SUBJECT: RALLY the CHIPMUNK (a Sonic the Hedgehog AU/SI)

Tangent · Oct 17, 2026

rally_the_chipmunk_title_card_by_tangent_rambles_dn4qbo1-pre.jpg

CHAPTER ONE

File: 1M9-SYM-001

"OPERATION: REMASTER is moving into its final testing stages. With this, I will finally be able to break what I affectionately call The Sonic Cycle.

To wit: Dr. Eggman stages a bold plan to reshape the world...

...Sonic arrives, sometimes with his menagerie of friends, to ruin everything...

...until the day is 'saved.' The general populous rebuilds and returns to their regular lives.

No evolution.

No vision.

No future.

Thankfully, I'm here.

Step one of OPERATION: REMASTER will be to remove Dr. Eggman from play. He is a revolutionary, a visionary, and grooms a fine mustach. But he gets tunnel-vision when it comes to Sonic.

I have studied under the Master, seen his few short-comings, and perfected his technique.

He'll thank me in the end, I'm sure of it.

Step Two: Replace the so-called 'heroes' who stand in the way of progress.

The general populous relies on them far too much, but it's far simpler to replace a few celebrities than to change society.

By controlling the 'Hero-versus-villain' dynamic, I will be able to shape the world and its people with the very theatrics they've become so accustomed to.

It's been an arduous journey to assemble all the necessary components to make this plan work. But now, at long last...

They're ready!

Sonic is undeniably the hero of the world, but building a better Metal Sonic won't suffice. Sonic is more than just raw power. He is about style--attitude.

I need that indomitable spirit, that roguish charm. However, since it is a liability as much as it's a boon...

...Surge will replace him, and I will keep the bravado on a leash.

As previously noted, there are design flaws inherent in Sonic.

Surge needs a support unit to make up for her short-comings. An Analytical balance to the brashness; Someone to look before she leaps.

Thus Kitsunami was modeled after Sonic's most beneficial ally: Tails."

-Excerpt from issue one of Sonic the Hedgehog: Imposter Syndrome, by Ian Flynn

File: 1M9-SYM-001a Addendum

"I had not originally intended to include a third member for my initial hero team, but the discovery of subject three contained within a stasis pod deep in one of Dr. Eggman's many abandoned lairs was just too good of an opportunity to pass up.

Unfortunately, much of the documentation concerning subject three has long since been corrupted and is all but indecipherable at this point, but I have managed to recover enough data that I have been able to determine her original purpose from the context of what remains.

This chipmunk, Rally I believe if I've managed to piece together her name correctly, was originally a prototype testbed for Dr. Eggman's attempts to reproduce Shadow the Hedgehog in a modified mobian subject. Not all that dissimilar to what I have accomplished with Surge and Kitsunami, really.

In fact, it wasn't too difficult to make suitable adjustments to Rally so that she could fit into the overall team dynamic. Though I dare not change too much, lest I ruin this unfinished masterpiece in my drive to improve upon it…"

"First, if we're to remove Sonic from play, we need to weaken his support base," Dr. Starline instructed us as he laid out his plan on the display table.

"So we gotta kill his mooks. Got it!"

"No, Surge! No assassination!" Dr. Starline countermanded Surge's aggressive enthusiasm for violence. "A vengeful hero is driven, dedicated, and morally righteous, but a hero suffering from a tragic loss from a horrible accident? That one's broken and morose."

"This approach has been attempted against Sonic before with a decreasing success ratio. Current projections suggest that any further attempts at this time will yield a net negative result."

"Rally…"

"Hah! Hear that, Doc? We may as well kill his mooks after all!"

"I will make sure that our medical facilities are set up for your recovery."

"Wait, what?"

"Sonic will not kill you for killing his friends," I inform Surge. "At least not on purpose. But you'd be surprised what you can live through."

"And I suppose that you have a better plan already?" Dr. Starline asked, cocking an eyebrow at me.

"Not as such, no. Just some advice. A dead enemy is a dead enemy. Sonic and his remaining allies would be saddened for a while but would pull together and move on relatively quickly. However, a wounded enemy is a drain on time and resources, depriving Sonic of allies as some pull away in order to care for their wounded comrades. Arrange for accidents that are debilitating rather than fatal, and Sonic will soon run short on allies he can call on."

"I see," Dr. Starline nodded.

And then he used his damned hypno thingy in his glove to knock out Surge, myself, and Kitsunami (in that order), then arranged to replay the scenario as if the advice I had given him were his own idea.

Not that I remembered this being so immediately, but I did remember eventually.

And this time I had evidence in the form of a recording device that I had setup beforehand.

Surge and Kitsunami were more vulnerable to the hypno gear in Dr. Starline's glove, but were growing more resistant over time. I was much less vulnerable than they were, but still susceptible to its effects. I just chose to avoid showing my own gradually increasing resistance.

Which would be nice if I had any goals of my own other than a vague loyalty to Surge and Kitsunami, which I knew for a fact was blatantly artificial.

I was supposed to be loyal to Dr. Starline as well, but he managed to break that particular tie all on his own the first time he used that damned hypnoglove on me.

I would have to be careful for now, while both Surge and Kit both remained more vulnerable to Dr. Starline's hypno thingy than I was.

Besides, as much as I hated that damned hypno gear of his, each time I recovered I regained more of my lost memories. More of whoever I had been prior to when Dr. Starline had found me inside that specimen stasis pod.

I felt that I knew Sonic from somewhere, and that he should know me, but another part of me seriously doubted that he would.

Something had changed.

Changed me.

Changed Sonic.

Changed all of Mobius.

And all I knew was that I was one of the Forgotten Ones...

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Tangent · Oct 17, 2026

Some of Rally's outfits:

Navrin · Oct 18, 2026

Do you intend to post the other Rally chapters here, or just to the Story Archive thread?

Tangent · Oct 18, 2026

Navrin said:
Do you intend to post the other Rally chapters here, or just to the Story Archive thread?

The Story Archive post was a mistake that I have no idea what to do about. This will be the official story thread for QQ.

Navrin · Oct 18, 2026

Tangent said:
The Story Archive post was a mistake that I have no idea what to do about. This will be the official story thread for QQ.

Good to know. Though you've posted three chapters to the Story Archive thread and only one to this one so far. (Plus an outfit post)

Tangent · Oct 18, 2026

Navrin said:
Good to know. Though you've posted three chapters to the Story Archive thread and only one to this one so far. (Plus an outfit post)

Wait, what!?

