at them while reentering the office. "A new Fearsome Foursome, Mogul?"
"Yes." He didn't elaborate any further while staring down Silver. "…And that was the future?"
So, he saw the erasure of the future as well. "Yes."
Mammoth frowned and muttered, "That fool…" He sighed and walked towards a bookshelf. Pulling on a tome, the spine reading This Immortal, the bookshelf pushed forward before sliding to the left to reveal a stone tablet.
A stone tablet that showed a strange long-limbed being with large eyes that was handing over a giant gem to a group of echidnas.
A being that looked a lot like…
"That looks like Chaos…" Sally muttered, her eyes wide in wonder.
"To be accurate, it is one of Chaos' ancestors." Mogul took the tablet off of the wall and turned around. He walked over to Sally who tensed at his approach as did the other members of the group.
He handed the robian the tablet, who cautiously took it in her hands.
"This is one of the Ancients, a race of beings that brought with them the Chaos Emeralds. Both in this world… and in the one before."
Sally stared at the tablet in wonder. While she wasn't an archeologist, she could tell that the mural was most likely depicting the Ancient handing the Master Emerald to the echidnas. "Nicole?"
I… Nicole hesitated in her mind. I DO NOT HAVE RECORDS OF THESE ANCIENTS IN MY DATABASE, SALLY.
Sally looked up and glared at Mammoth Mogul. "Nicole doesn't have any records of these Ancients."
The mammoth snorted. "Of course not. What use is there in studying a dead civilization when war takes most of the attention?" He pointed to himself. "Even in my time, before I had the Chaos Emerald embedded in my chest…"
"Gross." Tangle muttered, only to let out a cry when Whisper elbowed her.
"…I had heard only tales of them. Of beings that descended from the heavens in glowing chariots with the Chaos Emeralds themselves." The immortal pointed at the tablet. "They had come to our world on ships powered by the Chaos Emeralds. Those gems were their ship's fuel."
"The Coming of the Chaos Emeralds…" The robian's eyes widened. The event from 11,950 years ago that brought the Chaos Emeralds to Mobius! "Then why…?"
"Why were they not in ships?" Mogul's lip quirked up. "It's simple. Most of their ships had been destroyed on the trip to our world. All the Chaos Emeralds… all of them were from the ships that had been destroyed before those that remained had settled on the Starfall Islands."
Sally wanted to protest. To say this didn't make sense. Aliens couldn't have brought the Chaos Emeralds to Mobius!
But… weren't aliens also the reason her kind existed in the first place?
And how could gems containing as much power as the Chaos Emeralds just crash land on some random planet in the first place?
"Wait…" Silver muttered. "Those are the islands that Sonic's now at, aren't they?"
The mammoth rolled his eyes. "No doubt stopping the doctor from accessing their secrets." He shook his head. "I myself used the Starfall Islands as the capital of my empire when I ruled the land, hoping to access the Ancient's knowledge and power and turn it into my own. It didn't work. I lacked the knowledge." He gave a dismissive wave of his hand. "In any case, the Ancients were drawn to here by a source of power. Something that had drawn their Chaos Emeralds to this planet. And that something…" The mammoth tapped the tablet in Sally's hands. "…was the Master Emerald."
"Wait…" That didn't make any sense! Sally shook her head. "The Master Emerald was only created six hundred years ago by the echidnas! They couldn't have come here for that!"
"Wait, Knuckles' folks made the Master Emerald in the last world?" Tangle asked, incredulous. "How could that have worked six hundred years ago? What did they do? Just smash a bunch of Chaos Emeralds together?"
…Well, that wasn't too far off from the truth.
"Ah, yes. The echidna's Master Emerald." Mammoth Mogul grunted. "A shadow of the real thing, born from the memories of old legends that the echidnas only partly remembered."
"So there was another Master Emerald?" The princess asked. "What… what happened to it?"
Mogul smiled. "Now that is where the deviation of the old world and this one comes into play. You see, the Ancients had discovered the Chaos Force once they arrived on Mobius. Their magics… if the legends I had heard were anything to go by, they made my own look like mere sleight of hand. They could shape and bend reality itself to a minimum degree. But they wanted something more. Something greater."
He walked back to the bookshelf and opened a drawer. He held up a picture that showed a magenta icosahedron ruby with black ripple patterns along its surface.
Silver and Tangle gasped while Whisper went stiff.
"T-The Phantom Ruby…" Whisper muttered. "That's…"
I HAVE RECORDS OF THAT THANKS TO THE RESTORATION. Nicole said in her head. EGGMAN USED REPLICAS OF THIS GEM TO CREATE ILLUSIONS, GIVING THE MOST POWERFUL ONE TO THIS WORLD'S VERSION OF A GRANDMASTER NAMED INFINITE. BUT… MY RECORDS INDICATE THEY COULD ONLY CREATE ILLUSIONS!
