Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ashley walked into the machine shop, breathed in, and coughed thanks to the particles of sawdust.

“Hey there! Ashley, isn’t it? If you’re not busy, would you mind coming to the machine shop real quick? Belle and Kit have a surprise for ya!”

That was the call she got from the chief mechanic after her… conversation with Whisper.

It was quite unexpected. Sure, she did find what they needed to put Belle back together, but other than that, she hadn’t contributed too much in that area. What could they want with her?

What could Kit want from her, after she worked with the man that almost killed him?

The leopard’s thoughts were put on hold as she bumped into someone.

“Ack, sorry! Sorry,” she laughed nervously. “Wasn’t paying atte-“

When she saw who she bumped into, she let out half of a startled squeak before clamping her mouth shut. In front of her was a humongous, and she meant HUMONGOUS, pangolin. And she was effortlessly lifting huge wooden planks over her head and piling them gently on the top of a shelf. Not to mention, she hadn’t even noticed the leopard.

…oop, wait, never mind. She saw her.

“Oh, are you alright, sweetheart?” she asked. Then, to Ashley’s surprise, she shrunk down to what seemed to be her regular size. “Sorry, I didn’t notice you there…”

Okay, so she can just… DO that. Cool.

“Uh, don’t worry about it. I bumped into you , anyway…” Ashley said. “I’m just trying to find the chief mechanic. He called me in here, so…”

“You mean Grease? I can take you to him!” the pangolin said sweetly. She walked past the leopard. “Just follow me!”

Ashley was dumbfounded, but was still right behind her.

There are all kinds of people in this place, huh…

After going past a few shelves and turning some corners, they both saw Grease watching over Belle and Kit, looking like they were just about done fixing… something. She couldn’t get a good look.

“Grease!” the pangolin said, putting a gentle hand on Ashley’s head, to her surprise. “Were you looking for her?”

The orangutan turned around and beamed at the sight of Ashley. “There’s the girl of the hour! Thanks, Rotunda!” he said while Ashley awkwardly grin.

“Rotunda” gave Ashley a warm smile before letting go of her head. “No problem. I’ll leave you guys to… well, whatever you’re doing.”

“Um… thanks for the help!” the leopard called while Rotunda walked away. She responded with a wave over the shoulder.

Huh… Ashley thought. For some reason, I felt very… ‘cared for’ with her.

She shook her head.

“So, uh… what’d you call me for?” she asked Grease. “Something about a ‘surprise?’”

“You got it!” he answered excitedly. “We’ve noticed that you’ve been… er, how do I put this-?”

“You being one arm short is a hindrance to yourself,” Kit finished for him.

Everyone stared at him, shocked.

“Could have at least put it a little softer…” Belle winced.

“Hey, I’m not wrong.”

“WOAAAH, woah-woah. Okay, being without my right arm is a little annoying,” Ashley admitted, putting her hand on her nub. “But I’ve managed pretty well! And I can provide plenty even without it!”

Kit looked at her, unconvinced. “Near the Neos’ office. Five days ago.”

“What are you-?” Ashley started, while Belle and Grease made motions with their hands to stop talking.

“You were walking down with a tray of drinks for your team. And you thought it’d be a good idea to carry a soda bottle under your arm. Then you lost your balance on the tray and spilled a hot cup of coffee on yourself.”

Ashley stared at him, appalled.

“Who told you?! I swear, if any of the Neos said anything, I’m gonna-!”

“You made a loud sound akin to a fire drill,” Kit interrupted.

The leopard’s pupils shrunk, and her muzzle was as red as an apple.

“…can we please just get to why I was called here?” she asked, embarrassed.

Grease snapped his fingers. “We sure can! Belle, Kit, would you like to do the honors?”

“Absolutely!” Belle answered while Kit just nodded. Ashley noticed that they were intentionally blocking the view of what they made, which got her even more curious.

“We’re aware that being without an arm wouldn’t be the end of the world. Heck, I can literally pop mine off no problem,” the tinkerer laughed. “But we’ve all heard your side of the story once… um…”

“Oh for- I’m not going to throw a fit every time Madman’s Casino is brought up,” Kit told Belle, irritated. Ashley just rubbed the back of her head awkwardly.

“R-right. Sorry,” she apologized. “Once Madman’s Casino was taken down, we were made well aware of your side of the story.

“And once the machine shop was all fixed up again after my… lash-out,” she muttered. “Kit got the idea to see if we could replicate a mobian arm.”

Replicate a-?

“Wait, are you saying that-?”

Ashley didn’t get the chance to finish talking, though, because Kit was turning to her with what they were working on in his hands, which Grease proudly presented.

“To put it simply… we thought you’d love to possess our newest creation!” he said.

Ashley’s jaw was practically on the floor. In the kitsune’s hands was a silver-colored robotic arm.

“That’s-! Wh-!” the leopard stuttered. “You made this for ME?”

“We sure did! It was a lot of fun to work on too!” Belle answered. “Care to give it a test?”

“I-I’d love to!” Ashley said, trying not to let her excitement get to her.

Expression unchanged, Kit walked over to her with the arm. “Hold out your nub, please.”

Ashley did what Kit asked, and he stood on his tiptoes to put the arm on her. Suddenly, it started vibrating in his hands, and…

*CLACK*

“ Woah! ” Ashley yelped. The arm clamped right onto her as if it were a magnet. She could feel the end tighten into her nub. “It attaches to me that easily?!”

“Yep! We made it so that it only perceives a certain blood type,” Grease answered. “We had to go to the director about your background for that…”

“It’s able to make out your blood by scanning through your skin. That means it’s able to attach to you, and anyone else with your blood type. But I don’t think anyone else in the Restoration is without an arm…” Belle continued. “Not only that, but it can track any movements you’re trying to make!”

The leopard started off testing the arm by wiggling the fingers, then clenching and unclenching the fist.

She stepped back a little, and did some shadow boxing. Sure enough, it worked like a dream.

She looked at her new hand, and grinned heavily.

“It’s… it’s like I have my actual arm back!” she exclaimed. She was almost on the verge of crying. “And you’re just… letting me keep this?”

“Hey, why not? If there’s one thing the Restoration aims to thrive in, it’s providing,” Grease said. “We’re just happy ya like it!”

“I love it. You guys outdid yourselves… and obviously I gotta thank you too, Kit!” Ashley turned her focus to the fennec fox. “I appreciate you for thinking of me!”

She reached her hand out to pat him in the head…

Until Kit whipped his head at her, eyes glowing red, with a look that could turn her face into a donut. And water tentacles shot out of his backpack, and became inches away from Ashley’s face.

“ Hands. Off. ”

“OOOOOOH-kay, no headpats!” she blurted out, quickly retracting her hand and stepping back. “Noted!”

Thankfully, after that, the tentacles disappeared. Belle and Grease look at each other nervously and mutually agreed they should wrap things up with her.

“Um, anyway, that’s all we wanted to show you,” Grease said. “But now that you have the arm, we’d like a favor from you, if that’s okay.”

Ashley looked at the chief mechanic. “What is it?”

“It’s nothing too big. Just do the stuff you’d usually do on an average day, and if you can, try and use that arm more often. Then come back to us in a week and tell us your experience with it!” the orangutan told her. “If needed, we can could upgrade it and add some quirks. If possible, we can even distribute robotic limbs to those that need it!”

With the robotic arm, Ashley gave a thumbs up. “I can totally do that! Not a problem! And again…”

She looked back at Kit, who was turned away. Despite that little threat earlier, she still found the courage to give him a smile.

“Thank you.”

With that, Ashley made her way out of the machine shop, ogling at her new possession. When she was out of sight, Belle gave Kit a concerned look.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand. Why did you come up with the idea of a new arm for her if you're so resentful towards her?”

Kit gave the tinkerer a side-eye.

“Is it not simple?” he asked. “She worked with Riot.”

Grease blinked. “That… does make sense.”

The kitsune clenched his fists.

“The only reason I let her go about her day is that, unlike those that did hurt me…”

He fully turned around.

“…she actually regrets working with that scumbag .”

-

Ashley finally let out that squeal she’d been holding in while walking away from the machine shop.

She thought she’d be without an arm for a long time, but nope. In only two weeks, it became as if Riot hadn’t dismembered her at all.

I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve been this excited! she thought. I can do so much I haven’t been able to do for the past few weeks! I wonder what the Neos will think-?

“Hey, Spots.”

The leopard’s ear twitched, and she looked up from her arm. In front of her was Surge the tenrec. And she… didn’t look particularly happy.

“Oh… hi there,” Ashley greeted, suddenly feeling a bit uneasy. “Surge, right?”

“Yep. And you’d better remember that.”

She looked down at her arms.

“Well, look at that. You’ve got the robotic arm Kit and the others made,” the tenrec observed.

“Oh, he told you about this beforehand?” Ashley asked.

Surge nodded, crossing her arms. “Didn’t want me to say anything.”

The leopard raised the arm to let Surge have a better look.

“I can tell why. Those three really went all out when working on it. I’ve only had it for a few minutes, but it works great!”

The tenrec stepped closer. “That so? Glad to hear that.”

“T-thanks, it’s reallyEEEP-“

Suddenly, Surge grabbed her by her tank top and pulled her close. All that was in Ashley’s sight were angry, teal eyes, which were beginning to glow.

“But if you think that means I’m letting you off the hook, you’re more of an idiot than you already are.”

Ashley gulped. “Woah, I- uh-“

“I never got the chance to go to you once you were outta the hospital, but now that you’ve got one of Drippy’s creations on you, I think now’s as good a time as any to say what I wanna say,” Surge growled.

“A-and that is?” Ashley nervously asked.

Suddenly, Surge slammed her on the ground, laying her on her back.

“ACK- hey-!”

“I’m gonna make this as clear as I possibly can- I hate you, ” Surge snarled. “The second I saw you in person, I’ve thought lowly of you. Maybe I’m overreacting. Maybe I’m just being petty. But you’ve worked for Riot, and that’s good enough of a reason for me.”

The leopard, while still shocked, kept her face straight and listened.

“And I don’t give a flying fuck that you’ve been doing all that shit out of blind hatred, or that you never hurt Kit yourself. You still assisted that waste of space,” she told her.

“As for the Neos… they can have you on the team. I don’t care. That type of stuff isn’t my business, anyway,” she admitted. “But for as long as you’re here…”

She raised her hand, and it sparkled with electricity.

“I’m not letting you forget the stuff you pulled. Or what he did to Drippy. You’re lucky that I’m even letting you near the kid,” the tenrec said, pulling Ashley up by the tank top once more.

“Now, I highly doubt you’ll try anything around here. Especially after this. BUT. Make one wrong move… especially towards Drippy…”

She shot her electrified finger at the leopard’s head, making her flinch. But she’d stopped it mere centimeters away from her, being enough to lightly shock her due to static electricity.

“…and I’ll make you wish you were rotting in a cell along with your old boss.”

Silence.

“…you were holding that in for a while, weren’t you?” Ashley suddenly asked.

A bit surprised, Surge retracted her finger. She didn’t ask that in a mocking tone. All she heard from Ashley’s voice was heavy guilt.

“Before I even joined the Restoration, I knew that this path wouldn’t be sunshine and roses,” Ashley told her. “At the end of the day, I was the secretary for a terrible mob. If I’m being honest, being welcomed to the Neo Diamond Cutters so easily felt like complete luck. Luck that I didn’t deserve.”

All of the electricity around Surge’s body faded.

“I was never gonna go around, acting like I was always making a difference for the better. And I especially wasn’t gonna expect you to like me, let alone Kit,” she continued.

She raised her robotic arm.

“Even if that’s the case, I swear to you, I wouldn’t dream of betraying my team; betraying the Restoration,” Ashley vowed. “And I won’t ever forget what Riot did to your brother. You have my word.”

Surge looked at her a little longer, before letting go of her tank top and getting off her.

“Good answer.”

Finally being free from her grip, the leopard could look at her more clearly. The hate the tenrec had for her was definitely still visible, but her expression softened up a bit.

She had nothing left to say to her though, so she turned around.

“You’d better treat that arm like it’s your child, ” Surge ended off before marching away from her. It was getting late, so it was probably to grab the kid and head home or something.

… and breathe.

Ashley released a deep exhale, getting up off the floor.

I suppose that could have been a lot worse, she thought, dusting herself off. I could be nothing but a stain on the floor right now.

She held out her robotic arm, examining it yet again.

She made a fist, forming a small smile, and continued back to her room.

Surge’s words to her may have hurt a lot, but she wasn’t wrong. Being nudged in that direction or not, she chose the path she’d walked before.

Whatever else comes at her now, she’ll face, even if it terrifies her.

The Restoration carved a new path for her, and she’ll be damned if she lets anyone down.

-

with that out of the way, i think it’s long overdue that i show what ashley looks like on here! (thanks to the art i commissioned, made by @SilviatheLynx!)

Chapter Text

Another day, more batches of paperwork for Jewel.

Despite this though, she was pretty excited for what was to come later.

Since Madman’s Casino and the whole situation involving Belle, she and Tangle never really had time to talk that much. Not like they both weren’t busy even before that, but with everything that’s piled on the both of them, they couldn’t find time to see each other.

And hey, Surge, Kit and Ashura- she loved all of them. She’s happy that they’ve all formed into a family, and spending time with them was a blast. But… she missed her best friend; her sister.

Now, though, they both found a good time to hang out, and that was later tonight. They wouldn’t be doing anything too special; just walking around Spiral Hill, doing some shopping, maybe getting some dinner too. It wasn’t much, but it didn’t need to be. Being in each others’ presence was all that they wanted.

Right now, though, Jewel had work to do. Sitting at her desk, pencil in hand (and petting Ashura on her lap with the other), she began to write.

A few sheets later, though, her antennae twitched to the sound of tripping and falling over from outside her office.

“For the last time, you have to see the director for these kinds of things!”

That voice came from one of Jewel’s assistants, Scarlet. The hound dog with a yellow dress and white sleeved gloves that fills her in on if there are any disturbances to take care of, like activity from Eggman.

The director put down her pen, and flew out of her chair, curious about what was going on. Ashura went out of her arm and floated beside her.

They could both hear some desperate whispering of a male voice, and Scarlet irritatedly telling him that “this” wasn’t a matter she could handle.

A few seconds of silence passed, and Jewel’s office door opened, with Scarlet knocking on the frame.

“Hi, Miss Jewel. I hope I’m not interrupting…”

Jewel tilted her head. “I was getting some paperwork done, but no worries! I can spare a few minutes. What’s up?”

“Well, there’s someone here that requires your help, but…” she cringed. “He seems apprehensive to speak to your for some reason-“

“Why are you telling her that?!”

That whisper-yell widened Jewel’s eyes. She knew that voice from anywhere.

The hound dog sighed and turned her head outside the door. “It’s part of my job. Would you just come in?”

One groan later, the source of the male voice reluctantly revealed himself.

No shot.

In front of the beetle was her “rival” (heavy on the air-quotes), Randy the rabbit. The guy that, for some reason, hated Jewel with a passion, and one that caused her and Surge’s first night out together to end poorly. He’s served his time in prison for assault and harassment, and Jewel hasn’t seen him since. Funnily enough, she did hear from Tangle about him actually being at Madman’s Casino and interfering with the mission there. If not for Lamp the moth, things probably would have been dire.

He also looked… really dirty. She could smell him from where she was floating.

“Hey there… ‘director,’” he greeted bitterly, rolling his eyes. “It’s been a minute.”

Ashura saw Jewel’s face when looking at the rabbit, and went in front of her, sporting a glare. But Jewel put a hand on her head.

“It’s alright, Ashura,” she told her. Then she looked over at Scarlet. “Thank you, Scarlet. I’ll take things from here.”

The hound dog looked unsure, but she still trusted Jewel’s judgement. “Yes, Miss Jewel.”

With that, she went on her way, shutting the door behind her.

And that left Jewel, Ashura and Randy alone.

“It’s… well, been quite a while,” Jewel said, suspicion in her voice abundantly clear. “What can I do for you?”

(She almost broke her professionalism by saying, “What do you want?”)

Randy put a hand over his face, trying and failing to hide his embarrassed face. It looked like he was trying to say something, but he couldn’t get it out. Either because whatever he wanted was too humiliating, or because he didn’t want to throw away what was left of his “pride.”

“Look… I’m wondering if… well…” he started, before going quiet.

After ten seconds, Jewel rolled her eyes and began to head back to her desk.

“Listen, if you can’t say what you need, please leave,” she told him. “I’ve got work to do-“

“Can you let me crash at the Restoration?!”

The beetle jolted and turned back around. His head was tilted downwards, and his eyes were squeezed shut, as if saying that was the hardest thing he’s ever done.

“…pardon?”

“The moment I got out of jail, my life has only gotten worse!” Randy complained. “I wasn’t able to pay rent for my house, so I was kicked out! I spent days looking for jobs, gambling the money I had left… ANYTHING to make a buck!

“But now, the casino I usually go to has been destroyed , and I’m down to my last few rings!” he continued to rant. “And this wouldn’t have been a problem if you were dating that psychopath-! ”

“DO NOT…”

Randy froze.

“…blame Surge for that.” Jewel finished, finally having enough of him. “ You chose to cause trouble back there. You didn’t listen to me when I tried to say my part. The only reason Surge fought you was because you hurt us first.”

She flew closer to him, glaring at him.

“If you can’t admit that you’re in the wrong, that’s on you. And don’t you even dare say Surge isn’t any better,” she added when the rabbit opened his mouth. “ She’s at least been making up for the stuff she’s done.”

Randy stared at her, appalled that she had the nerve to talk back at him.

“Now, with that out of the way,” Jewel sighed, as Ashura glared hard at the rabbit, “you said that you wanted to… ‘crash’ at the Restoration?”

“Not want. Need, ” Randy told her, his snarky tone still there.

Jewel hit him with a polite smile, which predictably got under his skin. “Not a problem!”

She went to her desk and got out her phone. “There are plenty of rooms available. I can just call someone to help you find one.”

“Good. That’s the least you owe me…” Randy muttered.

Hearing that almost made Jewel drop her phone. She closed her eyes, and her face puckered up as if she licked a lemon.

Inhale.

Exhale.

As she breathed out her nose, she made a smile, eyes still closed. She was doing everything in her power to not laugh in his face.

He is homeless. I will not go this low. I will not go this low. I will not-

“WHAT’S SO FUNNY?!”

Jewel opened her eyes, and Randy slammed his hands on her desk, furious. Ashura put a stubby hand out in front of the beetle, willing to protect her.

“Sorry about that. Thought of a joke,” Jewel replied, putting a hand up.

“Well, stop thinking and hurry up! I don’t have all day!”

Oh, I’ll hurry up alright.

She found someone she thought was just great for the job, and pressed the call button.

After only one ring, the receiver picked up.

“Hey, hot stuff! Could you do me a quick favor?” Jewel asked. “Someone we know is here, needing a room to stay.”

Randy raised an eyebrow. Hot stuff-?

…WAIT FUCK NO-

“Great! Thank you~!” Jewel said before hanging up. Only a second after she did, Surge swung the door open. “Alright, Mint, who’s the poor sap-“

She liked eyes with Randy.

And her smile instantly dropped.

“Why the fuck are you here?”

The rabbit just side-eyed her and whistled, trying to get rid of this feeling of dread.

“Surge! Come now, don’t be so rude to our dear guest!” Jewel ‘scolded’ her, flying over and putting an arm around her with a smirk. “He’s got nowhere to go, and we can’t have that, can we?”

Surge lean in and whispered. “Wait, you’re actually okay with this?”

“I know, babe. I probably sound crazy,” she whispered back. “But I feel that living at the place run by your worst ‘enemy,’ is more punishing than it is rewarding.”

Surge looked at her, surprised, and snickered.

“ Wow. You evil bitch,” she said playfully, earning a snort from the beetle. “Fine, I trust ya. But if he tries anything, I ain’t letting it slide.”

“That’s fine. We have plenty of friends that can keep him in check anyway,” she winked.

The tenrec nodded, and looked back at Randy.

“Alright, fine, Rabbid,” Surge said to him, putting her hands up. “I’ll find ya an open room. Should only take a few seconds.”

Randy looked at Surge, a bit surprised by her laidback approach to him. “Oh. Well, uh, thanks, I gue-“

“Literally.”

The tenrec grabbed his arm, and she bursted out of there. And Jewel could hear Randy’s screaming quickly fade out.

There. Got that out of the way.

She looked back at Ashura and flew to the desk. The commotion back there seemed to make the chao feel a bit tense, so she scritched her head while picking back up her phone. She had one more thing to do before getting back to work.

I’d better not leave the others in the dark about this.

Jewel went to her text and opened the group chat with the Neo Diamond Cutters.

-

At first, the was nothing but a grassy field and trees.

But then, a tornado of fire appeared in the middle.

It faded away, and Blaze the cat appeared out of the smoke.

She took a deep breath, taking in her surroundings, and smiled.

Back in the Sol Dimension, Gardon had insisted that she take the day off, as she had been working at her castle nonstop for the past two weeks. And she’s glad he took his advice.

Really, though, she was doing that to distract herself.

Amy had suddenly disappeared to go on an adventure with Sonic and Tails. After hearing nothing about it for the past two weeks, she found Sonic, who said that the pink hedgehog was on a trip with Cream and… Sticks. A friend of her’s she hadn’t seen in forever. While it was disappointing she didn’t get to see her, she was haply she was safe and sound.

After asking what happened with her, Sonic and Tails that they were gone for so long, Sonic simply said some ruckus happened while exploring some islands. There was definitely more to it, but she found it pointless to pry any further.

Whatever the case, she’ll come back when she comes back. Since she was practically pressured to stop working herself to death, it wouldn’t hurt to see what was happening at the Restoration-

…something was dashing towards her at an alarming rate. She could hear it.

The cat readied her flames and turned around to face whatever was coming at her.

They immediately went out, though, when she saw…

“BLAZE!”

She was tackled to the ground at high speed by none other than the fore mentioned Amy Rose. They rolled on the grass for a bit before Amy just began peppering Blaze’s face with kisses.

“A-AMY…!” Blaze laughed, hugging her tightly. So much happened in only a few seconds, but she was too happy to care at the moment.

Finally, though, Amy realized Blaze probably wouldn’t want to be seen with kiss marks all over her faces, so she got off her.

“I’m really sorry…! I know it’s been weeks since we last saw each other…” Amy said guiltily. “And… and I never even told you about going on an adventure with Sonic, or that I was going on a vacation with friends…”

Blaze smiled at her softly, helping her off the ground. She must of told Sonic to tell her where she would be.

“None of that, okay? I was worried at first, but hearing you were safe brought me at ease,” she assured the pink hedgehog, gentle hands on her shoulders.

That’s when she noticed that Amy’s attire was a little bit different than usual. She still had her golden bracelets and her big red boots, but everything else was changed. Gone was her red dress, replacing it with a pink one. And Blaze could make out black shorts coming out from underneath it.

Amy realized the cat was looking at her fit, and beamed.

“Ah! Have you noticed?” She stepped back a bit and struck a pose. “I’ve been trying out some new looks! I know it doesn’t look that different from before, but I do want to still look recognizable.

Blaze nodded and smirked. “Well, you still look gorgeous either way.”

Amy squealed and cupped her cheeks with her hands. “You’re so sweeeeet!”

Blaze giggled at her usual bubbly nature. Damn it, she’s adorable…

“Actually… Sonic did tell me you and some of your friends were on a vacation, but didn’t say where you actually were,” Blaze told her. “If you don’t mind me asking, where did you visit?”

“Oh, it was this place called the Northstar Islands-!”

Amy’s face went from happy to horror in an instant. “Wait- CRAP!”

“What’s wrong?”

“I was so hellbent on seeing you again, I left behind-!”

“Miss Amy! There you are!”

“H-hey, slow down!”

Behind Amy, Cream had rushed into the field, holding the hand of… honestly, she couldn’t tell. A lizard, probably?. Cheese, Cream’s chao, was right behind them.

“I’m excited to see Miss Blaze too, but you can’t just leave us behind like that!” Cream lightly scolded, pouting.

Amy grinned nervously, tongue sticking out and rubbing the back of her head. “Sorry… I got carried away!”

Blaze’s focus was then put on the newcomer, who seemed intrigued by her, but also a bit nervous.

Putting on a friendly face, she held out her hand. “Hello there. Pleased to meet you-“

Amy’s friend squeaked and pulled out a metal helmet from who knows where, plopping it onto her face.

She lifted it up a tad, though, so the princess could make out her face. She was blushing hard… perhaps she was shy.

“S-sorry… um…” she stuttered, managing to make eye contact. “My… my name is Trip…!” She took Blaze’s hand and shook it, albeit shakily.

Blaze could sympathize with her, though. Going out of your comfort zone is not easy in the slightest.

Seeing that Blaze was getting to know this “Trip,” Amy put an arm around the sungazer while Cream hopped into Blaze’s arms happily.

“Trip here is actually the guardian of the Northstar Islands! She helped me, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles take down Eggman when he invaded her home a long time ago!” she explained, while Cheese rested on Trip’s shoulder.