Those were all supposed to go to this thread!

How did I miss that!?

EDIT: Okay, I figured out how I made that error. It took me a long time to figure out how to actually navigate these forums properly, and I had developed some really odd workarounds over the years that I sometimes still use out of habit. The one that caused this issue was me spotting that someone had liked a chapter, and clicking on that link instead of just going to My Stories like a normal person.

You know, in case anyone wonders why I'm fine with my SI characters occasionally making boneheaded mistakes...

Now excuse me while I move those chapters to this thread...

Tangent · Oct 18, 2026

CHAPTER TWO

"Okay, we know the make, model, and plate of Amy Rose's car, and you've had plenty of practice simulating the types of damage local vermin species can inflict on a vehicle. Do you think you can get in and out of the campground unseen, or would you like to ride piggyback while I infiltrate the target area?" I ask.

"Um…" Kitsunami hesitates nervously.

"Just take the offer, Drip," Surge stated with a huff. "The sooner we're done, the sooner we can go back and maybe do something actually interesting."

"Okay, Surge," the blue fennec instantly agreed with Surge, just as he'd been programmed and conditioned to by Dr. Dork (seriously, the guy's such a huge eggface fanboy that it's kind of embarrassing to have been misappropriated to be his minion). This ingrained loyalty and obedience to Surge might become an issue should she and I ever have a serious disagreement, but for now we could work with it.

The more immediate problem was keeping the hyperactive green tenrec from getting bored, as she lacked the patience for this type of operation. Oh, Surge could do it if sufficiently motivated but bringing her along on the actual stealth portion of an infiltration and sabotage mission was just asking for trouble.

"Oh yeah, while you're waiting, why don't you pick out a place for us to eat before we head back to Dr. Doofus," I suggest as I hand her a list of restaurants near suitable free Wi-Fi hotspots.

"Dr. Starline…" Kits starts to correct me before I interrupt him.

"Is just going to use that hypno thingy of his to wipe our memories again if we get caught doing this search back at the base. He's done it several times already."

"And why are we going back to him?" Surge asked pointedly.

"And go where? Most of the files we're after are likely to be in his base. This is just a window of opportunity to get information from a source other than his logs. We already know he basically stole me from one of Eggface's abandoned bases, but none of the files on you two that we've found so far have any data on where you came from," I explained.

Again.

It would really help if Dr. Starline didn't keep trying to wipe our memories of our investigations into our pasts whenever he felt we were getting ready to turn on him (so, about once or twice a week on average at this point).

"Yeah yeah. I suppose we have to go through with this dumb mission to keep him from being suspicious. I swear, once Drip and I start recovering from his mindfuck glove fast enough, we're gonna take him down and see how he likes getting his brain scrambled."

"Oh, I'm totally on board with that plan."

"Agreed," Kit adds with more fervor than either Surge or I are used to hearing in his voice, and we both share a glance and a smile at this show of spirit in the little guy. It was a good sign.

"I'll see if I can find a food place with Wi-Fi that's close to a shop we can get a couple of those field computer things that Tails uses," Surge says with improved enthusiasm as she pulls out her map and starts comparing it to the list I gave her.

"Good idea," I nod. "That'll give us a way to keep track of our progress without having to raid our own base's supplies."

"Yeah, I figure he keeps tabs on that stuff. Anyway, once we're back, we find one or more places that Drip can easily stash and retrieve them from with his powers, and make sure that you know where they're hidden so you can tell us the next time Dr. Mindfucker does his thing."

"I think I know a few good spots," Kit interjects. "We'll want to pick up water-resistant devices though, if I'm going to be handling the devices with my powers."

"We best be going," I point out.

"See ya later then. And hey, Drip!"

"Yes, Surge?"

"It'd be a damned shame if Doc's plan didn't pan out, so don't try too hard now," Surge states with a voice laden with saccharin sarcasm.

"It's a longshot untraceable sabotage mission, and we're supposed to be long gone by the time the damage is discovered. Not our fault if Kit gets a little too enthusiastic and the car won't even start for them to be in it when the brakes fail," I said with a grin.

Surge and Kit grin in response, and the blue fennec fox gets on my back as I quietly skate us in with my thrust-shoes to prevent any tracks from being formed...

Tangent · Oct 18, 2026

Why is my title card suddenly not working?

Tangent · Oct 21, 2026

CHAPTER THREE

Kitsunami ended up choosing to hit a number of extra vehicles once we actually entered the Forest Ridge Campground. In part to help deflect any attention away from the idea that this was a targeted attack, but I think it was mostly because the campers he ended up picking to be the center of the fictitious vermin swarm were being particularly obnoxious the entire time we had the camp under observation. So once everyone in the targeted area of effect was asleep, their RV was hit the hardest and sustained the most blatantly visible damage, with enough other vehicles damaged enough that the camp ranger would insist that everyone check for any hidden damage before they were allowed to hit the road.

The local tow companies were about to make bank with all the business they were going to have over the weekend.

I should probably feel bad, and I do, but for the wrong reason. I feel bad about not feeling bad about ruining a lot of people's camping trips. I'm almost positive that I wasn't like this before Dr. Eggface did whatever he did to me, and Dr. Fanboy's alterations and repeated mindfuckery certainly wasn't helping the matter any.

There was some kid with a fire-aligned wisp wandering around when he really should have been asleep, but since they were easy to keep track of in the dark and were sticking to the paths, it was simple enough for Kit and me to evade their notice. And I do take some comfort that I'm glad we didn't go with Starline's original forest fire plan…

Wait…

How did I know that was Dr. Fanboy's original plan?

Did he mindwipe us more than once in rapid succession or something? I thought I was recovering more of my recent memories better than that, but I don't remember actually going through that planning session more than twice, and there's not enough missing time to account for more than two planning sessions with a mindfuck between them unless they were really short…

SURGE LOG 1:

"Ugh… I can't believe I let the bitch talk me into doing this stupid log crap, but she's somehow convinced that Dr. Starline is wiping our memories on the regular or something. I mean, sure, she's a good fighter and definitely has more spine than Wishy-Washy, but conspiracy theories? I don't know. Still, I guess something's going on, because I don't really remember my training sessions as clearly as I should. Doc says it's because I have a concussion, but Rally says it ain't. Soggy the Fox ain't helpin' much, as he's all worried that I shouldn't be up and about with the head injury Doc says I have.

