"Julie…"
Julie-Su grimaced as she heard Saffron's weak moan behind her. She was carrying the bee girl on her back as they trekked through the desert, trying to ignore the sweat matting her fur and spines.
When her head finally cleared up from some of the concussion's aftereffects, the echidna's training instantly screamed at her to find shelter. Any shelter where there was shade. She would stand a much better chance of surviving for just a bit longer if she just found somewhere that shielded her from the sun and was only a few degrees cooler.
That was fine. That was all logical.
But her training also told her to leave Saffron for dead, and that reminded Julie-Su why she left the Dark Legion in the first place.
"Don't talk." She muttered to the bee. "Try to rest up, okay? You need to recover."
"It's… it's hard to hear you…" Saffron then stiffened and she whispered in a frightened tone. "W-What happened to my antennae?"
"…" There was no use lying to the girl. She couldn't hide the from the bee the fact that she was missing an entire piece of her body. "One of those Devil Dogs bit it off. It's gone. I stopped the bleeding but.."
Instantly, the bee pushed off of her and began flying away. "NO!"
The echidna cursed and turned on her heel. She ran after the bee who was swaying side to side, up and down as she flew in the opposite direction.
"Damn it!" There was no time. She couldn't waste any time trying to talk the bee down. Instead, she leapt up and dragged her fellow Chaotix member down to the ground. She bee struggled against her, but Julie-Su grit her teeth and held fast. "Saffron, we need to find shelter! We can't…!"
"Charmy! Charmy, no!" Saffron screamed, trying to escape from the echidna's grasp. "Let go of me! I have to get back! He's all alone and… and…!"
Julie-Su's eyes watered at the memory of Charmy, the poor former prince of the Golden Hive Colony. The former fiancé of Saffron who had struggled so much alongside the Chaotix in spite of the loss he suffered at the hands of Eggman, only to end up the victim of one of the mad doctor's Egg Grapes. He survived thanks to Sonic, but with a mind completely broken down by the process until what was left was the mind of a child.
The only solace that Saffron had was that Charmy still remembered her… but now with the innocent love of a child. And Saffron, who still loved Charmy, became his caretaker.
"I know, Saffron." She said shakily, holding on tighter to the bee. "I know."
Those simple words seemed to cut through to the distraught bee. She stopped struggling and relaxed, signaling to the echidna to let go of her. Slowly, the bee turned to Julie-Su and she could see the tears running down the bee's cheeks.
The pink echidna wanted to hug her. She wanted to pull her friend close and cry because she understood. She understood what it was like to be separated from the one she loved, and had the possibility she'd never see them again bouncing around in her head.
But no.
They didn't have the luxury.
Julie-Su pulled Saffron up and took the bee's right wrist in her left hand before they began to march through the desert again.
"Where are we?" Saffron asked. "Where did… where did Thrash…?"
"..." Julie-Su glanced up at the sun. Narrowing her eyes she cursed when she saw that it was way too big to be Mobius'. "He threw us in a different Zone!"
"Hey, she catches on quick!"
The pink echidna took out her blaster and fired at the source of the voice, only for a green blur to flash before her eyes. Her eyes widened when she saw a green hedgehog wearing a pair of red sunglasses and wearing a black leather jacket with red flames running down the sleeves was standing before her. His right hand was gripping her right wrist, pointing it up as she fired a second time.
She recognized him.
"Scourge?!"
The evil version of Sonic the Hedgehog grinned with his sharp teeth before his right fist crashed into Julie-Su's stomach. She let out a gasp as the super fast blow took the wind out of her.
"Got it in one, babe!" Scourge backhanded Saffron to the ground before leaning down over the echidna, lowering his shades to stare at her with cocky yet admiring green eyes. "I've gotta say, you sure look like crap."
"S-Screw you!"
The green hedgehog chuckled. "Aw, what's the matter? Cheesed off that Rad Red's old man and that poser isn't around to help you out of this jam?"
"Scourge, that's enough."
Julie-Su looked to the left and saw that there were the other members of the Destructix. The giggling and mad Flying Frog, Predator Hawk who stood with his arms crossed and smirking condescendingly at the two members of the Chaotix, the sneering Lighting Lynx who seemed ready to fight at a moment's notice, the stoic and huge Sgt. Simian, and Fiona Fox. The traitorous former Freedom Fighter also had her arms crossed and was looking off to the side, seeming to want to be anywhere but here.
And in front of them all was an albino echidna with black markings that matched his black eyes. His yellow pupils gleamed which seemed to shine just as much as the swirling pattern on his head as well as the golden rings around his forearms and lower legs.
Doctor Finitevus.
Scourge growled. "I'm not your lackey, Doc. You don't order me around if you know what's good for you."
Julie-Su couldn't help but notice that the other members of the Destructix were now tensing around the mad doctor, glaring at him and not looking at the echidna or Saffron.
Did something happen between them?
Finitevus rolled his eyes and waved his hand. "Fine, fine. Can you please stop this foolishness? They're already helpless and in our power."
The green hedgehog smirked. "That's better."
"You…!" Julie-Su hissed in hate. The mad echidna scientist who had helped to turn Knuckles into Enerjak and kickstart the events that lead to the death of her loved one's father was right in front of her! "What the hell are you doing here?!"
The mad scientist chuckled. "Oh, I was simply passing through on a little research trip… and spotted the Tasmanian Devil dumping you into this Zone. Out of curiosity, has he killed the Guardian?"
"As if Knuckles would lose to him!" Julie-Su shot back. Realization struck her. She remembered their encounter in Downunda, how he seemed to know Thrash back then when he just seemed like some random jerk that had a thing against echidnas. "You… You knew what he was going to do?!"
The doctor shook his head. "Honestly, it astounds me that you held no suspicions. Or kept an eye on him afterwards. What do they teach young Echidnas nowadays?"
"Better get back to studying!" Flying Frog cackled out. "Because she just flunked today's test big time!"
Predator Hawk and Scourge chuckled, while the other members of the Destructix remained silent.
"Please." Saffron begged. "Please, you came here through a Warp Right, right? Please, just help us get back home. W-We need to stop Thrash and…!"
"No." Finitevus said casually. "There is no need."
Julie-Su's heart sank. "What are you…?"
"Because the Tasmanian Devil has already deposited the remains of the echidna race…" The albino echidna pointed to the right. "…about five miles south of here."
The pink echidna's eyes widened. Her body began to shake. This couldn't be happening. Knuckles… he was on his way to Albion when communication was cut off! And Sonic and the rest of Team Fighters was supposed to be there! Even if Thrash had gone there immediately after depositing her and Saffron into this zone, someone should've been able to stop him!
Right?
"Given the numbers and weapons, I would say that the remnants of the Dark Egg Legion will be in control of the group soon… should they wake up first." The mad scientist smirked. "For all the good it will do, as I doubt many of them were carrying survival gear with this Zone's conditions in mind."
"You bastard…" Julie-Su felt tears roll down her cheeks. "You bastard! We're your people! You're going to just let us die out?! Just like that?!"
Finitevus actually glared at her. "The Echidna race is composed of fools. The Brotherhood and Dark Legion squabbling like children in dirt, never growing or advancing to truly lead our planet to a golden age. I gave you Enerjak and you along with the Guardian rejected him. A fate like this feels more than appropriate." He paused. Then, he began to rub his chin. "However… perhaps you can learn."
For a second, Julie-Su allowed herself to hope. Even if she knew it was foolish. Even if she knew that whatever this was it would benefit a monster like Finitevus.
The albino echidna pointed ahead. "Fifteen miles west of here, there are ruins. Ruins that contain the knowledge of those who came before. Who gifted the fruit of knowledge to the echidna race and started our path to enlightenment. There you will find your path out of this Zone…" He grinned. "…And I shall observe as you fools toil and tinker until ignorance is driven out of you."
Finitevus then threw a ring to the area to his left. The ring grew in size before it began to shimmer and glow, creating a portal that Finitevus walked towards. "Tell the elders of your tribe that those ruins belong to Those Who Walked Before. You best start your journey."
When the mad scientist disappeared, Scourge let out a groan. "Man, he really does love the sound of his own voice." He grinned at the two Chaotix members. "In case you haven't noticed, I ain't exactly working for the Doc anymore."
"Then why are you with him?" Saffron asked. "Why are you letting this happen?"