“I-I was actually forced to- to work with Eggman and his old assistant, F-Fang,” Trip added meekly. “Honestly, if it- if it weren’t for Amy, I d-don’t know if I could have gained the courage to- to stand up for myself and d-defile them…”

Blaze was impressed. “Betraying someone as menacing as Eggman does not seem like an easy feat. You should be proud of yourself for that.”

Trip just blushed again. “It- it was mostly F-fang who I got fed up with…”

“Meeting Trip was so exciting!” Cream exclaimed, as enthusiastic as ever. “Before heading off, I also met Miss Amy’s other friend, Miss Sticks!”

Amy began to look around. “Wait, speaking of Sticks… where is she?”

“I… I don’t know. I thought she’d c-come running with us after you z-zoomed off…” Trip wondered.

Suddenly, they all heard sniffing sounds coming their way.

A badger was crawling on all fours, sniffing the grass. And that made Blaze seriously concerned.

“Um… Sticks?” Amy called. “You don’t have to search for us. We’re right here.”

…THAT’S Sticks???

“Searchin’?” Sticks said, whipping her head up. “I was just smellin’ the grass!”

“…smelling the grass.”

“It has a nice scent, okay?!”

The cat’s uneasiness only grew. And Trip could tell.

“Don’t w-worry, that- that was my initial r-reaction to her, too,” Trip whispered, and Sticks shortly called out, “I heard that!”

Amy sighed.

“So… Sticks, this is Blaze. My… girlfriend,” she said bashfully, putting her hand around Blaze’s arm and causing her to blush. “I told you about her back on Northstar Islands, remember?”

Sticks just nodded, and crossed her arms. “Y’told me she’s princess. Am I right?”

“I am,” Blaze answered.

“Well let me tell ya this, ‘your highness,’” Sticks started, sticking a finger in Blaze’s face. “I know your type far too well! You always hide malicious activity, and try to control the public!”

“…what-“

“Amy’s way too smart to fall for the tricks of a person like you! Either you’ve mind controlled her, or she’s keeping ya on a leash-!”

“Sticks? Stop. Talking ,” Amy told her, teeth grit. Behind her, Cream, Cheese and Trip looked at each other nervously. “Blaze isn’t ‘controlling’ me. She’s a great leader, and treats her citizens well! And she’s been an awesome girlfriend to me since day one!”

Sticks just kept squinting at Blaze, who was staring at her, dumbfounded.

“Well, you always gotta make sure of these things,” the badger said, shrugging. “I’m just lookin’ out for my friend.”

Blaze, however, couldn’t hide her irritation. “I mean no offense, but you’re being very paranoid-“

“I’M NOT PARANOID!” Sticks suddenly yelled, grabbing the cat by the shoulders and shaking her. “Why do people keep thinking I’m-?!”

She paused, and turned around, glaring heavily at her own shadow.

“I TOLD YA TO STOP FOLLOWING ME!”

And at that point, Blaze was officially lost. Trip scooted next to her.

“I… I did find her really nice wh-when I got to know her better,” she said, trying to assure her.

Blaze pinched the bridge of her nose. “She’s not making that sound convincing right now.”

“Um…” Cream chimed in, desperate to change the subject. “Weren’t we heading to the Restoration?”

“Chao!” Cheese added on.

“Y-yeah, we were!” Amy nodded, loudly enough for Sticks to stop focusing on her shadow. “We were gonna introduce Trip and Sticks, and have them reunite with Sonic and Tails if we see them!”

Blaze smiled. “I was actually headed there myself. I can accompany you all if you’d like.”

“That’d… be nice,” Trip answered. “M-might as well, right?”

“And Amy could tell ya about the whole thing with the islands and all that technology!” Stick said, resting her shoulder on Amy’s. “I keep sayin’, you can’t trust that kind of stuff at all…”

Amy just rolled her eyes and took Blaze’s hand. “It’ll be a bit of a doozy. But just bear with me, alright?”

“I don’t mind,” Blaze said, lightly squeezing Amy’s hand. “I’d love to hear it.”

The pink hedgehog widely grinned at her, while Trip looked at them, smirking a little. Already, they looked like such a cute couple.

“You see,” Amy started as they all went off. “It all started with this weird portal opening up in the sky…”

-

this is scarlet btw :)

Chapter Text

“Ugh, how does he keep coming back?!”

Tangle, Whisper and Lanolin were in their office, waiting for Ashley. They were discussing the schedule for the week, when Jewel texted them in a group chat about Randy the rabbit staying at the Restoration for the time being.

“I’m… confused,” Lanolin said, staring at her phone. “Who’s Randy?”

Tangle sighed, leaning her arm on the table. “Well… remember the rabbit that got in my way at Madman’s Casino?”

“At Madma-?” Lanolin paused. “…oh. The one Lamp knocked out.”

“Speaking of Lamp,” Whisper began while looking up from her mask. “Have you two ever had time to talk after-?”

“I’m surprised though, Tangle,” the sheep blurted out before Whisper could finish. “I figured that you’d trust Jewel’s judgement.”

The wolf just shrugged and let the conversation continue on.

“Ohhh, nonono. Don’t get it twisted, I’d trust Jewel with my life, ” Tangle replied, putting a palm on her chest. “It’s the jerk which I’m worried about. He’s gonna use her kindness to his advantage and pull some crap like he always does, I know it.”

Lanolin put her hands up, pretending to be shocked.

“What horror. If only the Restoration had a team to put him in his place.”

The lemur froze, and blushed. “I- well-“

“It’s just one guy, poundcake. Nothing’s changed,” Whisper assured her girlfriend. “Hell, only one of us would be enough to handle him. Lanolin could stop a freight train just by frowning at it.”

Lanolin rolled her eyes and flipped Whisper off, which the wolf stuck her tongue out at.

Suddenly, the door opened, and Ashley walked inside.

“Hey, guys!” she greeted. “Hope I’m not too late.”

“Oh, hey Ash-! WOAH!”

Tangle began to greet the leopard until she saw what was on the right side of her body; a brand new arm.

Lanolin smiled. “Well, I’ll be. You finally got one.”

Whisper stood up from her chair as Tangle squatted down, observing the arm with stars in her eyes. “I thought the hospital didn’t have any prosthetics like that…”

“They didn’t,” Ashley said. “This was actually a gift from the machine shop.”

“Belle and Grease worked on that for you?” Lanolin assumed, also getting up. “That was kind of them.”

“…well…” The leopard winced. “…Kit worked on it too.”

That got Tangle out of her starstruck trance. “…I’m sorry, what? ”

“Yeah, he even came up with the idea. Considering my… history, I was shocked,” Ashley continued. “And after I left with the arm, I was… greeted by Surge.”

An “uh-oh” escaped Lanolin’s lips, and she put her hand over her mouth, slightly embarrassed.

“Nothing bad happened, right?” Tangle hoped, standing back up.

“Well, aside from slamming me on the ground and spitting that she hates my guts, not really,” Ashley sighed, rubbing her left arm.

Whisper crossed her arms. “No offense, but… that doesn’t surprise me.”

“I know, I know… honestly, I’m really lucky. I already know what she did to Riot, and she could do that to me at any time. This may sound cheesy, but I’m grateful to be given this chance,” Ashley ended with a hopeful smile.

Lanolin put a hand on her shoulder. “And we’re happy to give you that chance.

“It’s great timing that you have your arm, though. It’ll do you good in the training we’ll be doing today,” she said.

The word ‘training’ perked Ashley’s ears up. “Oh? Sign me up! What’re we doing?”

-

One van drive later (the Neos decided against using Extreme Gear after what happened last time), everyone arrived at Forest Hill.

As Ashley stepped out of the passenger seat, she looked up at the floating grassy platforms in the sky.

I will NEVER understand what makes them do that.

Meanwhile, Whisper got out of the shotgun seat, and scoped out the area.

“Doesn’t look like anyone else is around,” she observed.

Lanolin hopped out the driver’s seat. “That’s good. Means we can train without interruptions.”

Tangle sprang out the left passenger seat and did a stretch. “Man, this place is beautiful…”

“Let’s do another quick rundown on what we’re doing,” Lanolin said once everyone gathered together.

“Tangle and Ashley. You two are gonna be sparring each other.”

Ashley raised her hand. “Not that I’m against training with Tangle, but wouldn’t it make more sense to spar with you, boss?”

“Not exactly. While I do feel like I can call myself a fighter, I don’t do so in a brawler fashion like you two do,” the sheep explained, adjusting her bell. “It would be good for you to learn to fight against attacks such as the sound waves from my wispon, but I think we can save that for another time.”

Ashley nodded. “I’d rather not tear apart my arm after only a day of having it, anyway…”

Lanolin huffed in amusement. Then her eyes locked on Whisper.

“Whisper, you’re with me. We’re gonna work on your use of your wisps’ powers, along with trying to improve on that form you get when combining all of them together.”

Whisper just hummed in response.

“Wait a sec, where will me and Tangle go to-“ Ashley began. When she turned her head to the lemur, though, she was latching her tail onto a floating platform.

“…what are you-?”

Suddenly, Tangle wrapped her arm around her waist. “Hope you’re ready to go flying!”

“Flying-?” Then it clicked. “Wait, you’re not gonna-?!”

And the two slingshotted into the air. Whisper and Lanolin could hear Ashley screaming in fear as they got farther and farther away.

“She’s gonna have to get used to that sooner or later,” Lanolin sighed.

“…you know, I sometimes forget that’s the same girl that wanted me dead,” Whisper said. That got a snort out of the sheep.

She tilted her head in the opposite direction, and they both began to walk. “C’mon. We’ve got our own session to get to.”

-

Tangle and Ashley had just landed. While the leopard was still processing that short flight, Tangle took in their surroundings. They seemed to be close to a forest, and there were more floating platforms above them.

“Mmkay, this should be a good spot to-!”

Ashley grabbed Tangle by her vest, so furious with her that she was almost drooling.

“ NE FAIS. PLUS ÇA, ” she snarled in her face.

Gulping, Tangle responded with, “Um… I’m not familiar with whatever language that is.”

Ashley blinked and sighed, letting go of her.

“…it’s French. Just… warn me if we ever end up doing that again,” she told her, walking away.

Tangle rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. “Noted. Sorry.”

Ashley stopped once she was a couple of feet away and turned back around. “Is right here fine?”

Tangle positioned her fingers in front of her right eye as if they were forming a camera. “Yup! That’ll do!”

The leopard nodded.

“Oh, by the way, I know we’re just sparring, but don’t be afraid to really let me have it!” Tangle continued. “Trust me, I can take it!”

“I don’t doubt that,” Ashley said, rolling her head and cracking her neck. “I did hear how you held your own against Mikey, with his battle gear. I’m excited to see what you can do!”

The lemur got into a battle stance. “Same to you!”

And Ashley did the same.

And for a few seconds, they waited, unsure on whether to make the next move or not.

Near them, a branch on one of the trees was giving out.

It cracked off with a SNAP.

And Ashley launched herself at Tangle, her metallic fist cocked back.

Holy shit-!

Tangle was able to dodge just in time, but Ashley was quick. She spun around and kicked Tangle right in her torso.

The lemur fell back, landed on her hands, and backflipped out of it. But Ashley wasn’t letting her breathe. The moment she landed, the leopard dashed in and threw her fist at Tangle’s stomach, and it was a direct hit.

Tangle winced, but didn’t move an inch. She counterattacked by kneeing Ashley in her stomach, and that made her cough and stumble back a bit.

After collecting herself, she looked up, and saw the end of Tangle’s tail out of her line of sight. It looked like it was coming from-

My right-!

Ashley held her robotic arm to the side of her face and blocked Tangle’s tail. She prevented herself from being blown away, standing firmly on the ground. Their short struggle caused Ashley’s feet to scrape the grass, leaving a short trail of dirt.

Heh, this baby’s tougher than I figured it’d be!

Feeling confident, the leopard grabbed Tangle’s tail and yanked her forward with it.

That caused the lemur to stumble in her direction, and Ashley winded back another punch. But Tangle ducked and rolled out of the way, following that up with a sweep kick and knocking Ashley off her feet.

To Tangle’s surprise, though, Ashley landed on her hands, and aimed a kick at her chest. Tangle barely blocked it, and was sent backwards, almost losing her balance.

When she regained it, she was impressed. While nowhere close to Sonic’s level, Ashley was pretty damn fast. It was clear that she didn’t rely on the enhancements on her battle gear before she joined the Neos; she legitimately trained.

Ashley sprinted to Tangle again, jumped up and tried to hit her with a spinning kick. Tangle ducked, grabbed her leg and threw her into the ground.

Ashley slid back, but quickly recovered, hopping back on her feet just in time to see the end of Tangle’s tail gunning at her face.

She raised her robotic arm out and stopped the blow. Tangle was persistent, though, and kept pushing.

Shortly, Ashley began to outpush her, and started walking in her direction, grunting.

However, she was too focused on the tail to notice the source dashing at her from underneath.

When she did, it was too late. Tangle threw an uppercut and hit Ashley in the chin. The leopard threw her head back, and followed up with a headbutt in Tangle’s face.

The lemur clasped her face, sucking in her teeth. While she was stunned, Ashley axe kicked her on the head, and palmed her in the chest.

That move made Tangle gag and almost fall on her back. She saved herself, though, and jumped back, landed on her tail and bounced up again, doing a backflip and landing on her feet.

Ashley smirked and wiped some dirt off her face.

“You’re good!” she complimented. “It’s clear to me how you got your spot on this team.”

“I appreciate that,” Tangle replied, smiling and rubbing the back of her head. “Say…”

She made a mischievous look on her face. “Want me to make it clearer?”

The leopard raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“Just give me a second…”

Tangle grabbed her yellow vest and pulled it off her. She passed it over to her tail, and then started taking off the orange backing on the back of her hands. Next, holding the straps of the backings with her teeth, she sat on the ground and got to taking off her shoes.

Perplexed, Ashley just watched. What could she possibly be doing?

A few seconds later, the lemur stood back up, holding her shoes in one hand, the backings in the other, and the vest with her tail.

She took a deep breath…

And let go of them.

All of them dropped like anvils, BOOMING into the ground and splashing dirt up in the air. The attire even made concerningly-sized dents in the ground.

And Ashley was stunned, mouth wide open.

“…HUH?!”

“Surprised?” Tangle chuckled. “I always make sure to wear weighted clothing for training sessions!”

The abs which Ashley caught a glimpse of on Tangle back when she was diffusing that nuke began to make sense now.

“Wait…” the leopard realized. “Do you wear those on actual missions too?!”

“What? No. That’d be stupid,” Tangle answered. “Why would I nerf myself when fighting against threats like Eggman?”

That got Ashley puzzled.

“So… you just have two pairs of shoes, backings and a vest? Of the same color and style?” she asked. “How can you tell the difference?”

“…by the weight? How else?”

Ashley closed her eyes and coughed. That was kind of a stupid question.

“Anyway… this should even things out a bit!” Tangle said, ready to fight again. “Ready to keep going?”

“…yeah. Yeah! ‘Course I am!” Ashley answered, getting into yet another fighting stance. “Come at me!”

She shouldn’t have said that.

Because in not even a second, Tangle was in the air and barreling down at her.

She did a front flip and landed an axe kick, and Ashley managed to block it with both her arms. She groaned though, because there was a lot more power behind it.

Then, Tangle’s tail grabbed the leopard by the stomach, and slammed her into a tree.

Before she could even try to pry herself out of the tail’s grip, she was thrown up in the air. While airborne, she spotted a floating platform, and was able to grab its ledge before she could fall again.

Once she hoisted herself up, she looked around. It turned out there were a lot of other platforms around her.

Seriously, how does that work?

Before she could think of a strategy, she heard a sound coming from underneath.

Uh-oh-

Ashley hadn’t even fully turned around when Tangle launched herself in the air with her tail.

The said tail formed a fist, and came at Ashley like a freight train. Her first instinct was to block it again, but-

Oh fuck, that was REALLY fast-

She dived out of the way just in time, and the tail collided with the platform behind her, hitting it so hard that it went right through it.

Tangle landed on the platform to the left of Ashley while she stared at the crater in awe.

“…whoops. Uh, no one was using that, right?” the lemur said nervously.

Ashley slowed tilted her head to her, one thought on her mind.

I am so glad we’re not enemies anymore.

Chapter Text

*GONG*

Once Whisper formed a cube on her head with Blue’s power, Lanolin slammed her bell on her while it was in hammer formation, with Maggie’s power infused in it.

The impact was so hard, Lanolin stumbled backwards, nearly losing her footing.

“Damn, it’s like hitting a block of steel…” she said as the cube dissolved. “How do you breathe under there?”

“I don’t,” Whisper answered as Blue flew out of her. “Which is why I only use the powers like that when I need to. …well, like I do with a lot of the wisps’ powers, actually.”

Lanolin rubbed her chin. “I see…”

“Thing is, while it seems like it at first, I still haven’t mastered these powers, other than Cyan’s. ‘M not even close,” the wolf continued.

“What makes you say that?”

“A few days ago, I talked to Sonic about their powers. He’s got experience using them from the Interstellar Amusement Park, as Eggman called it,” Whisper grimaced. “He uses Blue to form into a cube, I use it for defense. He uses Pink to stick to walls like a circular saw, I use it to strengthen my claws and make shurikens. He uses Green to float in the air and follow a trail of rings, I use it to gently float down from a tall height.”

Lanolin hummed. Then she spotted something to her right.

“He uses green to follow a trail of rings, you said?” The sheep pointed. “Well, I think I have a way to prove you can do the same.”

Whisper looked over to where she was pointing, and to her surprise, a trail of power rings were near, forming the shape of a large S.

Hm. How convenient.

“…guess it wouldn’t hurt to give it a go,” Whisper decided, as they both walked to the trail.

Lanolin stayed back a little to observe, and Green popped out of Whisper’s cloak.

Whisper nodded at him, and he warped into her body.

Lanolin shielded her eyes as the wolf started glowing green.

Whisper looked at hands, then clenched them into fists, looking up at the ring trail. “Here goes nothing.”

She dashed at the rings, and…

Whisper had fully transformed into a green blob that somewhat resembled her head. Not only that, but she was following the trail of rings perfectly, whilst doing barrel rolls.

Lanolin just stared in awe as she went higher. The wolf was one step closer to mastering all the powers.

The moment of triumph was short lived, though, when Whisper immediately popped back to normal, and started plummeting down.

“Shit! Green Green GREEN-! ”

Lanolin dashed over to try and catch her, but she was too late. The wolf hit the ground facefirst with a SPLAT , all the rings she gathered scattering away.

“Whisper!” Lanolin gasped, kneeling down. “Are you-?!”

Still with a facefull of dirt, Whisper gave her a thumbs up.

The sheep smiled a little, and took her arm.

“That was impressive, despite your… accident,” she complimented, helping her teammate up.

“Mhm. Glad the gremlin isn’t here, though,” Whisper grumbled, dusting herself off. “She wouldn’t let me hear the end of it.”

Lanolin snickered while Green frantically spoke beside her guardian, possibly apologizing for the screw-up. Whisper gently rubbed her head, letting him know she was fine.

“What should I try next?” Whisper asked her boss.

The sheep rubbed her chin for a second before snapping her fingers.

“Say… why don’t we try and get a hang of that form you told us about next? The one you used to beat Ashley,” Lanolin said. “We could see how long you can maintain it-“

“ Absolutely not. ”

The sheep was surprised by Whisper’s sudden change in tone. That, and she was giving her a really stern look.

“That form is only to be used when the situation requires it,” Whisper lectured her. “I’m not going to try and over-exert myself using it. If I do so for too long, not only will the wisps tire out faster, but it can cause my body to burn up.”

Lanolin blinked. “…ah.”

“I’ve been open to your suggestions for training with the wisps. But that’s a line I will not cross. If the wisps and I want to train with it, we’ll do so ourselves.”

“ Okay, okay. You’ve made your point,” Lanolin said, putting her hands up. “No super wisp form or whatever you call it.”

She glanced at Maggie, who had been watching Whisper’s performance beside her. And the wisp looked back at her.

Lightbulb.

“Would you be alright with Whisper giving your power a shot?” she asked her.

Whisper’s eyes shot up a little while Maggie nodded. 

“You on board too, Whisper?”

The wolf shrugged. “Dunno how it’ll play out, but I guess it’s worth a shot.”

“Excellent,” Lanolin said. All of Whisper’s wisps popped out and positioned themselves beside the sheep, and Maggie floated to Whisper.

She warped herself into her body, and Whisper was sporting a magenta glow. Something was off, though. Whisper looked as if gravity had increased around her. She was vibrating, grunting, and looked like she was about to splat onto the ground again.

“Oh no…” Lanolin realized while the wisps looked concerned. “Maggie, come out! Quickly-!”

“ N-no! ‘M fine,” Whisper dismissed, although she didn’t sound fine at all. “Not… not used to her power. G-gotta get a feel for it…”

Lanolin and the wisps still looked worried, but they let Whisper continue.

The wolf looked at her trembling hand and managed to clench it.

Feels like I’m rocketing off to Planet Wisp again, she thought. No wonder Lanolin’s wispon is so destructive…

Maybe I can use these vibrations to my advantage. What if I…

Whisper lifted her foot up high, and stamped it down hard.

Her impact caused the area to shake, and Lanolin to fall over.

The ground broke apart, and in front of Whisper, giant earthly spikes rose up.

And the wolf stopped vibrating.

Speechless, Lanolin picked herself up and stared at what her teammate had created. And Whisper was just as shocked as she was, with her jaw reaching the floor.

They looked at each other, sweating bullets. Even Maggie looked concerned once she popped out of Whisper.

“...I think that’s enough training with the wisps for one day,” Lanolin said.

Whisper nodded frantically. “Agreed.”

-

Tangle really had Ashley on the defensive.

They were jumping from platform to platform, as Tangle was hitting her teammate with a barrage of attacks. And all Ashley was able to do was dodge and block.

She saw the lemur’s fist flying towards her face, and instantly shielded herself.

But that was what Tangle wanted. She shot out her tail, and it connected to Ashley’s stomach.

And the leopard went flying away, tumbling right back to where she had landed before.

On her knees, she looked up, panting. Despite her goofy nature, Tangle was clearly no joke.

I’m not getting anywhere by just weaving her blows. I’ll have to catch her by surprise! Ashley decided. The thing is… how can I do that…?

She had to think fast, because Tangle was quickly closing in on her. Right before she got close, however, she turned her head and noticed the platform Tangle punched a hole through.

And something clicked.

Got it.

“Hey, eyes on me!”

Tangle’s quip as she dived at Ashley got her to snap out of it.

Instincts kicking in, she grabbed Tangle’s arm before she could hit her, and threw her to the side.

Once Tangle landed, Ashley jumped at her and tried to kick her. But Tangle spot-dodged, and tried sweeping the leopard off her feet with her tail. But Ashley hopped up, landed on her tail and used that as a boost to get away from her.

And as expected, Tangle went after her. And for the next half-minute, Ashley was ducking and dodging the lemur’s attacks once more, and jumping from platform to platform. She was beginning to adapt to Ashley’s moves, though, landing more blows. So she figured it was time to initiate the plan.

She glanced behind her just fast enough so Tangle wouldn’t notice and smirked. Perfect positioning.

Ashley backflipped to the platform behind her, and left herself wide open for Tangle.

“Pfft, showoff!” Tangle joked, pouncing at her.

But Ashley quickly sidestepped out of the way. And it was at that moment Tangle realized she messed up.

She was diving straight into the hole she created earlier.

Crap-!

Before Tangle could fall all the way through, she grabbed its ledge with her tail, and was dangling underneath the platform.

She tricked me?! How did I fall for that?!

“You haven’t seen anything yet!”

Tangle quickly turned her head, but it was too late. Ashley had jumped off, grabbed the ledge on the other side, and used her momentum to kick Tangle in the face.

And both of them were freefalling into the forest.

Maaaaybe I should have planned this better…

Meanwhile, Tangle regained focus, and quickly wrapped her tail around a tree.

She spun around it, and once Ashley was close, rammed her feet into her chest.

After going through some leaves and branches, her back slammed into a tree. Thankfully, there was a much more sturdy tree branch beneath her.

Making sure she had her balance, she looked into the distance. Tangle was using her tail as a vine to swing towards her.

Now, Tangle was an impressive fighter when it came to open spaces…

…but what about spots with little wiggle room?

“There you are!”

The lemur landed right in front of Ashley, her confidence clearly showing.

But that went away when she realized how little room her feet had to stay on balance. Suddenly she was wobbling, struggling to stand straight.

“W-woah, hang on-”

“You’re pretty tough…” Ashley began.

Before Tangle could do anything, the leopard punched her in the stomach with her metal arm.

As Tangle gagged, Ashley continued.

“But even the environment can be used against you in battle.”

She palmed her once again, and this time to the face. This caused Tangle to slip off the branch.

The lemur hit a bunch of sticks and branches on the way down, but thankfully, that helped her soften her landing on the ground, even if not by much.

As she laid down back-first, she slowly opened her eyes.

When her vision unblurred, she saw Ashley rocketing down at her at an alarming speed, with her fist cocked back.