Guess we'll see between now and the next time Rally talks me into doing this stupid log thing again…"

SURGE LOG 2:

"HOLY SHIT! Rally wasn't kidding!

We just found where we stashed our first logs, and I watched the first one I made. That I don't remember making.

I still don't remember making it, and Drippy doesn't remember making his either. Rally sort of remembers making hers and talking us into starting them, so I guess she really is more resistant to whatever Dr. Mindfucker is doing to us with his hypno-gear.

Not fair that she gets to remember shit while me and Blue Boy don't.

Really wanna go rip Dr. Mindfucker a new one right now, but Rally says we should make these logs and hide 'em again first in case the stupid platypus gets us with his hypno-gear again, so yeah, doing this first and wishing future me luck…"

SURGE LOG 3:

"Well, this sucks.

Dr. Mundfuck may look like a mamby-pamby useless fancy boy, but apparently we totally failed to get one over on him. Rally says it was a total party wipe and he shut us down hard.

Super jealous that she gets to remember shit while Drippy and me don't.

So not fair…"

SURGE LOG 18:

"Ugh.

Okay, past me?

Stop being an ass.

All that shit about being jealous about Rally being able to remember stuff while me and Drip don't?

She's starting to get nightmares about stuff from further back. Stuff that Eggman did to her before Doc found the pod she was stashed in.

So yeah, while it's annoying that me and Kit are still more vulnerable to Dr. Mindfuck's hypno-gear, at least we get a full night's sleep.

When Rally isn't waking us up with her tossing and turning that is.

She started making sure that she takes her gear all the way off whenever she tries to catch a few z's now, in case she accidentally triggers any of it while sleeping.

Yeah, probably a good idea, that…

Obviously Starline is still somehow winning whenever we attack him, so this time we're gonna hold off and get a few more logs between now and the next time we try.

Kit says we're gonna need something better than these dinky little data pads if we really wanna make headway on figuring out our pasts though, but Doc keeps too close an eye on the good gear. Rally says he noticed the last few times we stole stuff from storage.

We're gonna have to get gear from outside if we really wanna make progress. Right now our hiding spots for these pads are good, but they could be better. We need something that Doc can't easily access but we can. I'm thinking Kit's water powers might be good for that.

I'll have to run it by Rally and Kit next time we get a good opportunity to plan."

SURGE LOG 19:

"Oh yeah, now we're talking!

These Miles Electric things that Rally bought with the rings she and Kit stole from that camp are great! Tons of memory, won't get ruined if Kit uses his power to move them in and out of hiding, and the little guy even knows a few spots that should be extra hard for Dr. Mindfuck to get to.

And with these memory sticks, all we gotta do is download the files we're after and watch them later on our own gear instead of getting caught looking at them on the spot like Rally says always happens.

We're gonna raid Doc's office after the next actual mission, so there'll probably be a few more of these logs between now and then.

It's a bit disappointing that we couldn't find out who any of us were while we were out, but apparently too many people are still missing after the metal plague nearly wiped everyone out.

Ugh… I really wish I knew why I hate Sonic so much, 'cause it feels so wrong after finding out how he pulled such a clutch last minute save like that. Rally says it's probably more of Dr. Mindfuck's programming and conditioning, and I think she may be right, but I guess we can figure it out later."

SURGE LOG 26:

"Holy fuck this is sick…

I knew I was getting annoyed with all this endless training and Kit don't like it much either, but I don't think either of us quite believed how much of it Doc keeps us from remembering fully…

We died soooo many times.

Literally.

Crushed, stabbed, drowned, burnt, Doc put us through Hell and back to get us as good as we are now. And the fucker put modified nanites from that freaky metal plague in us because he couldn't be bothered putting us back together again and again each time we died! Said so in his own logs.

Inconvenient my ass…

Kinda sucks to know that Rally was always a better fighter than me though.

Nice that I'm catching up and winning our spars more often.

Kit is still behind both of us, and given what he was put through compared to Rally and me just to get him where he is?

Well, he's supposed to be our support, so I'll be happy if he's even close to our general ballpark, I guess.

Kit says that the Doc's logs mention some sort of dream dive tech stowed away in one of Eggman's bases, but it's apparently in one of his better guarded ones that Starline wasn't able to infiltrate yet.

Eggperial City.

Rally and Kit both think that Doc's planning for us to target that particular base soon, so maybe we'll get a chance to do a side-job to get the dream dive gear under his nose when we do.

And we should be able to get out from under Dr. Mindfuck's thumb soon. Rally says that our resistances and recovery times after getting hit with his hypno-gear are getting really good, so maybe the next time it happens, we'll finally be able to turn the tables on him instead!

I can't wait!"

SURGE LOG 27:

"Well well well, looks like it happened even sooner than we hoped!

Doc's under our thumb now, even if he doesn't know it yet.

Not that he's gonna stay there long, 'cause we plan to eliminate him and maybe Eggman too during the Eggperial City mission.

And punch Sonic in his face, because I still wanna do that for some stupid reason even if I don't think I need to kill him anymore.

Keeping this one short, future me, 'cause we gotta head out soon, but I'm feeling good about this one!"

SURGE LOG 28:

"Well, shit…"

Navrin · Oct 21, 2026

Suggestions:
Threadmarks SUBJECT: RALLY the CHIPMUNK ch02
ch03 - the threadmark title is the same as the prior one.

Tangent said:
feeling bad about ruining a lot of peoples camping trips.

people's (people is already plural, and it should be possessive - though you can also pluralize people again to refer to multiple distinct groups, but I think that's usually reserved for much, much bigger things than this, like groups of nations)

Tangent said:
with a mundfuck between them unless they were really short…

mindfuck

Tangent · Oct 22, 2026

CHAPTER FOUR

"Tonight is the beginning of the end," Dr. Starline proclaimed as he posed dramatically on the crest of the hill we were on as we looked down across Eggperial City. "Dr. Eggman's wasteful ways. Sonic's endless futile war with him. The sun will rise on a new era! One where we control the narrative! We will guide the people of this world out of their complacency! Today begins my glorious new age of chaos and transformation!"

Dr. Dork looked to his right. "Surge?"

"Let's do it, Doc!" the green tenrec said, giving Dr. Dork a grin and a thumb's up. Which instantly vanished as he turned towards me next, her grim becoming a sneer as she mimed slitting her own throat.

