SALLY not SALLY (a broken SI in the Archie Sonic setting)

[Tangent]

SALLY not SALLY
Chapter 13
A broken SI fic by Tangent​

---

"I know, I know," Uncle Chuck sighed as he sat down on a bench and slumped his shoulders. "After the whole Metal Sonic Trooper fiasco, you likely didn't expect me to be working on another Metal Sonic…"

"Dad didn't mention another commission," Sally stated bluntly. And then continued under her breath. "Not that he told me about the Metal Sonic Trooper commission at the time either…"

"There wasn't one," Uncle Chuck replied. "I started working on Shard here back during the commission. He started out as a test bed unit that I tried various systems on, but when I was given the Power Gem, I made a housing for it in the test bed torso and he… well… woke up."

"And once he was awake, you didn't know what to do with him," I concluded nonjudgmentally, acknowledging that he had accidentally placed himself in a very awkward position. Because while the Metal Sonic Troopers were not sentient, Shard was. And Uncle Chuck couldn't very well bring himself to kill him.

Sally sighed, no doubt reaching the same conclusion I had. "You may as well finish putting him together. I'll talk to Sonic and the others and see if they'd be willing to accept him into the Freedom Fighters on a probationary basis."

"If not, he could always come to Knothole and find out what he wants to do with himself," I suggested. "That's what I'll be doing."

"Hey, I'm up for it either way, Beautiful," Shard grinned.

I had no idea until just now that I was even capable of blushing…

"Let's not forget what we came here to discuss," Nicole interjected.

"Ah, right," Uncle Chuck perked up. "You said that Nicole was going to be doing a deep dive to clear out Autumn's control overlay program and any other malware she can find. You'd like me and possibly Rotor to act as a safety overwatch for her, I take it?"

How? Oh, right, he's an engineer. Feature creep and distractions aside, he's at least aware of potential safety issues even if he's occasionally blase about them.

"With Jules and Bernadette acting as overall oversight, yes," I confirmed, earning me a slightly hurt expression from Uncle Chuck.

I just looked at him flatly and cocked a brow.

After a moment, he sighed. "Fair enough. I guess I deserved that."

"For what it's worth," I offered, "I don't think you or Rotor are bad people. You just both have a tendency towards feature creep, which is not a trait I feel comfortable having in someone poking around in my head without somebody providing oversight. Last thing I need is laser eyes or fire breath or something silly like that."

"Well, if you don't want them…" Shard quipped.

"Maybe after your probationary period, assuming the Freedom Fighters take you in," Uncle Chuck said, shaking his head. "I already gave you enough extra features - which probably proves Autumn's point, actually. Anyway, Rotor is scheduled for some pool therapy at the rehabilitation clinic near the hospital if you want to ask him as well."

"Ooh! So, I can get laser breath and fire eyes instead!" I joked.

I'm not sure where Sally found the stress ball she threw at me, but I made a show of falling over as if she rolled a nat twenty…

---

"Oh, yeah, sure," Rotor said as he slowly but steadily did his physical therapy regimen in the clinic's swimming pool. "It'll be interesting to watch Nicole at work, and it's a good idea to make sure your head is clear of any other malware as well. I'll discuss scheduling with Uncle Chuck and let you know when we'd like to do it."

"You mean when you'd like Nicole to do it," I pointed out flatly.

Rotor just looked at me and shrugged. "Just to be clear, that is how I meant it. I'm aware that I have a problem with adding extra, unasked-for features. That's how Bunnie ended up with her arm being able to turn into a Buster Cannon. I'll be on safety oversight only, stepping in only if you or Nicole seem to be in danger. If it makes you feel any better, have a third party there other than Uncle Chuck (because he has the same problem I do) to watch over us."

"We already asked Jules and Bernadette," Sally admitted.

"See? There you go then. No problem." Rotor shrugged again and then started another careful exercise to help with his recovering back injury.

Things were actually looking pretty good so far today, with almost no unexpected hitches or complications so far…

"Anyway," Rotor chose that moment to speak up again. "Nicole, I'd like to thank you for the patience and restraint you've shown these past couple of weeks by staying out of New Mobotropolis' systems. It's gone a long way towards assuring all but the most alarmist among the general public that you can be trusted and that what Regina Ferrum forced you to do was not your fault."

"Thank you, Councilor Rotor," Nicole said cooly, clearly repressing her frustration with the ongoing situation.

"No, seriously - you staying out of the systems of your own accord has gone a long way towards defanging one of Naugus' stronger leverage points. He can't very well offer a King's protection against a threat that isn't there," Rotor explained.

"Well, there is that," Nicole conceded.

"Why hasn't he been driven off yet?" I asked in frustration. Mind you, now that I was wearing a Power Ring, I was much less vulnerable to be taken over by his Crystalmancy, but still…

"Because his subsequent defence of New Mobotropilis during the Death Egg attack actually won him some political support despite the fact that he had just tried to claim the Throne of Acorn by force. Also, he seems to be fixated on restoring at least some political power to the throne. I think our switch to being a republic threw him off."

"Of course it threw him off," I retorted. "He's a bargainer mage and one of the major bargains he had been counting on was for the Throne of Acorn. If it has no political power, a lot of the mystical power he had been tying up in that bargain goes away."

"How do you know these things?" Rotor asked. "I didn't think that Sally was into mysticism."

"I literally manifested due to a glitch in the universe," I snarked bluntly, purposely leaning more heavily into the radio-voice effect that most Robians had to some extent. "How do you think I know random things Mobian was not meant to know?"

"Okay, that was creepy," Rotor grumbled. "Never say that again."

"No promises," I retorted.

---

We left Rotor to finish the rest of his therapy in peace and were now just casually walking through New Mobotropolis, taking the time to actually enjoy the city that Nicole had built.

Okay, barring a few more complications and political weirdness than I felt was strictly necessary for one of Sally's days off, things were still looking generally upwards. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, there wasn't a cloud in the…

"DOCTOR ROBOTNIK HAS ESCAPED!" some random Mobian yelled, starting a panic.

Why, universe? Why must you taunt me so!?

Fuck my life…

 

[Navrin]

Suggestion:

I suggested. "That's what I'll be doing.

Click to shrink...

Add quotation mark to end.

At least they actually noticed that Robotnik escaped. Progress! Maybe they'll even try him in absentia, condemn him to death, and give everyone permission/encouragement to kill him if they get the opportunity! He certainly deserves it infinitely more than basically any badnik does...