Tangle yelped and shielded herself, as there was no way she could get out of the way in time.

The leaves swayed, and flickies flew out of the forest.

But once Tangle opened her eyes and unshielded herself, she just saw Ashley’s fist mere centimeters away from her face.

Not only that, but she was kneeling on one knee, making sure Tangle’s torso was right between her legs. The lemur felt like she could breathe again…

…and then Ashley flicked her in the forehead.

“Ow!”

“Sorry. That was too good of an opportunity not to pass up,” Ashley laughed. She held her robotic arm out. “You good?”

“Heh… I’ll live.” Tangle gladly took her hand while rubbing her forehead. As she was hoisted up, she said, “The only thing that hurts is my pride.”

She dusted herself off. “Where’d you learn that thing about the environment?”

“This is far from my first battle in a forest,” Ashley sighed. “I was fighting a bunch of Eggman’s robots even before meeting you guys. I can’t tell you how many times I almost got outsmarted and had a tree thrown at me.”

"Oh... you were part of the war. Guess I should have figured."

Then Tangle grinned. “Well hey, you won your first sparring match! I’m sure Whisp and Lano will be impressed!” she complimented, lightly smacking her on the back.

Ashley blushed and looked away. “Heh, stop it…”

“I mean it,” Tangle told her. “Now let’s head back to where we were before. Pretty sure my vest and everything is still there-”

They both heard a buzz coming from Tangle’s pocket.

The lemur reached into it and pulled out an earpiece, putting it on her head.

“Hello? …oh, hey Lano, great timing!” Tangle greeted. “We just got do-”

Ashley could hear rambling coming from the earpiece. Tangle turned around.

“Woah, slow down. What do you mean we have to hurry back-” Tangle stopped. “...Whisper did WHAT?!”

While Tangle talked into the earpiece, the leopard’s eyes landed on her tail.

She thought about the creative ways Tangle used it during their fight, then looked at her robotic arm.

She’d have to write some stuff down once they got back.

Chapter Text

Smacking his lips, Jake entered his kitchen while still in his pajamas.

It had been two weeks since the whole Madman’s Casino incident. Probably the most terrifying day of his life.

After it was over, he helped the Restoration uncover the casino’s schemes by testifying in court. He showed all the footage he had on camera, and that along with the Chaotix and the secretary's participation got them the win.

He was also called by Lanolin while she was recovering in the hospital, to ask him to put what he got on his vlog. The golden retriever agreed.

When he did, it gained a lot of traction, doing wonders for his channel. But as beneficial as it was, Jake decided that doing those kinds of infiltrations wasn’t his thing.

He put a mug in a coffee machine and went to pour himself some cereal.

Yeah, he was happy to help, and he contributed plenty with his skills. But the thing is, those that fought for the Restoration were skilled. Jake was just… an ordinary dude.

Despite this, he wanted to help somehow. But vlogging could only get a person so far.

*DING*

The coffee machine beeped, and he picked up his mug, now filled with coffee. He placed it and his cereal bowl on the table, and sat himself down.

I guess sometimes, it’s okay for life to be on the boring side.

He glanced at his laptop and opened it up with a spoonful of cereal in his mouth. While he had it on him, he might as well check some emails.

Once Jake signed in, he checked his inbox.

Let’s see here… he thought while scrolling and sipping his coffee. Stuff about my magazine subscriptions, Restoration emails, spam, spam, K-TBR 199.2, spam, my order for a new camera-

“PFFFSHHHH?!”

Jake turned and spat out his coffee. Did he read that correctly?

He scrolled back up and looked again. The words were there, but just to make sure, he rubbed his eyes.

When he opened them back up again, it was confirmed. That was an email directly from those at the radio station, K-TBR 199.2.

A-alright, Jake, don’t get excited, he said to himself. This is probably just some promotional email. Or maybe they meant to send this to someone else…

With shaky hands, he clicked on the email. It read;

Hello there, Jake [REDACTED]! We at K-TBR came across your recent vlog about Madman’s Casino, and are quite interested in your skills in gathering info! And because of this, we have an opportunity for you, but it sounds better if we talked instead of text. Let us know if you’re interested, and if so, whether you’d want to do a video call or talk in person!

Best regards, The K-TBR Duo

“...holy shit.”

The words were muttered out his mouth before he could even realize it. They’re interested in him?

Clearly, this was an opportunity he could not miss. But there was one thing he’d have to remind himself.

Don’t. Fuck. This. Up.

-

Five hours later, the golden retriever was parked outside KTBR’s… office? House? He wasn’t too sure. Let’s call it a shack for now.

He had responded to them, agreeing that he could meet them at their place in a couple hours. They gave him the location, and Jake spent the time before driving up there practicing like he was in an interview, and making sure he looked presentable. Maybe he was going a little overboard…

But again. Lifetime opportunity.

He jumped out of his truck, and his yellow wisp followed suit.

Oh, right. Jake’s the caretaker of a wisp now. Apparently, one of Madman’s Casino’s lackeys had a weapon that was forcibly powered by this wisp, and Tangle and the Chaotix saved it.. While he and the Neo Diamond Cutters tried to form a plan to infiltrate the casino, the wisp must have taken a liking to him. Because once he and the others returned to the Restoration with new intel, the little guy was all over him.

Caring for a wisp wasn’t the easiest thing in the world, though. He’d have to get advice from Whisper or Lanolin next time he sees them.

…but more on that later.

He stepped up to the shack’s front door, and knocked while his companion floated beside him.

Starting to have second thoughts about this outfit… should I have worn a tie? I probably should have worn a tie-

The handle in front of him tilted downward.

The door opened, and standing in front of Jake was Don the rooster.

He looked a little grumpy at first, but his face lit up a little when he saw the golden retriever.

“Oh, hey there,” he greeted. “You’re the guy we emailed, right? Jake [REDACTED]?”

“S-sure am!” Jake answered nervously, shaking his hand. “It’s great to finally meet you in person!”

Don gave him a little smirk. “C’mon in. We’ll have you seated.”

A voice called, “That him, Donnie?”

“Yep, it is!” Don said back. “We’re all set up for him, right?”

“We sure are!”

Jake looked around the shack. It was a bit messier than he thought it’d be, with unopened delivery boxes around the room, and some vinyls on the floor. There were a few he even recognized. In the back was all the equipment you’d probably need to be a radio host, as expected. There was a square table in the middle, though, which looked oddly out of place. Did they set that up for him?

And on the other side of it was Nite the owl, the host of K-TBR. There were also three mugs out of something steamy.

“Right then,” Don began, sitting next to Nite. He slid one of the mugs to Jake’s side. “Care for some cocoa? Nite’s world famous?” The last line got Nite to smile.

“Oh, uh, sure! Thanks!” Jake picked up the mug and took a sip, as his wisp watched. It was then that the two noticed the little critter.

“Mm? Oh yeah, sorry. This guy was attached to me, so I had to bring him along,” he said, putting the mug down. “Don’t worry, he won’t cause trouble.”

“That’s quite alright,” Nite responded as the wisp looked around the room. “Now, onto why you were called here…” He folded his hands together.

“The whole Madman’s Casino incident was broadcasted on K-TBR the morning after it all transpired,” Don explained. “Some who are regulars there - well, used to be regulars - gave us as much info on the whole thing as they could. Sadly, all we got was that the employees were massive dickheads-”

Nite elbowed him, muttering, “Language!”

“-and that there was a buncha shaking in the building. Parts of the ceiling were even falling, making a giant mess outta the main floor.”

Damn, Whisper, what were you and that secretary doing up there?

“But then, the trial happened! We got to watch it live on the telly,” Nite chimed in, while Don muttered, “Just call it TV…”

“And then you made your case. We saw just how much could have been hidden if further action hadn’t been taken, thanks to your expertise in vlogging.”

“You deserve props for that, by the way,” Don complimented. “There was some insane stuff in there, like all the wisps being trapped and used as an energy source, and the battle between two of the Neo Diamond Cutters and all those casino employees. Those musta been hard to capture.”

Jake sighed and drank more of his cocoa. “Thank you. ‘Hard’ is an understatement…”

“We were impressed, so we decided to take a look at your vlog individually,” Nite said. “And we couldn’t help but notice a blurry photo of a monkey, blinded by what we assume to be the flash of your camera. It appeared for only a millisecond near the beginning.”

The golden retriever’s face fell a little. “Oh… yeah. That guy stabbed Lanolin, the leader of the Neos with a machete. I took a picture of him with the flash turned up to the max in an attempt to save her. I was in a rush to compile everything together before the trial, so that must have slipped in.”

Don’s eyes rose up while Nite covered his mouth, horrified.

“Don’t worry, I hear she’s doing fine now,” Jake assured them.

“Wait, but… how was she able to fight off those employees with the lemur?” Don asked.

“...okay. This is gonna sound ridiculous,” Jake started. “But there was this moth that was assisting us, who apparently had healing powers? While she couldn’t bring Lanolin back to full health, she did enough for her to get back into the fight.”

“...sounds believable to me.”

“Eh?”

“Kid, when you live in a world with Chaos Emeralds, practically anything’s possible,” the rooster said.

“...huh. True.”

Don snorted and turned to Nite.

The owl nodded.

“With all that out of the way, we’ve got something to ask you.”

He pulled out a piece of paper.

“Would you like to become an assistant for K-TBR?” he asked.

Jake’s ears perked up. NO FUCKING WAY-

Wait.

“What do you mean by ‘assistant?’” he asked.

“Well, I’m sure you know this already, but radio stations don’t just play music. We do capture news, too,” Don said. “But we’re not capable of capturing everything. That’s where you come in."

“We’re not saying you do all the heavy work for us,” Nite continued. “Anything you see that doesn’t sound like something we’d cover, you capture it, and email your findings to us.”

“That, and you could participate in our show. And with your help, we could do live interviews,” Don told him. “Obviously, we don’t expect you to work for free though. Me and Nite’ll make sure you’re compensated fairly.

Nite slid the paper in front of Jake. It turned out to be a contract he’d need to sign. “Interested?”

Jake stared at the owl, and grinned.

“You kidding? Working with you two would be an honor!” he answered. “I won’t lie, I was kinda skeptical. The way you said ‘assistant’ sounded like I’d just be sweeping your floors or something…”

“Nope. That’s my job,” Don corrected, looking directly at the owl. “ Someone has to keep this shack clean.”

“Oh, what are you talking about? You say that as if I don’t clean up!” Nite shot back.

“I’m not saying you don’t. But as a custodian, I gotta go to more extreme measures. I can’t tell ya how much dust has gone up my nose at this point.” He said this while failing to hide a smile.

Jake laughed a little at their banter. “Heh, with the way you two act, I’d think you were a married couple if I didn’t know any better!”

The smiles on Nite and Don’s faces instantly dropped, and they looked directly at him.

“I’m sorry?” Nite asked.

Uh-oh. Red flag.

“Uh… what’s the problem?” the golden retriever asked.

Nite gave him a stern look, then leaned his elbow on the table.

“I’m not sure. Do you see a problem, Don?”

Jake looked closer and-

Ohhhhhh fuck.

“Nope,” Don answered, raising his right hand. “Don’t see any at all.”

Both of them had wedding rings on their right index fingers.

FUUUUUUUUUCK-

The flag was now a dark crimson.

It was going so well up until that point, and of course, he just had to mess something up. Even the yellow wisp knew this, as he had stopped wandering around the shack, and was looking at the three with worry.

“I-I am so sorry, you two,” Jake stammered. “I had no idea! You two make a lovely couple, and I never would have joked like that if I knew-”

He was interrupted when the rooster suddenly began laughing, and elbowed his husband.

“HA! I like this kid!” he said.

Nite chuckled, and rolled a pen next to the contract. “Welcome to K-TBR, Jake. We look forward to working with you!”

Jake leaned back and let out a huge breath of relief, holding his chest.

“ HOOOOH, shit,” he breathed. He high-fived Don and gave a handshake to Nite before signing the paper, all of them laughing. “You got me! Saw my life flash before my eyes there!”

He handed the now signed contract to Nite, who rolled it up. “So… what day do I start?”

“Well, I know you just got the job, but would you be able to assist us at the Restoration tomorrow?” Nite asked.

The mention of the Restoration got Jake’s attention.

“Y-yeah! I sure can!” he answered, while his wisp floated to him, nuzzling his cheek. “What’ll we be doing there?”

Don folded his hands together, and leaned his chin on them, with his elbows on the table.

“Well, let me answer your question with another question…” he began.

Jake looked at him curiously.

“Have you ever heard of the organization, ‘Breeze Media?’”

Chapter Text

“…and you’re sure this place doesn’t plant chips inside our brains to track us?”

“For the seventh time, Sticks… yes.”

Amy, Blaze, Cream, Cheese, Trip and Sticks had just gotten out from one of the Restoration’s many diners. The two newcomers’ first impressions of the place were overall positive, aside from Sticks’ conspiracy theories yet again.

Unfortunately, there was no sign of Sonic or Tails. Sonic not being there wasn’t too surprising, considering… well, it’s Sonic. And Tails… the poor kid was probably still grasping their latest adventure. There were a LOT of things about the islands and its lore which he’d want to get the answers to.

The lizard and badger still had yet to be introduced to the Neos, Surge and those at the machine shop, though. One of those three options was next.

“There’s something… odd about th-this place, as much as I l-like it…” Trip said.

Blaze looked at her. “And that is?”

“I-I haven’t seen a single s-sungazer lizard.”

Blaze raised an eyebrow.

“Come to think of it, that is a little strange,” Amy realized. “There are all different kinds of mobian animals here. You’d think we’d spot at least one by now…”

“We haven’t seen one since we left Miss Trip’s home…” Cream added. “It sure is odd.” Cheese “chao’d” in agreement.

Then something came to Sticks’ mind. “What if she and her people-?”

“Trip and her people are mobians like us, not from another planet,” Amy glared. Sticks just pouted, muttering, “It’s not impossible…”

“There are a plenty of inhabitants here from another planet, to be fair.”

The five of them looked towards the source of the voice. Lanolin was making her way to them, with the rest of her teammates following behind.

“The director told us you were back, Amy, and brought some new faces. Naturally, we have to introduce ourselves,” Lanolin told her, with that same professional look.

A tail suddenly coiled around the pink hedgehog. “And speaking of Amy…!”

“Woah!”

She was pulled right into Tangle, who trapped her into her signature bear hug. Of course, Amy returned it with glee.

“We haven’t seen you in weeks, girl!” she squealed while Amy laughed. “And we heard about the whole thing with the Starfall Islands! Are you…?”

“Thank you for your concern, but I’m doing okay,” Amy replied.

Blaze tilted her head, and found Ashley awkwardly waving behind Lanolin.

Whisper, who was being hugged by Cream, patted her head and looked over at the leopard. “Ah, right. You guys haven’t met her yet.”

“Yeah. You, Amy and Cream are good friends of Sonic’s, right?” Ashley asked Blaze. “My name’s Ashley, a recent recruit of the Neo Diamond Cutters.”

She bowed. “It’s nice to finally meet you all in person.”

“H-hey now, raise your head. There’s no need for that,” Blaze assured her, walking up and shaking the leopard’s robotic hand. “I must ask, though; how do you know us?”

“Oh, y’know; some guy that hated both Sonic and Eggman, and wanted to twist the world into his own ideals who left me with one arm less after I betrayed him.”

Blaze stared at her, and looked over to Lanolin.

“It’s…” she sighed. “...a very complicated story.”

“ Very, ” Tangle emphasised, letting go of Amy. “So now… who are the new gals?”

“These are Trip and Sticks!” Amy introduced, putting an arm around each of them. Trip just twiddled her fingers, while Sticks stared at Whisper suspiciously. “Trip here is from the Northstar Islands, and Sticks from Seaside Island.”

Tangle scratched her head with her tail. “Hm. Can’t say I’ve ever heard of those places…”

And it suddenly shot out as a hand to them, causing Trip to yelp.

“Ah, whatever! Put ‘er here!”

Slowly, Trip shook her tail. Considering one of Amy’s friends had two tails, she should probably get used to this sort of thing.

Sticks was still focused on Whisper, however.

“What’s with the futuristic gun?” she asked.

The wolf blinked and held out her wispon. “Y’mean my wispon? It harnesses the power of wisps. Multiple kinds of them can be used.”

“...and what’s a ‘wisp?’”

Whisper raised her eyebrows. “Y’never seen a wisp before?”

“Never. What is it, some kind of candy?”

“What kind of gun is powered by candy-” Whisper started, but she just sighed.

Lanolin looked over and snapped her fingers. Hearing the sound, Maggie popped out of her wool.

Sticks turned to the warbling sound and her eyes were as big as dinner plates.

Lanolin began to explain. “ This is one of many kinds of wisps-”

“GAAACK!!! AN ALIEN!!!” the badger shrieked, to everyone’s surprise.

Whisper’s wisps must have heard the commotion, because they came out of her cloak. And they didn’t go unnoticed by Sticks.

“GYAAH! THERE’S MORE OF THEM?!”

“...I just said there are many kinds of-”

The badger pulled out a boomerang.

“I’M NOT GOING DOWN WITHOUT A FIGHT, YOU FREAKS!!!”

All six of the wisps became shocked by what they were just called. Whisper didn’t take lightly to that, and marched towards Sticks. “They are NOT- ”

“Miss Whisper, don’t!” Cream begged, grabbing her hand while Cheese assisted her.

Amy held Sticks back, smiling nervously. “Uh, Blaze? You don’t mind keeping Trip and Cream company for the time being, do you?”

Blaze, bewildered by the events that just occurred, only said, “I do not.”

“Great! I’ll see you guys later it was nice meeting you Ashley BYEEEEE!” the pink hedgehog rushed out, speed walking away while still holding a snarling and thrashing badger.

By this time, everyone noticed that Sticks’s outburst caused some people around them to start staring.

Whisper sighed as Cream and Cheese let go of her. “Freakin’ nutcase…”

“I-I promise you she isn’t so bad once you get to know her…” Cream tried to persuade the wolf. “She’s actually really nice aside from her… what were they?”

“C-conspiracy theories?” Trip asked.

“Yes, those!”

“No offense, kiddo, but I’ll believe it when I see it,” Tangle said.

Trip scooted to Maggie, and gently patted her head.

“I-if it makes things better, I d-don’t think the wisps are freaky,” she said,as Maggie happily leaned into her palm. “Th-they’re actually p-pretty cute…”

Whisper’s wisps noticed the attention Maggie was getting, and they all wanted in on it, surrounding the lizard. Lanolin and Whisper smiled a little as Trip was smothered in wisps.

“Say, I gotta ask, since it’ll keep me up at night if I don’t; what kind of animal are you?” Ashley asked. “Don’t think I’ve seen anyone like you before.”

“R-really? S-sticks, Cream and Blaze said th-that too… I’m a-a sungazer lizard,” Trip answered.

The Neo Diamond Cutters all looked at each other.

“Oh, no way… No one’s ever- ever seen one before?”

They all looked back at Trip.

“Nope.”

“Mm-mm.”

“Afraid not.”

“None.”

Trip looked down while Cyan flopped on her head. “S-strange… there are s-so many of them back at- at home…”

“Maybe you’re part of a rarely known culture or something?” Lanolin shrugged. “There’s got to be more of you out there, aside from your home.”

“I hope so…” Trip rubbed her right arm.

Blaze could tell that this conversation was getting uncomfortable for the sungazer, so she chimed in. “Trip, Cream, was there anywhere in particular you wanted to check out?”

Cream beamed. “What about the machine shop? Maybe they could upgrade your helmet, Miss Trip!”

“Helmet?” Tangle asked.

“Th-this…” Trip pulled her helmet out of, again, who knows where.

“Woah, this thing looks ancient,” Lanolin observed, kneeling down and lightly knocking on it. And even that made her knuckles ache a little. “Isn’t that heavy?”

“N-not really? I’ve never h-had trouble carrying it a-around…”

She looked at her armored hat and sighed. “I like it j-just the way it is, but… I-I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to see w-what can be upgraded…”

“Sounds good. We’ve finished our duties for the day, so we can take you there if you’d like,” Lanolin suggested.

“Th-that’d be appreciated-”

“ Hey! Tangle!”

Everyone turned around, and saw the director flying towards them. She wasn’t in her usual work clothes, though. All casual.

Come to think of it, Tangle wasn’t wearing her jumpsuit, either. Also casual wear.

Then Whisper remembered, while Tangle waved the beetle over. “Ah, yes. Your plans with Jewel.”

“Yeahhh, sorry guys. I’d like to come, but Jewel and I already made a promise to hang out tonight,” the lemur explained. “I don’t wanna let her down.”

“Y-you’re friends with the director?!” Trip asked, amazed.

“Since we were babies!” Tangle answered happily. “And I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”

Jewel blushed, and told Tangle, “Scarlet managed to drag me out of there before I began overloading myself on the paperwork, heh heh. She said she’s cool with taking over the rest of the day.”

She looked at Trip. “And how are you finding the Restoration so far?”

Trip just squeezed her eyes shut and gave her a thumbs up. She must have a harder time interacting with someone of a higher authority.

“That’s good to hear,” Jewel said sweetly. “Say, wasn’t there another new face? Sticks?”

“Had to get dragged away by Amy after a… mishap,” Whisper grumbled, clearly sour over the whole wisp thing.

“Oh. Amy did warn me she was a little, um, unhinged.”

"ᵀʰ⁻ᵗʰᵃᵗ'ˢ ᵒᵏᵃʸ ʷᶦᵗʰ ᵐᵉ, ʰᵒⁿᵉˢᵗˡʸ..."

Everyone looked at Trip. “Huh-?”

“NOTHING.”

Awkward silence.

“Um… should we go to the machine shop now?” Cream asked.

Trip held her helmet close and nodded. Meanwhile, Whisper remembered the events Ashley said had transpired when she got her robotic arm.

“...y’know what, Lanolin, you and Ashley should go rest,” Whisper told her. “I can guide Trip and Cream to the machine shop myself.”

Lanolin looked at the wolf, a bit surprised. “You’re sure?”

She then noticed Ashley breathing a huge sigh of relief, and got the message. “...actually, yeah. Good call.”

Jewel, Trip, Cream and Blaze just looked confused.

“Um, Tangle, can we…?” Jewel began.

“Yeah, don’t worry. We’ll make our leave now,” Tangle assured her.

With that, everyone said their goodbyes. Tangle and Jewel went off together, Whisper, Trip, Cream and Cheese went to the machine shop, and Ashley just went back to her room. Either to sleep off her training, or to make more origami.

And that just left Blaze and Lanolin, the former beginning to turn around. “I might as well check in on Sticks and-”

“Wait.”

Blaze stopped in her tracks, and looked back at the sheep, who had her hand up.

“Sorry, this is out of nowhere, but… could you humor me for just a moment?”

-

“Honestly, Sticks… you’re lucky Cream stopped Whisper while she could.”

Amy and Sticks were sitting at a bench outside of the many shops.

“Could you blame me, though?!” Sticks shot back. “Seaside Island doesn’t have any’a those ‘wisp’ things!”

“But do they have chao?”

Sticks paused. “Well… no…”

“Exactly-”

“Well, chao are actually cute!”

The pink hedgehog facepalmed. There was no getting through to her.

“Wait a sec, Pinky?! Is that you?” a voice called.

Both Amy and Sticks looked up, where Surge had just skidded in front of them. “Why didn’t Mint tell me you were back?!”

Amy sprang up and grabbed Surge’s hands. “Surge! Sorry for not coming to you sooner. I was all caught up showing some friends around.”

“Whatever, don’t sweat it.” Her eyes landed on Sticks, who was squinting at her with her boomerang on standby. “...and what’s with you?”

“Uh, this, is Sticks!” Amy said nervously, gesturing to the badger. “Don’t mind her, she’s… distrustful towards new people.”

“I’ve said this plenty-a times, Rose… you can never be too careful,” Sticks retaliated.

“...did you just call me Rose-?”

“So, ‘Surge,’ Sticks began, nudging Amy out of the way, and getting in her face. “What’s with your speed?”

Oh no…

The tenrec just matched her glare. “What about my speed?”

“Didya steal Sonic’s or something?”

“You think I’d want anything that belongs to him?” she snarled, electricity crackling. “He’s not the only fucker that runs fast around here. This power is my own.”

“Uh-huh…”

She stepped around the tenrec, observing her. Surge looked at Amy, who could only shrug.

“Something about ya is just… weird to me. You’re definitely a mobian, but I can’t shake the robo vibes you give off-”

Surge nearly broke her neck at the speed she turned her head at Sticks.

“Wanna say that again?”

Amy buried her hands in her face, a muffled scream coming out. Her first day there, and Sticks was already about to get a visit to the Restoration’s hospital.

But the badger was unfazed. “Like, you’re super dangerous. A wicked force of nature. You could end a poor soul’s life by running straight through ‘em.”

Crap, I need to get Jewel… Amy thought. Wait, no, Jewel said she’d be off the clock during this time! Damn it, what do I…?

Surge’s electricity faded.

“Y’know, at first I wanted to take out your lungs and switch their places…”

She lightly punched Sticks on the shoulder.