"Rally?"

"We take control of our own destinies tonight," I stated truthfully, eliciting a smirk from Surge and Kit.

"Kitsunami?" Dr. Clueless addressed the blue fennec last, as he always did.

"R-ready, Sir!" Kit said with a salute.

"Then let us begin."

Our overall plan, the one Kit came up with anyway, is to go ahead and use Dr. Dork's plan up to a point. Which is to say, capture Eggperial City as a means to lure Eggface and the heroes in, divide, and then do our own thing because screw Dr. Dork.

Surge still wants to confront Sonic and fight him. Test her limits against the hero she's supposed to replace. Punch his face a few times, maybe kick him in the dick…

Hey, at least she doesn't actually want to kill him anymore, so I guess that's progress?

I feel that I should care more about that part, but I seem to remember trying my level best to kill Sonic myself despite loving him.

Except that I don't?

I grew up with him, but I only met him recently, but we've never met at all?

Argh!

My own fractured memories don't make any sense!

I'm remembering more and more, sure, but so far, the only bits that aren't scattered fragments of contradictory data is the stuff from after Dr. Dork found the pod Eggface had stuck me in.

Some of it is better than others, but a lot of those partial memories seem to be mutually exclusive without the context that might have let them make sense.

Anyway…

Kit is supposed to separate Tails from Sonic and keep him occupied while Surge has her confrontation with Sonic away from anyone who might support him.

And I'm to run interference with anyone else while Dr. Dork has his Big Epic showdown with Eggface.

Sure, I can do that. The most dangerous possible interference to show up would be Team Dark, Metal Sonic, and the Shadow androids all showing up simultaneously, so I planned for that outcome. Granted, I'll be perfectly happy if it turns out to be anything less than that particular potential fiasco, but hope for the best and plan for the worst and all that nonsense, right?

But that's as far as the plan goes as far as Surge, Kit, and I are concerned.

Once Eggface and Dr. Dork are sufficiently distracted with each other (because there's just no way that Eggface is going to take his apprentice trying to point out his flaws well), Kit breaks away from Tails to seek out the Dream Machine so we can move it back to Egg Base Sigma.

Surge will continue to keep Sonic occupied for the next bit, because she's the only one who can keep him from interfering with my part.

Which is to kill Dr. Mindfucker.

Maybe Eggface too while I'm at it, but Surge, Kit, and I all agree that, given a choice between the two, Starline is the one that we want dead.

Really, we should have just killed him already, but Kit and Surge really want to throw Doc's failure in his face before he dies, so why not?

"Eggman is... Attacking his own city?" Sonic commented in confusion as he looked out over the outer wall of this odd new fortified city that had basically suddenly appeared in one of the uninhabited valleys of Westside Island.

"No, I think he's fighting someone..." Tails corrected his friend.

"Oh my gears and starters!" Belle gasped. "That badnik looks like Sonic! Is that... Metal Sonic?"

"Yeah, and somebody really messed him up," Sonic replied. "What is going on today?"

"I'm going to fix him," Belle stated as ste chose that moment to jump down to the roof below. "I couldn't save Motobud. I know I can't save every badnik. But... I can't abandon a robot in need."

"I understand," Sonic said. "Just be careful. He's dangerous."

"Um..." Tails hesitated, then plowed on. "You had me repair him after the whole Neo Metal takeover thing, remember?"

"That was back when we thought that Eggman was done and didn't know about Starline! Plus, you de-weaponized him!"

"He still had his metal claws and a turbine torso."

"My point is--"

CRACK-BOOM!!!

"Sonic? Where did you... AUGH!"

"TAILS!?" Belle called out, looking back and up just in time to see her friend being dragged away by watery tentacles. Then she noticed the crowd of badniks emerging from a nearby rooftop access. "Aw, sawdust!"

Of course it's the fucking miracle girl. The one good thing Eggface ever did, and the closest thing I have to an actual sister.

Belle the Tinkerer.

Dr. Dork even bragged in his logs about how loyal she had been to Eggface's Mr. Tinker persona. The kind man that had eggface had apparently become after suffering from amnesia.

I'm not jealous…

No, that's a lie.

I am jealous.

I'm jealous that she got the kindness of Mr. Tinker. The mentor and father figure that I never got to experience. Some random whim of fate had taken away the monster and left a man in his place, and that man had made Belle.

The man had made a daughter, while the monster he was before had made me a plaything! Taken me apart and put me back together so many times I didn't even know who I used to be anymore!

So, yes, I was jealous.

I envied Belle for having been able to have the father I never got to know. For being able to experience the man that the monster had hidden deep within for all those years. The good man that Dr. Starline excised like a tumor so that he could get his precious idol back…

He…

Starline made my sister cry…

I'm going to fucking kill him!

…

But first I was going to get my overly compassionate sister away from Metal Sonic before she undid all the damage Surge, Kit, and I had inflicted on him…

"Yeeeeeeeek!" Belle cried out as something grabbed her and she found herself being carried at high speed down the side of the building she had been on and then through the streets.

It took a moment for her to register that she was being carried by a person. An organic person to be more specific. Some chipmunk woman who was skating along the pavement in shoes very much like the ones Shadow the Hedgehog supposedly wore.

Well, she supposed that Shadow couldn't actually be the only person to use shoes like those.

"Um… Thanks for rescuing me?" Belle hazarded a guess.

"No problem," the stranger replied. "Had to get you away from Metal Sonic, and I'm pretty sure that we're both heading in the same direction anyway…"

"Metal Sonic! I have to go back and fix him!"

"Which is why I'm bringing you with me instead of dropping you off. Surge, Kit, and I went through too much trouble putting him down for the duration for us to have to worry about him coming at our backs while we deal with Eggman and Starline."

"Uh…"

"I'm not saying you can't go back and fix him if you want. I'm just making sure that there's enough of a delay that we don't have to worry about him deciding to join Eggman or Starline until everything's already over."

"I guess that's understandable. But what about Sonic and Tails?"

"Surge and Kit wanted to test themselves against them. They're the heroes that Starline designed them to replace after all."

"Wait, what!?"

Tangent · Oct 25, 2026

CHAPTER FIVE

"Oh yeah, Dr. Starline has this whole stupid idea that the progress of civilization is being held back by the constant battles between Sonic and Dr. Eggman," I explained as I continued to race towards the battle near the central command tower with Belle in my arms. "As if society has become so dependent on the theatrical struggle between good and evil that the continued balance between the blue streaker and Eggface has caused a state of stagnation where everyone is satisfied with the perpetual status quo. He calls it the Sonic Cycle."