"Because the Doc's trying to find something that'll help out with my own plans for Sonic and your Zone. It's a 'I scratch your back and you scratch mine' kinda deal. Doesn't mean I gotta do anything he says." Scourge looked back at Julie-Su and asked, "Say, wanna join the Destructix?"
Julie-Su blinked and spluttered out, "W-What?!"
"My crew is great, but even I gotta admit there are way too many dudes." The thumbed over to his gang, who were all glaring at the hedgehog in annoyance. "Two more chicks on the team evens things out in my opinion. What do you say? Work for me and in exchange I get you off this sandlot?"
It was tempting.
Very tempting.
But…
"What about my people?" The pink echidna asked, pointing at the direction Finitevus directed her towards.
The former king of Moebius asked, "What ABOUT them?"
Well that made this decision easier.
Julie-Su looked at Saffron, who looked down before closing her eyes and nodding at her, before she glared at the green hedgehog. "Go to hell, Evil Sonic."
The green hedgehog shrugged and brought up his sunglasses. "Suit yourself. No free ride for you. Just know that if you try anything…" He pointed to the rest of his crew while walking backwards to the Warp Ring. "…It'll be the quickest suicide in the history of the multiverse."
He stepped through the portal, followed by Flying Frog and the other members of the Destructix.
Fiona was the last member to approach the ring and Julie-Su spat out, "Guess Sally was right about you. Willing to let an entire race die just because your boyfriend said so. You really are scum."
The fox paused, but didn't turn back towards her.
"Yeah, I'm scum." She muttered. "But look at what being a good person got you."
With that, Fiona Fox entered the ring and the portal vanished.
"Julie!"
"Wha-?" Julie-Su blinked and looked around. She was standing near the edge of a cliff just outside the forest of the Marble Garden. On the other side of the cliff was the familiar Sandopolis Desert, the winds blowing across the dunes and the pyramids that looked like toys from the distance.
"When did I get here?"
Saffron was flying to her, her face filled with fear as she asked, "W-What are you doing here? You just wandered off without saying anything!"
The pink echidna bit her lip and closed her right eye. "Damn it. Keep it together. You're back home. It's just a desert. One you're never going to set foot in so long as you can help it." Letting go of her lip she relaxed and turned around. "Just reminding myself how much I hate the desert now." She walked back to the Marble Garden ruins. "Sorry I worried you."
"But you didn't say anything." Saffron crossed her arms while flying beside her. "You're not okay, Julie."
Julie-Su's shoulders sagged. "It won't happen again. I'm sorry for worrying you, but we've got more important things to deal with than my screwed up brain."
She could deal with it when they rescued Knuckles.
They could sit down and talk. He would listen to everything she had to say, hold her while she weeped into his chest as she confessed all the things she had gone through and did to get back home, and then everything would be alright.
The nightmares would stop. The blackouts would stop. Everything new and horrible in Julie-Su's life would be put to rest thanks to the simple fact that the boy she loved was with her again.
The bee frowned. "Why won't you just talk to me, Julie? I know what you're going through is horrible but…"
"But nothing. I'm not saying anything because you already know everything that's wr-." Julie-Su stopped and looked at the remains of a badnik propped up by a pillar. It looked like one of Eggman's old ones, a Buzz Bomber, but the color scheme was wrong. It wasn't the familiar shades of yellow and dark blue. Now it was purple and black. It even seemed less threatening, less angular and more round. "…This is new."
She picked up the head with her left arm and inspected it. From the looks of things it had been destroyed relatively recently.
RADIOCARBON DATING SCAN COMPLETE. BADNIK UNIT CONSTRUCTED THREE MONTHS AGO.
The pink echidna narrowed her right eye when her artificial left one wired the message to her brain. "Well, things are now starting to make a lot more sense."
"Huh?"
Julie-Su tossed the badnik head back to the ground. "The remains of the Egg Carrier we found scattered around and the destroyed badniks. Eggman must've invaded Angel Island after Thrash threw us into the Warp Ring."
The mad doctor probably wrecked all havoc onto the island to get to the Master Emerald. So much that Knuckles had to move the shrine into the main island rather than have it remain on its own separate floating one.
"That's why everything's so weird. That's why all the traps are screwed up." The pink echidna continued to walk with her friend following her. "Knuckles and the others had to fix everything while tossing away everything that Eggman left behind."
That had to be it.
That was what made the most sense.
Remington and the others just didn't see the connection yet. That's why they kept saying something was wrong!
"It… would make sense." Saffron flew ahead of Julie-Su and picked up a Moto Bug. "But then why would Eggman use these old designs? I thought he retired them for the Egg Pawns."
"Scraping the bottom of the barrel? I dunno. That guy and his nephew are crazy." The ex-Dark Legionnaire glanced to the left and watched as a group of Chao were playing catch with a fruit. "But it still didn't work. Knuckles and the others kicked him off the island and had to rebuild. That's what took them so lo-."
She paused and her eyes widened when she spotted something.
A hut.
One that actually looked maintained… and had a pair of metal twin-spiked claws hanging to the left of the door.
Without saying anything to Saffron, Julie-Su rushed over to it. Her heart was pounding with each step she took.
"Maybe they didn't search hard enough! Maybe he was just taking a break and they just hadn't explored this part of the island yet!"
"Julie!" Saffron chased after her. "Don't go running off like that! What are you…?!"
"Knuckles!" The pink echidna shouted, bounding through the door with a smile on her face. "Get up, you big dummy! I'm here! I…"
The euphoria she felt instantly left her when her eyes adjusted to the light.
There was no bed in this hut. Instead, the walls and floor were lined with treasures.
Broken and small statues of echidnas wearing Soumerica-styled garb, pieces of tablets with hieroglyphics that she didn't recognize, crude colored stone necklaces and wristbands were on shelves. While on the floor were jars filled with glittering and unwashed gems of various colors and sizes.
"Oh…" The bee muttered when she got a good look. "Oh, Julie. I'm so…"
Julie-Su closed her eye, fought back the tears that wanted to come out of her eye, and shook her head. "No. No, don't be. It's my fault for getting my hopes up."
There was a note on the top of one of the stone jars. Picking it up she opened it and read it.
Rouge & Sonic: If anything goes missing, I KNOW it's one of you two. So don't try anything if you know what's good for you.
P.S: Rouge, stay away from the Master Emerald!
- Knuckles.
Julie-Su couldn't help but chuckle at the letter in her boyfriend's crude handwriting. It sounded just like Knuckles. He knows the culprit would be one of two people, so if anything's stolen he'll go after one of them and then he'll either find his culprit or figure out the culprit through process of elimination.
Still…
Her eye narrowed. "When'd he get so chummy with that bat?"
Rouge the Bat… the woman who promised to actually steal Knuckles from her just to spite her. A flirtatious and devious jewel thief who didn't seem to care who got hurt so long as she got what she wanted. There was a good reason why not a lot of people within either the Chaotix or Freedom Fighters particularly liked her, save for Knuckles who never really got to see the bat's truly bad side.
Her eye caught on another piece of paper. It was a photograph of Knuckles and the Chaotix, smiling at Carnival Night Zone. She walked over to it and frowned.
She could see Espio, Vector, Charmy, and Mighty. But..
"Where's Ray? Where's Saffron, Heavy, Bomb, and… and me?"
Was this a photo of a night with the older guys? No, that wouldn't make sense. Mighty would've brought Ray along regardless!
Julie-Su looked around. In fact, where were photos of her and Knuckles?
"Did he get rid of them all because of Thrash? Did they hurt that much and…?"
"Julie!"
The pink echidna's thoughts were interrupted with her friend's cry. She ran outside of Knuckles' hut and circled around the back, drawing her blaster. "Saffron, what's wro-?"
She stopped when she spotted the bee flying around a red quad bike. It looked brand new with a design that just screamed 'Knuckles', with headlights that were slanted to look angry as well as spikes coming out of the rims and the plates over the top of the wheels.
Saffron giggled as she sat in the seat. "I never knew Knuckles had a bike!"
"N-Neither did I…"
Why would he need a bike? Didn't the Warp Rings take them everywhere?
Saffron took off a piece of paper from the dashboard. "It's a note for Knuckles. It says 'Told you I would repair the Land Breaker! I look forward to seeing you in the next race! - President Dodon Pa'." The bee frowned. "I never heard of a president like that… is it an Overlander name?"