“But you’ve got guts! And I like those with guts,” she complimented while Sticks rubbed her shoulder, not understanding what could have just happened. “Welcome to the Restoration.”

Amy was in disbelief. What Sticks said actually worked?!

“What’re you talkin’ about? Everyone’s got guts.” Sticks tried to correct Surge. “Why wouldn’t I have any?”

Surge stared at her. Then gave her a toothy grin.

“Oh, we’re gonna get along juuuuuust fine, Twig.”

Watching them talk, Amy eased up. Somehow, Sticks managed to avoid two thrashings in only a few minutes. There was nothing to worry about.

…that is, if Sticks didn’t convert Surge into her crazy theories by the time the day was over.

Chapter Text

“*COUGH, KAFF, ACHOO*”

As Trip walked through the machine shop with Whisper, Cream and Cheese, she was immediately met with sawdust particles.

Whisper looked at the sungazer with concern. “Y’good?”

“I-I’m fine,” Trip assured her. “‘It’s just r-really dusty in here…”

“Mm. You’ll get used to it,” Whisper said. “This place is basically a construction site for weapons and, well, machines.”

“W-weapons…?”

“Ah- not weapons for mass destruction. They’re made to defend against evil. Like my wispon,” the wolf explained. “Though it was actually made way before the Restoration was a thing…”

“Who made it, Miss Whisper?” Cream asked innocently. “Did you know somebody?”

Oops.

“That’s, it’s, um-”

“HEY! LOOK OUT!”

Everyone suddenly heard a voice shouting at them. They turned to it, and some kind of board was flying right at them. With quick reflexes, Whisper ducked out of the way, grabbing Cream and Trip in the process, while Cheese flew upwards. They all avoided the board just in time, and it hit the wall behind them with a CRASH, getting jammed in a hole.

Whisper hoisted everyone back up. “You all okay?”

“Y-yes,” Cream and Trip responded. Cheese just answered with, “Chao…”

The sungazer looked at the board, which seemed to have some boosters on the back. Not only that, but it was powered by…

“I-is that water?”

And Kit suddenly appeared, muttering to himself and not even acknowledging the new arrivals.

“So the water boosters don’t seem to be a good idea…” he mumbled, pulling the board out of the wall. “Maybe we should just make regular ones then… no, that would miss the whole point of this being a waterboard…”

“Um… Mr. Kit?” Cream tried. Unfortunately, she was ignored.

The four turned back around, hearing two pairs of footsteps. And in front of them were Grease and Belle.

“You girls alright?” Grease asked. “Nothing broken?”

“We’re good. Managed to get out of the way,” Whisper answered.

Belle looked at Trip, who was peeking out from behind Whisper.

“Oh sawdust, you’re one of the newcomers Jewel told us about, aren’t you?” she laughed nervously. “Sorry this had to be your introduction to this place…”

“D-do mishaps like these h-happen often?” Trip asked nervously.

“I’d say thrice a day,” Grease said. “But hey, they’re bound to happen often when you’re inventing things like a water jet board.”

That got Whisper to realize something. “Wait… didn’t that get caught in the explosion at Westopolis not too long ago?”

“It did,” Kit said, finally turning his attention to something other than the board. “But that one was slower and defective. I’m determined to get it right this time.” Meanwhile, Belle looked away guiltily.

“Anywho!” The orangutan monkey plopped a hand on Belle’s head. “I’m sure introductions are in order. My name’s Grease. This here’s Belle, and little man holding the board is-”

Kit’s glowing red eyes shot at him.

“...the kitsune holding the board is Kit,’ he corrected himself, sweating. Trip made a mental note to not call the fennec fox a “little man.”

“What th- Ashura, stop!”

“Cheese! Cut it out!”

She looked back again, and Cheese was ‘fighting’ with a green chao after the latter bit him on the cheek. Cream and Kit had to step in and hold their respective chao companions back.

“...sorry. This is Ashura,” Kit sighed as Ashura tried to get out of his hands. “She’s never reacted well to others like her, for some reason.”

Cream hummed sadly while Cheese folded his stubby arms, looking away. Whisper kept her eye on the kids while Trip put her focus back on Belle and Grease.

“I-it’s nice to meet y-you all. My name’s T-Trip…” She introduced herself nervously. “Cream told me that y-you guys could add ‘upgrades’ t-to my helmet…”

Grease scratched his beard. “Well, we’ve been busy with our water board, but… Belle, would you be alright with hearing our guest out? I can help Kit out in the meantime.”

The tinkerer’s face lit up. “Oh, uh, I’d be happy to!”

Grease grinned at her, and went to Kit so they could get back to work.

“So, first off; may I see your helmet?”

The sungazer meekly nodded and pulled it out. She gently placed it in Belle’s hands…

…and Belle almost fell to the ground, along with it.

“OOOOOH jeez,” she grunted.

Noticing her struggling, Trip quickly put her palms underneath Belle’s hands, helping her hoist the helmet up.

“S-sorry… i-is it really that heavy?”

“ Oof- yeah, I can barely lift this!” Belle exclaimed. “You actually wear this on your head?!”

“U-usually…”

Belle looked at the lizard, astonished. “Well… never mind that. This thing looks like it’s been around for centuries… I’m not quite sure what I can add to it. Can you help me flip it over so I can see the inside?”

With a “hup,” Trip helped her lift the helmet at an angle so she could get a better look. And Belle’s face grimaced.

“...oof. That looks… really uncomfortable,” she analyzed.

“N-not really? It blocks out a lot of l-light and noises. I-I tend to g-get overstimulated sometimes…” Trip finished quietly.

“Well… there has to be a cozier way to go about that,” Belle told her. She was determined to give this ancient slab an upgrade now. “Help me walk this over to the crafting bench. I won’t tear it apart, but I can think of some things to add to it, if that’s alright.”

“Um… okay…”

A couple minutes later, Belle was sitting behind the crafting bench, putting her mechanical brain to work. Trip was waiting outside the machine shop along with Whisper. She looked really nervous leaving the helmet with a robot she just met, but Belle made it clear to her she wouldn’t do anything malicious.

“Forgive me, Miss Belle, but I remember you looking a lot different before…”

Belle glanced up from her work. Cream was in front of her, seemingly curious about why she now looks like she’s craving cheese.

“Oh, um… a small ‘incident’ happened recently,” Belle answered. “I got… ‘damaged’ in the process, and had to get fixed up by Tails and Kit.”

Cream covered her mouth. “Oh no…”

“I-it’s alright! I’m doing better than ever now,” the tinkerer laughed, putting her hands up. “And to be honest, I think I prefer this look. It has its own unique charm.”

“I think you look great too!” Cream complimented, perking right back up.

Belle gave her a warm grin. However, looking at the rabbit made her realize something, and her eyes widened.

“...oh, sawdust. ”

“What’s wrong?”

“I completely forgot; while Tails and Kit fixed me up, Vanilla helped with my clothes!”

Cream gasped. “Mother did tell me she visited those two during our vacation!”

Belle clonked her chin on the bench. “It’s been a whole week and I never thanked her…” she said, ashamed.

“Well, why don’t you come with me to see her tonight?”

“I can’t. I have to stay late for the rest of the week and keep this place clean…” the tinkerer groaned.

“Oh… well… what about the next day?” Cream asked. “Will you have time then?”

Belle reached over and pat Cream on the head.

“I’ll see if I can get Grease approval on that. Even if I can't, I will find time, promise,” she assured the rabbit while she giggled.

Right now, though, she had a helmet to modify.

-

Walking/fluttering past Ron’s currently closed chili dog stand were Tangle and Jewel, shopping bags in Tangle’s tail and milkshakes in both their hands.

“I just can’t be sure about him,” Tangle said. “Like, I know we know people that have done a lot worse, and I’m sure you know what you’re doing by letting him stay, but that guy will always be petty just to be petty.”

“I know. Don’t worry though, because like I said to Surge, we’ve got plenty of friends- and girlfriends- that can keep him in check.” While Tangle sipped on her shake, Jewel pointed at herself confidently. “He’s on my turf now.”

“Careful, sis. Your girl’s rubbing off on you.”

“You shush!”

Both of them laughed a little, Tangle ending off with a sigh. They went forward in silence for a couple of seconds.

“...I missed this. Like, really missed this,” the lemur suddenly said, smiling.

Jewel looked at her with the same expression. “...me too. It’s no different from how we hung out when we were younger, but… it makes me so happy.”

“Right? I can’t believe this is coming out of my mouth, but I’m glad to be away from all the crazy after these past few weeks,” Tangle responded. “Being with my best pal is just what the doctor ordered.”

Jewel giggled and blushed.

“Same to you,” the beetle replied. “Especially after these past few weeks. Both of us needed the breather, and I’m happy we were able to plan it out.”

She smirked. “And to be completely honest, I was not about to have another scary movie night with Surge after what happened last time.”

“Ooooh, love dramaaaa!” Tangle blurted out playfully. “What happened?”

“Relax, we didn’t fight or anything. But last time, Surge suggested we…” She looked around to make sure no one was listening, and leaned to Tangle. “...make out during the scary parts.”

Tangle snickered. “That’s it? Sounds like something a lot of couples do.”

“Yeah, well, it’s all fun and games until she gets startled and bites your tongue.”

And Tangle immediately got the message. “...ohhhh.”

“Her sharp teeth are both a blessing and a curse,” Jewel sighed.

“Well… if it makes you feel better, Whisp does the same thing to me sometimes,” Tangle said.

“Pffft, oh my. During scary movies, or…?”

“She gets nervous when it comes to intimacy,” the lemur laughed. “...don’t tell her I said all that, though.”

“As long as you don’t tell Surge,” Jewel replied while tossing her empty cup in a nearby recycling bin.

They shared laughter and fistbumped, making the deal.

After this, Tangle started talking about an anime she recently started bingeing. Jewel was listening, but then something caught the corner of her eye.

And the sight of it made her antennae droop. She patted Tangle’s shoulder, both of them stopping.

“Tangle… can we make one more stop?”

“Hm? Oh yeah, sure!” the lemur answered. “What’d you have in…?”

Tangle looked in the direction Jewel was facing, and saw her mineral museum. What used to be one of the brightest buildings in Spiral Hill was now the darkest, with it showing no signs of being open in who knows how long.

Ah.

“Aw, Jewel…” Tangle said sadly as Jewel got out her keys, fiddling for the one that opened the museum.

She unlocked the door, and opened it, both of them stepping inside. The automatic lights turned on.

Still, it looked so… dull. Not even the shine coming from some of the minerals were helping.

“Man… what happened?” Jewel asked herself, while Tangle looked at a display filled with dust. She blew on it, and that only got dust in her eyes and mouth.

“ACK, PBBBHT!” She scrubbed on her eyes and coughed out the dust. Then she looked at her bestie, who was standing on the floor wearing a sad expression.

“This place has been on your mind, hasn’t it?” Tangle asked. She crouched down, patting her shoulder and setting the shopping bags near the display with her tail.

A nod. “...in the back of it.”

“Ever since we visited Planet Wisp, I’ve been coming here less and less. Twice a week became once a week. Once a week became once every two weeks.” She looked down. “And then… I hardly ever get to come here at all to check on it. It’ll probably be a matter of time before it has to close down all together…”

She noticed the sympathetic look on Tangle’s face.

“S-sorry, I didn’t want to end this night with such a downer…”

Tangle lifted Jewel up and lightly tossed her in the air, where the beetle started fluttering again.

“Nope! No sorries needed!” she assured her. “You wanna keep this place alive. And I’m happy to come up with some ideas with you.”

She pointed out a finger. “Have you thought about letting someone else run this joint while you do your thing at the Restoration?”

Jewel looked to the side and crossed her arms. “That has crossed my mind, but… I don’t know who would be fit for the job.”

“Well… oooh, what about Rachel?” Tangle suggested. “I think she’d be happy to help you out!”

Unfortunately, that was met with a head shake from Jewel.

“I can’t simply get anyone to run this place, Tangle,” she told her. “I’ll need someone who knows a lot about minerals, the same way I do.”

“Oh… I guess that makes sense,” Tangle said, looking down. “But do we know anyone like that…?”

And the two thought hard, trying to find somebody in the back of their minds who could help.

That was interrupted, though, when a vent cover loudly crashed on the ground behind Jewel.

“W-what the-?!”

Immediately, Tangle ran in front of Jewel, holding an arm out to protect her. They both looked up at the ceiling, where the vent cover used to be.

“Who’s there?! Show yourself!” the lemur yelled. “You can’t hide from us forever!”

It was silent for a few seconds, until…

“Sweetie, who said I was hiding?”

Tangle and Jewel blinked and looked at each other. That sounded like…

A figure poked their head out of the hole. Then they jumped out, flipping themself over and showing off her wings. As she slowly descended to the ground, the two got a better look at who it was.

“...ROUGE?!”

The bat elegantly landed and winked, giving them a wave.

“Hi, girls~!”

Chapter Text

Lanolin watched as Blaze poured a saucepan of chai into a kettle.

“This isn’t exactly what I meant by ‘make yourself comfortable,’” Lanolin told Blaze as she got out mugs for the both of them.

“Relax. I wouldn’t have made this if I wasn’t willing to share,” Blaze replied, pouring some of the chai in Lanolin’s mug.

“Well, as much as I appreciate it, you could have just made yourself some coffee.”

“Coffee’s way too bitter for my liking. No thanks.”

…I’m gonna ignore that, the sheep thought bitterly while Blaze poured her own mug.

She sat down, and sipped her cup. After which, she formed a smile. “Trust me, I may not be great at cooking, but drinks like this are a different story. It really helps soothe the nerves.”

Lanolin looked at her cup with the same expression she usually wears, and shrugged.

“Well, I do get constantly told I need to calm my nerves…” Lanolin said, picking up the mug. She smelled the contents inside, and took a sip.

And upon taste, Lanolin’s pupils were as big as dinner plates.

“Told you,” Blaze smirked.

“This… this is amazing!” the sheep marveled. “What do you use to make this?!”

“Nothing special, just milk, water, a teaspoon of tea leaves, sugar and a bit of masala. That, and I put my own firepower in the mix,” Blaze said, happy she was enjoying the drink. “You should get the same effects from a stove, though. I can give you the recipe later if you want.”

Lanolin placed the cup down after taking another sip. “Please do. Because this has to be the best chai tea I’ve ever tasted.”

*FWOOSH*

Blaze suddenly burst into flames for a split second, causing the sheep to almost fall back.

“Chai tea?”

“Y-yes? That’s what it’s called, right-?”

“‘Chai’ means ‘tea!’” Blaze yelled frustratedly, pointing her arms at Lanolin. “You’re basically saying ‘tea tea!’”

“…wait, it does?!” Lanolin asked, shocked.

“That’s like me asking you for ‘coffee coffee’ with added ‘cream cream!’ Doesn’t that sound stupid?” Blaze lectured.

This conversation has not taken a turn for the better.

“O-okay! Okay,” Lanolin said. “You’re right. That does sound stupid.”

The cat huffed, steam coming out of her nose. “Sorry. It just really annoys me when people call it that.”

And Blaze was on the same page as Lanolin, knowing the subject needed to be changed.

“So…” she folded her hands. “Why did you ask for me?”

Lanolin put her professional face on.

“Well… what I’m asking for may seem silly, considering how high you rank in authority compared to me. But…” she breathed in. “...I’d like some leadership advice from you. As in, what do you believe it takes to be a, well, leader?”

Blaze pursed her lips together.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“No, you didn’t. It’s just, I don’t really like calling myself a ‘leader,’ Blaze explained. “There’s more to being a princess than leadership.”

Lanolin nodded. “I understand that. But you’re the only one I know who really fits that role. There’s also Jewel, but she doesn’t exactly ‘lead’ the Restoration. It’s more like she, how do I put it… manages tasks.”

Blaze tapped on her chin. “I see… Well, to get a better idea, what brought up that question?”

The sheep clenched the handle on her mug tighter.

“I won’t bore you with all the details, but while Sonic was exploring the Starfall Islands and saving his friends, my team was put on a mission to take down a casino…” Lanolin’s expression darkened, and put her palm on the part of her chest where her scar is. “It may not sound threatening without context, but during it, I got stabbed when my guard was down. Had it not been for a… friend of mine, I probably would have lost my life.”

“Oh goodness…” Blaze put a hand over her mouth. “If I may, what did that friend do?”

“She had healing powers. Considering the world we live in, not the most unbelievable thing out there,” Lanolin answered. “But since her powers take a lot out of her, I could only be healed enough to continue fighting.”

“I’ve been thinking about that mission ever since,” she continued. “And doing so, I’ve been questioning my spot on the team. I’m not the strongest, I’m the slowest out of the four of us… hell, I don’t even know if I can call myself the smartest. I needed some closure. So please… what is leadership to you?”

The cat looked at Lanolin’s pleading face, a bit surprised. She didn’t expect her to be holding back something so deep.

Lucky for her, though, she had an answer that could maybe suffice.

“If you ask me, leadership isn’t only about power. Or intelligence,” she began. “While those are good to have, they alone won’t always help you.”

Lanolin tapped her chin.

“Admittedly, my whole life as princess before I went to this dimension, I figured otherwise,” Blaze confessed. “After just one adventure with Sonic, I was proven wrong.”

Seriously... it always goes back to him.

“As a leader, you don’t need to be the strongest,” Blaze said. “You don’t have to always be the backbone. It’s natural to rely on others, even in your position.”

“I… I get that. But…” Lanolin lightly swirled the tea in her mug. “I made a grave error by letting my guard down. I got overconfident, and put my side of the mission in jeopardy because of it…”

Blaze took another sip of tea before continuing.

“If I were to go to your teammates - any one of them - do you think they would have blamed you for that?” she asked genuinely.

That wasn’t the response Lanolin was expecting.

“Well- no, but that’s besides the point!”

“I respectfully disagree. You can’t expect perfection on every mission you’re assigned,” the cat told her. “They don’t want you to be perfect. They want to be able to see you as an example. And by the looks of things? I think they certainly do.”

Lanolin must have really needed to hear that, because she almost looked like she was going to cry.

“...I just keep wanting myself to do better…” she said quietly. “No matter how much I improve.”

“Oh, trust me, I’ve felt the same about myself,” Blaze assured her. “But wanting perfection immediately can drain you physically and mentally, fast. Let your improvement as a leader happen naturally, and it’ll do wonders.”

She patted Lanolin’s shoulder. “You can do better. But not in such a short time frame.”

Lanolin hummed, and her mood began to lighten up.

“Just the advice I’d expect from a princess,” she complimented. “Thank you, your highness.”

“You’re welcome, but please, just call me Blaze. I’d prefer not to be called by my title,” Blaze sighed.

The sheep shrugged. “Well, whatever you say.”

She picked up her mug and chugged down what was left of her chai.

“Now, about that recipe?”

Blaze just chuckled.

-

Immediately upon seeing her, Tangle was ready to face Rouge. Jewel slowly flew back a bit, just to be safe.

“I don’t care if we worked together in the past… we know exactly why you’re here!” she told her, putting her fists up. “And you aren’t taking anything in here without a fight!”

Rouge sighed and rolled her eyes. “Honestly… you’re so eager. As tempting as that is, I’m not here to steal, or to fight.”

“Well… why are you here, then?” Jewel asked, still remaining cautious.

“You see- would you put your fists down already?” Rouge told Tangle. Still glaring at her, the lemur obliged.

“Thank you,” she smirked. “Anyway, before I answer that, I’ll admit something- I have been flying in and out of this museum while you weren’t looking, Miss Director.”

“So you have been-!”

“No. On my life, nothing has been taken from here,” Rouge interrupted Tangle. “Heck, if you want to look around to make sure, I won’t stop you.”

Jewel was confused. “But… you’ve stolen gems so many times before. Even Chaos Emeralds. And you stole one from here before! So why didn’t you? And how do you even keep getting in and out?”

“Ah ah ah- a thief doesn’t reveal their secrets~” the bat purred, making Tangle and Jewel shiver. “As for the emerald, it was kept somewhere with hardly any safeguards. Taking gems from a place like this would be too boring for me, but no problem for Eggman. Would you rather it have been in my hands or his?”

The besties glanced at each other. It was hard to admit, but she kind of had a point.

“...we’re getting off topic,” Jewel said, shaking her head. “Why are you here?”

Rouge clapped her hands together. “You see… while making my way inside to oogle at your gems, I overheard the little conversation about the possibility of this beautiful museum shutting down.”

She clenched her heart. “A place as beautiful as this doesn’t deserve a fate like that. And you’re busy with your work at the Restoration. So I have an offer.”

Curious, Jewel flew a bit closer. “And that is?”

The bat smiled sweetly. “How would you like it if I took your spot at this museum?”

“Aaaand you lost me,” Jewel said, deadpan, while Tangle looked at the bat like she had two heads.

Surprised by the immediate answer, Rouge put a hand to her mouth. “My, that quick to reject me?”

“Considering you call yourself a thief, yes!” Jewel told her sternly. “I like my collection in one spot, Miss ‘All The World’s Gems Are Mine To Keep!’”

Tangle snorted, then covered her nose and mouth in pain. That laugh hurt to stifle.

“When did you hear me- whatever,” Rouge groaned. “But if not me, then who else?”

“I can find someone!” Jewel said.

“Really? Because you and your friend were thinking reeeaaally hard when I was in the vents. And didn’t you say you wanted someone who knows about minerals?” the bat asked.

Jewel opened her mouth, but she couldn’t find a good retort. She still kept her game face on, though.

“...how about this; you’re allowed to monitor me,” Rouge suggested, putting her signature smirk back on. “Whether it’s cameras, ankle monitors, whatever. And you’ll see that I’m not trying to take advantage of your generosity.”

The beetle studied her face. She couldn’t find any signs of her lying, but considering her reputation, she still wasn’t sure.

She squinted at Rouge, and her eyes turned to Tangle, who just shrugged.

“…give us a minute,” the beetle told Rouge, gesturing for Tangle to walk to the other side with her.

Rouge shrugged. “Suit yourself, hun. I can wait.”

While the two walked away, Rouge pulled out some lipstick and began to apply it on herself. But her ear twitched when she heard Tangle say something.

She looked up, and both her and Jewel were whispering to each other in some sort of gibberish. Not only that, but it looked like they could understand each other.

The bat was tempted to get closer and try to decipher what they were saying, but it looked like they were just about to wrap it up.

“Okay, Rouge, I have an idea-” Jewel began.

“Hold on a second. What was that?” Rouge asked as they walked back over to her. “Some kind of gibberish? What were you even saying?”

“Sorry; bestie talk. It’s classified,” Tangle told her with a shit-eating grin. “You’re a spy as well as a thief, aren’t you? Figure it out yourself.”

Rouge looked away from her with a “tch.”

“Anyway, I’m gonna ask you some questions related to minerals, just to see if you’re telling the truth about your knowledge on them,” Jewel continued. “Get even one wrong, and your proposition is declined.”

Rouge’s ears perked up, and she rubbed her hands together. “Ah, so a quiz? I can definitely work with that. Hit me~”

“Don’t say it like that,” Tangle cringed as Jewel cleared her throat.

“Question one… what is the softest mineral on this planet?”

“Seriously?” Rouge laughed. “Easy; talc.”

“Okay, got that one…” Jewel nodded. “Question two… what mineral can naturally form as a perfect cube?”

The bat loudly yawned. “Pyrite.”

“How many elements are minerals made from?”

“92.”

“What is the only mineral that floats when put in water?”

“The pumice stone.”

A couple of questions later, Rouge was killing it. Jewel had to admit; she was impressed.

“Alright, now, for all the marbles…” she began. “What is the rarest mi-”

“Kyawthuite.”

Jewel stared at Rouge, flabbergasted.

“You even pronounced it correctly?!” Tangle exclaimed.

Rouge smiled and tilted her head. “So… proof enough for you~?”

Jewel couldn’t believe it. Rouge had her beat. She closed her eyes.

“...I concede,” Jewel said, closing her eyes.

Rouge’s pupils grew. “Does that mean…?!”

“Yes. You…” The beetle sighed. “You got the job. The mineral museum will be in your hands.”

Tangle shot daggers at Rouge, expecting her to be all smug. Instead, though…

“Thankyou thankyou thankyou!!!” Rouge said excitedly, holding Jewel’s hands. Her tail could even be seen wagging. “I promise, your museum will be kept alive!”

Jewel was just as surprised as Tangle was. “...that’s it? No cocky retort? No…?”

“Honey, if you were given approval to be surrounded by gems for several hours every single day, I’m sure you’d be too happy to be snarky as well,” the bat grinned.

“...well, true,” Jewel admitted, while Tangle let out a huff of amusement.

“Don’t take it the wrong way, I’m still not sure if I can fully trust you. And I will be monitoring you until you prove otherwise,” she told Rouge as she let go of her hands. “But… you are my best bet right now.”

“Fine by me. When do I start?”

Jewel thought for a moment. “...tell you what, call me tomorrow night, and I’ll see what we can work out.”

“Fantastic!” Rouge spread her wings, and they flapped her up in the air.