It's nice that Autumn Rose feels more able to tell people that she's not a straight robian clone of Sally like this.

 

[cazador]

Might want to ask if they can install a buster Cannon

 

[Tangent]

Might want to ask if they can install a buster Cannon

Click to shrink...

Autumn: "I said a Buster Cannon, not a Buster Keaton!"

 

[Tangent]

SALLY not SALLY
Chapter 14
A broken SI fic by Tangent​

---

Ugh… I did not want to be standing in front of these goobers again. Rotor and Uncle Chuck aside, I did not have a lot of respect for the Council of Acorn even if Sally at least respected their office. Republic of Acorn my shiny metal ass - they still didn't know how to actually function as a democratic republic…

Calm down…

The republic isn't actually much older than I am. As a political entity, they are still basically going through their baby steps. And, according to some of the memories I inherited from Tangent, only one of them, Councilor Rosemary Prower (Tail's mother) had even seen one in action. And that was from the point of view of a refugee, not a participating citizen.

Still didn't mean I was comfortable with them being all up in my business…

"It has come to our attention that you are seeking to have Nicole remove a control overlay program from your operating system," Councilor Rosemary Prower led with. "That sounds like an attempt to jailbreak a safety feature."

"It's an attempt to delete an incessant whiny insistence that I serve and obey Dr. Julian Ivo Robotnik," I corrected, forcing my voice to remain calm. "It's the program that he added to the robotization process that forces Robians to obey him. I want it, and any other malware that may have come with it, gone."

As if neither Rotor nor Uncle Chuck wouldn't have told them this when they informed the rest of the Council of Acorn of my intentions. Still, there was a reason for this political theater. And said reason was probably heading towards Snively to take control of his empire back from his nephew.

They needed to be seen dealing with a potential Eggman asset.

And as much as I didn't want to admit it, I needed to be seen as proactively having the last of my tethers to him removed. Even if they never worked quite right on me to begin with.

"And Nicole has agreed to perform this removal procedure?" Councilor Dylan the Porcupine spoke next.

"With oversight by Councilors Rotor and Charles," Nicole clarified. "As well as by Jules and Bernadette Hedgehog."

"I think we can agree that this represents sufficiently adequate oversight on this matter," Councilor Penelope Platypus stated. "I propose that we mark this procedure as approved and move to do what we can to facilitate the action as presented?"

"I second the motion," Councilor Roemary stated. "All in favor?"

Much to my surprise, the vote was a unanimous chorus of "Aye!" Even Councilor Hamlin was apparently deciding not to be an obstructionist.

Damn silly nonsense if you ask me - in the time it took them to call the matter before the Council to do all this political theater, Nicole could have already cleared my head of any malware and been done with it. This was supposed to be a private matter, not a public one!

Ugh… The things we do to prevent rioting in the streets…

"With that out of the way, may I propose that we make a final ruling on Naugus' claim to the Throne of Acorn?" Councilor Hamlin put forward, interrupting the celebratory hug Sally was giving me.

Please don't tell me he was now in favor of letting that would-be usurper's claim stand as valid…

"With the evidence that we have of his attempts to exert mystic influence over several Councilors as well as over the investigation into Geoffrey St. John, I move that his claim to the Throne of Acorn be declared to be a bargain made in bad faith and thus unenforceable," Councillor Rosemary stated plainly.

"I second the motion," Councilor Charles added. "All in favor?"

And once again the vote was unanimous. Which was damn weird, because I could have sworn Naugus could control one person at a time, so where was the nay?

For that matter, where was Naugus anyway?

---

"Hmm?" Sonic shrugged and then answered first when I brought up the matter when we rejoined the Freedom Fighters later.

Not that the bunker that served as Freedom Fighter HQ had been repaired yet, as the Council of Acorn was still split on whether or not the Freedom Fighters should remain a thing and had at least temporarily cut funding down to a trickle for basic operations and little else.

Which was about as stupid as Elias' ill-advised attempt to annex the Freedom Fighters as a national asset. Not our brother's proudest moment there, given that it practically crippled the formerly extranational organization by immediately severing all cross-national ties and allegiances. The only saving grace was that it wasn't actually Elias' idea - it had been Geoffrey's idea given as advice.

"Autumn, you're doing it again," Nicole pointed out gently.

"What? Oh! I'm sorry, Sonic. What were you saying?" Damn, that was embarrassing…

"I said that Naugus the Naughty got sick and locked himself in his room," Sonic repeated, shaking his head in amusement. Whether over Naugus' sudden illness, my ability to randomly distract myself with mental tangents, or most likely both, I had no idea…

Wait…

Naugus is sick and in hiding?

Isn't this still just a bit early for his decline to accelerate?

"When did he do this?" I asked.

"Sometime around ten this morning," Sonic shrugged again, although he was obviously wondering where I was going with this.

Oh…

Around ten this morning was right about when I had Sally give Dad the spare Power Ring she was carrying for me. Wait, if Sally was carrying it for me, wouldn't it be more of an extra than a spare? Ack! Not important! Focus, Autumn, focus!

Oh!

Between getting cut off from his apprentice, his claim on the Throne of Acorn being in question (now denied), and the fact that Dad now had a Power Ring…

Naugus fell ill and went into hiding right about when I had Sally give him that Power Ring…

THAT BASTARD HAD BEEN LEACHING VITALITY FROM DAD TO KEEP HIMSELF IN GOOD HEALTH!

"Autumn, you're catastrophizing again," Nicole pointed out in concern.

Which, fair. That was a bit more concerning than an anxiety attack or distracting myself.

"Thanks, Nicole," I sighed.

At least Dad was safe now.

Well, reasonably safe.

…

"Let's go check on Mom and Dad."

I'm going to be the death of me, I just know it…

 

[Silvercrystal]

Well this was a nice little distraction to find.
Absolutely love what you've done.
As someone who grew up on Archie Sonic this was a nice nostalgia bomb, if my place wasn't a disaster I'd be tempted to unbox my collection of the comics for a re-read. (Not that it's complete… )

 

[Tangent]

SALLY not SALLY
Chapter 15
A broken SI fic by Tangent​

---

"Max is fine," Dr. Horatio Q. Quack informed Mom, Sally, and me as Dad huffed in indignant bemusement over the fact that his daughters had returned to his home so urgently to drag him off to the hospital. "Relatively speaking of course, as he's still prematurely aged and had been through an extended period of poor health. But as far as I've been able to determine, he's no longer in active decline."