"They used the Chaos Force to morph and shift the true Master Emerald of Mobius into the Phantom Ruby. A gem that can permanently shift reality itself. A thing that can bypass the laws of this very universe." He put down the photo and closed the drawer. "For what, I do not know. That fact was lost to time, as were the Ancients. They died out within a generation. Something they shared with the versions in this world, who never created the Phantom Ruby."
The pieces were beginning to fall into place.
A gem that could alter reality…
"…You used the Phantom Ruby to save yourself and New Mobotropolis, didn't you?" Sally muttered, walking over to Mogul and handing him the tablet. "And Naugus had to be involved for it to work."
The mammoth nodded and took the tablet, setting it into place before closing the bookshelf. "I needed a wizard who had more than average experience with the Ixis Magicks. Whether I wanted it to be or not, he had to be brought in. He would only do it if we agreed to help him save that wretched city as well."
"We?"
"I recruited one other magician to assist with our plan. An Overlander technomage named Wendy Witchcart, who had been studying the Ancient's technology independently." Mogul smirked. "She told me about how she taught the Iron Queen everything she knew… then complained about how the wretched girl ran off to try and rule the Dragon Kingdoms while denying her master what was owed. That happened to be half of everything."
"I do not understand." Blaze stepped forward and crossed her arms. "How could you have predicted the coming of the Super Genesis Wave? Or the Genesis Wave before that? It doesn't make sense…"
"The lesser Master Emerald." The mammoth growled. "For a time, I had been trapped in it. But, when I was eventually freed, I left a sliver of my soul in it. Insurance for future endeavors that may involve it. But, one day I received a psychic scream from that sliver of a soul. It traveled backwards in time and I felt it being erased from existence. Something had gone terribly wrong in the future." He glanced at Blaze. "I had hired Nicolette the Weasel to spy on the most likely culprit, the doctor, and learned of his plans for the Genesis Wave. I knew what needed to be done, and enlisted both Naugus and Witchcart's services for this grand undertaking. I then hired Nicolette to obtain the Phantom Ruby from Angel Island."
He smirked.
"That Tasmanian Devil, Thrash, was all too eager to eliminate the two members of the Chaotix that were on the island at the time while Nicolette obtained the Phantom Ruby."
Wait, two Chaotix agents… she never heard anything about two members of the Chaotix getting killed!
"IT WAS YOU?!" Nicole was out of Sally's body, her eyes filled with tears as she pointed at Mogul. "You… you're the one who brought Thrash to Angel Island?! So that he could throw Julie-Su, Saffron, and the Echidnas into the Warp Ring?!"
"The Echidnas…?" The Echidnas had been thrown into a Warp Ring? With Julie-Su and Saffron?! "Knuckles… Charmy…!"
"His goals were his own. I had Nicolette bring him to the island to distract any potential guards, be it the Guardian or any of the Chaotix." Mogul smirked. "However… I certainly did have a hearty chuckle when I heard of what became of the Echidnas."
"You monster!" Nicole sobbed out. "Y-You monster! How could you?! How…"
"Nicole…" Tangle muttered, reaching out to the holographic avatar only for the holo-lynx to fade into code that raced back into Sally.
"Nicole?" She asked in her head, only to receive more sobs from her distraught friend. Clenching her fists she muttered, "…So then what, Mogul?"
"Oh, I proceeded to take out the trash once I had the ruby. Couldn't have Nicolette tell the doctor about my plan in exchange for money." He said with the tone of one discussing the weather. "I then contacted Wendy Witchart and Naugus, and we proceeded to perform our ritual in the ruins on the Starfall Islands." He looked up, his eyes clouded in memory. "When the first Genesis Wave hit.. we were able to withstand it. Naugus' preparations for his city's survival, along with the ancient runes I supplied as well as the technology that Witchcart was able to activate allowed for us to pass through the initial shift in reality unscathed. The second one, though… the feedback tore Witchcart apart. Oh how she screamed as the hot fires of creation itself burned her…"
He put his hand on his chest.
"It's thanks to the Chaos Emerald I had possessed, along with the one Naugus had in his staff, that we survived."
The princess was still trying to process this. Ancient alien civilizations, magic from a forgotten age, the warping and bending of reality itself… it was almost too much. She probably wouldn't have accepted it had she not witnessed the results of Eggman's tampering with reality.
"So… They kept the both of you safe." Blaze pointed at Mogul. "And that power you have in your chest?"