“Thank you for the opportunity, curator. You won’t regret this.” She blew her and Tangle a kiss. “I’ll see you two around~”

With that, Rouge flew out of the museum’s door. Tangle and Jewel watched her as she flew up into the moonlight.

“...gotta admire her elegance,” Tangle said.

Jewel sighed. “What a way to end the night…”

“Yeah… are you really sure about this, though?” the lemur asked, picking up the bags she left on the floor with her tail. “Yeah, Rouge is a gem fanatic like you are, but we both know how she normally is.”

The beetle confidently smiled. “Let me worry about Rouge, Tangle. If I can keep Randy in check, I can certainly do the same with her without much issue.”

“HA! True.”

And both of them strolled out of the museum.

“I gotta say, you’ve gotten a lot braver since becoming the Restoration’s director,” Tangle said, as Jewel locked the door. “I’m proud of ya, you know.”

Jewel froze at Tangle’s sudden praise, then turned her head to her, grinning. “Thanks… sis.”

Tangle grinned back, giggling.

“It’s getting late. We should head home,” Jewel said, the sound of her wings’ buzzing echoing.

“Besides, we’ve got a pretty important meeting tomorrow.”

Chapter Text

It was the next morning. And as per usual, the Neo Diamond Cutters were seated in their office, while Lanolin was about to go over today’s schedule, reading it on a piece of paper.

“Alright, you three. I’m sure you know that the last time we used Extreme Gear, it… didn’t go well,” she winced. “So today, we’re going to be focusing on that.”

“Oh, sick!” Ashley said, pumping her fist beside her. “I can finally redeem myself!” Tangle and Whisper both smiled at her, while Lanolin cleared her throat.

“Before that, though, Jewel has a meeting scheduled, which we will take part in,” she continued. “That will take place in the next hour.”

“Oh, right. She did say something about a meeting last night,” Tangle said, curious. Whisper raised her hand.

“If I may, who else will be attending?” she asked.

The sheep looked at the paper again. “Looks like Surge is going to be there, too. Along with the Chaotix, and… those at K-TBR 199.2.”

“You mean Sunset City’s radio station?” Tangle gasped. “That’s a surprise!”

Ashley nodded. “Whatever this meeting’s about must be really important…”

“Let me finish,” Lanolin said sternly. “All of us will be seated in the meeting room, in anticipation for…” She stopped and squinted at the paper. “...Breezie the hedgehog? Who the-”

“WHAT?!”

Everyone else in the room jumped and looked at Ashley, who was suddenly on high alert, and out of her chair.

“What’s the pro-?”

“Let me see that!” the leopard said, snatching the paper from Lanolin. Her eyes quickly scanned all the words, until she got to the last bit.

It was no mistake. Breezie the hedgehog was going to be here.

“Sweet gaia below, you’ve got to be kidding me! What business would Breezie have here?!” Ashley frantically asked.

Whisper opened an eye. “You know her?”

“How could I not?! She runs one of the world’s largest entertainment networks, Breeze Media!” she explained. “ And she runs the said business in Casino Park!”

Tangle began tapping her forehead hard.

“Mmmm… not ringing any bells,” she shrugged.

“Okay, well, um… BreezTV!” Ashley tried. “Surely you’ve at least seen its logo before! It’s a subscription service for multiple kinds of shows and movies! Sitcoms, documentaries, anime, cartoons… you name it!”

“Doesn’t narrow it down all that much,” Whisper told her. “‘Sides, Tangle and I pirate our shows.” The lemur nodded, confirming it.

Damn it, of course they do…

“Well, I watch my shows legally. I’ve just never heard of it before,” Lanolin said.

And just like that, three pairs of eyes landed on her, not convinced at all. Even Maggie popped out of her wool with a look that said, “You can’t hide the truth from me.”

“...okay, fine , I pirate my shows, too!” Lanolin groaned, throwing her hands up.

Tangle chuckled. “And it’s the morally correct thing to do.”

“...anyway, what has you so shocked about this Breezie?” Whisper asked Ashley.

“Well… maybe this’ll grab your attention,” she breathed in. “Because Casino Park?

“That was one of the many establishments Madman’s Casino attempted to overtake.”

And as she predicted, everyone had their serious faces on.

“Wait… are you serious? I thought their plan was just to take Sonic and Eggman out of the equation!” Tangle said.

“That part was primary, yes. But Riot also wanted his casino to become the biggest in the world, so he tried to bring down Casino Park,” the leopard explained. “But not only are Breezie’s henchmen surprisingly competent, but Casino Park is just freakin’ huge. I was doing secretary stuff, so I couldn’t go there myself, but I’ve seen plenty of screenshots.”

“Do you have any intel on Breezie?” Lanolin asked. “Like, have you overheard discussions about her, or…?”

“...I think that’s something we should discuss with the director.”

-

After this, the Neo Diamond Cutters decided to head to the conference room a bit early to talk with Jewel. Ashley told the beetle everything she had gathered in her head about Breezie. To put it simply, she was rather audacious, unafraid of taking risks when needed. That, and she’s always determined to make the best out of any situation.

“Wow… I must say, she sounds charming!” Jewel said once Ashley was done.

“‘Charming’ isn’t the word I’d use,” the leopard sighed. “I heard that she managed to manipulate some Madman’s Casino employees into siding with her, and kicking Riot and those he had left while he was down. Things got so bad, he had to retreat, and Madman’s Casino was relocated.”

“And she didn’t try to pursue him?” Whisper asked.

Ashley shrugged. “She likes a challenge, I guess.”

Jewel hummed. “Well, thank you for bringing this up, Ashley. Whatever she’s here for, I’ll be sure to keep what you said in mind.”

Right after she said that, the door to the conference room swung open. And in walked Surge and the Chaotix.

“Wassup, punks?” Surge greeted cockily. “Hey, Mint, Tail Girl, Squinty, Poofball…”

She and Ashley made eye contact, and her smile dropped.

“...Spots.”

The rest of the Neos could hear Ashley gulp as she gave Surge an awkward smile and wave.

“Uh… Chaotix! How’s it going, guys?” Tangle said, trying to ease the tension.

“Going okay!” Vector answered, nodding at the lemur while he sat down. “A bit curious about what this Breezie chick wants with us, though.”

“I never even knew she was a real person until today!” Charmy exclaimed.

Lanolin laughed a little, saying, “Pretty sure none of us did, kiddo.”

As the Neos and Chaotix had their discussion, Ashley and Espio glanced at each other.

“...hey.”

“Hello.”

The leopard tapped her robotic finger on the table, while Espio waited for her to say something.

“Um… sorry for breaking your arm at Spiral Hill.”

“...it’s good as new now,” Espio replied, leaning said arm on the table. “No hard feelings.”

Judging by the look on his face and tone of his voice, it really didn’t feel like that was the case.

“Aren’t those at K-TBR supposed to be here as well?” Whisper asked.

“Yes, but they’re going to be guiding Breezie into the room,” Jewel answered. “And I probably should have mentioned this earlier, but this meeting’s actually gonna be recorded.”

“Recorded? By who?” Tangle asked.

“They didn’t say-” Suddenly, Jewel’s phone buzzed in her pocket. Once she got it out, her eyes widened. “Oh crap, she’s in the building right now! Everyone, remain quiet!”

“Yeah, hear that everyone?! Be quie-!”

Vector rolled his eyes and clamped Charmy’s mouth shut.

And only a few seconds later, the door opened yet again. “I’m in the right place, right?”

Walking through the door was a somewhat tall hedgehog in aqua green fur, sporting a red tuxedo and red high heels. Immediately upon seeing her, Jewel was flying out of her chair.

“Y-you sure are!” Jewel said politely, shaking her hand. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person, Miss Breezie!”

There she is… Ashley thought to herself while the others looked at her curiously. In the flesh.

“Please. No need for the formalities,” Breezie smirked, returning the handshake. “Just Breezie is okay.”

The beetle chuckled nervously, letting go of her hand. The green hedgehog then looked out the door and gestured for some others to come in.

First, everyone saw Nite and Don. The latter made a beeline to Vector and playfully clonked him on the head.

"How's it going, boys?" he asked the Chaotix. Charmy responded with a "Hi!" while Espio greeted him with a nod, and Vector chuckled, rubbing his head.

And right behind them came in…

“LAMP?!”

Everyone looked at Lanolin, who immediately slapped her mouth shut in embarrassment. Lamp stood beside Breezie, giggling.

“I’m guessing that’s Lanolin,” Breezie said, also chuckling.

“Sure is,” Lamp answered. “I told you she’s funny, didn’t I?”

Surge gave the sheep a shit-eating grin, whispering, “Ooooh, you’ve got an admirerrrrr~”

Lanolin shot Surge a death glare.

Then, Tangle gasped.

“JAKE?!”

The golden retriever was the last one to walk through the door, holding a camera.

“Dude, what’s up?” Tangle asked as she and Whisper sported a smile. “How’d you get the job to record thi-?”

Jake made a motion with his free hand to stop talking and mouthed, “We’ll talk later.” Thankfully, Tangle got the message and nodded.

-

Once everyone found their seat, the meeting was underway.

“So, first off, I’d like to thank all of you for taking the time out of your day for this little conference,” Breezie said. “Your attendance is appreciated, especially since this is the first time we’ve met in person.”

“Oh, it’s no problem at all!” Jewel replied, waving a dismissive hand. “If anything, we’re curious about what has us all gathered here today.”

“Well I’ll get straight to that, then,” Breezie said, folding her hands together. “You see, my good partner, Lamp, was on a mission to infiltrate the new location of Madman’s Casino. In doing so, though, she came across some of you.”

Tangle, Lanolin and even Jake all gasped.

“Wait, you never told us you work at Casino Park!” Lanolin said.

Lamp put on an innocent face. “Oops. I suppose I didn’t, did I? Well, in my defense, that certainly wasn’t a concern at the time.”

Breezie put a hand on Lamp’s shoulder. “You’ve seen her around here once or twice, right? She tells me about how much she respects the organization. And especially the… Neo Diamond Cutters, was it?”

To everyone’s surprise, Lamp began to blush. “Breezie, not in front of everyone…”

“Oh, come on, sis, I’m sure they appreciate your enthusiasm towards them!”

All the Neos glanced at each other. SIS???

“But… we’re getting off topic,” the hedgehog said. “Even though you’ve just met, you’ve proved to make quite the team. And you assisted us, albeit unknowingly.”

Her eyes landed on Surge. “Of course, I can’t forget the star. The MVP. Word has it you paralyzed Riot, putting him out of commission for good.”

Surge just shot a stink eye at her.

“Yeah, because the dude hurt my little brother. I could care less about you, your sIsTeR or your park,” Surge said bluntly. “I brought him down for my reasons, and my reasons only. ”

All eyes were on Surge now, with Jewel being the most afraid. Thankfully, Breezie just let out a hearty laugh.

“HA! I like this one!” Breezie exclaimed, nudging Jewel on the shoulder and gesturing towards Surge. She was quick to regain her composure. “But anyway…

“Even before all that, you weakened the casino’s forces. Hence as to why the Chaotix are here.”

“Well, don’t put us on a pedestal,” Vector said. “I mean, we are great! But we just merely assisted Surge and the Neos in hunting down those that hurt Kit.”

“With a broken arm to show for it,” Espio grumbled. Ashley shot a look at him.

Oh, okay, so there ARE hard feelings.

“Well, still. Anyone that assists in taking down my competition is okay in my book,” Breezie said. “The reasoning doesn’t matter to me.”

*CRACKLE*

Electricity clapped in Surge’s fist.

“Want to rephrase that? Or will I make you?” she asked. “Cause it sounds to me like you’re saying Kit doesn’t matter. ”

Lamp put an arm in front of Breezie.

“Come now, she didn’t mean it that way,” the moth assured her. “Believe me when I say Kit has been in her thoughts; our thoughts as well.”

“Which is why we’re willing to give him, and those that helped take the organization down, a cash reward!” Breezie added excitedly.

All of Surge’s scorn immediately disappeared. “Whah.”

“A cash reward?! Are you sure?” Jewel asked. “Besides, we didn’t even know we were helping you!”

“Director! You’re gonna turn down money?!” Vector yelled. Everyone could see dollar signs on his and Charmy’s eyes, while Espio just groaned at the sight. Nite and Don looked at them from across the table, smirking.

Then Nite looked at Jake, happy for him. “Hear that, Jake, my boy? You’re rich!”

“Yeah. Wow. Cool,” Jake said, while shaking in excitement.

"He'd better hit us up with some, though-"

"Quiet, Donnie," Nite scolded Don, lightly shoving him on the shoulder.

“Well, some funding to our team would do us good,” Lanolin said, rubbing her chin. “I think we should take the offer.”

Ashley looked down at the table. “You guys can take the offer if you want, but… I just can’t.”

The rest of the team, and Breezie and Lamp, looked at the leopard.

“What?! That wouldn’t be fair, Ash!” Tangle told her. “You’re saying we should take the earnings and leave you with nothing?!”

“See, that’s the thing. You guys earned it!” Ashley shot back. “I only helped at the very end! Even then, I was still the secretary for Madman’s Casino. It’d be unfair taking something I didn’t deserve.”

“...this is where I point out you stopped a nuke, ” Whisper said.

“Well-”

“And from what I heard, it was only mere minutes after your arm was cut off,” Lanolin added.

“...I meannn…”

“You were given a blessing, Spots. Just fucking take it!” Surge told her. “You’re gonna swat a hand away from someone that’ll help you get by?!”

Jewel couldn’t help but smile a little. And Ashley twiddled her thumbs.

“...right. I getcha,” the leopard said. She looked at Breezie. “Um… I apologize for turning down your offer.”

And to her surprise, Breezie still had that same smile, despite being made aware she was a part of that terrible organization.

“No apologies needed,” the hedgehog said. “I understand where you’re coming from. You have my word when I say you’ll all be paid handsomely. I’ll just have to discuss how it will be handled with the director.”

Her focus went back to Jewel. “Now, with that out of the way… I actually have another offer.”

“...and that is?” Jewel asked nervously.

“How would you like it if Breeze Media and the Restoration collabed?”

That got a couple of gasps and mumbling across the table. One clearing of the throat from Jewel, though, and it stopped.

“That does sound like an intriguing idea. How would it work, though?”

“To put it simply, we have BreezTV advertise the Restoration’s efforts. Plus, for every subscription, 30% of the money goes to… you guessed it…” She smirked. “..the Restoration.”

Lamp pulled out some pieces of paperwork. “This is only if you want, of course. But we have the papers ready, just in case.”

At first, Jewel looked excited. But then, she remembered the last time she tried to collaborate with someone, and how it could have destroyed the Restoration. That, and Ashley’s words about Breezie came to mind.

Breezie seemed to notice her hesitation, because her smile fell a little. “Is something the matter?”

“Well… I think this is something we should discuss alone, in my office,” Jewel told her. Surge and Tangle looked at the beetle, a little concerned.

“That seems okay to me,” Breezie replied. She looked at everyone at the table. “We’ll notify you all once we reach a decision. Lamp?”

The moth nodded, and handed Breezie the paperwork.

“Well… I believe we can consider this meeting dismissed,” Jewel said.

-

Everyone was out the door. Jewel went ahead to her office, but Breezie told her she’d catch up, as she had some quick business to attend to.

While Nite and Don were asking Breezie if they could interview her later, Surge looked at her suspiciously.

“Something’s off about this chick, don’tcha think?” she asked Tangle, who was beside her. “Like it’s cool this dump’s getting more support, but…and the way Mint was looking near the end…”

“Maybe Clutch crossed her mind. I wouldn’t put it past her,” Tangle said. “I don’t wanna doubt Jewel, though. She’s definitely learned from that time, and we all know how much more capable she’s become over her time being the director.”

The tenrec crossed her arms and hummed while Tangle’s attention went to Whisper and Jake, and went to talk with them. She glanced at her before shifting back to Breezie.

 “Yeah, well she'd better be clean if she knows what’s good for her,” she grumbled, marching off.

Meanwhile, Lanolin and Ashley were discussing more about the training scheduled for later, when they heard a voice beside them.

“My, this place is still so lovely, no matter how many times I visit,” Lamp gushed, walking past them.

Seeing her made Lanolin remember that she had a lot of questions she wanted answered.

“ Lamp! Hold on!” she called, running after her.

“Boss, wait-!” Ashley started.

“Oh, yes. Ashley?”

Ashley’s ears perked up, and she turned to Breezie, who was making her way to her. She had just got done with Nite and Don, who were walking away to get lunch.

“Um, hello, Breezie.” she said, sounding as professional as she could. “What can I do for- OW-”

The hedgehog grabbed Ashley’s left shoulder and squeezed on it hard. All the while she was up in her face, wearing a sinister smile.

“You made a wise decision.”

Beads of sweat dropped from Ashley’s head and her chin. She was wondering when that shoe was gonna drop.

“Th-thank you…?” the leopard tried, unsure of what to say and still in pain.

Fortunately for her, Breezie got out of her face and let go of her, her smile becoming more friendly. She gave her a wave, and walked off to meet with Jewel.

“Jeez…” the leopard grumbled, massaging her shoulder. “Two threats in not even three days…”

“I wouldn’t worry about her too much,” a voice said behind her. “She’s not a big problem once you get to know her!”

A soft gasp left Ashley’s lips, and she turned around. That voice was from none other than…

“Sonic the hedgehog!”

Sonic grinned, wiping his nose. “You know my name? What a shocker.”

-

“Did y’all hear that? We’re gonna be rollin’ in riches!” Vector exclaimed, putting Charmy and Espio in a group hug. They had just walked out the Restoration, Vector in a stride.

“Don’t get too excited, Vector. We’d have to use some of it to pay overdue bills. I shudder to think of how much debt we’re in,” Espio said, wriggling out of his grasp.

“Well, still, whatever we get, I’m sure we’ll still have a lot left over!” Vector retorted. “Don’t you have somethin’ in mind to use the money on?”

Espio huffed and turned away. “...I will admit, I do have someone in mind.”

“You mean something , right?” Charmy asked, him and Vector looking at Espio curiously.

The chameleon realized his slipup and blushed. “Um… yes.”

That too, went unsaid, as a white hedgehog crossed his mind.

Chapter Text

Word had it that the head of Breeze Media was visiting the Restoration. And when Sonic heard about that, he knew he had to visit the place.

Sonic had a little bit of history with Breezie. A long time ago, he rescued her from a horde of badniks, thinking she was a typical damsel in distress, while on his way to save Tails from Eggman. It turned out, though, Eggman had paid her to trap Sonic when the time was right. Naturally, the trap failed, and Sonic was able to save his little bro.

He had no idea what became of the green hedgehog until after he first beat Metal Overlord. Turns out, Breezie’s plan all along was to betray the mad scientist. After doing this, she took control of Casino Park, which had been built by Neo Metal Sonic. There, she managed to make a huge business there known as Breeze Media. Not only that, but a good chunk of her employees consisted of badniks.

He stopped by there once or twice (not to gamble, don’t worry), and actually saw Breezie in person. Surprisingly, she was ecstatic to see him, and even offered for Sonic to be a part of some events, which he politely turned down. He saw no reason to hold a grudge, as she was doing her own thing, and was no longer a threat, aside from her intimidating vibes. And since then, he hasn’t heard from her.

After hearing the news, though, he figured he might as well head over to see if she was planning anything fishy.

And when he arrived, he saw Breezie getting close and personal with the newest member of the Neo Diamond Cutters.

Good to know she hasn’t lost her “charm” after all this time.

Before Sonic could make himself known, Breezie was walking away from her. And the new N.D.C muttered, “Jeez… two threats in not even three days…”

“I wouldn’t worry about her too much,” Sonic tried to assure her. “She’s not a big problem once you get to know her!”

The leopard gasped and turned around. Eyes wide, she exclaimed, “Sonic the hedgehog!”

He grinned at her, doing his signature nose wipe. “You know my name? What a shocker.”

“Oh, believe me, I know a lot about you,” the leopard said. “...that came out creepier than I intended for it to be-”

“I get your drift,” Sonic interrupted, smoothing out his quills. “You’re the new Neo Diamond Cutter, right? I think I saw you briefly once.”

“Yeah, I am!” the leopard nodded. “Ashley the leopard!”

A bit nervously, Ashley held out a robotic arm. “It’s great to properly meet you!”

“Woah…” Sonic marveled at the arm briefly before shaking her hand. “That’s a sick arm! Did someone at the machine shop make that for ya?”

“Oh…! Yes,” Ashley blushed. “Kit, Belle and Grease worked on it. I’m still shocked considering…”

The leopard stopped.

Sonic tilted his head a little. “Considering what?”

“Well, um… you don’t have anywhere to be, do you?”

-

After finding a good bench, Ashley caught Sonic up on how she joined the Neos. The crimes Madman’s Casino committed. Riot’s motivations and hatred for him and Eggman. Her blindness, which was caused by the raccoon. And why Surge and Kit despise the leopard.

“...that’s quite a lot to take in,” Sonic admitted once she was done.

“I know. And I’m never going to forget my time there. I refuse to,” Ashley said, looking down and clenching her fists. “I was a part of something truly awful.”

Sonic leaned back, his arms behind that back of his head. “True. That Riot dude has serious issues.”

He looked at her and smiled. “I’m glad you were able to part away from what was basically a cult, though. You made a wise decision.”

“Thank you. But it’s going to take a while until I truly make up for all the bad I did.”

“And your team will be with you all the way through,” Sonic said, giving her a thumbs up. “I’m sure of it.”

“...y’know, you seem pretty calm for someone who found out I was the secretary for someone that wanted you gone.”

“Hey, a lot of people wanted me dead. I’m used to it.”

Hearing that made Ashley burst out in laughter. “You’re way too casual about that!”

“Kinda hard not to be with how many times it's happened!” Sonic laughed along.

Ashley breathed out, calming herself.

“Say… back there, did you mention that you know Breezie?” she asked.

“Ohhh, yeah. We got way back,” Sonic sighed. “That woman’s a schemer. She not only tipped off me, but Eggman too.”

“ Eggman?!”

“Trust me, I found it hard to believe, too. And when I heard she was here, I had to stop by,” Sonic said.

“I see… I don’t really have a history with her, but we’re very much aware of each other’s existence. In fact, Madman’s Casino actually tried to overtake it, but failed miserably,” Ashley explained.

“No surprise there…”

“After hearing about her arrival, I took it upon myself to tell the director about her,” the leopard told him. “We just got out of a meeting talking about Breeze Media and the Restoration collabing, and they’re currently discussing it in her office.”

Sonic blinked. “Oh! That so? Guess that saves me a trip then.”

Ashley smiled and nodded.

Though, there is someone else that’s kinda bugging me…

“...shoot, I should probably go,” the leopard said. “The team’s supposed to do some Extreme Gear practice, and I wanna make sure mine got those upgrades I was looking for.”

“No problem!” Sonic replied, giving her a thumbs up. “It was great meeting ya, Ashley!”

“You too, Sonic! Hopefully we’ll see each other again soon!!”

“Don’t be a stranger!” the hedgehog called, as Ashley made her way to the machine shop.

Once she was a good distance away, Sonic’s smile dropped.

And he was about to zoom off, but he almost fell flat on his face. He looked down at his shoes and groaned.

Ugh, I'm still not used to this...

He slowly trudged away from the bench.

-

Outside the meeting room, Jake had just gotten greeted by Whisper and Tangle.

“What the heck, dude?! You never told us you were working for K-TBR!” Tangle exclaimed.

“I kinda didn’t have time to,” Jake replied, scratching at his neck. “Considering I got the job only yesterday.”

“ Yesterday? ” Whisper gasped.

“Yep. Nite and Don reached out to me last morning about my vlog on Madman’s Casino. They were impressed with my skills in ‘gathering info.’ Really, I just hope they don’t expect me to go on a mission like that again…”

“Yyyyeah. Valid,” Tangle winced.

“Anyway, we had an interview, and it went pretty well!” Jake continued. “Though, I almost fumbled by saying they act like a married couple… that’s still a little embarrassing.”

“...dude, they are married.”

“Well, I know that now!”

“Everyone who’s listened to K-TBR knows that,” Whisper pointed out. “How’d you never catch it?”

“What, am I supposed to listen closely for lovey-dovey talk?” the golden retriever shot back.

Whisper sighed. “No offense, but you’re gonna have a hard time getting a girl.”

“Guy.”

“What?”

“What?” Jake immediately said after the wolf.

Before Whisper could ask what he said, the cap on his head shook a little.

And out popped the yellow wisp, seemingly confused about the commotion going on outside.

“Oh, hey,” Jake said, nuzzling him with his finger. “We didn’t wake you up, did we?”

Tangle gasped. She was never aware that Jake was a wisp caretaker until now. She glanced at Whisper, and…

Her tail was wagging fast, her fists were balled up into her chin, and she had a grin only the lemur recognized.

The golden retriever looked at Whisper, a bit concerned. “Uh, are you good-?”

“She’s fine. Brace yourself,” Tangle snickered, counting down with her fingers.

“Brace myself for wha-”

The wolf pounced at Jake and grabbed his hands enthusiastically.

“ You have a wisp?! ” she exclaimed. “Since when?! How long?!”