Mom, Sally, and I all looked at each other in relief. We'd inform Elias later, of course.

"Now, you said that his return to health happened when you were given that Power Ring?" Dr. Quack asked Dad.

"That is what happened, yes," Dad confirmed.

"And this was about the same time that Naugus fell ill and locked himself in his quarters?" Dr. Quack asked Sally.

"According to Sonic, yes," Sally confirmed.

"Correlation, but not direct proof of a cause," Dr. Quack noted.

"Dr. Quack, come quick!" a member of the hospital staff burst into the room (an opossum, i think?). "Geoffrey St. John was just brought in! They say that he suddenly fell ill in his cell and is experiencing violent seizures!"

Sally and I looked at each other, then turned to watch Dr. Quack as he rushed off to respond to the medical emergency.

"No proof of connection. Riiiiiiiiight," I commented drily.

"That's not verified yet!" Dr. Quack yelled back over his shoulder without stopping.

---

Oddly enough, Jules and Bernadette had arrived in New Mobotropolis at some point during all of this and had been ushered to the hospital, where they met Rotor and Uncle Chuck.

I, of course, had to infer all of that when an orderly came to Dad's room to collect me and Nicole (and Sally by default because she was the one carrying Nicole's handheld) and escort us to a room designed for Robian care.

"Have a seat," Rotor said as he waved me towards what looked like a high end gaming chair with an attitude despite being a completely inanimate object. The built in wrist and ankle restraints were not helping matters.

"Don't wanna," I said, not moving any closer to the high tech S&M chair.

"The chair has a built-in neural override chip…" Rotor started.

"DON'T WANNA!" I insisted, keeping the rising panic out of my voice. I think. Maybe…

"I told you that was a horrible name for it," Uncle Chuck admonished Rotor. "Autumn, all the chip does is actively suppress a Robian's control override program. Not only will this provide extra safety for Nicole, it will guide her right to the control overlay program so she can deal with it. That's it. That's all Rotor designed it to do."

"That is a horrible name for it, then," I snark, the panicked edge to my voice stabilizing and receding.

"It overrides the neural restraints of the control overlay program," Rotor tried to explain his naming convention.

"It sounds like an enslaving device!" I wasn't having it. "Call it… I dunno… An autonomy liberation module or something! And those physical restraints on the chair aren't helping either!"

"Those are literally there for the safety of the patient and the technicians," Uncle Chuck sighed, palming his face.

"You built this thing…" I started.

"Nope," Rotor countered. "All I designed was the neural…"

I glared at him and he quickly decided that this wasn't a hill he wanted to die on. "... Autonomy liberation module. The chair itself and others like it were salvaged from one of Dr. Robotnik's captured bases. They're what he used whenever he wanted to work directly on a Robian."

"One: Thank you for changing the name of the thing," I said. "The original name was horrible. Two: none of that actually helps your case for the chair itself. Why don't I just lay on the workbench over there? You can secure me with bungie chords or something."

"Why do they always ask for the bench?" Rotor sighed. "The chair is ergonomic."

"Speaking as a former Robian, I would have chosen the bench too, Rotor," Uncle Chuck said in flat disapproval. "You didn't tell me that these chairs came from one of Dr. Robotnik's facilities."

"Speaking as someone who is still a Robian, I have to agree with my brother," Jules added, shaking his head.

"I literally went over all of them myself to remove the pain inducers and other Robian torture devices," Rotor pointed out.

"YOU'RE STILL NOT HELPING YOUR CASE!" I insisted vehemently.

Panicking? I'm not panicking! You're panicking.

---

Eventually, we settled on just strapping me to the workbench like I suggested while Rotor grumbled about the waste of time he had gone through repurposing perfectly serviceable Robian Service Seats.

Somebody else had to have given them that name, because apparently that was much better than what I was now expecting from anything named by Eggman or Rotor.

In the end, the procedure itself was actually anticlimactic because Rotor hadn't been kidding. The autonomy liberation module led Nicole straight to the control overlay program, which she deftly deleted with determination and drive!

Small mental alliteration kick aside, I think I was doing rather well.

I was definitely glad it was all over and done with at least.

"I still think that it's a waste of time to build these seats from scratch when we captured so many perfectly serviceable ones," Rotor grumbled as he and Uncle Chuck undid the bungie chords strapping me down. "I even procured one of the extras for myself because of my back problems."

"Look, it's good that you can see past the malicious purposes Dr. Robotnik actually used these chairs for and put them to actual beneficial use," I tried to assure Rotor that his heart was in the right place. "But maybe consider reupholstering them in something other than industrial grey and burgundy?"

"That matters?" Rotor asked.

Bernadette, Nicole, Sally, and I all palmed our faces.

"Yes, Rotor. That matters." Sally confirmed.

There was a sound of crashing and violence from out in the hall, which Sally, Nicole, Jules, and I rushed out to investigate. Well, Nicole would have had to come by default since Sally had her handheld, but I was pretty sure she would have come out with me and Sally anyway. Jules doing so was a bit of a surprise though…

Focus, Autumn!

Now what made that noise?

"YOU!"

Oh!

Oh dear…

That was what had to be what was now possibly the former Geoffrey St. John. If Dwane "The Rock" Johnson was wearing him as a fursuit and he was coming out as a Werewolf of London enthusiast.

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, YOU MISSALIGNED MECHANICAL MANNAQUIN! I WILL DESTROY YOU!"

Okay, crazy hybrid Geoffrey-Naugus monster is threatening me. And my day had been going reasonably well so far too…

Sort of…

Oh, who am I kidding?

"NO! I WILL ENSLAVE YOU INSTEAD AND USE YOU TO WIPE OUT THE ACORN LINE SO THAT THE SOURCE OF ALL WILL BE MINE!"

Okay, this fruitloop is going down.

Spoiler: Ixis Naugus

Spoiler: Geoffrey St. John

Spoiler: Um... Yeah...

 

[Dragonin]

Gotta love a boss who knows how to get under your skin… I hope they give the traitor the mercy of a quick death

 

[Tangent]

SALLY not SALLY
Chapter 16
A broken SI fic by Tangent​

---

Okay, a couple of things became quickly apparent as the fight with Geoffrey-Naugus started.