Julie-Su didn't know. And quite honestly she didn't care.
Instead she looked at the dashboard and saw an electronic screen displaying the picture of the bike. "Woah…" She reached out with her right hand and pressed on it before seeing the image change. It now displayed a menu showing various modes.
SELECT YOUR MODE: CAR, PLANE, or BOAT?
The pink echidna stared at the screen for a few seconds before grinning.
"Saffron, I think we found our ticket out of here."
"Yoyoyo! What's happin'?! This is DJ Professor K, bringin' you the news and tunes you won't get from anywhere else! Crank up the volume and blast those stereos! This is the Islands' number one pirate broadcasting station with the real supersonic sound, JET SET RADIO!"
Things had… certainly changed since Julie-Su and Saffron had been gone.
It wasn't hard to notice when they began to approach land. Knuckles' bike was really impressive. It went at speeds comparable to an Extreme Gear! But Julie-Su's elation at this quickly diminished they they received radio waves and, rather than it being the chatter they expected from the Freedom Fighters or armies with occasional pirate radio stations, what they got was something completely different.
Stations dedicated to a bunch of people screaming about politics whose terminology flew over the echidna's head, stations dedicated to interviews with writers and something called 'politicians', music stations filled with bands and artists Julie-Su had never heard of before, and something called podcasts.
"You get anything, Saffron?" She asked while looking down at the ground below. There were roads, but they were long black things with yellow markings in the middle. They reminded her a lot about the roads of Echidnaopolis and what Knuckles had told her about the hidden city of Station Square.
"Nothing yet!" The bee cried while holding her tighter. "And please keep your eyes on the sky!"
"What are you worried about?! You can fly!"
"That's not the point!"
The pink echidna shook her head in exasperation. Saffron was focusing on reaching the Chaotix or the Kingdom of Acorn using her cybernetics while Julie-Su focused on driving them there.
Only problem?
Everything was different.
The mountains, the skyline, the fact that there were roads…
"No. It's just that I never paid much attention." Julie-Su narrowed her eyes. "We used Warp Rings to get everywhere. Never had to learn where I was if I could basically just instantly go there. And the roads are probably new. The Kingdom must've gotten a real foothold on this territory to be able to build roads for vehicles."
The radio host continued to jabber on as these thoughts bounced in Julie-Su's head. "Things have gotten mad crazy lately! Those crazy thugs Rough and Tumble were broken out of prison by someone, and nobody can figure out who did it! Meanwhile, everyone's scratchin' their heads on where the heck Metal Sonic is! That's real bad news when Sonic and his friends are still on their little Starfall getaway! Things are startin' to get real over in the Islands, so y'all better watch your back! Professor K's gonna get back to you with some more news later, for now let's take things down a notch with this next track!"
An electric guitar came on the speakers and a female singer that Julie-Su had never heard before began to sing.
"A light wash opens the sky,
On 79th, the glow in your eyes~!
Everyone is sedated,
This was the strangest night of our lives~!"
Growling, she turned the bike's radio off.
"Julie?" Saffron tentatively asked. "Why'd you turn it off?"
"Didn't like the music." She lied and glanced down. There seemed to be a refueling station on the side of the road, if the vehicles parked and some Mobians pumping fuel in their cars were of any indication. "And I think it's time we got some real directions to speed things up. Hold on."
Saffron held tighter as Julie-Su banked to the left. When they were close to the ground the ex-Dark Legionnaire pressed on the option for Car Mode on the Land Breaker's screen, causing the wheels to move themselves back into their proper place before making contact with the road. They bounced slightly before the pink echidna turned to the left.
When she parked the bike she hopped off with her friend flying right behind her. Looking up, she noticed that the mobians that were refueling their cars were looking at her strangely. One walrus mobian was even looking away, as if he were flustered by something.
She winced. It was the eye, wasn't it?
Using her left hand, she moved some of her hair to cover the artificial left eye before walking towards the small building next to the refueling station.
She could probably talk to the guard stationed here.
But when she went inside she noticed something.
Namely that this didn't look like an outpost.
Various snacks and other little supplies were on display, prices underneath for each item. There was a freezer filled with what looked like bags of ice and a refrigerator unit filled with drinks. A sign hung in between two doors, one blue and one pink, that said 'FOR PAYING CUSTOMERS ONLY'.
"What is this place?" Saffron spoke the words for Julie-Su as she landed on her feet and walked over to one of the refrigerators. She took out a can that had the label Chaos Cola on it. "I… I don't recognize this brand…."
"H-Hello? Can I help you?'
The pink echidna's head whipped towards an alpaca mobian that was wearing some sort of uniform, who winced at her stare.
She took a deep breath before letting it out. She needed to calm down. She wasn't in a hostile Zone. She didn't have to watch her back because of the very real possibility Lien-Da or one of her followers might decide to just kill her. She was home. And the territory was secure. Walking over to the counter she put her left arm over it and asked, "Yeah, we need to get to New Mobotropolis. Can you give us some directions?"
The alpaca blinking at her. "New Mobotropolis? Where's that?"
"Where's… are you serious?!" Julie-Su waved around her. "It's the home of the guys who secured this place from Eggman!"
There was no way someone didn't know about New Mobotropolis! It was the place where Eggman made all those boasts about how he could destroy Sonic and the Kingdom of Acorn anytime he wished only for them to beat him back! Time and time again, the mad scientist tried to take the city only for it to never work! The closest he ever got was when the Iron Queen took over, and Eggman was completely foaming-in-the-mouth nuts at that time!
The guy, however, just continued to give her that clueless stare.
"I… I really don't know a city by that name." He scratched the back of his head. "I'm really sorry."
Before Julie-Su could push more on it, Saffron was by her side and smiling nervously. "It's no problem at all! For now, can you please direct us to the nearest city? Preferably one not under Eggman occupation."
The alpaca relaxed. "Oh yeah, that's easy! Seaside City is about fifteen miles from here. Just keep going left on the road from here and you'll find it." He frowned. "Though… Eggman occupation? That crazy doctor hasn't controlled this area since the war… and I guess the Metal Virus if you count that." The alpaca shivered. "If you call that him being in control."
Julie-Su's eye narrowed. "War? Metal Virus? What are you…?"
"Thank you." The bee smiled at Julie-Su. "Let's get going!"
"Wait!" The alpaca shouted, causing both of the Chaotix members to pause. "Um… you." He pointed at the pink echidna. "I'm sorry if this seems… really personal." He looked away and began to mutter. "But… I was just wondering… what are your pronouns?"
Julie-Su blinked. Of all the questions she expected to be asked of her, this wasn't one of them. "…Okay, what?"
"Y-Y'know…" He pressed his fingers together. "The gender you consider yourself as. He and him, she and her, they and them… that kind of thing?"
"…" Julie-Su slammed her hands on the counter, feeling her face turn red hot as she shouted, "W-What kind of a question is that?! I'm a woman, damn it!"
"Okay! Okay! I'm sorry!" The alpaca sputtered out, thrusting his hands in front of him to shield himself. "I-It's just that you're not wearing pants or a skirt, but your top is…!"
"What's wearing pants got to do with me being a woman?!"
"I can't believe I'm doing this…" Julie-Su muttered as she stepped inside the clothing store, the name HONEY'S hanging just overhead the entrance in yellow cursive. "Why's everyone making such a big deal over freakin' pants?!"
"Well, look on the bright side!" Saffron smiled nervously. "We needed new clothes anyways."
Julie-Su grunted as she glanced around. The store reminded her a lot of the one from Echidnaopolis, with mannequins of mobians wearing various outfits and the clothes being folded with the prices displayed on small stands. Various mobians were milling around checking out the wares, with only a few looking up at the pink echidna before hurriedly looking away.
In fact, a lot of Seaside City reminded the ex-Dark Legionnaire about the former hidden city.
When they had finally seen the coast they had been shocked. There were various skyscrapers made of glass and steel that stretched to the sky, brick buildings that housed various mobians, and paved roads that people drove their vehicles on.
From what Julie-Su remembered, not many mobians had cars. After all, vehicles like that weren't something everyone could afford or needed. Not when the Freedom Fighters and the kingdom's forces needed them more.
But now, everyone seemed to have some sort of car.