“Woah there, uh,” Jake laughed nervously. “It was after the whole mess at Madman’s Casino. The little guy kept following me around when I came here with the footage, so I ‘adopted’ him, I guess you could say.”

The yellow wisp looked at Tangle, and his eyes filled with joy, and waved at her with his tentacle.

Then something clicked in Tangle’s head.

“Wait a sec… you’re the little dude the Chaotix and I saved, aren’t you?!” she gasped. The wisp nodded happily.

“Oh, yes,” Whisper realized as her wisps popped out of their capsules to greet him. “I remember him from after the Spiral Hill ambush.”

“Yep. Little buddy’s been by my side ever since!” Jake said, patting the little critter. “There’s a problem, though… I’ve never had a companion like a wisp before, so I don’t have a clue how to actually take care of him. I just… do what I think is right and it somehow works.”

Whisper beamed. “Tangle, you’ll have to excuse us.”

She took Jake’s hand once more and dragged him toward the Neos’ office. All the wisps followed behind.

“I’ll teach you everything you need to know!” she exclaimed. “From activities, to how to bond with them, and their history…”

“...I just need to know how to care for one…” Jake mumbled nervously as Whisper kept talking.

The lemur laughed a little as they got farther and farther away.

“Welp, they’re gonna be a while,” she said to herself, walking in the opposite direction. “Might as well get dressed for the training later…”

-

“ Lamp! Hold it!” Lanolin yelled.

The moth stopped marveling at the Restoration for a moment and looked behind her.

“Oh, were you calling me?” she asked innocently as Lanolin marched up to her. “Apologies. I just can’t get enough of this place.”

“Drop the act,” Lanolin said sternly. “I have questions that I want answered, now. ”

Lamp put a hand to her mouth. “My my, always straight to the point, hm?”

And there was that seductive look once more. “One of your better qualities, if I do say so myself~...”

That got Lanolin blushing a little.

“Ah- b- d-” The sheep smacked herself on the cheeks. “NO! Explain yourself! Since when did y-”

*GGRRRRRUMBLEEEE*

All of the tension in the area disintegrated just by the sound of Lanolin’s stomach growling. It even got Lamp concerned.

“...have you eaten anything today?” she asked.

Lanolin covered her stomach, face once again red. “I-I woke up later than intended, so I only had time for a granola bar.”

And it was Lamp’s turn to look stern. “Well, we absolutely cannot have that.”

-

Shortly after, the two were sitting at a mostly empty café. Lamp had ordered for both of them, with her just having a donut while Lanolin had a short stack of pancakes.

“This is appreciated, but you do realize this isn’t gonna make me gloss over the information you kept from us, right?” the sheep asked, jabbing her fork into a pancake.

Lamp leaned her elbow on the table endearingly. “I know. I couldn’t have you starve, that's all.”

Lanolin sighed through her nose as she chewed on her pancake.

Her cheeks puff up whenever she’s chewing, Lamp realized. How adorable~...

After swallowing, Lanolin continued.

“Anyway…” She pointed her fork at Lamp. “Why did you keep it a secret that you work with Breezie?”

“I already told you; it wasn’t important at the time.”

“Well- okay, but you couldn’t have at least mentioned her name? Or told us about Casino Park after the mission?” Lanolin asked. “You knew a lot about the Restoration even before we properly met; I think it would have been fair if we learned about Breezie sooner.”

Lamp had bitten into her donut as Lanolin talked, and swallowed her mouthful.

“Breezie is very strict when it comes to me telling people about her personally,” the moth began. “Sure, a lot of people know who she is, and the organization she runs, but they haven’t met her up close. She didn’t tell me I had to keep my mouth shut, but… I’m loyal to her. We’ve been there for each other longer than you can imagine. I didn’t want to break her trust.”

Lamp only visiting Lanolin at the hospital that one time began to make a little more sense.

“You are right, though; I shouldn’t have withheld information from you, and I apologize for that. But I’m sure you understand I had to prioritize things,” Lamp finished.

Lanolin was still irritated, but she couldn’t bring herself to judge Lamp any further. S̶h̶e̶ a̶l̶r̶e̶a̶d̶y̶ l̶e̶a̶r̶n̶e̶d̶ t̶h̶e̶ h̶a̶r̶d̶ w̶a̶y̶ n̶o̶t̶ t̶o̶ t̶a̶k̶e̶ t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶s̶ a̶t̶ f̶a̶c̶e̶ v̶a̶l̶u̶e̶.

“...I suppose,” she admitted before shoving in one more mouthful of pancakes. The moth nodded as a gesture of appreciation.

“Well, since we’re already here… how’s your chest? It’s fully healed, right?”

The sheep lifted the bell on her collar up a little, revealing part of her new scar, with the rest of it covered by her clothing.

“It’s doing a lot better,” Lanolin said. “Though, sometimes I have been getting sudden bursts of pain from it… but the doctors told me that was bound to happen, and should go away sooner rather than later.”

She looked at Lamp. “It could have been a lot worse, but thanks to you, I was able to endure and help complete the mission.”

The moth blushed. It was a simple form of gratitude, and yet…

“Actually, if you’re okay with me asking… where did you get healing powers like that from?” the sheep asked.

And with that, Lamp’s optimism died down a little.

“I didn’t ‘get’ them. It was something that’s been passed down from my family,” she answered. “I was born with it.”

“Your family…?”

“I don’t know the exact origins of who first got them, and where they came from, but when I was little, my parents told me they were a gift from Light Gaia himself. Truthfully, I found it hard to believe. And I still do to this day.”

Lanolin gasped and stood up, almost spilling the drink beside her. “That sounds incredible, though! And what about the time when Eggman broke the Earth apart? Light Gaia put it back together with Sonic’s help!”

Lamp’s expression didn’t change. “...and?”

“‘ And?’ ” Lanolin repeated, appalled. “With that info in mind, what makes it so unbelievable that a god like him can give people healing powers?”

“Let me answer your question with another question; what makes it believable that out of all the species, all the mobians… why would Light Gaia choose my family specifically?”

Lanolin stayed silent.

“It isn’t like he spun a wheel to choose the people to pass this power down to,” the moth told her. “And it just so happened to land on mine. Why should I believe something that only has unproven statements to back it up?”

And I alone can’t prove that anyway went unsaid.

Lamp realized that the sheep was starting to get a little worried for her. Naturally, she decided it was time to put an end to this topic.

I already said more than I should have anyway.

“...sorry. I’ve never felt comfortable bringing up the topic of my powers,” Lamp admitted. “I should have started off with that.”

Lanolin sat back down. “You’re fine. I brought up the topic, unaware of how it’d affect you.”

The moth’s smile came back due to Lanolin’s generosity. “You had no way of knowing. I don’t blame you.”

She bit into the last of her donut, and Lanolin watched her, making a mental note that she needed to get to know Lamp better. She had her number and everything, but either the work she got wouldn’t allow her to call, plans outside work with her teammates got in the way, or she’d chicken out before actually doing it.

…wait, Lamp’s not mad she went two weeks without calling her, is she?! Surely, she’d understand-!

…hm?

“Hey, uh, you’ve got frosting on your cheek,” Lanolin pointed out.

“Oh. Thank you,” Lamp said, picking up a napkin. She wiped at her cheek… on the wrong side.

“”To your right,” Lanolin said.

Lamp tried again.

“A bit higher up.”

And again.

“Now you’re too high- you know what…” Lanolin leaned forward and put a hand on her shoulder. “Lemme just…”

Without thinking, and before Lamp could say anything, Lanolin wiped the frosting off her cheek with her thumb. “There. Got it-”

And the realization struck both of them.

Lamp placed her palm on the spot Lanolin wiped, while the sheep jumped back, almost making her chair fall backwards. Both were blushing hard.

“I-I-I am SO sorry,” Lanolin sputtered.

“I-it’s okay-”

“Oh man, look at that time!” the sheep interrupted, checking her wrist (that did not have a watch on it). “My team is doing Extreme Gear training soon! I’d better get ready!”

“Lano-”

“ ByeLamptellBreezieIsaidhi!” she blurted out, full on dashing out of the café.

Lamp just looked at the swinging door Lanolin ran through. Her eyes landed on her hand, which was still on her cheek.

And she giggled bashfully.

-

Behind her desk, Jewel gulped.

The papers Breezie and Lamp brought were put to the side, and the green hedgehog was sitting in a chair in front of her, one leg crossed over the other.

She was praying she wouldn’t take this the wrong way.

“I apologize for prolonging this,” Jewel started. “I’m sure you’re super busy, and-”

“Please. It’s no trouble at all,” Breezie assured her, waving a dismissive hand. “If anything, I’m curious as to why this is something that needs to be discussed between only us two.”

A chill went down the beetle’s spine.

Well, no use in delaying the inevitable.

“The thing is… the Restoration’s only collabed with one other organization before,” Jewel said. “And if not for a slipup, it could have resulted in either this place being taken over, or complete destruction.”

Breezie raised her eyebrows a bit. “Oh?”

Jewel folded her hands together. “Do the words ‘Clean Sweep Inc.’ ring a bell to you?”

A head shake. “Never heard of ‘em a day in my life.”

“Well, it’s a business founded by a criminal known as Clutch the Opossum,” the beetle began to explain. “It virtually operates the same as the Restoration. Except unlike us, Clean Sweep charges money for their efforts. And while we dispose of Eggman’s dangerous materials, Clean Sweep stockpiles them for Clutch’s arms trade.”

Breezie rubbed her chin. “I think I can guess this next part… they aimed to eliminate their competition, that being the Restoration, by trying to take it over?”

Jewel’s antennae perked up in surprise. “That’s… yeah! How’d you-”

“Madman’s Casino, remember?”

“...oh,” Jewel realized. “Of course. How silly of me…”

Breezie chuckled before asking another question.

“Did they succeed in taking over, even briefly?”

“Fortunately, they failed. But that’s mostly thanks to Surge,” Jewel answered. “See, the organization’s mercenary, Mimic the octopus, happened to be a shapeshifter, so he disguised himself to look innocent and infiltrate the Restoration. And as this was happening, Surge and her brother, Kit, were trying to start over. Clutch must have thought they’d be valuable to his mission, so Mimic took Surge somewhere alone, revealed himself, and ‘asked’ her to assist them in their plan. And I couldn’t be anymore thankful that Surge refused. Mimic tried stabbing Surge, but she threw him through the wall, where he became visible to the Neos, and…”

Jewel looked down, a bit sad.

“We interrogated Mimic, and demanded he tell us where Clutch was. But it turned out the second he knew he became a liability, he broke off all contact with him. Since then, Clutch has been in hiding, and the status of his corporation is unknown.”

Seeing that Jewel was done with the story, Breezie thought for a second.

“Are you afraid our collaboration will end with results like that?” she asked.

The beetle’s breath hitched. “Um- I-”

“It’s just us, Director Jewel. You can be honest.”

Jewel examined Breezie’s face for any signs of disdain. There were none.

So she spoke again.

“That’s a part of it. I’m also afraid of… myself. I was too quick and unprepared when accepting Clutch’s offer,” Jewel answered. “I don’t want to do anything that’ll potentially screw up the Restoration, or Breeze Media. I bear no ill will towards you, and thinking about it, you sound a lot more genuine than Clutch. But I can’t help but worry…”

Breezie hummed as Jewel leaned her arm on the table, looking guilty.

“That incident was a while ago, right? Clearly, you’ve learned from it, and then some,” Breezie told her.

Jewel looked back up at her.

“And considering this place is still up and running after all that, I believe I’ve got nothing to worry about,” Breezie shrugged. “Allow me to give you some reassurance; this offer is genuine. Some say I can be intimidating - ask Lamp - but I’m no liar.

“Believe me, this offer benefits both of us. A ‘you scratch my back, I scratch your’s’ kind of deal. We both gain more profits and potential followers!” she exclaimed. “You’re allowed to feel worried and anxious; especially after something like that. But you seem to be very competent, so I trust you.”

Jewel stared at Breezie, a little surprised by her small speech.

Ashley really wasn’t wrong about her making the best out of any situation…

But her words were akin to what Jewel needed to hear. She gave her an appreciative smile.

“That makes me feel… a lot better, actually,” Jewel said. “Thank you, Breezie.”

She looked at the papers on the side of the desk. “I… I’m willing to give this a try.”

Still, I can’t let my guard down, she told herself. You can’t ever be too careful.

Breezie clapped her hands together, grinning. “That’s wonderful! Shall we get to work on the papers?”

Nodding, Jewel put them in front of her. “We shall.”

While Jewel reached for a pen, though, Breezie saw a blue figure walk past the door's window from the corner of her eye.

The green hedgehog whipped her head around, only to find that it was already gone.

However, she wasn’t naive. She'd know that shade of blue from anywhere.

She smirked.

Where there’s commotion, you’ll always follow suit, huh, Sonic?

“Breezie?”

Breezie turned back around, and Jewel had flown up to her, holding out an extra pen.

“Is everything alright?” the beetle asked.

Breezie just gave her her signature smile and took the pen.

“Apologies. I zoned out briefly,” she said. “Now, let’s make this collab real.”

Chapter Text

Everhold Prison. Looking gloomy as ever, I see.

…well, not that other prisons are filled with rainbows and lollipops.

Sonic had just reached his next stop, which was… well, Everhold Prison.

After getting filled in with what happened while he was away from Ashley, he just had to see what this Riot guy was all about. Especially after hearing what he did to Kit, and how he almost nuked the Restoration.

Seriously, you either gotta have guts or be a complete idiot to hurt him as a message to Surge, Sonic continued thinking to himself, waltzing up to the prison’s entrance. Not even Eggman’s done something like that-

“FREEZE! HANDS IN THE AIR!”

Sonic was snapped out of his thoughts when a voice boomed out. He looked up, and two guards were pointing their Hover wispons at him.

Oh, duh. Of course a prison’s gonna have high-level security, he scolded himself. He raised his hands in the air nonchalantly.

“Sorry, Sonic. A lot of us here admire you,” one of the guards admitted. “But that doesn’t mean you get a free pass to just walk up here unannounced!”

“Yeah, I figured,” Sonic chuckled. “Listen, is the warden busy? I need his permission to talk to one of the prisoners.”

The guards, both looking puzzled, lowered their wispons. One of them took out a handheld transceiver. Sonic couldn’t make out what he was saying, but he did faintly hear another voice coming from the other end.

The guard with the transceiver made a surprised look, and ended the call with, “Yes, sir.”

Putting the transceiver away, he looked at his partner. “C’mon, we gotta pat ‘im down.”

The other guard nodded, and they both went up to Sonic.

“Apologies,” he said while checking his quills.

Sonic sighed as the guard with the transceiver felt around his glove. “It’s whatever.”

After what felt like ages, the search was finally done. One guard got behind him, while the other went in front.

“You’re clear. Come with us.”

-

After a greeting and handshake, Sonic was sitting behind the warden’s desk. …actually, he said he could just call him Reggie, so let’s go with that.

And once Sonic mentioned this Riot guy, his eyes widened.

“Quite the coincidence you’re here because of him,” Reggie said. “Riot’s been talking about you nonstop. Even some of the inmates are beginning to get sick of him.”

Sonic put a palm on his cheek, and leaned his elbow on his chair’s armrest. “A big fan of mine, huh?”

“...more like, obsessed. And not in a good way,” Reggie replied, sipping his coffee. “What business do you have with him, anyway?”

“Well, his former secretary made me aware of all the crap he committed while I was gone,” the hedgehog said. “I’m the one he hates, yet he hurt my allies instead of going after me. I just have to know what his thought process was.”

The canine furrowed his brow. “Are you suggesting you go down there and… talk sense into him?”

“Dude. Not only did he slice off the secretary’s arm, but he and some of his cronies split Kit open, and almost NUKED the Restoration, ” Sonic grimaced. “I’m pretty even if he had any sense left, Surge zapped it out of him. There’s no going back for that guy. I just wanna know what his actual motives were.”

“I see…” Reggie put down his mug. “Well, normally, I’d say no, since he’s currently jailed in the maximum security wing. But considering the… condition he’s in, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Awesome. So, will the guards take me there, or…?

“Actually… he has to be taken to you. ”

-

After getting the guards to go retrieve Riot, Reggie escorted Sonic into a waiting room, where people could talk to inmates through a soundproof glass wall using a microphone.

Once he got word that Riot was on his way, Reggie looked at Sonic. As expected, waiting was not his strong suit. He was slouched over in a chair, tapping his foot rapidly.

“Alright, Sonic. Riot should be here shortly,” he told him, with a look of slight disapproval over his unprofessionalism.

“Grrreat.” Sonic sat up, rubbing his hands together. “Let’s see what this dude’s got in store for me.”

The door on the other side of the glass opened, and a female assistant was rolling someone to the booth in a wheelchair. Upon closer inspection, it was a raccoon in a prison jumpsuit. And he was giving the hedgehog a look that could burn a hole through his face.

“...huh. That’s Riot?” Sonic asked Reggie.

“Indeed it is.”

“...that microphone isn’t on, is it?”

“It is not.”

“In that case, question. Why’s the guy in a wheelchair?”

“The same reason he had to be brought to you; he was paralyzed from the neck down,” Reggie said. “The only part of his body that he can move is his head.”

It didn’t take a genius to figure out who paralyzed him and how.

Geez, Ashley didn’t mention that part… Surge was out for BLOOD, huh?

“...right-o,” Sonic said. “Well, I’m ready to talk whenever he is.”

He looked through the glass, and Riot was saying something to his assistant, who looked at Reggie and nodded.

“Press that button there to turn the microphone on,” Reggie said, pointing at a button to Sonic’s right. “Once you’re done, press it again to turn it off.”

Sonic looked at it, and did just that. Meanwhile, Riot’s assistant pressed his button for him. And everyone could faintly hear static.

Almost immediately, Riot got started. “Sonic the hedge-”

“One more moment, please,” his assistant said, in which Riot replied with an eye roll. “Sir, should I wait outside?”

“No. Stand by the door, and I’ll do the same for Sonic,” Reggie answered. “I’m sure he can handle it if something happens, but you can never be too careful.”

“Yes sir.”

She said something Sonic couldn’t quite make out to Riot, and went to stand by the door. Now Riot was free to talk.

“Sonic the hedgehog,” he said, teeth clenched.

The hedgehog crossed his arms. “Say, you’re the second person to greet me with that today. Except she wasn’t so… groggy? Is that a good word-?”

“ Why are you here?” the raccoon asked, raising his voice.

Sonic narrowed his eyes. “Well, a little birdy at the Restoration told me about all the crap you pulled while my friends and I were gone. Stuff involving cutting a kid open, and attempting to launch a nuke? And some other stuff I’m definitely missing.”

“Well, that ‘little birdy’ so happens to be correct,” Riot said. He sounded so… proud of himself. Sonic was able to push his irritation aside, though.

“I just wanna know; why? What were you trying to prove with that?” Sonic asked. “‘Cause whatever it was, you failed miserably.”

“So you’re here to berate me,” Riot scowled.

“What-?”

“It’s the typical superhero shtick. Something a hero resorts to as a last ditch effort to ‘save’ a villain,” Riot began to ramble. “Telling them why what they did was wrong and try to sympathize with them, in hopes they get on our side.” He tilted his head down, mumbling, “Which worked for that traitorous, spotted bitch…”

“Dude, I’m asking a simple question. No one’s trying to save anyone. Especially since you’ve clearly been beyond saving,” the hedgehog told him. “I just wanna know what your thought process was. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Riot glared at him, and closed his eyes. “Well, since you want to know so badly…

“You tirade with Dr. Eggman has been going on for far too long. It always goes the same. Eggman threatens the world, you defeat him, he escapes, the world celebrates. And then it happens again. And again. And again. AND AGAIN. ”

That last “and again” made Sonic flinch. “Geez man, I can hear y-”

“And after that time Eggman took over the world, that confirmed it to me. You’re an anomaly. A parasite. With you around, this world couldn’t- can’t know peace. Not even knowing Eggman lost his memories eased my nerves. And what a coincidence; shortly after, Starline took him and brought them back to him!”

That part wasn’t even my fault, but okay, Sonic thought, letting the raccoon drone on.

“So I took the team I formed in the war, and we became an anti-Sonic and Eggman group, disguised as a casino. We could never find a good time to strike, however.

“And then… Surge ,” Riot scowled. “So much power. So much potential. She said it herself; she could be better than Starline ever could. All the heroes, all the villains; if anyone could have torn it down, it could be her.”

Wait a sec- don’t tell me…

“And then… you brought her to your side. Her and her little brother Kit. And as if it was a cult, they accepted your hand,” he snarled.

And for the third time today, Sonic was in complete shock.

“The last hope we had; poof! Gone. Just like that. They had fallen victim to you and your ideologies!” Riot kept going. “So, I decided I’d take matters into my own hands. And when I thought it was the right moment to strike, you were gone. And finding Eggman wouldn’t be a walk in the park. So I decided I’d go after the next best thing; Surge and the Restoration.

“I figured, once I was done with them, I’d leave the remains of the Restoration, and everyone working in it, as a message to you. Then I’d dispose of you and your friends, then of Eggman; all with the power granted by Starline! The Tricore! I could make the world the way it should be!

“Sadly, my weapons, my team, my casino, everything I worked for… all torn down to shreds. But even with my paralyzed body, I can take solace in knowing all the damage that was caused. All…”

Sonic’s eyes began to glow blue.

“...because…”

His quills began to wave around.

“ ...of you.”

Both Riot’s assistant and Reggie stared at Sonic in awe, as wind began to blow around the hedgehog.

And Riot just smirked as Sonic stared at him angrily.

…but then Sonic closed his eyes.

And his quills were still.

“Y’know, that probably could have gotten a rise out of me if it was after Eggman’s takeover. Or the Metal Virus.”

He opened his eyes, and they were green yet again.

“But now? I can see that you aren’t trying to convince me I’m the problem. You’re convincing yourself.”

The shit-eating grin on Riot’s face completely dissolved. “...what?”

“I can see it too, y’know. I’m far from perfect, and made my fair share of screw-ups throughout my life,” the hedgehog began. “I’ve let Eggman catch me off guard in my super form, getting myself turned into a werehog. I took the conch controlling the Deadly Six away from him, resulting in them almost draining the energy from our world. On the same day, I got my little bro trapped, almost causing him to get roboticized. And when Belle came around, I was hesitant towards her, despite her turning out to be the least threatening friend I made. I’ve got flaws. Plenty of them.”

He stood up from his chair.

“But I take those blunders I make, and use them to my advantage,” he continued. “I make results. And with those results, I give everyone a better tomorrow, so they can live their lives to the fullest. Live for the moment, if you will.”

He shrugged. “You wanna take advantage of that? Your loss, pal. You’re not proving anything except all the problems you don’t think you have. Seriously, you thought just because I beat Surge, she’d be a walk in the park for you? That won’t work, especially when you hurt the closest person to her.”

Riot grit his teeth once more.

“I think I’m done here. You can go ahead and make the most out of life in the maximum security wing,” Sonic said. “Or at least, you can try.”

He reached for the button to turn the microphone off, then stopped.

“Oh, by the way, that ‘traitorous, spotted bitch?’ She’s the little birdy I mentioned earlier,” Sonic sneered. “Not sure why you hate her; she’s quite nice.”

With that, Sonic turned off the microphone and began to walk away from the glass.

“You… you egotistical, spiny PIECE OF SHIT!!!” Riot began yelling. “I WILL FIND A WAY OUT OF HERE SOMEHOW, SOMEDAY! AND WHEN I DO, YOU’LL BE THE FIRST PERSON I-!”

Riot’s assistant turned off the microphone for him, while Sonic made a yapping motion with his hand. Reggie watched as she wheeled the screaming raccoon out of the room.

“He’s just going to ramble on about you even more,” the warden said. “You know that, right?”

“Let ‘im,” Sonic replied. “His tantrum can’t last forever.”

-

Sonic and Reggie were outside the entrance to Everhold Prison.

“Thanks a bunch for the permission, warden- um, Reggie,” Sonic said. “Sorry for taking the time out of your day for that.”

“Not a problem,” Reggie responded, shaking Sonic’s hand again. “Though you should also be thanking the Restoration for putting Riot and his cronies where he rightfully belongs!”

“You’re right about that,” Sonic nodded. He got on all fours and began to peel-out. “I’ll be sure to tell the director you said hi!”

“Keep fighting for a better tomorrow!” Reggie called out as Sonic zoomed off. When the blue streak was no longer seen, he dropped his smile and put his stoic face back on, going back inside.

-

Well, that was interesting… Sonic thought, parkouring over a boulder. Now, where to next?

As he kept running, he did some thinking, and remembered hearing something in the Restoration while going to check out Breezie. Something about a badger causing a scene upon seeing a wisp for the first time.

And Amy had gone on a trip with Cream and a certain badger. So maybe, that badger was with Amy right now…

“Amy’s house it is,” he said to himself, rolling into a ball and launching himself off a ramp.

Chapter Text

Outside Silver’s garden, Lanolin saw Tangle jogging up to her, pulling Whisper with her. And all three girls were in their outfits meant to be worn when on Extreme Gear.