First off: Neither of us actually knew how to fight in our current bodies. Sure, I was tougher and stronger than Sally, just as agile, and I had inherited memories of her fighting style…

But I was also heavier due to being made of metal, and the extra weight was throwing off the combat training I would have otherwise gotten from those memories.

Geoffrus - or would that be Geogus? No! Not the time for distractions! Geoffrey-Naugus, for his part, was a weird mix of Geoffrey St. John with the proportions of a gorilla and the magical power of…

Okay, from the rather unimpressive patches of crystal here and there, I'd say that his new hybrid body is much less magically potent than what Naugus had been used to.

I ducked as he threw a hospital gurney at me.

Right. Body like a gorilla now. Gotta remember that.

"We have to get out of the hospital and away from civilians," Sally said as she dodged a (fortunately unoccupied) thrown wheelchair.

"Down the hallway away from Naugus, turn left at the first intersection," Jules stated as he literally caught the wheelchair and whipped it back at the gorilla-skunk that used to be Geoffrey. With much greater force and accuracy than Naugus' own throw had been.

I kinda forgot that Sonic's father had been a war hero in his own right before he had been roboticized. And he's been a Robian for a decade or so now, so he's more than just used to his body…

The three of us ran down the hall as if we had an angry gorilla-skunk chasing after us (which, to be fair, we did), turning left adroitly…

Well, Jules and Sally turned adroitly while I tried but kept skidding straight until I managed to catch the wall railing and pull myself into the turn.

Naugus the Big and Clumsy kinda slid past the turn like I almost did, buying us some more time to make it to the window at the end of the hall.

Which Jules and Sally stopped and opened wide rather than the three of us crashing through it like Studiopolis stunt doubles.

We were on the third floor, but there was a tree outside that Sally used to perform gymnastics to get safely down to the ground below, treating the branches like irregularly placed uneven bars. She even stuck the landing as if it were no big deal.

I leapt out the window to do the same…

…and the first branch I grabbed snapped under my weight and I tumbled down to belly flop onto the lawn below, injuring nothing but my pride.

Especially as Jules just jumped straight down and struck a three-point superhero landing.

I started to push myself out of the light indent I left in the lawn, only to get immediately shoved back into it as roughly five hundred pounds of gorilla-skunk landed on my back and planted me deeper into the ground. Scoring the second hit against my pride but no actual physical damage yet. But being this tough wasn't going to do me any good if I couldn't do anything.

I felt the large hand wrap around my neck and the crystals starting to spread across my body as Naugus got off of me and lifted me high in the air…

I also heard the tinkle of the forming crystalline layer as the Power Ring on my left wrist pulsed, sending a wave of energy that caused the magical crystal that Naugus was attempting to use to control me with to shatter and crumble away to dust.

Maybe I'd be in trouble if Naugus' crystalmancy wasn't weakened by his current condition, or if he had his magic staff with him instead of wherever his original body was, but I was apparently safe enough for now.

You know, besides the fact that Naugus still had all the physical strength implied by having a gorilla-like body and he was holding me up by my neck.

Details like that are important.

Now, where was I?

Oh yeah, the fight!

I punched the hand Naugus was holding me up with as hard as I could, causing him to yelp in pain as he dropped me.

Which would have been fantastic if the force behind my own punch hadn't stunned me too.

Hello, Lawn. We have to stop meeting like this. People are going to talk…

The fight went on without me for a bit as I lay there and recalibrated myself as well as I could.

From the sound of things, Naugus couldn't lay a hand on Sally, and Jules' own Power Ring was shattering any layer of magical crystal that Naugus managed to coat him with.

"I'LL HAVE YOUR HIDE FOR A THROW RUG, PRINCESS!" Naugus bellowed in frustration. "I'LL CONQUER THIS PATHETIC KINGDOM AND CLAIM THE SOURCE OF ALL BY RIGHT OF CONQUEST AND TURN EVERYONE INTO MY SLAVES!"

Right. Villain rant. Time to get up and do the thing.

Whatever the thing I need to do happens to be, considering that my thinky-thinky bits seem to still be a little rattled.

Ooh… Big, fluffy, grabbable tail - plus he's looking at my sister and not at me.

Looks like it's time for some applied rotational physics!

I grabbed the tail and was immediately glad that Mobian skunks didn't have the same spray glands that their animal counterparts had.

Or at least Naugus' current form didn't, which was a win anyway.

"WHAT!? LET GO OF ME, YOU DELINQUENT DOLL!"

Maintain hold, shift weight, spin…

"OW! LET ME GO!"

Spin faster…

"I SAID…"

"Okay!" I said cheerfully as I let him go and watched him soar in a ballistic arc that fell short of the public fountain I had been aiming for by about the length of half of a soccer field.

Good to know. So, I needed to either spin even faster or maybe arc the throw higher?

Dammit. Naugus was getting up already and didn't look any worse for wear.

This fight was going to be a slog…

And then a blue streak hit Naugus at roughly the speed of what the fuck was that and then proceeded to blur all around the gorilla-skunk, striking him again and again and again. Dozens of times, then over a hundred, until Naugus fell defeated in roughly two-point-five seconds and the blue streak just abruptly stopped.

Sonic the Hedgehog had arrived.

 

[Navrin]

But being this tough wasn't going to do me any good if I couldn't do anything.

Click to shrink...

Silly Autumn Rose. Being extremely durable means that you aren't an active liability in the fight and you can afford to act as a distraction to him. That already means you're providing some degree of combat power compared to you not being there. So it's making your side more likely to win and you, in particular, more likely to survive the fight without being maimed.

Congratulations to the ad-hoc team in keeping the collateral damage relatively low until Sonic could show up and end the fight. And possibly to whoever got the message out to Sonic. (If anyone did I'm betting it was Nicole)

 

[Tangent]

SALLY not SALLY
Chapter 17
A broken SI fic by Tangent​

---

"Okay, let me get this straight," I said as I tried to reconcile what my sister just told us. Us being Mom, Dad, Elias, Megan, and me - Nicole already knew as she had been with Sally while I had taken the opportunity presented by no longer feeling the need for a safety escort in New Mobotropolis just to window shop for a bicycle for my planned commute route to and from the Village of Knothole.

How that had turned into me being gifted with a free hoverbike similar to Nack the Weasel's Marvelous Queen except in royal blue instead of golden yellow was something I didn't really want to think about too much.