"Is the kingdom secure in its foothold here?" The pink echidna thought as she stared at a mannequin molded to look like a hedgehog wearing a dress. "Does it have to do something with that war the alpaca guy mentioned?"
That had to be it. The invasion that Eggman launched against Angel Island… it was probably a small part of a larger invasion. An all-or-nothing campaign to rid all his enemies at once, rather than just focusing on New Mobotropolis.
Maybe even that whole Metal Virus thing was involved.
"Hey, I'm going to check out the skirts." Saffron pointed to the section of the store. "Wanna come?"
Julie-Su scoffed. "Please, as if I'd willingly put on a skirt. It's just a step below a dress."
The bee puffed out her cheeks. "Come on! I bet you'd look good in one!"
"Pass." It was already a pain that somehow there was some sort of new rule that women now had to wear something to cover up their lower halves. "I'm going to take a look at the shorts."
After the whole embarrassing encounter at the fuel outpost, Julie-Su had begun to realize that those reactions from outside had nothing to do with her eye… well, not completely anyway. It seemed like during the time they had been gone, some sort of new and hard rule had been put in place for those of the female gender.
"Naugus became the king, right? With how he brainwashed those morons in New Mobotropolis I wouldn't put it past him to convince everyone to go along with this crap."
Still, if it'd stop future encounters like what had happened in the outpost she'd put on some pants and deal.
"But the moment I'm back on Angel Island I'm taking them off." She shook her head. "I'll have to talk to Knuckles about this. Catch up on what I missed, like how much territory the kingdom regained after the war."
Even she could see stuff had changed. Like the construction of this city! Only Nicole could have built something like this in a matter of months, which meant her exile must've ended! She bet that Sonic and his friends were happy about that.
The pink echidna picked up a black t-shirt on the way to the pants selection and went in front of a mirror. She unfolded it and held it in front of her body, looking at her reflection.
Her reflection…
She'd changed since she along with her people and Saffron had been exiled from Mobius. She'd gained some muscle in her upper body, had to because of the upgrades in her artificial left arm. She'd grown her hair out, not out of some fashion statement but simply because she forgot to cut it with a knife. There simply was too much to do. Stuff like cutting her hair was unimportant unless it impeded her combat ability.
And her eye…
Julie-Su lifted her left hand and touched the silver metal of her artificial eye.
Julie-Su's right eye blearily opened as the artificial light of lamps hung overhead, barely lighting the room that the pink echidna found herself in.
"Oh wonderful. You're alive." A voice filled with sadistic mirth chirped out. "That means our supplies won't be wasted after all."
"W-Wha…?"
Her head felt like it was going to split open while the left side of her face felt like it was on fire. The pain… it wasn't like anything the pink echidna had ever experienced before.
Why couldn't she open her left eye?
Blinking with her right, she looked up at the smirking face of Lien-Da.
"Have to admit, that was an impressive display back there." Her half-sister leaned over and seemed to appraise her from head to tow. "You actually managed to do something useful. The trash the Dark Brotherhood sent after us didn't know what hit them."
Right… right. While they had been studying the ruins of Those Who Walked Before, or the Ancients as the elders in the Dark Legion called them, a platoon of Dark Brotherhood soldiers had arrived. Somehow those crazy techno-cultist echidnas that made even the Legion look sane had found them, demanding payment for the theft of the Brotherhood's technology that the Dark Legion used to escape the Twilight Zone in blood.
She along with Saffron and members of the Brotherhood of Guardians had gone down to meet them and…
"Oh course, they got their own licks in." Lien-Da clicked her tongue as a member of the Dark Legion ran up next to her and presented a tray. She picked up two objects from it.
One was a cybernetic eye.
The other was a piece of thick leather.
Julie-Su's blood ran cold. "No…" She raised her arms to try and swat at her half sister, only for them to stop part-way through. She looked side to side desperately and saw that her arms and legs were bound. "No!"
"Oh, don't be such a baby." The Kommissar of the Dark Legion inclined her head as a hand placed itself over the pink echidna's forehead while the other opened her lower jaw. "Think of this as getting stronger for the sake of those Albion weaklings and that bee girl of yours."
"YOU B-!"
Lien-Da shoved the leather into Julie-Su's mouth, muffling the echidna girl's screams as she felt straps were being secured to her forehead. The pink echidna could only stare in horror as one of the Dark Legion handed her half-sister a scalpel.
"You might want to bite down and think about the Guardian who failed you." The Kommissar stated with a smirk as she raised the blade. "This will hurt."
"-ello? Hola? Ciao? Bonjour?"
Julie-Su let out a gasp as she stumbled back, clutching her head as she stared back at her reflection again. For a second she didn't know where she was, and that terrified the pink echidna to her core. But then the memories came flooding back in, and the panic began to slowly subside.
"You're in a clothing store. A clothing store in a new city that the Kingdom of Acorn set up and Nicole helped to build. It's just not familiar because you've been gone for a while. Things changed while you were gone, but it's not a big deal. That's just how time works. THAT'S IT."
She took in a deep breath before letting it out. Then, she noticed someone else was behind her thanks to the mirror.
Julie-Su turned around and looked at a Mobian cat with amber-colored fur and a peach muzzle. Her hair was jet-black and tied into two ponytails. She wore a red hairband and white laced cloth hair barrettes around her ponytails, alongside a red sleeveless dress with a black collar and white laces on the lower rim. She also had a pair of white angel wings on the back of her dress, which also had black outlines around the waist, and a black area on her front skirt with white fasteners. Her gloves were white with red backs and laced cuffs, black arm wrappers around her wrists, and red and black boots.
The cat stared at her with two orange eyes that looked concerned as she asked, "Hey, are you alright?"
"I-I…" The pink echidna shook her head. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Just dealing with some stuff."
"Wow! Honey is so thoughtful!"
Julie-Su noticed that there were even more mobians looking at them. They were whispering to each other while holding up strange slim rectangle things in their hands. Some of them were flashing white lights or emitting a blinking red light… were they some sort of camera?
She could hear the whispers from the other mobians, whose eyes seemed to be going from the cat to her in equal measure.
"Yeah, that girl looks super lost!"
"I still can't believe she's here! Doesn't she have, like, a mansion or something?"
"Haven't you heard? Honey does surprise visits to all her stores!"
"Oh, I hope I get an autograph! No, wait! Will she think I'm lame if I ask her to sign my top?!"
"Hey, why isn't that girl wearing pants?"
"Forget the pants! What's up with those robo-OW!"
"How insensitive can you be?!"
"Honey…" The pink echidna muttered, her brow furrowing. Why did that name sound familiar? Sounds like something that one of her friends mentioned before. She racked her brain before her eyes widened. "Wait… you're that fashion designer Amy likes!"
Right! Back when she and Amy were training together, occasionally the pink hedgehog girl would gush about things that Julie-Su didn't particularly care about but would listen for her student's sake. About how she got a new dress from some fashion line called Honey's!
The cat's concerned eyes widened before she grinned. "Amy? As in Amy Rose? THE Amy Rose? As in, world renowned hero and former director of the Restoration Amy Rose?!"
"…director of the Restoration?" Was that some new branch of the Freedom Fighters?
They put Amy in charge?!
"That's so AWESOME!" Honey the Cat gushed as she held Julie-Su's hand. "She wears clothes from my old Dream-Casters line, and because of her the backlog got totally wiped out! People couldn't get enough of it! I had to relaunch it as part of the Rose Collection to meet the demand!"
"That's… great I guess." The cat's closeness was starting to make Julie-Su uncomfortable. "Dunno why people would go crazy over some dresses."
The cat, along with everyone else, gasped as if they had been struck. Heck, their eyes looked like they had just witnessed the echidna kick a mobini puppy!
But the cat recovered and she smirked. "A doubter, huh? Well, I'll let you know why people love my stuff!" She turned on her heel, faced the onlookers, and pressed her right index finger to her cheek. "It's because if you don't look sweet, then you're not wearing Honey!"
Everyone clapped at that, smiles stretching from ear to ear while they kept taking pictures within their weird cameras. It was making the ex-Dark Legionnaire feel uncomfortable, and she spotted Saffron at the back of the crowd looking at the scene in bewilderment.
Julie-Su did the one thing she could do.
She mouthed "Help me!" To the bee while inclining her head at the cat.