“Yo, Lano! Hope we’re not too late!” the lemur said. “Whisper was infodumping about wisps to Jake, and I had to drag her away.”

Whisper just looked away, pouting. “Didn’t even get to go over all their history…”

“You’ll get to tell him about it another time, babe,” Tangle assured her with a wink.

“Uh, yeah, that’s great,” Lanolin said, observing herself. “Where’s Ashley?”

“Should be here soon,” Whisper answered, noticing that the sheep was a little out of it. “What’s wrong? Do y’not like your outfit?”

“I mean, it looks really nice,” Lanolin said, tugging on the silk of her outfit while blushing. “I would prefer if the jumpsuit was less… tight.”

There was another reason for the blushing, but if she told them, the team would be on her ass all day.

“Hey, jumpsuits are really snug, I’ll have you know!” Tangle responded, gesturing to herself. “Just look at mine!”

Lanolin stared at Tangle, then at Whisper, who just shrugged.

“Alright, gals, sorry for the wait! I got my gear and I’m ready to-“

Ashley rushed to the Cutters, holding her board, and skidded to a halt upon seeing her team in different outfits, while she had on the same attire she wore since first joining the team.

“Wait, you get new outfits along with extreme gear?!” she yelled. “No one told me that!”

“...ohhhh, shit,” Tangle realized.

“Yeah, sorry about that. These were made for us way before you were a part of the team. And we didn’t have them last time due to the stakes of the situation,” Lanolin said. “We promise, though, there’ll be an outfit prepared for you for next time.”

Ashley thought back to when she was told of how Clean Sweep Inc. almost took over the Restoration. She sighed, and pointed at Whisper. “Fine. But I want a cool jacket like her’s.”

Suddenly, Tangle’s ears perked up. “Oh wait! We do have this prepared, though!”

Her tail shot out at Ashley, who jumped back in surprise. But then she saw what the tail was holding.

It was… some kind of arm band. It was orange, with a black star symbol on it.

“An arm band?” Ashley asked, as it was dropped into her hands.

Whisper smiled, and held up her right arm, which had the same band on. “‘S a little something Tangle came up with when the Neos first formed.”

Lanolin held her own arm up. “I turned it down because it didn’t sound practical for missions. But when we heard about the outfits we’d be getting with our extreme gear, I figured these would go perfect with them.”

Tangle held her fist out to Ashley, also showing off her band. “It tells the world that no matter what comes at you, you intend to be a problem.”

The leopard looked at her own band, and strapped it on her robotic arm.

It fit perfectly.

Grinning widely, Ashley fist bumped Tangle. “I love it.”

Whisper and Lanolin joined in, making a four-way fist bump.

Ashley looked around at her teammates, still wearing her smile.

But then Lanolin put her serious face back on.

“…okay, let’s not get too sappy,” she told everyone, pulling her fist back. “We’re still on a schedule.”

“You got it, boss,” Ashley replied, hopping on her board as it levitated in the air. Her friends also readied up their gear. “I might have fallen on my face a lot last time, but this time is gonna be better!”

-

This time was, in fact, not better.

After the train ride to Metal City, the Neos rode their Extreme Gear to the skatepark, where they would be practicing their skills. And on the way there, Ashley was struggling to even stay on her board.

At the park, things haven’t improved. She couldn’t grind on rails for more than three seconds, she was unable to trick off ramps without falling off her board, she couldn’t ride on walls, and she couldn’t go around loops.

On this attempt, she fell off her board while upside down. Thankfully, she landed on her feet with a thud. The leopard opened her eyes and laughed triumphantly.

“HA! Saved it this time-!”

Unfortunately, she forgot about her board, and it went down the loop and hit her right in the back, laying her out on the ground facefirst.

The rest of the team spotted this, and they all hovered over to her on their Extreme Gear.

“You alright?” Tangle asked, helping Ashley up. “Nothing broken?”

“Somehow, no,” Ashley groaned, arching her back.

All of them made their way out of the skatepark so they wouldn’t interfere with anyone else using Extreme Gear, and found a grassy spot with a tree which wasn’t in the way.

“You’re wiping out quite a lot,” Lanolin pointed out. “Why don’t you take five?”

“Me wiping out is the exact reason I shouldn’t do that,” the leopard replied. “You guys are awesome at using these things already, meanwhile I can’t even stay on my board for more than ten seconds!”

“That’s only natural. We’ve had practice with them long before we met you,” Whisper said. “You’ll only get better with time.”

“Well, ‘time’ is taking too long!” Ashley told her. “Fighting alongside you guys is one thing, but if that’s the only thing I can do, I’m not fit to be on this team!”

“Please. You’re not fit for this park,” said a snarky voice coming from above.

As the Neos looked up, Whisper muttered, “Oh no.”

Descending from the sky on their boards were the Babylon Rogues; Jet, Wave and Storm.

“That had better not be your actual outfit for Extreme Gear,” Wave smirked. “So unfashionable.”

Ashley glared at her. “First of all, it’s not. That’s still being worked on. Secondly, who are any of you to judge someone you’ve just come face to face with?”

Jet opened his mouth, but Storm beat him to the punch.

“You’re tellin’ me you never heard of us?!” he yelled, slamming his fists together. “We’re the Babylon Rogues, you little tiger! Get that through your head!”

“...I’m not a-”

“Quiet, you moron!” Jet hissed, elbowing Storm in the ribs. “Not everyone’s gonna know us, as awesome as we are.”

Lanolin crossed her arms as Maggie popped out of her wool. “Jet, Wave and Storm, right? Aren’t you guys masters when it comes to Extreme Gear? Surely you wouldn’t waste your time in a place like this.”

Jet scowled at the sheep. “Well, we were gonna go to Forest Hill, but part of our usual racing track got completely ruined! Some spikes emerged from the Earth somehow and blocked a good chunk of the path!”

Uh-oh.

Whisper, Lanolin and Maggie all looked at each other, sweating bullets.

“Um… wow. Gee whiz,” the sheep said, tugging the neck of her jumpsuit as Whisper hid her face behind her mask. “Wonder how that happened.”

“Lano, none of us have ever heard you say ‘gee whiz’ the entire time we were a-“

“ Shut UP, Tangle, ” Lanolin hissed.

Wave looked suspiciously at Lanolin and Whisper, then shifted her focus to Ashley. “Anyway… what is this, your first time riding Extreme Gear or something?”

Ashley grimaced. “Second time, actually.”

Wave paused. “...well, either way, it definitely shows.”

Whisper got off her board and stepped closer. “Is that all you came down here for? To shame beginners for failing?”

“We shame a lotta people for failing,” Storm sneered. “Don’t know what to tell ya.”

“Not that it’s your business, but we’re doing our best to teach her the ropes,” Lanolin glared. “I’m sure not even you three mastered your skills in record time.”

“Maybe not, but-” Jet began, before stopping himself. “...hold on, you girls are teaching her?”

Tangle raised an eyebrow. “Yeah? What’s wrong with that-?”

“What’s wrong is that you’ve all got different types of Extreme Gear!” the hawk yelled, unreasonably frustrated. She pointed at Tangle. “You’ve got Grinders…”

Then at Whisper. “She’s got an Angel • Devil…”

Then at Lanolin. “She’s got a Heavy Bike…”

And finally, at Ashley. “And she’s got a Turbo Star! Still not seeing the issue?!”

“What he’s saying is, you’ve got different kinds of gear,” Wave emphasised, putting a hand on Jet’s shoulder. “With that information, unless you’re all using the same kind of gear, ‘teaching her the ropes’ isn’t going to be easy.”

Then Ashley realized something. “...wait, our Extreme Gear has actual names?”

Jet stared at the leopard, flabbergasted. “ That’s what you got out of- yes! You thought there wouldn’t be names for these things?”

“Hey, once again, I’m a newbie here!” Ashley shot back. “I’m not an Extreme Gear nerd! I don’t suppose you mind telling us what your gear is called!”

Wave gave Ashley a smug smile. “You know what? I can fill that part. After all, I’m the one that made them.”

“Wait… really?”

“Damn right really,” she boasted. “Extreme Gear mechanic here. Type-W, Type-J and Type-S.” She gestured to her and her team’s boards.

Tangle snorted. “Narcissistic much?”

Wave shot a glare at her, which Tangle responded to with a raspberry.

Then, Storm realized something. “Wait… that’s what our boards are called?”

Jet and Wave both slowly turned their heads at the albatross, dumbfounded and frustrated with him.

“Stop. Talking,” Jet growled.

“Okay, I’ll say this; it’s pretty cool that you made those,” Ashley admitted to Wave, who brushed the back of her hair confidently.

“Naturally.”

“But back to the topic at hand… if my team is unable to teach me, why don’t you guys do it?”

All three birds froze in place, while the rest of the Neos looked at Ashley, surprised.

Seeing she had them speechless, the leopard leaned forward with a shit-eating grin. “What? You guys are unable to teach?”

“ No! Obviously we can!” Jet yelled back almost instantly. “The thing is, what would you even give us out of it?!”

“Um… the satisfying feeling of having helped someone?”

“Nope. Hard pass,” Jet said. Wave and Storm nodded in agreement.

“We don’t want to talk if you’re not talking money!” Storm added.

Jet nodded. “What he said. …in a less cringy way, that is.

“I think we’ve spent enough time around here. Have fun falling on your face multiple times.”

Jet turned around and began to walk away, with the other two following suit.

Ashley looked back at her team and shrugged. “ Bon sang. Welp, I tried.”

Lanolin then realized something. “Wait, you were serious about them teaching you?”

“Hey, why not?” the leopard asked. “Don’t get me wrong, I know you guys are trying to help. And sure, they’re assholes, but Jet seems to know a lot about Extreme Gear, and Wave is able to make the freakin’ things. And Storm is…”

She paused. “Well, there’s probably something…”

While Ashley tried to think of something for Storm, Whisper watched the birds, who were getting on their boards.

Then an idea popped in her head, and she formed a mischievous smile.

She put her hands on Ashley’s shoulders, getting her attention. “Follow my lead.”

“Your lead for wha-?”

She didn’t get to finish, as Whisper began to talk, raising her voice.

“Well, that’s quite a shame, Ashley! I guess that means you’ll have to stick with us!” she said. “...actually, why don’t you go to Sonic?”

Whisper looked ahead, and saw that Jet paused, with one foot on his board.

Tangle and Lanolin were confused, but upon seeing the hawk, Ashley knew the wolf was on to something. So she made up her own act.

“Huh! That’s a good idea, Whisper! I should have thought of that beforehand!” the leopard replied.

The Neos looked ahead once more, and Jet was looking down, trembling. Storm was looking at the leader, confused, while Wave did a facepalm, seemingly knowing what was going on.

Tangle realized what the two were going for, snickered, and joined in.

“Say, didn’t you tell us about how you talked with Sonic earlier?” she asked.

Ashley grinned at her. “I sure did! Man, he was such a delight to be around! And cool, too!”

“I hear he’s even better at using Extreme Gear than the Babylon Rogues!” the lemur continued. “I’m with Whisp; you should definitely ask him!”

As this was going on, Lanolin looked at her team, and at the Rogues, puzzled. That’s not actually going to work, is it?

“Yep, I’ve made up my mind!” Ashley called out. “Next time I see Sonic, I’ll-!”

“NNAAUGH!!!”

All the Neos stopped and turned back to Jet, who was zooming back to them on his board. He got up close to Ashley’s face and pointed at her.

“You want teachers so bad?! You’ll get teachers!” he yelled. “Music Plant. Saturday at 3 PM, sharp. If you’re even a second late, we’re just gonna assume you’re not gonna show up!”

“...Music Plant?”

“I- it- it’s this place that’s music themed! A buncha trumpets, pianos, you can take a train there- ugh, JUST FIGURE IT OUT AND SHOW UP! Or not! I don’t care!”

With that, Jet zoomed up into the air on his Type-J, hitting the Neos with a gust of wind. Wave and Storm looked up, then at each other. Then, they followed Jet.

Holy crap, it actually worked, Lanolin thought. She watched them fly off, then looked at the rest of the team.

“...them? Seriously?”

“To be fair, Jewel, Whisper, Sonic and I had a campfire with them before. When there’s no competition (or jewelry) involved, they’re actually pretty chill,” Tangle said.

“Still… them? ”

“I know, I know. I sound crazy for wanting their help,” Ashley said, putting her hands up. “But like I said; I want to get better at this. I want to be fully caught up with you guys. Even if that means getting Extreme Gear lessons from people that think they’re tough shit. And hey, if I don’t like it, I can always back out. Jet himself said he didn’t care.”

Lanolin looked at the ground, thinking. Then she looked back at Ashley.

“Just… be careful when the time comes. I can tell training with them won’t be easy.”

“They won’t get the better of me, boss. No need to worry,” Ashley said, pointing at herself. “...I wonder, though, what is it with Jet and Sonic?”

Whisper shrugged. “Not sure. All we know is that they’re bitter rivals.”

The leopard hummed and tapped her chin. “...do you think that maybe… those two were exes at one point?”

Tangle, Whisper and Lanolin’s eyes widened at that out of left field question.

And the thought of Sonic and Jet being past lovers made them start laughing hard.

“What? It’s just a theory!” Ashley tried to yell over the laughter.

Between her cackling, Tangle said, “You- you have- you have got to ask Je-het that question next ti-hime you see hi-hihihihim!”

“I don’t get-! What’s so funny about that?!” the leopard asked. She got no response though. The rest of the team just continued chortling, attracting some stares from people in the park.

-

The ride back to the Babylon Rogues’ ship was certainly awkward.

In an attempt to break the silence, Storm hovered over to Jet. “Um, boss… were you serious about us teaching her to use Extreme Gear?”

“I sure was! I wasn’t about to let…” Jet stopped. “Wait, what was her…?”

Wave flew next to Jet as well. “They said her name was Ashley.”

“Thank you. I wasn’t about to let Ashley look down on us like that!” the hawk continued. “We’ll help her out… but only to prove that we’re great teachers! I mean, how hard can it be?!”

“And what if she doesn’t show up?” the swallow bird asked.

“Well… that’s her loss then. Not ours. Just tells us she chickened out.”

Jet accelerated further, with Storm following close behind. Meanwhile, Wave looked down at the city, and towards the spot where they took off.

…sick arm, she thought.

Then she turned back around and accelerated as well, catching up to the boys.

Chapter Text

Sonic smiled, standing outside the entrance of Amy’s house. It had been two weeks since he last saw her, but it felt like two months.

And while she wasn’t completely crazy over him like she was back then, she still retained her bubbliness whilst being around him. Surely, she’d be happy he thought to pay a visit.

And Sticks… it had been even longer. Honestly, Sonic would be surprised if the badger even recognized him at a first glance.

Just thinking about it wasn’t gonna move things along, though. So he rapped on Amy’s door.

Ten seconds later, the door swung open.

“Yo, Ames!” Sonic greeted enthusiastically. “How’s it gooOH SHIT- ”

He yelped upon seeing the Piko Piko Hammer plummeting towards his face. Naturally, he zipped out of the way just in time before it hit him, and Amy swung it to the ground with a THOOM.

As Sonic wiped the sweat off his head, Amy slowly lifted the hammer off the ground. She snapped her head up at him with an intense glare, gripping the hammer tightly.

“Wow, uh, quite the greeting to give me after two weeks-“

“Needlemouse.”

Sonic gulped. That right there was a red flag. She only calls him Needlemouse when she’s really pissed off.

“Yyyyyeah-?”

“Is there anything that happened while I was gone which I should probably know about?” Amy asked with a strained smile. “More specifically, something involving Belle? ”

Aaaaand red flag number two.

“Oh… you, er, heard about that?” Sonic asked.

The pink hedgehog marched over to him, tossed her hammer to the side and tugged on his ear.

“DAMN RIGHT I HEARD ABOUT IT!” she scowled. “You casually mocked the idea of Eggman having a daughter right in front of her! What is wrong with you?!”

Her eyes softened up, though, when she saw the look on Sonic’s face. Despite the issue having been resolved already, he was clearly still ashamed.

“I was… still on the high of beating The End,” he admitted. “And I didn’t see her when saying that. But I know that doesn’t make it much better.”

Amy sighed, and let go of her former crush. “Belle did say you two patched things up, right?”

“Yeah, we did,” Sonic nodded. “Thing is, not only am I not allowed near the machine shop, but I’m not even allowed to run in the Restoration for the time being.”

“Not allowed to run? ”

“Mhm. I was given shoes that I’m meant to wear when inside the premises, made specifically by Kit. They look the same as my regulars, but they’re missing the buckle, and he made it so that they take away my speed.”

The blue hedgehog glared when she saw Amy holding back laughter. “Don’t laugh.”

“Oh come on, you have to admit that’s kind of funny!”

“For like, five seconds, it was,” he grumbled. “Kit was certainly having a laugh.”

Amy gave Sonic a firm pat on the shoulder. “Okay, well… sorry for going off on you like that. Let’s change the subject; what’d you come here for?”

“Just to catch up,” Sonic said. He looked the pink hedgehog up and down. “And judging by the different clothing, I assume we’ve got plenty of that to do.”

Amy put her hands on her cheeks and giggled. “Oooh, I’m so happy you noticed! I wanted to try out a new look, and I think I found the perfect-!”

A boomerang was thrown outside Amy’s door, and it hit Sonic right in the head.

“Ow-!”

And the boomerang ricocheted back into the hands of Sticks the badger, who stepped outside triumphantly. “TAKE THAT, YOU FIEND-!”

She halted her victory speech once she saw Sonic rubbing his head and Amy glaring at her. “...where’s the threat?”

“What threat?!” Amy asked.

“The one you swung your hammer at!”

“I was swinging it at… Sonic,” Amy blushed, embarrassed about briefly losing her cool.

Stick gasped at Sonic. “You’re the threat?!”

Sonic sighed, but smiled endearingly. “Glad to see you haven’t changed a bit, Sticks. I just dropped by to visit.”

“...oh!”

Sticks dropped her boomerang, and lunged at Sonic, hugging him. “Well, great to see you too!”

Sonic put an arm around her waist, and realized; “Well, I do notice one difference; you don’t smell like you’ve been rolling in a dumpster.”

“Hey!” Sticks yelled, pulling away.

“I would have put it more lightly, but he’s not wrong,” Amy lectured. “When Cream and I first saw you, you stunk like crazy. I had to force you into a shower the moment we saw one.”

“I’ll have you know I always bathe once a night back at Seaside Island!”

“Uh, yeah, in a swamp. That’s not sanitary.”

“It’s cozy!”

“So are regular showers!”

“Again; haven’t changed a bit,” Sonic laughed.

As all of them conversed, Trip peeked outside the door.

“S-Sonic?” Trip said meekly.

Sonic’s eyes landed on the sungazer. And Amy’s stomach dropped.

Crap crap crap, I never brought up Trip! she thought. She’s been absent for so long; even longer than Sticks! Will he even recognize her?? Hearing the words, “who are you,” from Sonic would probably break her heart!

“Um, Sonic, that right there is-“

“Trip?!”

In the blink of an eye, Sonic was right in front of Trip, making her squeak.

“You’re here too?! Why didn’t Amy tell me?!” he asked, shaking her hands. “It’s been so long!”

Watching them, Amy almost dropped to her knees in relief while Sticks just looked confused.

And Trip couldn’t help but feel touched by how Sonic remembered her. She pulled him into a tight hug.

“Y-you reme- remember me! I’m s-so glaaaahahahaaaad!” she cried.

The blue hedgehog was a bit surprised, but he put a hand on her shoulder nonetheless as she wailed over his shoulder.

“How could I not remember you?” he said softly. “The girl who went from a shy and timid kid to the hero of Northstar Islands, who found the courage to stand up to her bully.”

Sticks put a finger up. “But she’s still shy and timid, though-” Amy smacked her hand over her mouth before she could finish.

The sungazer sniffled and wiped her eyes, pulling herself away from the hug. “Th-that’s not en-entirely wrong…”

“Well, nonetheless, you’ve grown. Figuratively and literally,” Sonic grinned. “Heck, I think you’ve gotten taller than Amy! Not the highest bar to set, though.”

“I will smack you,” Amy scoffed, while Trip giggled, blushing.

Sonic smirked at the pink hedgehog.

“What are these two doing here, though? I know you, Cream and Sticks were on a vacation, but…”

Amy smiled. “About that… we actually went to the Northstar Islands!”

“Really, now!”

“Yep! It was a blast. Trip clicked instantly with Cream and Sticks,” Amy said. “We had such a great time together that I decided to have Trip and Sticks stay here for a while! That way, they can meet our friends they haven’t met yet, and reunite with old ones.”

“Tails is gonna be excited when he hears this,” Sonic responded, wiping his nose. “Who did you guys meet?”

“W-well, there’s Blaze…” Trip stuttered. “And the N-Neo Diamond Cutters, and Belle…” She blushed a bit when saying Belle’s name, but shook it away immediately once her eyes landed on Sticks.

“I’m still not sure how I feel about that robot,” the badger grumbled. “Somethin’ about her screams bad news.”

“And yet you got along with Surge just fine,” Amy shot at her.

“Because she actually gets me!” Sticks retorted.

“I-I don’t know… Surge is k-kinda scary…” the sungazer shivered, as Sonic was in deep thought about how horrifying Surge and Sticks could become as a duo.

“Y-you don’t need to worry. Like I said to you, Surge is actually really nice,” Amy laughed nervously, waving her hands. “She’s actually a huge softie on the inside, but she only lets a few people see that side of her!”

Trip just hummed, looking down.

“Oh, by the way, has Knuckles shown himself recently?” Amy asked Sonic.

Unfortunately for her, Sonic just did a thumbs down and a raspberry. “Haven’t seen him.”

The pink hedgehog pouted and stomped her foot. “That stinker! He promised he’d come down and see us after our adventure!”

“W-well… he’s still g-guarding the Master Emerald, r-right?” Trip said, twiddling her thumbs. “That does s-seem like an important job…”

Amy sighed. “It is. I know how much it means to him, but it wouldn’t hurt him to take at least one day off…”

“You worry too much, Ames,” Sonic told her, giving a thumbs up. “Knux might be a dunce, but he’s not a liar. Give ‘im a little more time.”

“R-right…” Amy said, rubbing her arm.

Sonic grinned, and looked around at all the girls. “Well, enough of that… what’d y’all do while I was gone?”

That perked the pink hedgehog right back up. “Oh, I’m so happy you asked! We’ll tell you all about it over some tea…”

-

Night had fallen.

A little while after Breezie and her made their collaboration official, Rouge had called up Jewel about her position at the mineral museum. She stated that she had a way to “monitor” her, and to meet her there tonight.

Though, she sounded really reluctant and grouchy. Whatever the reason was, Jewel would have to wait and see.

Currently, she was standing outside her museum, waiting for the bat to arrive. Looking at her watch, she saw it was about the time she said she’d be there.

“Oh, gemstone~!”

Ah. Speak of the devil.

Jewel looked up from her watch with a smile.

“Rouge! Glad you could make… it…?”

The beetle quieted down upon seeing those that were behind her. The rest of Team Dark, Shadow and Omega.

“GREETINGS,” Omega said, while Shadow only grunted.

Jewel awkwardly waved. “Um… hello to you guys as well.”

Rouge sighed. “Sorry, Jewel. I was planning to come here alone, but once I told the boys what I was doing, they insisted they’d come along.”

“Because we know your history with gems the most,” Shadow shot at her. “Who’s to say you won’t try anything?”

The bat huffed at Shadow. “I don’t need babysitters! Besides, I’ve stolen things before, and you were okay with that!”

Not the best thing to say before walking into a new job, Jewel thought.

“Yes, because those were for missions, and they brought us results,” Shadow glared. “This is different.”

Rouge just crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

“Wait, so… are you two the ‘monitors’ for Rouge?” Jewel realized.

Omega clunkily did a thumbs up. “AFFIRMATIVE.”

“Are there any issues with that?” Shadow asked.

His tone when asking that didn’t sound intimidating, but considering who Shadow is, Jewel couldn’t really tell.

“Um, n-no! No, not at all,” Jewel replied nervously. She flew up, got her keys out of her pocket and opened up the museum. “Come on in so we can discuss.”

The trio followed her inside. She turned the lights on, and Shadow and Omega got to see the museum in all its shiny (and dusty) glory.

“Sorry, I know this place could look better,” Jewel said. “I couldn’t find time to clean, and-”

“Don’t worry about it,” Shadow interrupted. “You have other responsibilities, like the Restoration. It’s understandable.”

“If it makes you feel better, this museum is still exquisite, dust mites or not,” Rouge complimented.

Jewel smiled a little at the compliment. “Thank you. Now, let’s have a seat at that table over there-”

“I WISH TO STAND.”

The beetle flinched at Omega’s robotic voice. “Um, you don’t have to. There are plenty of seats available-”

Omega leaned down, close to Jewel’s face.

“I INSIST ON STANDING,” he repeated.

“...um-”

“He can just stand by the table,” Shadow sighed, finding his seat at the table. “He’d probably break one of your chairs if he sat in it anyway.”

Rouge laughed as she found a seat of her own.