Mostly because I still don't quite understand how it happened despite the fact that I was right there during the whole ludicrous series of improbable events.

Wait, where was I… Ah yes: "The Counsel of Acorn wants to reinstate the Royal Throne as a Constitutional Monarchy with more clear duties, responsibilities, and limitations, while otherwise retaining the new government as a republic. But rather than restoring Elias as King, they want you as sitting Princess for at least the next five years before the matter is revisited after Elias has had proper training for the new system."

"This is the first I'm hearing about this," Elias commented drily from where he was sitting next to his wife and daughter.

"Do they even know what a republic is?" I asked plaintively. "Because they seem to be changing their minds about how the new government is run every time I turn around."

"It's more that they want the Royal House to be an executive branch while they assume the role of a legislative and representative branch," Sally clarified. "But they don't want Dad back in charge, and they wanted to just make me Queen. I argued that I remain Princess for the next five years to give Elias a chance to actually unlearn all the bad advice that Geoffrey had given him."

"And, again, I am apparently not even being consulted for my position on the matter," Elias chuckled. "Not that I mind a five year break to actually learn the job I had previously just been thrust into. I'll be able to spend more time with Megan and Alexis, and maybe decide if I even want to take the position."

"But you were doing so well, Elias…" Dad tried to argue.

"No, Dad. I did not," Elias countered. "I've spoken with Councilor Rosemary, her husband Amadeus, and several others on the matter, and they have all said the same thing: While I did do some genuine good, I was making many of the same mistakes that plagued your reign. I trusted the wrong advisor; I allowed myself to be isolated from anyone else who could have provided alternate advice; and I allowed myself to be separated from the people to a degree where I could no longer see the true issues facing the Kingdom."

"Right now the thought is that having separate executive and legislative branches, with the legislative branch being representative, there will be a balance of political powers," Sally put in. "Giving the people more say in what's going on while still upholding some of our traditions."

"If you guys are doing this, you're going to want a judicial branch too," I advised. "Distribute the political power a little more for proper checks and balances without any one branch getting too much power." Okay, so I was applying a little of what I remembered from the memories that I had inherited from Tangent and adapting it to what I understood of the still forming Republic of Acorn. Not quite the same situation, but similar enough…

"Are you sure you don't want to…" Sally started.

"Nope! Absolutely not!" I interjected before she even finished her request. "I only got some of your memories, and a lot of those are fragmented. I am in no way qualified to run any governmental position. Heck, I'm barely over two weeks old now! I haven't even reached my first birthday, let alone my sixteenth! Also, I don't wanna and you can't make me! Nyah!"

I very maturely stuck my tongue out at my sister.

"Don't stick your tongue out, Autumn," Mom admonished.

"Sorry, Mom," I apologized. "But my point stands - I am in no way qualified for any political office,and waiting until I'm sixteen before I even consider it is perfectly reasonable and sets a supportable precedent."

"Uhuh," Sally huffed as she gave me a flat look, then sighed. "I guess I'll have to ask Bunnie if she'd be willing to take on the leadership of the Freedom Fighters for at least the next five years."

"Why not just delegate the task to her," Dad asked. "It's your organization, isn't it?"

"It's an extranational organization, Dad," Sally sighed in frustration. "That's why it fragmented so badly when you - and later Elias - tried to annex it into the Acorn Guard. I've been trying to fix all the damage that caused, but now the Council is doing it too!"

"Then it's a good thing that you are planning on asking Bunnie instead of simply delegating," Mom pointed out. "And honestly, choosing to ask someone who had been part of House Rabbot will probably go a long way towards ensuring that the Freedom Fighters remain an independent organization."

"Don't forget that you still have to inform the Freedom Fighters about Shard and ask if they'd be willing to take him on as a probationary member," I reminded my sister.

"Who is Shard?" Elias asked.

"Shard is the Metal Sonic that…" Sally started, only to get interrupted by a bunch of perfectly reasonable (and one slightly irrational) protests.

"Absolutely not!" Dad exclaimed. "I forbid it! Those things…"

"You're the one who commissioned Uncle Chuck to build the Metal Sonic Troopers, Dad," I pointed out, knocking the wind out of his sails. "You're also the one who made sure that every scrap badnik and Metal Sonic part salvaged by Acorn forces made it to his workshop."

"Which is how the Power Gem with Shard's personality core ended up there," Sally elaborated, unimpressed with our father's outburst.

"But there was only one Metal Sonic reported to have a Power Gem," Dad said, confused. "That would mean…"

"The one that emulated Sonic so well that it turned against its original programming and sacrificed itself in order to save Sonic and Tails," Elias completed the conclusion.

"Him," I corrected, earning myself some looks. "Hey, he's still emulating Sonic to some extent, so while he might not actually be a Robian, he self-identifies as a male hedgehog."

"Fair enough," Elias conceded with a shrug.

"It was going to be a group decision anyway," Sally stated. "Even before the Council decided to reinstate the Throne in some capacity and asked me to be the sitting Acorn. It's not your decision, Dad. Not anymore."

"I…" it was clear that Dad was still agitated and wanted to protest further, but after a moment he deflated and slumped back down into his wheelchair. "Very well. Do what you feel is right…"

I felt bad for Dad. I really did. But he still had subscriptions worth of issues to work through before I would ever consider him to be wise.

---

After the family visit, I went with Sally and Nicole so that they could actually discuss the changing situation. Not that I actually wanted to be part of that conversation - I was sort of people'd out for the day and just wanted to go over my new hoverbike and maybe take it for a spin to Knothole and back to decompress myself. But apparently alone time just wasn't going to be happening for me today.

Ugh… Spare me from the fickle whims of public perception. I'm half introvert - I do not do well with celebrity status! I find it stressful and anxiety inducing to be the center of attention in large crowds. And I know damn well that roughly a fifth of the goobers praising me as a hero today had been staunch anti-Robians calling for my being dismantled yesterday!

I swear, you fight one gorilla-skunk abomination where security cameras and witnesses can see you, and everything goes to Hell.

I mean, I was the worst combatant in that fight! I made mistakes, got knocked around, had to be saved by my own decorative wrist bangle…

Jules the Hedgehog is the veteran war hero from the Great War who proved that he's still got what it takes even as a Robian!

Sally literally showed everyone why the leader of the Freedom Fighters is an inspiration across all of Mobius!

Sonic the Hedgehog won the battle within seconds of arriving on the scene!