The bee flew forward and smiled at Honey. "Uh, ma'am… Thank you for being concerned about my friend. It was very kind of you."
"Oh, it's no biggie!" The cat waved her hand. "You're friend just looked a bit lost, and I thought I could help! Especially since she could use some pants…"
"What is it with pants now?" The echidna grumbled half to herself. "Nobody complained about it before…"
"…and I wanted to offer some advice! Your anteater friend seemed to be having some trouble…"
"Wait." Julie-Su looked at the cat. "Anteater?"
Did… did this girl seriously think she was an anteater?!
"I'm not an anteater!" The pink echidna shouted, startling the cat and Saffron as she pointed at herself. "I'm an echidna! Why would you think I'm a freaking anteater?!"
Everyone went silent at that.
Julie-Su looked from the cat to the faces of the onlookers, each one of them staring at her with wide and disbelieving eyes.
Why?
They were acting like they had never seen an echidna before!
"An… Echidna?" Honey the Cat's eyes narrowed before she took Julie-Su and Saffron by the hand. "Come with me."
The cat moved and pulled the two with her, and Julie-Su glanced at the bee who shrugged at her. Sighing, the members of the Chaotix followed the fashion designer to a room in the back. But she could hear the mutters from the onlookers behind her.
"Wait… did that girl say she's an echidna?"
"No way… Knuckles is supposed to be the last one, right?"
"But she kinda does look like Knuckles… just pink and with some prosthetics!"
"Yeah, but don't anteaters also kinda look like Knuckles?"
"Don't be racist!"
"How is that racist?!"
When they went through the door, Julie-Su saw that it contained a small office with various outfits hanging from the walls. Honey closed the door behind them and leaned back on it, humming while observing the two.
"So… you're an echidna." Honey got up and circled around the pink echidna, looking her up and down. "Gotta say, you do look a lot like Knuckles."
"So I've been told." Julie-Su rolled her eyes while crossing her arms. "Why are you acting like this is the first time you've seen an echidna?"
"Well, aside from Knuckles…" The cat stopped and put her hands on her hips. "You are the only other echidna I've ever seen." She looked at Saffron and motioned at the ex-Dark Legionnaire. "And you don't seem shocked by this. You knew?"
"I… yeah, of course I knew!" Saffron seemed shaken by the question. And Julie-Su couldn't blame her. This was a line of questioning neither of them ever expected to have to answer. "We're partners!"
"Hm…" Honey rubbed her chin while looking Julie-Su square in the eyes. "Don't mean to offend… but you look like you've been through a lot. Where have you been all this time?"
Well.
That was a loaded question.
The pink echidna let out a bitter chuckle. "Where that Tasmanian Devil chucked us. He hoped that he could kill me and the rest of my people." She thumbed at herself and declared, "But we made it back! We managed to cross time and space to get back home! It'll take a lot more than some crazy Tasmanian Devil to kill the echidna race!"
It sounded nice.
Nice and simple.
No need to think about the trek across the desert, where her and thirst became acquaintances while she heard some of the echidnas fall from heatstroke behind her.
No need to mention the pain and heartbreak as one night passed onto the next, fearing another attack from the Dark Brotherhood.
No need to talk about the fear she felt when the scientists turned the gateway into Cyber Space on, and Lien-Da forced Julie-Su to go in first while holding Lara-Le at gunpoint.
No need to relive the journey through Cyber Space and going from one Zone to the next, hoping beyond hope to find her Mobius while protecting her people from the dangers of the Multiverse…
It was just a simple little adventure. They were gone for a bit and now they were back.
That was it.
"Wow…" Honey's eyes widened as she looked at Julie-Su. "You mean there are more echidnas?"
"Yes! They're on Angel Island." Saffron stood next to Julie-Su. "They really need help! They need supplies and…"
"Say no more!" The cat held up her hand before placing it on her chest. "I'd be more than happy to help!"
Wait, what?"
"You?" Julie-Su pointed at the fashion designer. "You want to help?"
"Of course!" The cat looked pleased with herself. "You may not know this, but being a world renowned fashion designer gives me a lot of money and connections! It'll be a piece of cake to get the Restoration over to Angel Island to help the echidnas!"
Seriously… there was that name again. Restoration….
"Maybe the Freedom Fighters just rebranded?"
No, that didn't sound right…
"Plus…" A smirk grew on the cat's face. "I'll get a ton of self-promotion out of this! And I'll get a look at traditional echidna clothing for a new line, if your people allow it! Speaking of which…" She pointed at the pink echidna and Saffron. "…you two are going to get new outfits, personally picked by me!"
"Oh, that's wonderful!" Saffron shouted, smiling from ear to ear. "Thank you so much!"
"Think nothing of it!" Honey was then by Julie-Su's side, putting her left arm around her shoulders while raising her right arm that had that strange rectangle camera held in its hand. It showed the image of Honey making a kissy face as well as Julie-Su's bewildered expression and Saffron's incredulous stare. She pressed on the glass and there was a flash of light before the cat untangled herself from them. "You don't mind if I post this on my social media accounts, do you?"
"Uh…" The ex-Dark Legionnaire scratched the back of her head. "I guess not?"
"Sweet!" Honey hummed to herself while turning around, messing around some more with her weird camera.
Slowly, Julie-Su turned to her fellow Chaotix member and mouthed, "Social media?"
All she got was another shrug from the bee.
Well, at least she wasn't the only one.
Saffron politely coughed and the cat turned her attention back to them. "Um, thank you so much for your help. We'll be sure to tell Knuckles, the rest of our teammates in the Chaotix, and the Freedom Fighters…"
"The Chaotix?" Honey blinked at them. "You mean those detectives?"
Julie-Su and Saffron stared at the cat, their mind going over what she just said.
Slowly, the pink echidna asked, "What do you mean by detectives?"
"Team Cha-o-tix!
They're detectives you want on your side~!
Team Cha-o-tix!
They have directives, tracking down your crime~!
Come along for the ride~!
Truth can run but not hide~!
For long, the game is on now~!""
"I can't believe that idiot!" Julie-Su shouted as she raced down the street with the Land Breakter. "He actually went and did it!"
"J-Julie! Slow down!" Saffron screamed while holding on to her. "You don't need to get this upset!"
"I told him! I told Vector that getting a theme song was a waste of money!" The pink echidna grit her teeth. "And what did he do the moment I was gone?! He went and ordered the stupid thing to be made!"
It was back when Julie-Su had first joined the Chaotix after defecting from the Dark Legion, back when they were just hanging out in Echidnaopolis while Knuckles was busy reconnecting with his family. They didn't have much to do, so they'd talk about stupid stuff like how many kunai Espio could balance on his horn with his ninja training or if Mighty could crush a piece of coal into a diamond. Vector the Crocodile proposed the idea that they pool their funds into giving the Chaotix their very own theme song, saying that every cool crew needed a cool theme song.
Julie-Su pointed out that it was a stupid waste of money, and commissioning a theme song would just make them look like a bunch of losers.
It kickstarted another argument between her and the crocodile, but Espio and Mighty put an end to it by saying they also didn't see much point in a theme song. The crocodile pouted like a little kid and the whole thing was never brought up again.
But now?
"TEAM CHAOTIX~!"
Now she knew that the stupid crocodile was just waiting for his opportunity.
"Team Chaotix!" Vector's voice proudly declared. "We're the detectives who'll solve your case! No, money down! We don't take refunds, because no matter what we'll complete the job! Give us a call at 555-55-"
Julie-Su shut the radio off and narrowed her eyes at the building Honey had described to them as the office of the Chaotix Detective Agency. A small white building with slanted red roofs.
Apparently, the Chaotix were no longer helping out Knuckles with guarding Angel Island or the Master Emerald. According to Honey, they had become private detectives whose members were just down to Vector, Espio, and Charmy.
"Why?"
That was a question that had been bouncing around Julie-Su's head. Why? Why the heck were the Chaotix not with Knuckles? Why were they detectives instead of helping to find Julie-Su and Saffron or helping with the war?!
"Unless… they became detectives to try and find us?"
That… made some kind of sense. Maybe they became detectives to find some sort of clue to Thrash's location or to find where he had exiled the Echidnas to! Becoming detectives was just a means to an end!
"…but couldn't they have just done that without becoming detectives?"