Jewel sighed into her hands once everyone was gathered together. This was either gonna be a gamble that was worth it, or a huge shitshow. No in-between.

“So… Rouge, would you mind starting off by specifying what Shadow meant by your history with gems?” she asked. “I mean, we all know you steal gems for a living, but he mentioned something about that ‘bringing you results.’”

Rouge shot Shadow a look, and he just gave her a smirk in return.

“What he means by that are the missions which were given to us by G.U.N.,” Rouge answered. “Some of our missions involve bringing down those that abuse their power.”

“As in corrupt cities, towns and islands,” Shadow specified.

“Interesting…” Jewel said. “But what exactly do gems have to do with this?”

“Well, all the places we infiltrate do have a theme of safekeeping beautiful gems,” Rouge sighed dreamily. “There are plenty of reasons for it. Some including historical preservation, economic and symbolic value, and just because the higher ups are dicks and want to sell the gems to gain a profit.”

Jewel and Shadow were taken aback by the sudden profanity.

“THAT LAST PART SEVERELY ANGERS ROUGE,” Omega stated.

“Yyyeah, I can tell,” the beetle winced.

Rouge’s eyes narrowed. “See, here’s the thing; why would you take something that could be a symbol of your town, is a part of history, or is just plain gorgeous… and just sell it immediately with no second thought?”

Jewel raised her eyebrows a little. “...huh. That is a good point.”

She turned and looked around at her collection.

“I feel a similar way about the minerals I’ve gathered,” she said. “I don’t get how people can look at these and think about money first and foremost. Like, I’d kinda get it if you desperately needed the money, but these are major parts of history! Heck, they are history! They’re part of the very planet we walk on! So why-”

She paused.

“ Waiiiiit , are you saying that just to get on my good side?” Jewel asked, turning back around and giving Rouge a suspicious look.

Rouge smirked and waved a dismissive hand. “Of course not, gemstone.”

“I can vouch for her,” Shadow said. “Besides, if she were manipulating you, I would have spoken up.”

Another glare from the bat.

“...right then. With that out of the way… are you sure you can do this job, Rouge? Especially considering all three of you work for G.U.N.”

“A COMMON MISCONCEPTION. WE DO NOT WORK FOR G.U.N.,” Omega told the beetle.

“...what? Then why did you mention-?”

“We make alliances with G.U.N.,” Shadow corrected her. “As in, we only work for them when they really need us.”

“And their requests towards us have become a lot less frequent since the whole thing with the Phantom Ruby,” Rouge added. “Even if we do suddenly get a request, I can still spare time to watch over this lovely museum.”

“ We can still spare time,” the black hedgehog emphasised.

“Oh for- you know that’s only for a few days at most, right?!”

“Depends on if Jewel can actually trust you or not-”

“ Okaaay then!” Jewel said, raising her voice before Shadow and Rouge could butt heads again. “Rouge, would you be okay with starting tomorrow at 9AM?”

“Oh, absolutely,” the bat said gleefully, rubbing her hands together. “Unless the boys have any objections…?”

“Mm-mm.”

“NEGATIVE.”

“Great,” Jewel sighed in relief. “...I appreciate this, all of you.”

“Like I said; can’t let a place as gorgeous as this fall.”

The beetle smiled softly and flew out of her chair. “Well, you guys can get going if you want. I should really clean this place up for tomorrow-”

“Hold on… you’re cleaning it up alone?”

“Sure. I’ve done it plenty of times-”

“Nope. That won’t do. We’ll all help you out,” Rouge offered, also standing up. “It’s only fair, since you’re giving me this position in the first place.”

Jewel began to frantically wave her hands. “H-hold on, that isn’t necess-!”

“I’m guessing you forgot our talk about volunteering me for things,” Shadow grimaced. Then he sighed. “...fine. I suppose we have nothing better to do.”

“I WILL ALSO ASSIST IN CLEANING,” Omega exclaimed, raising her hand.

A wobbly smile formed on Jewel’s face. Not just for their generosity, but for the fact that her museum would no longer be on the verge of being hit by a wrecking ball.

“...th-thank you all,” she said. “Let me grab some supplies, and we’ll get to work…”

-

An hour and a half later, the museum was clean. So Jewel locked up the place, and waved goodbye to Team Dark as they walked off.

Then, her phone buzzed in her pocket. She fished it out and saw a text message from Surge.

THE DOUGH CAME IN!! WE’RE LIVING THE DREAM NOW, MINT!!!  It was safe to assume that the money Breezie promised hit Surge and Kit's bank accounts.

Jewel snorted and began to fly home.

She’d have to talk with Surge before she began making financial decisions she’d regret.

Chapter Text

As Team Dark were walking off after the discussion with Jewel, Rouge was fluttering in the air, clearly excited about her new job.

“I definitely owe you boys one,” Rouge said happily. “My position probably wouldn’t have been made official if you didn’t vouch for me!”

“CURRENTLY HOLDING YOU TO IT THAT YOU OWE ME,” Omega replied.

“Don’t forget; for the time being, we’re doing the job with you,” Shadow said, not looking back.. “I may not have sensed any hostility from you back there, but Jewel does have every right to be suspicious.”

Rouge crossed her arms and pouted. “I thought you trusted little ‘ol me…”

Her act didn’t work on Shadow, though. He was about to retort, repeating what he said about stealing gems giving the team results…

…until he heard some crashes and a woman yelling.

And just like that, Shadow was on high alert.

“THREAT ACKNOWLEDGED,” Omega blurted out, his hand transforming into a machine gun. “INITIATING FIREARMS-”

“ No, Omega,” Shadow sternly interrupted. He looked towards where he heard the noises. “You two head back. I’ll handle this.”

And in a red flash, he was gone.

Rouge rolled his eyes and gave Omega a pat on his arm.

“You heard the man. He’s a powerhouse on his own anyway,” she told him. “He’ll call us if he needs us… though I doubt he will.”

“UNDERSTOOD.”

-
All Rachel wanted to do was grab some snacks and go back home. But nope.

She just had to get cornered in an alleyway by two rowdy skunks that really liked rhyming with their names.

“C’mon, lady, make it easy on yourself and just hand over your bags!” the blue-gray skunk told her, licking his lips. She could only assume that one had the name Rough.

“What ‘e said!” the bulkier one said as they loomed closer to her. That one was Tumble. “Else you’re gonna feel the pain-!”

“Woah, woah, WOAH!” Rough shot his head up at Tumble, all the menacing demeanor vanishing from both of them. “I’m all for robbing old ladies, bro, but we don’t beat them up!”

Old lady-?!

“Duh! Obviously not. I’m tryna sound intimidating!” Tumble shot back. “And you just ruined it!”

“You- ah- d- URGHHH!” The shorter skunk dragged down his eye sockets in frustration.

Holding her grocery bags tightly, Rachel said, “Um, that’s not good for your eyes-”

“CAN IT, WOMAN!!!” Rough yelled. “Just give us your food, and we can all walk away from th-!”

Suddenly, a black hedgehog blipped in front of the squirrel, making all three of them jump.

“Who…?” Rachel began once the shock died down. Shadow turned his head to her and gave her an assuring nod.

“Oh, nice going, doofus! Your yelling got us caught!” Tumble chastised his brother.

“Nuh-uh! It was your ‘intimidation!’” Rough argued, making air quotes. “And hey, there’s two of us and one of him! We can take ‘im no problem!”

Tumble looked at Shadow, who was growing impatient and crossing his arms.

“...yeah, I guess you’re right!” the white skunk laughed. “Now… from the top!”

Rough nodded and they both stepped back.

“Big mistake, pal!”

“This is where you fumble.”

“Here, you’ll feel the wrath of…”

They both charged at Shadow.

“ROUGH AND TU-”

With help from his air shoes, Shadow shot himself forward, arms out, and punched both of them right in the gut.

Rachel could only watch in awe as the hedgehog skidded to a stop, and the skunk brothers got laid out on the floor.

Rough, who was still recovering from that blow, looked up to see Shadow walking towards him. He pathetically squeaked and quickly crawled to his brother, who was unconscious.

“I will only say this once,” Shadow said, stopping and looking down at them menacingly. “Leave.”

The intimidation in his voice was strong, because Rough instantly got up and bolted out of the alleyway, dragging Tumble behind him.

“Yes, sir! You got it, sir! We weren’t really that hungry, anyway!” he blurted out as they got farther and farther away.

Shadow stepped out of the alleyway and watched as they scurried out of town. It was certainly safe to say they wouldn’t be trying anything like that again tonight.

…come to think of it, aren’t they the cronies of-?

“E-excuse me, um…!”

Behind Shadow, Rachel stepped out of the alleyway as well, her grocery bags in hand.

“Th-thank you very much for that,” she said, bowing her head. “If no one had shown up, I’m afraid to think of what would happen.”

Shadow put a hand on his hip. “Hmph, don’t think much of it. They were just wanna-be thugs, acting like they’re tough. That was light work.”

He turned away and began to walk off. “Get home safe.”

As Shadow slowly got farther away, Rachel stood there, pondering. Then, she quickly went after him and was walking behind him.

“I know this is out of nowhere, but I do think I should properly thank you. It’s only fair,” she told him. She could make out a small grunt from the hedgehog. “Have you eaten already?”

Shadow stopped in his tracks, and the squirrel did the same. He crossed his arms in thought. His brain was telling him to decline. His stomach, however…

He had skipped dinner due to having to meet up with Jewel. So his stomach was begging him to say yes.

He made up his mind, and turned around. “...I haven’t.”

-

This certainly wasn’t how Shadow envisioned the rest of his night going.

Here he was, sitting at the kitchen table of the squirrel woman she saved (who introduced herself as Rachel), who had served him some meatballs and ravioli. She’d also mentioned she had two ‘rascals’ that liked to come over often, and they’d call this her “signature dish.”

And honestly… Shadow could see why. One meatball and he already felt like he was ascending to the heavens. He still kept his cool manner, though.

“This is very delicious,” Shadow complimented. “I can see why those two you mentioned like it so much.”

“I’m glad you think so!” Rachel replied sweetly, with a plate of her own. She gestured to the pot in the middle of the table. “I’ve made plenty of it, so feel free to have some more if you’re still hungry.”

Shadow just nodded as he stabbed a piece of ravioli with his fork. When putting the piece in his mouth, he thought about the closed up containers of baked cookies, brownies and cupcakes he caught a glimpse of on the kitchen counter. Not only was she a master chef, but a master confectioner as well.

“Vanilla might have some competition…” he muttered.

His ear flicked when he heard Rachel choking.

“Miss?!” Shadow exclaimed, immediately standing up. But Rachel waved a dismissive hand as she lightly punched herself in the chest, forcing her food.

“Urgh… I’m fine, don’t worry. You just… surprised me,” she assured him. “Would you mind saying that again?”

The ultimate lifeform sighed in relief, and sat back down.

“Apologies. I thought of a… friend of mine. I saw all your baked goods earlier, and combined with this food, it reminded me of her,” he said.

“Mhm… you said her name was Vanilla, right?”

“Correct.”

“...does this Vanilla happen to be a rabbit?”

Now Shadow was getting curious. “Also yes.”

Rachel dropped her fork and covered her mouth. “Oh my gosh…”

-

Belle waved at Grease as he drove off after letting her out at Vanilla’s house.

She looked at the door, and her expression saddened a little.

An entire week and I never even thought to thank Vanilla for the clothes… she scolded herself. What’s wrong with me?!

She shook her bad thoughts away and began to walk up to the door-

“Blabehbloo?”

Belle’s new mouse ears twitched when the sound of incoherent babbling entered them. It seemed to be coming from her right.

Upon looking, she saw a squirrel looking over the fence curiously. He had brown fur and a beard, both very messy, and on his head, he was wearing… some kind of pot. What…?

“Um… hello,” Belle waved awkwardly, with a nervous smile.

And the squirrel waved back. “Graglegbabba!”

…is it wrong that I feel uneasy?

Then, she heard Vanilla’s front door open, and her eyes landed on Cream.

“Miss Belle! You made it!” she exclaimed happily. Before Belle could greet her, she had already run up and hugged her.

And as Belle hugged back, the feeling faded away.

“Agagrublee!”

Then, Cream’s eyes landed on the stranger.

“Oh! Hello, Mister Dave!” she waved.

“Hragum bobthlee,” ‘Dave’ answered, tipping his pot to her and walking off.

“Wait- you know that man?” Belle asked as Cream led her into the house.

“Sure I do! How could I not know our next door neighbor?” the rabbit answered. “I could never really understand him, but he’s super nice!”

Before the tinkerer was pulled inside the house, she caught one last look at the squirrel, trying to turn on his lawn mower.

There are a lot of quirky people roaming on this planet…

-

A few minutes later, Belle was sitting at the living room couch along with Cream and Gemerl. Vanilla was in the kitchen, seemingly preparing dinner for Cream. Cheese and Chocola were currently playing in Cream’s room.

Seeing the rabbit household’s robot companion after so long felt a bit surreal. Last time they interacted was after he and Omega almost tore each other apart in a sparring match.

“Forgive me, but I cannot say I remember you looking like…” he began, trailing off his words a little. “...a mouse.”

Belle had forgotten that there are still a lot of people that have yet to see her like this.

“Oh, yeah. That’s partially why I’m here,” Belle replied. “I… got involved in something I shouldn’t have, and got broken apart because of it.” She clenched her fists on the table. Even after stating she was done with Eggman, thinking about her still hurts a little.

Seeing that she looked upset, Gemerl reached a hand out, but instantly retracted it, not wanting to overstep boundaries. “...my condolences.”

Belle looked up at him and smiled a little in appreciation. “Thank you… Tails and Kit fixed me up the best they could, but some alterations had to be made to my design in the process. Same goes for my clothes… but they had to call Vanilla for that.”

Gemerl did remember Vanilla having to leave the house while Cream and Cheese were away, but he was never told what for.

“They found the right person,” he said. “Vanilla did a good job.”

“I agree!” Cream nodded enthusiastically. “Your clothes look great.”

“I think so too… that’s why I’m here. She wasn’t around when I was back up and running, and I never found the time to properly thank her…”

“No thanks needed, dear.”

Upon hearing Vanilla’s voice behind her, Belle jumped and covered her mouth, letting out a muffled yelp.

“I-I-uh-” she stammered as the older rabbit walked past the couch and sat at a lounge chair next to it.

“I mean it. It was no trouble at all,” she said with a smile. “Believe me, that’s far from the first batch of clothes I’ve had to knit back together.”

“Really, now?” Belle asked.

“Really. Cream could get really hyperactive in her early ears, especially when she learned how to fly.

Cream’s pupils shrunk, and she hid her eyes behind her ears, embarrassed. “Moooom!”

Belle sympathetically patted the younger rabbit on her head.

“From what I was told, Vanilla has had the skill of repairing clothes for several years,” Gemerl said. “Way before Cream was even born.”

“That- that is true…” Cream vouched, peeking out from one of her ears. “Our whole town knows about it. It’s no wonder Mr. Tails and Mr. Kit called her for the job.

Vanilla smiled bashfully, waving a dismissive hand.

“Wow… if you’re alright with me asking, when and where did you learn how to do it?” the tinkerer asked. “Or was it something you figured out on your own?”

“Oh, no. My ex taught me.”

The moment after those words left Vanilla’s mouth, the oven in the kitchen dinged. And what was left after that was an awkward silence.

“...your… ex?” Belle asked.

Gemerl looked at Belle. “Is there a problem?”

“No, no, not at all!” Belle clarified nervously, waving her hands. “That answer just… surprised me. Usually, whenever someone brings up an ex, it’s out of disdain.”

Only briefly did Vanilla’s smile falter. There is another, who I can’t stand to think of… but this isn’t about him.

“That’s not the case here. Mother’s told me and Gemerl about her before. They had a relationship before I was even born,” Cream mentioned. “And she’s always happy when talking about her!”

Vanilla nodded, and she began to stand up to get the food from the oven. “Mhm. If it weren’t for her, I probably wouldn’t have been able to help out.”

Cream and Gemerl got off the couch and followed Vanilla to help her set up. Belle thought for a short moment, and did the same.

“You make it sound like she was an important person in your life,” the tinkerer said. “Forgive me for being nosey, but what was her name?”

While Gemerl picked up Cream to help her reach the cabinet with all the tableware, Vanilla turned to Belle with a pan of lasagna in her now mitted hands. "Not was. Is.

“And her name is Rachel. Rachel the squirrel.”

Chapter Text

Shadow had to say, this night took a very sharp turn.

When Rachel had offered to cook him dinner, he figured it would just be a kind gesture, and both of them would move on with their night.

Now, however, here he was, finding out the person he saved from getting robbed was in fact, Vanilla the rabbit’s ex-girlfriend.

This worried the hedgehog a bit at first, because most of the time, exes are talked about in disdain. Not this time, though.

In fact, Rachel was overjoyed upon hearing her name again.

“Man, Vanilla… I haven’t heard that name brought up in so long,” she sighed, sitting with Shadow at her living room couch. They had just gotten done cleaning their dishes.

Shadow hummed. “I’ll be honest; you worried me for a minute. When people bring up their exes, it’s not always in the best of faith.”

Rachel smiled at him. “Well, don’t be worried. Whenever I think about her, it’s never in malice. It just… wasn’t meant to be.”

She crossed her arms. “Though, I won’t lie… there are times where I do miss her.”

Shadow tilted his head. “Why not try to contact her then?”

And the squirrel’s smile became a little… sad.

“Because I was too cowardly to go through with it for too long.”

-

“She had moved into my neighborhood when we were teenagers,” Vanilla said. Her, Belle, Cream and Gemerl were listening to her go on about Rachel, while Cream happily ate her lasagna. “And when we met face to face, it was love at first sight.”

Belle leaned forward, intrigued.

“Our friendship grew bigger as the weeks went by. And eventually, Rachel was the one to admit her feelings,” Vanilla sighed. “I may have moved on, but that first kiss was something I’ll never forget.

“There was a lot of cuddling, a lot of sneaking out to see each other, all that stuff you’d expect in a teenage relationship,” the rabbit went on. That got a chuckle out of both Belle and Cream.

“You talk about her so fondly, so… what happened for you two to break things off?” Belle asked.

“Vanilla has been asked this question before, and it was always the same answer;” Gemerl started. “It was a teenage relationship.”

While Vanilla nodded, Belle’s mind went to all her teenage friends who were currently in relationships. …you know what, maybe they’re a special case.

“The longer the relationship lasted, the smaller the spark between us got,” Vanilla said. “Eventually, we mutually agreed to break things off after a year and a half, while remaining good friends.”

-

“If that’s the case, then why did you stop talking to her?” Shadow asked, genuinely confused. “You two lived near each other at the time, didn’t you?”

Rachel rubbed her arm. “As if fate were against me, a little while after that, my parents found jobs in Apotos. So that meant moving away from her.”

She chuckled bitterly. “I only had time to give Vanilla a brief goodbye, because they were never really supportive of our friendship, even after we broke up.”

Shadow’s eyes opened up a little. “...my condolences.”

“Don’t worry, I broke off all contact with them once I was able to act independently,” Rachel told him, going back to her regular smile. “I’m doing much better without them.”

“...ah. That’s good.”

The squirrel nodded. “I was able to talk to her over the phone while in Apotos, though. Even if I had to be discreet.”

Shadow let out a breath of amusement. But something came to his mind.

“Hold on; if you still have her number, what’s stopping you from calling her?”

And for the first time that night, Rachel looked nervous.

“...I may or may not have broken off contact with her-”

-

“-a little while before I had Cream,” Vanilla said. “I never understood why she stopped answering my calls…”

Cream swallowed her mouthful of lasagna.

“To be honest, Mother, I still don’t understand that part…” the younger rabbit confessed.

Vanilla rested her elbow on the table. “It’s okay, dear. Neither do I. Maybe it’s because of work reasons, or her living situation at the time…”

Or that controlling, sexist douchebag probably scared her away since he didn’t like me talking to my-

“Vanilla? You look like you’re getting tense,” Gemerl observed.

The older rabbit was pulled out of her thoughts. Belle and Cream were looking at her with concern, and that’s when she realized she wasn’t wearing the most positive of faces. She immediately put a change to that.

“...excuse me,” she cleared her throat. “I was a bit mad about it at first, but I soon realized I needed to stop looking in only my point of view. And sure-”

-

“I know I probably hurt her, and I do feel twinges of guilt over it,” Rachel continued, not making eye contact with Shadow. “But she was having a baby. A daughter. Someone important in her life.”

“What makes you think you weren’t important to her as well?” Shadow asked, the gruffness in his voice becoming slightly more clear. He didn’t mean to let that bit of aggressiveness out, but he couldn’t fully understand what he was hearing right now.

“I just…” She groaned, a hand gripping at the top of her hair. “I didn’t want to interfere with something like that. I’m no mother, but I know caring for a child can be difficult, especially a newborn… I’d just be a hindrance. And even if I did try to talk to her, it’d be way too late for things not to be awkward…”

Another grunt from the black hedgehog. While hearing that she basically ghosted Vanilla for over eight years still ticked him off a little, he knew Rachel meant well… even if that was a horrible way of showing it.

-

“Do you wish you could talk to her again?” Belle asked.

Vanilla nodded. “Oh, absolutely. The problem is, I no longer have a way to contact her. She must have gotten a new phone number and email.”

The tinkerer just looked at her sadly.

“Mother said if there’s one thing to take from that, hold on tight to those you have in your life,” Cream said, hopping off her chair with her empty plate. “You never know when they’ll slip away from you.”

Vanilla smiled at her daughter as she flew up to the sink and began to wash her plate. Gemerl got up to assist her.

“...I do hope you find her again soon,” Belle said. “You two seemed really close.”

“Thank you, sweetie…” Vanilla replied. “I apologize, I didn’t mean for the night to turn into a life story, ha ha.”

“Oh, it’s no issue at all,” Belle laughed, waving a dismissive hand. Then she looked over to Cream and Gemerl doing the dishes.

“Here, let me help you two!”

Vanilla’s eyes widened.

“Oh, hold on, there’s no need to-!”

“It’s okay,” Belle interrupted.

She looked back at the older rabbit and gave her a warm grin. “I’m happy to help!”

-

Shadow looked up at Rachel.

“...may I see your phone?”

Rachel’s ears perked up, and she faced Shadow again. “...why?”

“I won’t try to hack it or anything like that,” he assured her, with his hand out. “But I will need it for what I’d like to do.”

Rachel had her eyebrow raised. “...surrrre.”

She hesitated at first, but she got her phone out of her dress pocket, put in her passcode and handed it to Shadow.

What occurred after was a minute of the sound of Shadow tapping on the phone, and Rachel looking anywhere but at the hedgehog.

“Done.”

“Huh-?”

Rachel turned her head and saw that Shadow was standing up off the couch, holding her phone out to her. And on the screen was…

“An unknown contact…?” Rachel asked, taking the phone in her hands. “Why did you-?”

“It’s Vanilla’s number,” Shadow clarified.

And just like that, the squirrel’s stomach dropped.

“V-v-vanilla’s?!” she stammered. “Why-?!”

“I’m assuming you either forgot her number, or she got a new one while you two stopped talking,” Shadow said. “I don’t control how you feel about her - whether you miss her romantically or not doesn’t concern me - but I think she’d want to hear from you again.”

Rachel put a hand over her mouth, pupils shrunk. “...I-I don’t know what to say…”

“You don’t need to say anything,” Shadow shook his head. He began to walk off.

“I need to get going now. I’ve got friends that are definitely wondering where I am right now,” he told her. “I’m not saying to call her right now, but do so when you feel the moment is best.”

Rachel didn’t respond. Her eyes were still on her screen.

Right as Shadow had his hand on the front doorknob, though, the squirrel found it in her to stand up.

“Th-thank you for this!” she blurted out, bowing her head. “You’ve been way too kind to me tonight!”

The hedgehog looked back at her.

And for the first time that night, he gave her a small smile.

He only responded with, “Good luck,” before walking out the door and shutting it behind him.

Rachel still kept her head down after he left, though. She looked at the phone number on her screen one more time before shutting it off, putting her hands at her sides.

“...soon,” she told herself, after taking a deep breath. “Not tonight. But soon.”

-

[ONE WEEK LATER]

Angel Island was so beautiful during this time of night. Sometimes, too beautiful.

The moon’s shine caused Knuckles to squeeze his eyes shut.

He was standing beside the Master Emerald, guarding it as he always did. However, he had a promise to make. He’d never forgotten it.

And right now, he was ready to fulfill it.

He opened his eyes with a confident grin, and turned to the giant emerald. He put a hand on it, and pressed his head against it.

“I’ll be back soon,” Knuckles said. “Just wait a little while, okay?”

After these parting words, he took his hands off the emerald. The echidna did a starting dash, jumped off the shrine and went into his gliding formation. With this, he glided away from his island.

As he slowly went down, he looked down at the surface beneath him and smiled.

I always get an awesome view when I do this, he thought to himself, taking in the glistening seas, the flower fields and beautiful forestation below.

That wasn’t the best view he was going to get down there, though. The thing he was looking forward to the most was the looks on his friends’ faces when he greets them with his presence.