And what does the public choose to latch onto? The fact that I got up after Geoffrey-Naugus threatened to turn my sister, the beloved Princess of Acorn, into a throw rug!

I missed the water fountain by half a soccer field!

Why am I now a Champion of Acorn!?

"You're doom-spiralling again, Autumn," Nicole chided helpfully.

"What? Oh, thanks…"

"Glad to have you back with us, Sugar," Bunnie d'Coolette teased gently as she passed me a steaming cup of flavored oil. Ooh, coconut! This is even less awful than the cinnamon flavored oil I had this morning!

"Focus, Autumn…" Nicole chuckled.

"What? Oh, sorry…"

 

[Tangent]

Bernie & Jules Hedgehog

​

Just thought I'd share what Sonic's parents in the Archie Sonic setting look like.

And yes, they do currently wear Power Rings on their wrists as wedding bands (their original wedding rings were lost at some point).

 

[Tangent]

SALLY not SALLY
Chapter 18
A broken SI fic by Tangent​

---

"So you have to step back from the Freedom Fighters for at least five years before this all gets sorted out properly," Bunnie summarized after the political situation was explained to her and the others.

"Well, from the leadership, naturally…" Sally hedged, only to stop when Bunnie held up a hand and just leveled a look at her.

"Sugar, Ah know ya want to be in the thick o' things, an' leadin' in the field is somethin' you're really good at, but ya can't really run a country from a field mission," Bunnie explained as gently as she could. "Especially not if'n you're tryin' ta help fix it proper-like so it actually runs."

"I guess you're right," Sally sighed.

"Of course, Ah'm right," Bunnie snarked. "Rosemary is tryin' to apply things she and Amadeus only ever saw and not participated in. Hamlin's basically bein' petty 'cause his team hardly ever got field missions, and to be honest Ah'm not sure the others even know what a republic is even after Rosemary and Amadeus explained what they saw. Ah know Ah still don't quite got my head wrapped around it right just yet. As for this Shard fellow y'all told us about, I guess we'd have to meet him first before we decide."

"That is the general idea, yes," Sally nodded.

"Could be good," Sonic noted. "If he's really the same Metal Sonic that Tails and I met, he's smart, snappy, and can definitely think for himself. He's no Eggman tool. Not anymore at any rate."

"Perhaps," Antoine acknowledged. "Our flagship team has thinned out recently, with Fiona going rogue, Rotor's injury, and now Sally having to become the Princess that she is. Very well, we shall meet this Shard and be seeing for ourselves if he passes muster."

Bunnie nodded. "That brings up another point. Our flagship team is at half roster, and even if we take Shard in, that only solves part of the problem - we'd still be short by two members. 'Less y'all want ta sign up, Autumn?"

"What, me!?" I protested. "I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do with my life! Besides, I'm horrible at fighting - look at what happened with the attack at the hospital!"

"Sugar, y'all are bein' far too hard on yourself," Bunnie admonished. "For a first fight, y'all did just fine. More'n fine, actually. Ya showed that ya got the spirit of a Freedom Fighter."

"But…"

"Just think about it for a bit, okay?" Bunnie offered. "Ya don't have ta decide now - take your time. Think it through."

"Okay…" I sighed, agreeing to at least think about it.

---

I recused myself from tagging along with the Freedom Fighters as they went to Uncle Chuck's workshop to meet Shard. Mostly because I did not want either of us to accidentally peer pressure each other into a decision one way or the other. Shard probably wouldn't care, but I wanted our individual decisions to remain our individual decisions.

Sally, for her part, went back to the palace as that was still serving as the Republic's main government building. She and the Council still had to work out a serviceable constitution and charter, and Sally was going to present my suggestion of adding a separate judicial branch to help balance out the forming executive and legislative branches. And then there were the matters of Eggman's escape, Naugus somehow possessing Geoffrey St. John from half a city away…

Not that anybody had found any sign of Naugus when they broke into his room. Just his staff and a pile of clothes coated through and through with a suspicious amount of dust. I mean, that was probably what was left of his original body - the guy was older than dirt after all, and it wasn't likely that he'd willingly leave his wizard's staff behind (especially not with the purple Chaos Emerald still attached to it). But it wouldn't be the first time a villain pulled the 'Aha! You thought I was dead!' card.

And Nicole went with Sally in case she could be useful, because of course she did.

Anyway, to a lesser extent, I wanted to go over my new hoverbike. Make sure that it was actually serviceable. Also check that it wasn't some boobytrap set to explode as soon as I sat on it or something stupid like that.

Look, Sally had assassination attempts before and she's the popular one! I had people calling for my destruction yesterday! Okay, a relatively small number of people, and the silly goobers were hailing me as a hero today along with everybody else, but that was no reason not to check!

All it takes is one Jack Rabbit after all…

---

"Autumn?"

"Yes, Mom?" I turned my head away from what I was doing to look over at Mom as she pushed Dad's wheelchair closer to where I was working.

"Why is your new hoverbike now a collection of parts spread out on a tarp in our yard?" Mom asked in a reasonable albeit slightly strained tone.

"I didn't want to lose individual components in the grass?" I suggested.

"Let me rephrase," Mom said, then took a breath. "Why did you take your new hoverbike apart?"

"Oh, that! I was checking for sabotage!" I replied cheerfully, glad that I could clarify that for her.

"That sounds more like something you should have left to the authorities."

"We do not have an appropriate EOD unit in the Acorn Guard. We would have had to contract it out."

Mom sighed. "And do you know how to put that back together?"

I looked back down at the collection of individual parts, then back up at Mom. "No?"

Mom sighed again, then sat down beside me. "Here, I'll help you get this back into one piece."

Huh - I did not know that Mom had mechanical skills. Dad seemed to be somewhat bemused too as he sat there and watched us fix my hoverbike…

---

It was dark out by the time Sally and Nicole finally showed up. Most likely wondering why I was here and not at Sally's place.

Which… Fair question.

Um, why was my new hoverbike here and not there anyway?

"Dare I ask what's going on?" Sally snarked as Dad stirred from the nap he was taking in his wheelchair.

"Just some preventative maintenance," Mom said while I was still wondering why my hoverbike…

Right, I had ridden it here, with Sally as a passenger.

Before I had ever thought about checking for sabotage.