No, no she was thinking too hard about it! It made sense! There would be no other reason to become detectives otherwise!
"Then… why aren't Mighty and Ray with them?"
Maybe they were just helping out in New Mobotropolis! Yeah, that had to be it!
Within a second, they reached the front of the building that their teammates were staying at. Parking underneath a tree, Julie-Su hopped off and looked up at the building.
This was it.
She was finally going to see her teammates. Her friends.
Her… her family.
She had missed them all during her time away. Each day making her wish they were there with her to fight alongside her and offer her a helping hand. Vector whose loud mouth matched a big heart, Espio whose quiet wisdom and optimism shined even though he preferred keeping his distance, Might's loyalty and love for his teammates and Ray, Ray with his stutter and bravery in spite of his fears, and Charmy…
Julie-Su looked at Saffron, who was standing beside the Land Breaker and was frowning at the building. She had gotten an outfit that was pretty similar to her old one. A brown leather jacket that was zippered up and had fur ends to the sleeves which matched the fur collar, but there was a purple flower design on the back that the fashion designer said was Saffron's 'spirit flower' or something. Her skirt was now a lime green which was a lighter shade of green at the end. She also wore lime green shoes that had a small ball of fluff on the top of each shoe. The bee still wore her gloves, but now there was a green ring around each wrist.
Saffron seemed to like it, and the pink echidna had to admit that it looked cute on her.
The ex-Dark Legionnaire however received an outfit that contrasted Saffron's own.
She wore a black tank-top, but it was mostly hidden by the dark teal-green combat vest that had pouches lining each side. It was partly open at the bottom, showing off a bit of her midriff and allowed her fur to offer some color separation from her new pants. They were a pair of black cutoff shorts that had the same dark teal-green edges at the end. Her blaster was strapped to her right thigh, allowing her organic hand easy access to it in a pinch. She'd also changed her old boots for some new dark teal-green combat boots, which were good for any terrain.
And, of course, she got a pair of white gloves.
Even if her new arm had a few extra features that required it to come off, she liked the gloves so they stayed.
Honey said it was very 'grungy'… whatever that meant.
Julie-Su still kept her hair swept to the left, partially obscuring her new artificial eye. She knew Knuckles and her friends would understand, but still…
Snapping herself out of her musings she asked her friend, "Hey, what are you waiting there for? Come on!"
For whatever reason, the bee seemed to hesitate. "Julie… maybe we should wait."
The pink echidna raised her eyebrow at that. "What do you mean?"
The last thing she expected from Saffron was hesitation. After all, she was finally going to see Charmy and the others again! All the time traveling through Cyber Space and fighting battles never diminished the worry in the bee girl's heart for her former fiancé. Sometimes she even cried, mumbling his name whenever she slept.
Saffron had been just as excited as Julie-Su at returning. She'd been praying and hoping for this day for just as long as the pink echidna!
So why was she saying they should wait?
"It's just… everything's different." Saffron motioned around them. "I mean, think about it! The Chaotix are now detectives of all things, Honey was surprised that there were more echidnas than Knuckles, that man in the gas station didn't know about New Mobotropolis, and this city…!"
Sighing, Julie-Su walked over to the bee and put her right hand on friend's shoulder. "Look, I get it. It's kind of weird… but a lot of time has passed! Stuff is going to change!"
"But this much?"
A smile formed on the ex-Dark Legionnaire's face. "Yeah, gotta admit it's weird for me too! But you need to think about things too! Vector and the others probably became detectives to get a lead on Thrash!"
Saffron's face twisted in uncertainty. "That doesn't…"
That was fine, though! Her friend would be able to work it out! "Honey probably only ever met Knuckles and chalked up the news of other echidnas to rumors!"
"But…!"
"The guy at the gas station was just an idiot, and this city was obviously built by Nicole! It all makes sense! It…!"
"Julie, you're hurting me!"
Saffron's cry snapped the echidna out of her speech. She saw the bee's pained expression and actually registered how much force was being put into her grip. She let go and stepped away, staring at her hand.
"I-I…" Julie-Su swallowed the saliva in her mouth and said, "Saffron, I-I didn't mean to… I'm so sorry!"
"It's fine!" The bee rubbed her shoulder and glanced at the Land Breaker. "Maybe we should go back to Angel Island. You need to rest and…"
"Are you crazy?!" The echidna didn't mean to shout. She really didn't. Saffron didn't deserve that. "We just got here! We can't go back now! Not before we tell the others we're alright and…!"
She heard a feminine cry coming from behind her, one that was completely unfamiliar. Unholstering her blaster, the pink echidna turned and took aim…
…only to find a scrawny-looking mobian badger rubbing her head. She had orange fur with long thick hair on the back of her head, which she kept in two locks with auburn strings, and two brown stripes across each of her eyes as well as bushy round ears that reached the end of her hair.
"Ow…" The badger muttered while shaking her head. "Why da heck did they make their windows so slippery?
Growling, the pink echidna stomped over and aimed her blaster at the badger. "Okay, who the heck are you and what were you doing in our building?"
She certainly didn't have the clothing of the locals. Her attire consisted of a midriff-baring tube top and a skirt with an auburn rope belt, each made of worn-down gray fabric stitched together, and tan fur-skin boots. The right boot had a fur cuff and the left had metal bands around it. She also wore a golden band on her right upper arm, a spiral bracelet on her left wrist, and a necklace braided with seashells and a gold ring.
The badger looked up and screamed as she laid eyes on Julie-Su. She scuttled back and shouted, "They actually did it! Those crazy government creeps made their cyborg enforcers!"
Julie-Su blinked. "Uh… what?"
"Ya ain't gonna take Sticks alive!" The newly named Sticks got on her feet and took out a boomerang from her back. She growled while holding the boomerang menacingly. "Not gonna probe my mind to extract da information!"
…Okay, seriously what the heck was this?
"Woah! Woah, hold on!" Saffron shouted, getting in front of Julie-Su and the badger. "There is no need for a fight!"
"As if I'd listen to another cyborg!" Sticks paused before muttering, "Or is it android? Never could get those two right."
"We're not cyborgs!" Saffron turned to the badger and gave her a strained smile. "Or androids! So why don't we all just calm down and put the weapons away…"
"She just crawled out of the Chaotix's base, Saffron!" She didn't understand why the bee was trying to stop this. Normally, the bee would be ready for action too! "That's clearly a break in!"
"I was just seeing why they weren't answering da door!" Sticks shot back. "It's perfectly normal!"
"…How is breaking into a building to see why they weren't answering the door normal?!"
"It is when you've got important news!" Sticks narrowed her eyes. "Not that I'm gonna give you government cyborgs anything!"
"Oh for the love of… We're not cyborgs!" Julie-Su glared at the badger. "We were just legionized!"
Sticks tilted her head. "Is that what they're calling it? Gonna have to update the forum."
"Look…" Saffron took a deep breath before letting it out, calming herself. "Sticks, was it?"
"You know my name?!"
"You just told us!" The pink echidna screamed. "Seriously, is this girl crazy or something?"
"Sticks." The bee repeated. "We're not trying to hurt you. We're just concerned about our teammates. You did just crawl out of the window, after all."
"Teammates…" The badger blinked before, slowly, she got up and put down her boomerang. "You mean you're with da Chaotix?"
Slowly, Julie-Su lowered her blaster. Finally, they were getting somewhere! "Yes."
"Never heard of them having cyborgs for teammates."
"Was losing us that painful?" Shaking her head, the ex-Dark Legionnaire took her finger off the trigger. "We've been gone for a while, but we're back." She narrowed her eyes. "Which begs the question… why are you here?"
Sticks still seemed suspicious of them, as she circled around them with her hand on her chin. "You don't seem to be hostile… but I can't just take you by your word! I gotta get some collab…" Her face strained. "Cologerat…" Her shoulders sagged as she came to a stop. "I need someone to say you're alright before I spill da beans." She nodded and pointed out, "So I'm gonna take you to one of my friends, Cream!"
"Wait, you know Cream?" Julie-Su never met the bunny girl, but she had heard from Amy about her. How she was an extremely brave kid despite being six, who helped her and that alternate Zone princess Blaze take on Team Hooligan, Team Dark, and the Babylonians.
"Of course! Besides Amy, she's my bestie!"