"That… Doesn't sound right…" my wooden sister said uncertainly.

"Like I said, it's a stupid idea. Starline may be brilliant in many respects, but I think he understands people and society as a whole even less than Eggman does. Then again, I'm talking about the same moronic genius who idolizes a self-acknowledged villain…"

I pause for a moment, then actually slow down as we draw close to the fight between the two monsters who thought of themselves as men of vision.

"Sorry about your dad, by the way."

"You know..?"

"Starline likes to brag in his logs. So, yeah, I know about Mr. Tinker. Wish I could have met him, but all I ever got was the monster he was before he had become a man. Starline found me in a stasis pod stowed away in one of Eggman's isolated storage facilities. He thinks I may have been a testbed subject for some of the stuff that ended up in Eggman's Shadow androids and maybe a few other projects besides that."

I slow to a stop and set Belle down before parting the fur here and there on my arms and abdomen to show Belle the innumerable small seem-like scars. "Most of these were from before Starline found me."

"That's horrible!"

"It's also the reason I believe that you are the closest thing I have to a sister."

"I, er… I don't know how to feel about that."

"That's fair. Like I said though, I wish I had gotten to meet the man the monster had become, even if he only got to be Mr. Tinker for a short while. I don't think I can forgive Starline for taking that man away just so the monster he idolizes could come back."

I started walking towards the battle, noting that Dr. Dork had been forced from the mech he was piloting. Given the particular mech Eggface was in, I had little doubt that it had been chosen for what I knew would come next, and sure enough the mindfucker expended the tri-core equipped to the back of his glove to bring it down.

Not so incidentally leaving Starline exhausted and the tri-core fully drained as Eggman emerged, fresh as a daisy, from his defeated mech.

It was all over but for the gloating and the mental breakdown, both of which currently underway with Eggface doing the gloating and Dr. Dork having his mental breakdown.

I really should have thought to have brought some means to record this, because I'm positive that Surge and Kit would find the scene immensely cathartic.

Ooh! A last desperate sneak attack with a venomous heal-spur kick, adroitly countered by Eggman simply grabbing the offending leg and then swinging Starline like a ragdoll to slam him back to the ground!

Nice!

I start to clap slowly, interrupting whatever Eggface was going to say next.

"R-Rally! Quick! You can defeat Dr. Eggman!"

"Well, yeah, I suppose I could," I acknowledge with a shrug as I continue to walk towards them. "It's a bit crass to ask me to beat up somebody's father while they're present though, even if he isn't the man he used to be when he made her anymore."

"Wh-what? Rally, stop playing around! Save me!"

"No."

"Surge and Kitsunami will…"

"Continue to distract Sonic and Tails long enough for me to rub your complete and utter failure in your face before I kill you."

"Wh-what!?"

"Like it? That part was Kit's idea. Surge and I just wanted to kill you and be done with it, but Kit thought it would be fitting to send you off to Hell this way instead. And, well, the little guy asks for so little that Surge and I decided to go along with it."

"But I rescued you! I found the pod Dr. Eggman left you in! I'm the only reason you're even awake right now!"

I felt a sudden jolt, and suddenly I was a passenger in my own body, watching on as it acted on its own.

No…

No no no no no!

Not again!

My body continued to walk right up to Dr. Starline…

No! Not like this!

I wanted to kill him!

Me!

Not this nightmare again!

"Yes. You rescued me," I hear myself say. "Here is your reward."

And, with that, I watched myself activate one of my bangles to project a force-field blade and proceed to thrust it through Dr. Starline's heart before slicing upwards to bisect his head.

No!

No no no no no!

I felt myself turn towards Dr, Eggman as I deactivated my blade.

"Mission complete."

No no no no no!

The monster had the temerity to pat me on the head as he congratulated me. "Good girl, Rally! Excellent job! Mind you, not the target I expected when I set that trap for whoever got you out of that pod without the proper access codes, but eh… whatever works, right?"

Wait, what!?

"Wait, what!?" That was Surge's voice!

I felt myself turning to look, and saw Surge standing there with Sonic, both looking like they had been in a rough fight (which they had - against each other), and both with horrified expressions on their faces.

"Oh ho ho ho ho ho ho! Excellent! It's time for an experiment! I'm curious as to how this will turn out. Rally! Kill your best friend!"

"Command acknowledged, Dr. Eggman," I hear myself say as I activate the projectors in both wrist bangles in energy blade mode. "Tenrec: Priority One."

NO!

I could only watch on as I took off like a shot towards Surge, a prisoner in my own body, which was now hell bent on murdering my best friend…

Tangent · Oct 26, 2026

CHAPTER SIX
This chapter co-written by Pinklestia101

"What the fuck, Rally!?" Surge cried out as she just barely dodged Rally's surprise attack.

If you could call a near instantaneous thrust-assisted charge from half-way across a giant room while brandishing glowing wrist-mounted projected energy blades a surprise attack…

"Rally's a little trapped in her own head right now!" Eggman called out jovially. "Oh, and congratulations on being her best friend! That's who I told the control overlay program to kill after all!"

"You sick fuck!" Surge yelled back as she continued to evade Rally's rapid strikes. Dodging Rally was easy enough if that was all she was doing. That part had never been an issue with her superior speed. It was staying close enough to counterattack and subdue her teammate where Rally's superior reflexes and combat ability tended to trip Surge up.

Surge snuck a quick glance at Rally's face, which was creepily devoid of almost all expression other than a streak of tears that had started up…

"You still in there, Rally? Fight it!"

"Oh, she's still in there all right!" Eggman called out again, clearly amused. "That control overlay program is clearly superior to whatever my hack of a former apprentice had been trying to do with you!"

A blue streak struck Rally in the side, sending her skidding sideways until she regained control and resumed her pursuit.

"Need a hand?" Sonic asked as he started running alongside Surge.

"As much as I wanna tell you to screw off and let me fight Rally, I ain't that dumb! She still wins most of our spars!"

"Anything I should know?"

"Yeah," Surge said, keeping her voice as low as she could while still being loud enough for Sonic to hopefully be able to hear it over the rush of wind. "Her bangles can only project blades or shields for so long before they need to pause to recharge. With her having both blades out, once they go down, we've got maybe eight to ten seconds before she calls them up again."