He stared at the princess from another dimension for a second before turning towards then and unbuttoning his shirt.
"Aw, dude!" Tangle cried out, shielding her face. "Nobody wants to see an old man's chest!"
But the mammoth ignored her and revealed his chest.
And the gray emerald with pulsing magenta veins embedded in the center.
"I call it the Enigma Emerald." He buttoned back up his shirt. "A Chaos Emerald touched by the power of the Phantom Ruby, one that can now exist in a reality where there have always been just the seven Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald."
"And Naugus has one too…" That was going to be a problem.
Silver glared at the mammoth. "Where is he? You know, don't you?"
"I do." He nodded. "I made sure to set up my base of operations near him. I want potential annoyances to be within my sight."
Something in Sally clicked.
The mission Jewel wanted them to go on…
"The Mirage Desert Zone." She stated. "New Mobotropolis is in the Mirage Desert Zone."
"Good. I didn't have to spell it out for you." He pointed to the door. "You have what you want. Now go."
"Wait, just like that?" Mina asked. "What about…?"
"Whether you stay under my employ or not, I do not care." Mogul shot back with a dismissive wave of his hand. "You have served your purpose here. But know this… You will receive no help from my studio. You will be merely just another dreamer in a sea of them. And there are far more music stars than there ever were on Mobius. You will never obtain the fame you once had."
For a second, Mina was quiet.
Then she let out a laugh. One that caused Mogul to actually glare at her. She was actually doubling over while clutching her gut from the laughter.
"Y-You actually think that scares me?!" Mina wiped away a tear while Bowie was floating beside her, glaring at Mogul. "I performed in the middle of territory Eggman still controlled! I became a music sensation when badnik attacks weren't just a possibility, but a guarantee! You think I'm going to be scared just because I now have competition?"
Mogul said nothing. He just kept glaring at her.
Mina wasn't scared. Instead, she gave the mammoth a grin and said, "Bring it."
And Sally had never been more proud of the mongoose.
"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Tangle threw her arm over Mina's shoulder and dragged her away with Whisper in tow. "You're a free woman now, girl! Lets go out and get something to celebrate!" She looked over her shoulder and blew Mogul a raspberry before they exited the office entirely.
"..I could kill them for their disrespect, you know." Mogul said calmly.
"Then you'd have to explain why you killed the director of the Restoration's best friend." Sally shot back. "And then Sonic will make you his number one priority."
"He's weaker than before." Mogul countered. "I've seen it. He's not…"
"Is that really what you think?" Blaze asked with a raised eyebrow. "My, you truly are arrogant."
Mogul's hand gripped his cane hard enough to crack the wood before it relaxed.
"Once, I had gained godhood." He drawled out. "I had wiped out all Zones save for the No Zone and this one. But… there always seemed to be one that had been caught in my throat. Refusing to accept the inevitable and perish. Was that yours, Princess Blaze of Sol?"
Yes… the prophecy that Tails was a part of. He and Sonic had thought it was Tails combining with his multiversal selves to defeat the near godlike Mogul. They had defeated him and restored the Multiverse… but they had said Zonic the Zone Cop claimed that before everything was fixed there was only the No Zone and the Prime Zone.
Was that a lie?
Blaze said nothing for a second. Instead she glared at Mogul and said, "Be glad the Jeweled Scepter saved my Zone, Mogul. If not for that, then your mad quest would have ended with cessation from existence."
"Bold words coming from a so-called guardian of the Multiverse." Mogul chuckled. "And when you're dust…"
"Then my successor, be it my child or someone else, will know of you and defeat you. As will Sonic's own children or successor." Blaze smirked. "Because that is your fate, Mammoth Mogul. You will never achieve your dream of godhood. Not so long as heroes exist."
With that, the princess of the Sol Dimension turned and left the office, leaving only Silver and Sally in the room.
"You're not my master." Silver stated, looking at the mammoth in the eyes.
Mogul said nothing in response.
He looked down for a second before his hands clenched into fists and then glaring up at Mogul. "…So I'll fight you and stop you until you become the man I know you can be."
"I will never become him." Mogul spat out. "You're on a fool's errand."
"I'm already on one. I'm trying to make a better future. What's another to me?" Silver glanced at Sally, who nodded in response before walking with Silver to the elevators.
She glanced over his shoulder and watched Mogul sit in his chair.
His expression was troubled as he looked at Silver's back.
They entered the elevator alone, and when the doors shut she saw Silver's eyes water.
"I-I know he's not the master the previous me had." The tears rolled down his cheeks. "I know I never met him. I shouldn't be sad. I trade my parents and my friends in the future all the time with every trip I make to save it. But… But…"
Sally said nothing.