"…Are Amy and Cream seriously that lonely?" She really hoped that the pink hedgehog and rabbit knew what they were doing with this girl. "Wait… she said she's going to take us to Cream!"
Cream and her mother Vanilla were living in New Mobotropolis. They had been ever since Amy accidentally destroyed their old home while trying to defend them and the Chao from Snively.
Which meant this crazy badger girl was going to take them to New Mobotropolis!
"Julie?" The bee glanced at her. "What do yo-?"
"Please." Julie-Su smiled at the badger. "Please, just take us to Cream. We… we want to see her too."
It wasn't Knuckles. It wasn't the Chaotix.
But they would be back in familiar territory. They would be able to see the other members of the Freedom Fighters. She would gather the other members of the Chaotix and then together they could go to Cyber Space to help out Sonic and Knuckles.
Then everything would be right.
Then they would all be together again.
Sticks narrowed her eyes in suspicion, but rather than say anything she nodded. "Alright! Then get your bike ready so we can go!"
"Yeah!" Julie-Su ran towards the Land Breaker, smiling all the way. "You've just got to give me directions. I'm not familiar with this area."
As the pink echidna hopped on she heard Saffron ask, "So… how are you friends with Vector and the others?"
"Oh, I'm basically da new member of da Chaotix." Sticks replied. "Not that Vector will admit it! Always telling me to go home or whatever."
Honestly, that was probably the smartest thing Vector had done since they were away.
Saffron chuckled nervously at the answer. "And… you don't go home because…?"
"Sonic, Tails, Amy, an' Knuckles found me in my camp on a deserted island. Kinda forced me to come to da main islands. Tails said being alone messed my brain up." The badger huffed with her eyes closed as she continued walking, meanwhile the echidna and bee stared at the badger girl in shock. "Shows what they know! Being alone taught me all about da truths of da world!"
Julie-Su and Saffron looked at each other and thought the same thing.
"What did we get ourselves into?"
"…And I mean, think about it! All da crazy technology the echidnas, Babylonians, and the Fourth Great Civilization kept had to come from somewhere!" Sticks proclaimed while holding onto Julie-Su. "Someone had to experiment on da frogs to make da froglodytes! Da only explanation is aliens, man! They came down here to uplift us into being some sort of galactic pit stop for their alien invasion fleet! Da mainstream tries to deny it, but I know da truth!"
The echidna felt her right eye twitch as the badger finished her sermon.
For nearly an hour, in between giving the ex-Dark Legionnaire directions to New Mobotropolis, Sticks had been going on and on about the various conspiracies about the world.
Stuff like how some sort of weird demonic race called the Zeti were actually marooned aliens, how Chaos and the Chao were actually devolved from alien ancestors, and how Eggman's mustache was fake.
And the crazy part?
The most recent ramblings about the aliens uplifting the echidnas had some truth to it!
The elders within the Lost Tribe and the older members of the Dark Legion had explained all they knew about Those Who Walked Before when she and Saffron had brought Dr. Finitevus' message back to them. Unfortunately, Lien-Da and the Dark Legion had the former citizens of Albion disarmed and at their mercy by the time they got there. The older members had said they had heard of partially destroyed tablets that told of legends about messengers from the heavens who came before the time of the Ancient Walkers. Who had wielded incredible tools and controlled awesome magic that molded reality itself to their whims.
But, most importantly, who could walk from one plane to another using their gateways.
Lien-Da was eager, as was Julie-Su, at this news. Whatever these beings, or the Ancients as some of the elders called them, were they could somehow travel from Zone to Zone!
Those ruins were probably their ticket out of that death trap of a Zone!
Her half-sister didn't waste any time. She forced their tribe to march, and when the first fell she refused to help them. Ordered them all to keep marching. When Julie-Su tried to break away she was stuck with the butt of a rifle and told that they would shoot her. Her half-sister took such great delight in rubbing it in that if she got shot and left behind to die trying to save the weak then nobody would protect the rest of the 'Albion Weaklings'.
So Julie-Su had a choice. Either march with the rest or get ganged up on and left to die trying to save some exhausted or dying echidna that fell behind.
She chose…
"Stop. Don't think about it." She needed to focus! Focus! "Focus on the fact that you're getting directions from some half insane badger!"
Right! Right, Sticks! The badger seemed to be on the mark when it came to aliens being responsible for the partial uplifting of the echidna race, since apparently the echidnas learned from the leftovers of the Ancients, but she was completely off the mark when it came to everything else! It was all just nonsense!
"That's… uh… very interesting, Sticks." Saffron chuckled nervously as she hung onto Sticks. The fact that all three were sitting on the Land Breaker's admittedly tiny seat felt just as awkward as it probably looked. "And you came up with this?"
"Yup!" The badger chirped happily. "It all came to me after I had some cactus juice! Da water was running low so I had to use something else for a bit!"
…Julie-Su was half tempted to ask what the cactus looked like.
"Oh! Take a right here!" Sticks pointed to the right. "That's da way to da village!"
The pink echidna turned her head in the direction and saw a single sign.
WELCOME TO FLORAL FOREST VILLAGE!
"What?" With numb hands, Julie-Su turned to the right and followed the road. "Why didn't that sign say New Mobotropolis?"
Did… did the kingdom secure enough of the surrounding territories to expand outside the city walls?
The feeling of unease didn't end when they went further down the road. There were no defenses from what the ex-Dark Legionnaire could see, which was insane in itself! Just trees and quaint little houses! Where were the guard outposts? Where were the soldiers who should be on duty? Even in New Mobotropolis, there were more than a few just hanging around!
"T-They couldn't be that secure, could they?"
No, even if Sonic and the others had defeated Eggman so badly he lost most of his territory there was always the possibility of another attack!
"Something's wrong."
No, no that couldn't be right! There had to be something she was missing!
Nothing was wrong! She was just thinking too hard about things again!
"Oh! It's that house to the left!" Stick's cry snapped Julie-Su out of her thoughts. She looked to the left and blinked.
She figured that, after what Amy had told her about Cream and Vanilla's old home, they would've moved into another mansion.
The pink echidna parked across the road and got off the Land Breaker while Sticks leapt off and Saffron flew up.
Why?
Why wasn't the pit in her stomach going away?!
Her face twisted in anger. Why was not recognizing the village they were in troubling her so much?! It's not a big deal! They were just on the outskirts of New Mobotropolis!
They had to be!
"There she is!" The badger shouted, pointing towards a small and cozy-looking home. "Hi, Cream!"
Julie-Su had never met Cream before, but she knew the small cream-furred rabbit in the garden picking out flowers with a Chao floating beside her was her based on Amy's description. She wore a sleeveless vermilion dress with a white collar and a light blue cravat, white gloves with a golden cufflink on each cuff. She also wore white socks and a pair of vermilion and yellow slip-on shoes with gray soles.
Standing next to the young rabbit girl in the garden was something far more concerning.
It was a humanoid robot that had a spherical head with a gray mouth plate, blue eyes with red rims, gray caps for ears, and a curved yellow horn with points sticking out from the sides as well as a blue eye in the center on its forehead. The robot possessed five-fingered gray hands and feet in the shape of shoes with black soles and yellow lines around them. Its upper arms, abdomen and thighs were gray, and it had spherical black joints as shoulders and pelvis-leg joints. It appeared to have relatively thick armor around its forearms and lower legs, fin-like yellow kneecaps which matched the fins on its forearms, and some kind of jetpack on its back. On its chest there were three gray circles, an insignia from the robot's creators.
"Wait." Saffron paused and narrowed her eyes. "That kind of looks like…"
Julie-Su stood in place and stared at the robot.
Those soulless blue eyes that showed nothing but cold machine indifference as they cut down members of the Dark Legion in the Twilight Zone and members of the Brotherhood of the Guardians in the desert.
The fins that bloomed from its forehead and curved around its head.
The humanoid body that could so perfectly mimic the skills of its opponents to destroy them before moving onto the others.
"A gizoid?" The pink echidna muttered, her body trembling as she laid eyes on the machine. "T-They're here?"
Cream got up and smiled. "Oh, hello Ms. Sticks! How nice of you to…"
Julie-Su let out a scream as she ran forward, unholstering her blaster as she took aim.
"ALERT! HOSTILE DETECTED! Assessment: This unit appears to be its target!" The gizoid leapt to the left, as if it were trying to throw off her aim.