"Got it."

"Also, we regenerate. You don't. When you hit her, hit her hard so she'll stay down longer. Don't worry about killing her, 'cause she won't stay dead any longer than I would."

"Wait, what?"

"Doc Deadguy over there put modified nanobots in us to give us upgrades. Leftover samples from the same stuff that became the metal plague."

"That's not good."

"It's not like we're contagious or anything. All it did was augment our cells or something like that. Makes us really hard to kill and almost impossible to make it stick. Kinda surprised he didn't use it on himself, really, but he's still over there being dead."

"Her blades are flickering," Sonic noted as glanced back at the chipmunk pursuing them. Was it his imagination, or did Rally seem to be more… metallic now?

[WARNING! CHAOS ENERGY LEVELS AT 6%, CHAOS DRIVE BATTERY NOT FOUND.]

What... what the heck is going on? What Chaos Drive? Was this something Starline did, or something Eggman was responsible for? I think I remember something, but...

Rally was almost naked, wearing a pair of blue boots and nothing more as she was speaking with Sonic? Only both she and him seemed younger.

"Antoine will go with me," Rally said with a smug smile on her face.

"Antoine?! You're kidding, right?" Sonic asked, he was smiling too.

"I'm kidding, wrong!" Rally said while looking at Sonic eyes.

"Right or wrong?" Sonic asked.

"I'm right, you're wrong... as usual." Rally responded in a teasing tone.

"Hey. Sally... is Tails okay?" Sonic suddenly asked. "He... well he doesn't have parents or anything like that and I can't be with him all day."

Rally's smile softened "I read him a bedtime story last night and stayed with him until he fell asleep. He is fine, he is too young to remember how things were before Robotnik took over... or if he had a family back then."

"Good, so whatever is the plan for today?"

"You get in Robotropolis loud and being a nuisance like usual, while I make use of the distraction and sneak in to find data on whatever evil plan Robotnik has. Then we meet up and you use the power ring so we get away. Rotor and Antoine will be hiding to serve as backup in case something wrong happens."

"What about Bunnie?"

"Someone has to stay in the village to protect it."

…it's totally unrelated to what's going on right now.

Which would be even more infuriating if this was a battle I wanted to win, which I don't!

BOOM!

My body HURT!

What... what was that memory? What was I doing? Everything hurt and in front of me... was... Sonic?

I stood up... then fell back down. I... I had a freaking hole in my stomach!

"Ohohoho Sonic, I didn't expect you to go lethal!" Doctor Eggman called out.

"And I didn't expect you to make another nanomachine robot after Metal Sonic betrayed you, but I guess we both learned something new today!"

Sonic looks so serious that it's scary.

Nanomachine robot? Does he think I'm just a machine?

I look myself over... I... I do look like a robot, like a Badnik version of myself. No... more advanced like that, like an Eggboss robot only I am not really bigger than before.

"Oh that's not my doing! Too bad Dr. Starline is dead, because this is really quite impressive! Rally was actually organic when I left her in that pod!"

"WHAT THE FUCK!?" Surge swears, then looks at her own hands. Which are trembling. "AM I GOING TO TURN INTO A ROBOT TOO!?"

"[Negative,]" my mouth says as I stood up again, the hole already fixed. "[Chaos energy levels at 8%. Error: Chaos Drive Battery missing. Looking for alternatives... One found. Energy levels at 67%. Projections indicate that the probability of successfully completing the current mission objective is dropping rapidly due to hedgehog interference. Switching priority to Enemy Number One: Sonic the Hedgehog. Target is Priority Zero.]"

"Well, I am sorry Surge but... I don't think I can win if I don't go all out. Hope you weren't lying about the revival thing or Rally might not survive."

BOOM!

Sonic and I crash against each other at super speeds, but my arms give way first against his spin-dash attack, resulting in me being sent bouncing back along the floor, both arms and one of my legs broken. Not that Sonic got out of our exchange unharmed either, as he's bleeding and... is that a freaking metal spike I stabbed him with? Where the heck did I get that!?

[WARNING! ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCE AT 2% LOOKING FOR A DIFFERENT POWER SOURCE.... error!]

My stomach growls and I watched my own body somehow transition back to my more normal organic appearance... I'm also bleeding rather heavily.

Dr. Eggman starts to tick like a time bomb?

Oh shit! He replaced himself with a decoy! The bastard!

KABOOM!

I am saved from the explosion by Surge... who looks like she just took a beating.

"Thank you..." is all I say before I pass out, wondering if I'll ever wake up again...

I'm not sure if I feel disappointed or relieved to find myself waking up after all.

In a hospital bed.

Inside a secure holding cell.

Okay, that's fair.

"RALLY!" Kit yells as he jumps up onto my bed and proceeds to give me a crushing hug before being pulled off of me by Surge.

I'd have hugged him back, but my wrists are manacled to the side rails. My ankles too, for that matter.

Again, fair.

The two of them are obviously inside the holding cell with me. I notice that there are a couple of chairs but no other bed, so at least they aren't prisoners. Probably practically camping out in those chairs waiting for me to recover though.

"Hey dork, are you okay now?" Surge asks faking indifference but there are dried tears in her face and around her eyes.

"I... I'm hungry."

"Really? They fed you like a whole barrel of soup using one of those tubes things!" Surge comments, prompting me to take a moment to look myself over.

"Weird. There's no IV drip."

"Well... your nanites started to eat them for materials so they got removed for fear you might go Eggboss Badnik mode again."

"Can I hug Rally now, please?" Kit asked.

"Yeah, don't look like she's gonna attack us, so go ahead."

And then Kit hugs me.

"Hey guys, can we get some food for the patient here? She is hungry again!" Surge calls out.

I let myself relax a bit as Kit snuggles up next to me to give me another hug.

They're okay, and for the moment that's enough.

Navrin · Oct 26, 2026

Congratulations to the team in escaping Starline, killing Starline (hopefully permanently), and getting valuable information out of it all. Hopefully Rally and company can be completely rescued now by stripping out all the malware and whatnot.

So, Rally, want to go back to your roots and show support for Kitsunami by stripping down like him?

Also, I wonder if looking at their outfits ever makes Eggman tempted to use a giant electromagnet against them. Even if he doesn't think building a device just to take them down was worthwhile compared to yet another anti-Sonic weapon he might find the idea amusing enough to contemplate.