"Okay, that's a new expression," Nicole noted as I froze in place over the realization that I had completely skipped a very important step and then proceeded to overcorrect it once it fell back into the order of events in the wrong place.

We ended up staying the night as guests at our parents' place because neither Sally nor Nicole thought I was in any condition to pilot my hoverbike just yet.

 

[Tangent]

Here, have some silly sisterly nonsense involving Sally and Autumn:

 

[Tangent]

SALLY not SALLY
Chapter 19
A broken SI fic by Tangent​

---

Gnaugfrey St. John (Don't look at me, that's the actual identity he ended up stuck with once Merlin Prower had examined him and declared that it was an actual merger caused by a partially failed possession attempt) was secured in mystic bindings and awaiting transport to a prison actually capable of holding a mage without having to banish him to an inhumane Zone.

Which was honestly more foresight than had apparently been used before, but then again everyone involved already knew how well banishing Naugus to the Zone of Silence had worked out before. Also, it wasn't the Zone of Silence anymore, and Feist would probably be pissed if we banished his old boss to what he had turned into the Special Zone. That and the whole not knowing how the incredibly inconsistent Zone Cops would take interzone banishments these days.

Not that the Zone Cops ever seemed to actually do anything useful anymore. They what? Helped Sonic once or twice and then basically said 'sorry - not our problem' when we got a new Robotnik from another Zone?

Well, screw them then!

Wait, where was I?

Walking with Jules down the streets of the new Village of Acorn - check!

What else?

Oh yeah! Inner monologuing!

Anyway, my control overlay program was just plain gone now, so I didn't need to wear my Power Ring all the time anymore. Mind you, I still wore it and had acquired another one to wear on my other wrist for my peace of mind. Because Naugus wasn't the only crystalmancer out there. And technomancy could puppet a Robian or cyborg too. Programs and malware weren't the only threat to my autonomy - just the only one where the control bit could be placed inside of me.

That I was aware of, anyway…

Argh! I've got to stop doom-spiraling so often! Nicole stayed in New Mobotropolis with Sally when I moved to the Village of Knothole! She's not here to ground me anymore - I'm on my own now.

Well, temporarily living with Jules and Bernadette until I get my own place, but you know what I mean.

"Ah, here we are," Jules said as we came to a stop outside of a… I wanna say dance studio?

"Robian in Motion?" I asked as I tilted my head while studying the hanging sign that I previously hadn't been paying attention to.

"It's a motion therapy studio for Robians, cyborgs, and those with removable prosthetics," Jules explained. "Bunnie and I are just two of the sponsors, but the lady behind the idea is…"

"Peggy Puma!" a (LARGE!) grey Robian mountain lioness greeted me with such aggressive enthusiasm that I threw her across the street and scrambled up into the branches of the tree the dance studio was attached to.

Panic attack? What panic attack? I have a perfectly good reason why I'm up here gripping a tree so hard that my fingers are digging into the wood beneath the bark! And as soon as I think of what that reason might be, I'll let you know…

"I'm okay!" I heard the cheerful voice of the lioness that I could only assume to be Peggy call out from some underbrush. "Wow, been a while since I startled anyone that badly…"

"Peggy…" Jules' tone indicated mild disapproval but not alarm and I began to calm down…

Now that I was paying more attention instead of attempting to scan every direction at once for potential threats, I took a longer look at Peggy Puma as she got up. Like many Robians (myself included) she had decided to forgo clothing, and it was immediately apparent to me that she wasn't naturally grey. She was battle-worn, with whatever color she had originally been long since removed by countless combats. Her left leg was missing below the knee, replaced by a literal metallic peg, the outer housing of her right arm was mostly missing, and half of her tail was just plain gone.

I…

I had just thrown a combat veteran - likely one of the Robians that had been conscripted to fight for Robotnik due to her size. Somebody who likely moved here to the Village of Knothole to get away from people who saw her as a threat…

…

Like I had just done to her.

I let go of the tree and twisted around as I fell to land adroitly on my…

WHAM!!!

…flat on my back, apparently.

"Oh! Are you alright?" I heard Peggy ask as I began to sit up.

"I… I'm sorry," I apologized, hanging my head in shame. I had been mentally complaining about the prejudice I had been facing in New Mobotropolis, and here I was doing the exact same…

The thought was interrupted by a large metallic hand lifting my chin and tilting my head until I was looking Peggy in the eyes as she knelt down to help me up.

"Don't," the metallic mountain lioness said softly. "I've been big and frightening all my life. Long before I had ever been roboticized. Most Mobians top out at three feet tall, but those of us in the six-foot-plus range? Unless you're a horse, a giraffe, or an elephant, fear is the default social reaction you get and you develop your personality to either play into it or away from it. And, as you just demonstrated, it doesn't always work."

I tried to apologize again as I let Peggy help me up like I wasn't made of metal. "Again, sorry, about that, I…"

"Don't worry about it," Peggy waved my concern off. "Not the first time, won't be the last time, and if you thought that your reaction was bad, you should have seen Sergeant Simion's! And that gorilla is as big as I am and ten times as strong! Took my leg clean off at the knee!"

Alright, nobody should be grinning that cheerfully while recounting how they lost part of a limb…

Also, Note to Self: Avoid Sergeant Simion.

Peggy guided us into Robian in Motion, where the staff and clients (I would find out which was which later), were all staring at us. And had been ever since the altercation had happened right… outside… their… large… glass… window…

Okay, I'm just going to go jump in a lake now and lament the fact that I can't drown because I don't need to breathe.

"Anyway, as you might have guessed," Peggy began, "here at Robian in Motion, we help those whose mobility circumstances have changed adjust to their new capabilities, whether than means overcoming or finding workarounds for unfortunate new limitations; calibrating to new conditions, such as an increase in mass or a difference in flexibility; or even adjusting to entirely new abilities such as extending limbs or built-in tools and weapons."

I nodded as I let myself be guided to a bench along one wall, and Jules sat down beside me as Peggy moved to the center of the room.

"Okay, everyone, we'll continue this short break in your routines…" just about everyone chuckled at the mild admonishment over the fact that they had stopped to gawk at me. "This is Autumn, and she's the new Robian we've been hearing about over the past couple of weeks. The first new one since the Miracle. Let's make her feel welcome and do what we can for her, okay?"

Everyone looked at me with deep sympathy and sadness in their eyes, and I came to a sudden realization: None of them saw me as Princess Sally's copy.