Instead, she pulled the hedgehog into a hug.
One that he gladly returned while sobbing into her shoulder.
Nothing more needed to be said.
"This van is going to get pretty cramped." Mina mentioned while glancing at the cat princess next to her.
Tangle was scratching her head as Silver used his powers to bring up the third row seats of the van up, which greatly reduced the trunk space.
It was where she and Blaze were going to sit for the trip into the desert.
Back to the city she had run from.
Mina was holding some of the bags full of various souvenirs that Blaze had acquired over her stay in the city. She had gotten enough that everyone had to help carry them all. Apparently the cat had used the fact she was both a princess and extremely wealthy to get anything that caught her eyes.
"It shouldn't be a problem." Blaze replied, her fur turning a slight shade darker as she observed the hedgehog and lemur struggle to fit in their bags. "After all, this zone is supposed to be only a few hours away. Even if our vehicle is… slightly crowded, we'll only need to bear with it for a short while."
The mongoose really hoped that the cat princess was right.
Sally decided that they didn't have any time to waste after learning the location of New Mobotropolis. That they needed to gather only the necessary supplies in case something happened on the way there before heading out.
The robian wanted to find out what had truly become of their home.
"The home I helped wreck…"
She felt something tap her face and saw Bowie there, smiling with his eye at her. She smirked back and said, "Yeah, I know."
She needed to stop thinking those thoughts, but it was easier said than done.
They just bounced around Mina's head, reminding her of every word or phrase that she called herself. Sometimes they were even what Sally had said to her, not just at the club but in the concert all that time ago. Back when Mina had been full of self-righteous indignation and anger at the wrong targets.
"Heck, sometimes I agree with them."
But… after she had apologized to Nicole and Sally, REALLY apologized to them…
…She didn't feel as bad as before.
It was as if the dark storm clouds in the singer's mind had parted.
"And…" Tangle gave the bags one final push with her tail before stumbling back as Silver closed the van doors. "Done! Okay, guys! We're good to go!"
Nodding, Blaze walked to the van and Mina followed her with Bowie in tow.
It was a bit awkward, but the princess and Mina were able to climb into the back seats even if they had to tilt their heads slightly to avoid coming into contact with the souvenir bags. The Guitar Wispon sat between them like an artificial divider.
"Ships are a lot more spacious than this thing…" Blaze muttered under her breath. "Never had to deal with a lack of space on Marine's ships…"
"You guys okay?" Sally asked from the passenger seat. "You don't have to go to the bathroom, do you?"
"Nah, we're fine!" Tangle shouted while crawling into her seat with Silver following her. "Let's just get out of here! I've gotten enough Studiopolis for a lifetime."
Whisper chuckled and began to drive the van out of the parking lot.
"You and me both." Mina said with a smirk. "By the way, do you mind opening the sunroof?"
"Oh yeah, sure." The lemur used her tail to open it and the wind came rushing in. "Why…?"
Mina got out of her seat and began to crawl up. Bowie let out a cry as he flew up and grabbed onto the collar of her shirt. She poked the top half of her body out of the sun roof and watched as Studiopolis was slowly but surely shrinking from view.
It had been the place where she had been at her lowest. When she had lost all hope and allowed for the bad feelings to get to her.
"I can't change what happened."
That was a simple fact.
But…
Mina cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "MAMMOTH STUDIOS SUCKS!"
"But I can try to move forward, step by step. I can try to be better. Like Sonic. Like Sally."
Mina then turned her body as she stared into the road ahead of her, where she and the others would be traveling to each the Mirage Desert Zone. Her right hand held her wisp friend as she gazed out, seeing the colors of the afternoon in front of her.
"I'm sorry I took so long guys. Had to get my head on straight. But I'm back with help."
Mina Mongoose smiled.
"And everything's going to be alright."
To Be Continued…
Notes: Man… I actually didn't expect to finish this chapter today.
But I guess two cut scenes and all of the Silver and Mammoth Mogul stuff in my head burning and begging to be written helped!
Writing the Silver and the Mammoth/Master Mogul stuff actually was something I didn't expect to be so emotionally invested in. I was legitimately tearing up as I wrote Master Mogul's farewell to both IDW Silver and the memory of Archie Silver. It's just a scene I wish we could've gotten.
And hey, you all got answers! Tying the Ancients into Archie lore was a fun little exercise because MAN, the Coming of the Chaos Emeralds not really having an explanation helped tremendously with slotting them in!
Anyways, hope you all enjoyed it! As always, be sure to leave a review and add to the TV Tropes Page!
Until next time!