Tangent · Oct 26, 2026

Navrin said:
Also, I wonder if looking at their outfits ever makes Eggman tempted to use a giant electromagnet against them. Even if he doesn't think building a device just to take them down was worthwhile compared to yet another anti-Sonic weapon he might find the idea amusing enough to contemplate.

This wouldn't really do anything to Surge other than feed her more energy in a form she can already absorb...

Navrin · Oct 26, 2026

Tangent said:
This wouldn't really do anything to Surge other than feed her more energy in a form she can already absorb...

Would she be absorbing the electricity, or the magnetism somehow? If only the former using a strong permanent magnet might be a viable alternative. If the latter I have absolutely no idea how that would be working.

Tangent · Oct 26, 2026

Navrin said:
Would she be absorbing the electricity, or the magnetism somehow? If only the former using a strong permanent magnet might be a viable alternative. If the latter I have absolutely no idea how that would be working.

All I'm going by is what was canonically shown during the Surge Unplugged arc. Although her base absorption ability might just be electricity, she can handle absorbing other types of energy if she has an adaption capacitor such as the Dynamo Cage. Just the fact that she got it to do what it did for her at all despite the fact that Eggman explicitly states at one point that the Dynamo Cage does not work that way says something about Surge's ability to absorb energy to feed her electrokinetic powers...

Although I personally hold to a headcanon that Surge accidentally slowed down her recovery from a concussion by wearing and using the Dynamo Cage.

Tangent · Oct 27, 2026

subject_rally_the_chipmunk_title_card_2_by_tangent_rambles_dn7323u-fullview.jpg

CHAPTER SEVEN
(Another chapter co-written by @Pinklestia )

Rally blinked.

"Excuse me, but are you crazy?" I just had to ask. It was way too early in the morning for this.

"Nope! Come on, join my team!" Tangle the Lemur repeated her request with the same huge grin as before.

How did this girl even find out about us? I don't remember me or the others talking to her before.

"After Rally here went killer robot mode and could have killed me and Sonic?" Surge commented with a raised eyebrow. "Wow. Gotta admit - you're either very brave or very stupid. Probably both."

Maybe it was the freakout about the possibility of also turning into a killer robot like I had, but both Surge and Kit had been surprisingly cooperative about letting Tails and other Restoration techs go over them just as much as they had with me. Tails was even working on covering anything that couldn't be easily found by making backpacks similar to what Belle had but still...

"Tails said she's fine now. Come on, join my team!"

"No, please leave." I said, my eyes wandering to the lemur's really long tail.

How does that even work? Doesn't she suffer from blood pressure problems with a tail so big and long?

"'Sides, Rally here's not going anywhere for long without me and Kit." Surge explained.

"Then you can join too!"

"Look if you want a date just ask me out."

Why the Hell did I just flirt!?

"Date? Me? And you... uh... " The lemur just stood there looking confused.... and blushing?

"I... there is someone I like very much and is not you, sorry." Tangle said in a firm tone while looking away.

"Look, why do you want us in your team anyway? We're not Sonic, we don't work for free."

That was mostly Surge's idea. More or less as something to further differentiate herself from Sonic, who did a lot of freebee hero stuff. Which, okay, good for him, I guess? But free work doesn't pay for rent or put food on the table, so I'm kinda siding with Surge on this one.

"It wouldn't be for free; we would go for bounties!" Tangle explained. "Also, we are going to check that base the Resistance got the Dream Machine from. Maybe there is something you may find useful there?"

"The problem with that, Longtail, is that the more people in a team the less money each member gets from a bounty. So why should we work for you instead of making our own team?" Surge asked.

"That depends on how many people would be on the team," I pointed out. Not so much agreeing to be on Tangle's team but keeping our options open by not denying her flat out. "Six seems to be about the limit for how many members an independent team associated with the Resistance could have and still remain profitable enough to pick and choose our targets. Any more than that and we would all be better off if Surge, Kit, and I just formed our own team."

"Oh, we're totally good on that front," Tangle assured us. "Right now, it's just Lanolin, Whisper and me! You three would finish off the roster, I guess?"

"Who'd be the team lead?" Surge asked skeptically. "You?"

"Well, it wouldn't be one of us, that's for sure," I interjected before Tangle could answer. "We probably need to unlearn whatever garbage lessons Starline thought were part of his idea of what heroes were supposed to be."

Surge raised a hand, about to object, then lowered it. "Yeah, that's fair. Stupid ass screwing us over even after he's dead…"

"How about this?" Tangle proposed. "We work together for a while so you guys get experience, learn the ropes and also get a good reputation so people are actually willing to hire you three. Then after a few months if you still want to form your own team you can do that!"

"We'll think about it," I stated, then shooed her out the door. "Now get out, our breakfast is getting cold."

I then shut the door on her face once she had completely backed out of the apartment, Surge, Kit, and I were sharing.

"Sorry!" Tangle said from behind the closed door, and I turned to look at Surge.

"So... want to give this a try?" I ask Surge as we both return to breakfast.

"Yeah it may work. Besides, I am getting a bit stir crazy! You and Kit may be okay with some downtime but I'm not!"

"Fine, then if Kit says yes, we are doing this... after those backpack things are ready."

"So this is like that pack you gave Belle?" I asked as I put on the pack. It had some weight to it, but not enough to really bother me if it did its job. "The one that blocks the control override signal that Starline used to call all those Badniks to Eggperial City?"

"Similar, yes," Tails acknowledged. "That was a modified anti-Zeti device. This one is more purpose-built and designed specifically to suit your current needs until we're sure that the control overlay program that Kit and I cleared out is fully gone."

I made sure that the straps were securely buckled in place and holding the pack firmly against my back. Not that I didn't trust the work Kit and Tails had done to clean the malware out of my head, but…

Being unable to do anything other than bearing witness as my own body tried to kill my best friend had been horrible. Right up there among the most horrific things Eggface had ever done to me. And I remember being taken apart, stripped down to my core parts, and rebuilt to become that super badnik that I had somehow changed into while trying to kill Surge and Sonic.

It was comforting to know that I was covered in case they had missed something.

"Thank you. This means a lot to me."

"So, you guys are joining Lanolin's new team and going back to Eggperial City to finish clearing out all those badniks?"

"Oh yeah, we're definitely doing that!" Surge confirmed from where she was leaning against the doorframe. "Ain't no way we're letting Eggman get that base back. Not after how he fucked over Rally."