They saw me as the first victim of a new robotization process months after every previous robotization method had stopped working and a majority of the Robians had miraculously been restored to their Mobian bodies.

And it occurred to me that none of them were wrong. The World Roboticizer, even though it had been destroyed by Sally and Nicole, proved that Dr. Robotnik had found his workaround against whatever the Bem had done to make Robotization impossible on Mobius.

I was just the first new victim.

The first new victim of a new form of robotization that nobody knew how to reverse yet…

"Ut! Ut! Ut! Ut! Ut! None of that now!" Peggy admonished everyone, grabbing their attention. "Yes, we are the Broken Ones. The ones left behind by the Miracle for whatever reason. Or the ones disabled or enhanced by other means - we don't judge here - this is our safe space. This is the place we've all come to move past whatever is holding us back and to help each other to reach that goal! To become who we really are! And who are we now?"

"We are the ones who fix ourselves!" Nearly everyone in the room chorused besides Jules, who just smiled, and me, who had never heard it before.

It was blatant. It was corny. It was inspirational.

I could do this.

"Now come here to the middle of the mat, Autumn, so we can see where you're at now," Peggy instructed.

I could do this later. I'm going to go hide in a closet for a bit…

Jules stopped my spontaneous semi-voluntary retreat and redirected me away from the door and towards the center of attention - I mean the center of the room.

Why did I have to be half introvert!?

"Okay, okay, I can see this is maybe a little intense for you," Peggy acknowledged. "But try to relax, okay? Literally nobody here will judge you if you mess up - we're here to help and encourage each other, not to put anybody down. If you need a moment, we can give it to you. And, if after that moment you still need it to be more private, we can give that to you to…"

I looked around the room, and I did not see one judgemental face present. Some were hopeful, some were patient, and some were oddly excited, but I did not get the feeling that any of them were looking down on me.

I took a few moments to just breathe and steady myself, then nodded and a half-roboticized ermine started a record player…

[~Can you see~? ~The sun is shining on me~]

I closed my eyes and danced like nobody was watching me, just moving with the rhythm as best I could. It wasn't perfect. I stumbled here and there, and even fell over once, but for the most part I moved with the beat and lost myself to the joy of motion…

 

[Navrin]

This was a nicely optimistic chapter.

I do find it odd that people shorten Autumn Rose's given name to "Autumn" instead of "Rose". The way I've been interpreting the name is that Autumn is an adjective modifying Rose, and that Rose is the portion that she feels the strongest emotional connection to. I wonder if this is going to change at some point, possibly with different people choosing differently from others.

 

[Tangent]

This was a nicely optimistic chapter.

I do find it odd that people shorten Autumn Rose's given name to "Autumn" instead of "Rose". The way I've been interpreting the name is that Autumn is an adjective modifying Rose, and that Rose is the portion that she feels the strongest emotional connection to. I wonder if this is going to change at some point, possibly with different people choosing differently from others.

Click to shrink...

Mostly it's the fact that she's been officially named and she hasn't been pushing the fact that she likes Rosie as a nickname very hard yet. Most of her immediate circle know that she says that she's okay with both names but have been assuming that she has a slight preference for Autumn as the name her parents picked for her. A sign that she's been accepted into the family.

The thing is, both names are important to her, and Rosie is reluctant to correct them about her preference being slightly towards Rosie instead of the other way around because she doesn't want to give the impression that she's rejecting the name that her parents gave her.

And, as you can see by the total lack of any social anxiety stress that Rosie is definitely not in denial about, she may or may not possibly be but definitely not avoiding the issue... maybe.

 

[Tangent]

Yeah, I couldn't figure out a name for Autumn's hoverbike, so I thought that I'd ask you guys for suggestions.

Autumn's hoverbike is now The Blue Rose.

It is NOT the Marvelous Queen (Nack the Weasel still has his beloved hoverbike). In fact, it's not even the same model as the Marvelous Queen (Autumn misremembered its appearance and currently believes that they are the same model when they clearly aren't).

Spoiler: Riding a little low...

Spoiler: Autumn Rose Acorn's hoverbike

 

[MidsizePig]

Yeah, I couldn't figure out a name for Autumn's hoverbike, so I thought that I'd ask you guys for suggestions.

Click to shrink...

Gilded Acorn, Robian Rider, or literally just refer to it as "My Bike" instead of a proper name. Those are my suggestions.

 

[Silvercrystal]

It kind of reminds me of a Terran Vulture bike from StarCraft (picture below for reference). Not that thats a great name for a hover bike. The front on Autumn's bike kind of reminds me of a puffins beak so… "The Second Fastest Blue Blur" I also like the "My Bike" suggestion.

 

[Mr.Dr.Professor Patrick]

Gilded Acorn, Robian Rider, or literally just refer to it as "My Bike" instead of a proper name. Those are my suggestions.

Click to shrink...

Gilded Acorn is good, maybe Gilded Rose or Gilded Thorn to hint at Autumn's name preference. Rose Gold might be good too, but doesn't really fit the color scheme.

 

[Tangent]

After reading over a bunch of suggested names, themes, and the reasonings behind some of them on SpaceBattles, Sufficient Velocity, and Questionable Questing, I have finally felt the spark of inspiration and picked...

The Blue Rose​

 

[Tangent]

I present to you Elias and Megan Acorn with their daughter, Alexis, in the new Village of Acorn:

And yes, Elias adopted his sister's style little Alexis, so she is an official member of House Acorn if not a bloodline heir. As far as succession goes, currently that means that Elies is Heir Presumptive, becoming a secondary heir if Sally ever has children of her own, with Alexis currently being ineligible as a potential heir due to her not being an Acorn by bloodline. Not that her parents want her involved in politics, given all the headaches Elias had during his term as King.

Spoiler: Rosie babysitting Alexis

Alexis: "Aunt Rosie! What big hair you have!"

Rosie: "All the better to be an Eighties Rock Star!"

 

[Navrin]

Huh, so that family seems to wear a notably above-average amount of clothing. Is that mostly a matter of them being both rich and sedentary enough to be able to pull that off reasonably?

 

[Tangent]

Huh, so that family seems to wear a notably above-average amount of clothing. Is that mostly a matter of them being both rich and sedentary enough to be able to pull that off reasonably?

Click to shrink...

It's more an artifact of this being set in late Modern Era Archie Sonic just before the Eeboot Era, when more and more of the background characters were depicted wearing clothes.