Big mistake.
The ex-Dark Legionnaire fired her blaster, which should have nailed the bucket of bolts square in the chest. But instead a pair of twin blue flames burst from its back and her shot only hit empty air.
"Hey! What da heck are ya-?!" Sticks let out a yelp when Saffron grabbed her by the back of her shirt and flew towards the house. "WHAT DA?! LEMME GO!"
"Get them inside, Saffron!" The pink echidna shouted, continuing to fire at the flying gizoid. "And don't come out until I've dealt with this thing!"
"What are you doing?!" Cream shouted as she ran forward. "Stop this! Stop this right no-!"
"I'm sorry!" Saffron grabbed the young rabbit by her arm and pulled her along. "But you need to get inside, quickly!"
"Chao Chao!" The bow tie-wearing Chao cried out as it flew after the three.
The door opened and a terrified-looking adult rabbit shouted, "What on earth is…?!"
"No time to explain!" The bee shouted as she barreled through the door with the two girls in tow.
Good.
The civilians were out of the way!
"Enemy combatant identified. Subject: Echidna." The gizoid turned its head towards the house. "Subject: Bee. Designation: Enemy. Assessment: Bee is current threat to Cream, Vanilla, and family." It changed its trajectory towards the house. "Prioritizing primary threat."
"As if I'd let you!" Even though she hated to admit it, one of the best things about her new eye was that it could track the trajectory and speed of anything she locked onto as a primary target. Currently, she was getting the seconds she had before the gizoid smashed through the door directly into her brain while also seeing its current flight path. She took aim and fired, nailing the gizoid's jet pack which caused the robot to crash into the dirt. "You're not going to touch them! You're not going to touch any of them!"
The robot rolled over and crouched down before launching itself at her. Cursing, Julie-Su fired her gun once more but the gizoid instead kicked the ground. It launched itself into the air before bringing up its leg in an ax kick.
It was easy enough to leap back as the ground where she used to be exploded into a shower of dirt and grass. The thing was fast, way faster than the gizoids the Dark Brotherhood had!
Had they upgraded their machines for their invasion of Mobius?
"Deploying missiles."
"Crap!" Julie-Su's eye instantly locked onto the three missiles that had come out of the gizoid's back and raced towards her. She fired at each, their warheads detonating mid-air before she turned her attention back to the robot.
Which was now in front of her with its right fist reared back.
Cursing, the pink echidna tried to twist her hand to aim at the robot's body despite the bad angle only for the gizoid's left hand to swat it away. Just as Julie-Su's mind was registering the pain her right hand was feeling the metal fist crashed into her abdomen. She let out a gasp as a flower of agony bloomed in her midsection, but she grit her teeth and merely stumbled back while clutching stomach.
"Damn it! Guess I really am tired!" No, no that wasn't it! She let her guard down! Thought it was safe on Mobius just because it was home! If she had been prepared for a battle then she would've tore this thing to shreds!
There was no time to prepare her arm. The gizoid was already running towards her, preparing for another blow…
"No! Gemerl!" Cream shouted from within the house. "Don't hurt her!"
"Wait, Gemerl? Who…?"
The gizoid paused and looked towards the house. The young rabbit girl was throwing herself out of the open window. Saffron was reaching out to grab her, only for Cheese and a brown-colored Chao to slam into her face.
Julie-Su's eyes widened. "No! What are they doing?!"
"Assessment: Cream and family requires immediate assistance." The gizoid turned on its heel and ran towards the young rabbit girl, completely ignoring the echidna.
The ex-Dark Legionnaire's teeth gnashed. Why was this gizoid acting like it was the rabbit family's guardian? Why was Cream not in fear for her life?!
Was the Dark Brotherhood doing something to their heads?
"I'll find out later!" Julie-Su used her right hand to take off her left hand's glove. "Right now… I have to tear this thing apart!"
She issued the mental command to her cybernetics.
CHAINSAW MODE: ACTIVATED
A thin vertical line appeared across her left forearm and the back of her hand, running just below her elbow to the space between her ring and middle finger's knuckle. With a small hiss, they parted by an inch before a bar of metal two inches tall and an inch thick shot out from between her hands extending out for a foot. It hissed as well before it split into two vertically and the bar's halves went on top of one-another, creating a sheet of metal that was four inches tall. Blades then popped out from the top and bottom, each of them two hundred centimeters and all of them sharp. Her hand and arm then snapped back into place, securing the blade before a chainsaw cord popped out of her left shoulder.
Julie-Su caught it with her teeth and pulled.
The chainsaw then roared to life, the blades spinning and screaming as they went around and around. Crying out for the life essence of their target.
She put the thing into good use during their journey through the multiverse.
The gizoid was turning back to her. "Reassessing threat level of echidna enemy."
"You better!" The pink echidna ran forward, her left arm reared back and ready for the coming battle…
…Only to skid to a stop when Cream the Rabbit flew in front of the gizoid and held up her arms.
"STOP!" The rabbit shouted. "Stop this right now, ma'am!"
"Out of my way, Cream!" Julie-Su shouted at the rabbit, pointing at the gizoid. "I'm trying to save you from that thing!"
"Assessment: You are in danger here, Cream." The gizoid put its hands on her shoulder. "You must leave."
"Gemerl has done nothing wrong! You're the one that's bullying him!" The rabbit did not budge and glared at the ex-Dark Legionnaire. "Who are you?!"
The pink echidna winced. "I-I'm Julie-Su! Knuckles' girlfriend! Look, right now you need to move an-!"
"Knuckles has a girlfriend?!" A familiar and growling voice shouted. "That's news to me!"
"Knuckles has a girlfriend!" A childish voice cried out. "Knuckles has a girlfriend!"
Julie-Su's eyes widened just before a pair of feet crashed into her back, makin her tumble forward. Moving her left arm to the side, the pink echidna used her right hand to stop her fall before pushing up. She somersaulted in the air before landing on her feet, turning her body…
…and seeing them.
The purple chameleon with a single horn landing in a crouch, his trained eyes narrowing at her while his right hand held a single kunai.
The chuckling bee that was wearing an orange vest, shoes, and a pair of goggles on his head.
A green-scaled crocodile, massive as he lumbered forward and cracked his knuckles. A pair of headphones resting on his head while a gold chain glittered in the sunlight.
"It's them!" A smile spread across Julie-Su's face. Tears were welling up in her right eye as she saw the faces of her friends for the first time in what felt like years. "It's really them!"
The Chaotix.
Her friends.
Her real family.
Vector the Crocodile smirked, and she expected several things to happen.
The crocodile would run over and help her up, asking what took Julie-Su so long. They'd work together to beat the gizoid and save Cream and her mother. They would reunite wherever the Chaotix were staying at and they would have their tearful reunion there. Then they could deprogram Cream and Vanilla before she and Saffron got a rundown on what exactly the Dark Brotherhood were doing.
Instead, Vector just pointed at her and seemed to completely ignore the gizoid.
Her smile twitched and a single thought crossed her mind. "What's he doing?"
"Alright, show's over lady! Put down the chainsaw arm and come along quietly, because there isn't any trouble on Ms. Vanilla's lawn when the Chaotix Detective Agency is in town!"
To Be Continued…
Notes: Yeah, so this was an experience!
Have to admit, it is kinda weird stepping into Julie-Su's shoes after spending so long with Sally and co. Especially since I'm going with a similar but VERY different journey with Pink Knuckles than with our Cyborg Chipmunk Princess. Still, I tried to capture that feeling of KNOWING that something's up while at the same time trying to think that nothing is actually wrong.
It's a weird balance.
And yes! Sticks and Honey! I wanted to introduce them for a while, especially Sticks since she got mentioned in Frontiers! Wanted to show her to be similar but different to the Boom version. Still kind of crazy, still a conspiracy nut, but one that's… kinda functional in society? She's just weird. And I figured having her be an associate for the Chaotix was a good idea since they're the gathering place of the loveable weirdos.
And Honey is just awesome and cute. Wish they used her more.
Yes, the Dark Brotherhood from Sonic Chronicles existed in Archie Canon. Had a whole plot line being set up before the reboot happened!
But now, in the IDW/Game Universe?
Yeah… no, they're gone, chief.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed that chapter! Please be sure to leave a review and add to the TV Tropes Page!
Until next time!