"Right!" Kit agreed.

Like me, the two had their own new custom pack units that Kit and Tails had come up with just in case Starline had some similar trap program in place in their minds. Not that there had been any signs of such like there had been in mine when I was put through the Dream Machine that Kit and Tails had recovered from Eggperial City.

The Dream Machine now resided deep within Resistance headquarters and was now being put to use as a sort of therapy aid after basically being put through a trial by fire by having Surge, Kit, and me as the first patients to use it.

It wasn't a magical cure all for what Eggman had done to me, nor for what Starline had done to the three of us, but it did help us identify and deal with things like the programming and conditioning we had been put through.

Too bad it couldn't restore wiped memories without some sort of backup file to work from. Which was another reason for us to want to return to where the Dream Machine had been stored, because I vaguely recalled being put through it by Eggface, who was using it as a form of interrogation. Meaning that there may actually be memory backups from whoever I used to be before Starline got ahold of me.

"So, uh… How's Sonic doing?" I ask, still ashamed of having nearly killed the hero who set me free from being a prisoner in my own body.

"He's fine," Tails assured me. "Another couple of days of rehab and then he's going fully active again. He might not have the same crazy regeneration that you guys do, but he still heals a lot faster than most other folk."

"That's cool," Surge responds for the three of us. "I kinda wanna race him again. Maybe work out how to spar at high speed without beating each other to crap."

"You just want pointers for how to win against me more often," I tease.

"Damn straight I do!" Surge confirmed with a grin. "While sparring with you is great and all, I can't really win against you just by fighting you, 'cause you're learnin' just as much about how I fight if we don't train against anyone else."

"Fair point," I nod. "What about you, Kit?"

"If it's all the same, I'd rather scale back my training a bit more and focus on improving my programming and engineering skill set in order to become a better field technician for the team," Kit said, earning an approving smile from both Surge and I.

It was good for Kit to be more assertive about what he wanted to do, and not just blindly follow Surge and me.

"What I'd really like to do is learn more directly from you, Sir. If you don't mind, that is…" Kit said, addressing Tails directly.

"Oh, sure! I'd be happy to!" Tails agreed readily. "Whenever we're both between missions and not doing anything else."

"Speaking of," Surge interjected, "We gotta go meet Lanolin and the others. See ya around, Tails!"

"Bye!"

"Wheee!" Tangle the Lemur kept jumping around from tree to tree like a demented monkey as Lanolin led us towards Eggperial City from where we had parked.

Whisper, for her part, was quiet.

Perhaps a bit too quiet.

I made the effort to walk next to her.

"Is something wrong?" I asked the masked wolf girl.

"We had a fight about the Team's name," Whisper said in a quiet tone.

"Oh... was it that bad?" I just had to ask.

"I... I had a Team before, one of our members turned traitor, and now the rest are dead. I don't want to use that Team name ever again."

"Then don't? Does Tangle know the details?" I asked confused.

"Not... everything… Talking about it hurts."

"I am sure Tangle will accept whatever Team name you want." I said. "She... Well, she did mention there is someone she loves, and I am fairly certain that it's you."

What the fuck, brain!? Since when was I into shipping!?

Although I'll admit, making the Wolf girl blush was cute.

Navrin · Oct 27, 2026

How do the bounties they're accepting work? Presumably they aren't accepting Eggman's jobs, so are they paid for by the remaining governments of the world? Crowdfunded by the general civilian population?

A team of six should provide a pretty good safety margin, which is nice. I would guess that there are jobs that pay a living wage for 7+ people, but they're sufficiently rare that they'd be basically forced to accept whatever came up. So multiple groups of 6- who can team up as needed are what's generally considered financially viable.

Tangent · Oct 27, 2026

Navrin said:
How do the bounties they're accepting work? Presumably they aren't accepting Eggman's jobs, so are they paid for by the remaining governments of the world? Crowdfunded by the general civilian population?

A team of six should provide a pretty good safety margin, which is nice. I would guess that there are jobs that pay a living wage for 7+ people, but they're sufficiently rare that they'd be basically forced to accept whatever came up. So multiple groups of 6- who can team up as needed are what's generally considered financially viable.

Part of it is reputation-based. Since they are starting out, Rally is pointing out that a team of six is the most that a team of relative unknowns could reasonably support until that gain more reputation. Technically, they could accept bounty contracts from anyone - they are just choosing (as had the Diamond Cutters before them) to not accept contracts from known villains and they are largely picking from the bounty board that the Restoration (and the Resistance before them) posts. Presumably the money for those bounties come from various donors because the Restoration is a nonprofit.

And sooner or later, the team is going to have to make the transition to the open boards and not just accept Restoration board jobs. But they still need to gain a reputation first. And just having the Guardian Angel of the Resistance (Whisper) as a member of the new team isn't going to cut it. Not by itself anyway.

Tangent · Oct 29, 2026

CHAPTER EIGHT
(Yet another chapter co-written by @Pinklestia)

"No major defenses, no sign of traps..." Lanolin noted shortly after we crested that last hill between where we had parked the small shuttle the Restoration had lent us and Eggperial City.

"No patrols along the city limits," Whisper added.

"Is it just me, or has Eggperial City gotten bigger since the last time we were here?" I asked, as I was pretty sure that this latest Eggbase wasn't quite this big the last time Surge, Kit, and I were here.

"Yeah, looks bigger to me too," Surge commented as she took a long look over the city herself.

"It has expanded roughly four and a half city blocks in all cardinal directions since our previous exfiltration," Kit observed. "The walls are further out now, and longer to compensate for the expanded city boundaries, but not thinner. There are also sixteen more of those crystal spires. Eggperial City is actively expanding."

"We need to let the Restoration know," Lanolin pointed out.

"Agreed, but we also need to gather further intelligence. How about Surge and I run you back to the shuttle so you can make an initial report while the rest of the team holds position here to make further observations before we head in?" I suggested. I really wanted to recover any files Eggface may have had about me, including the possibility that he may have a memory back-up of who I used to be before he had used the Dream Machine to extract information from me. I just wasn't sure if I wanted to put the team at risk just for the possibility of recovering my past though, and this seemed like a good compromise.

"Hmmm…" Lanolin thought about it for a moment before nodding. "Alright, we'll do it that way. Whisper, you're used to long range scouting, right?"

"Yes."

"Then you and Kit will continue to make observations from here while Tangle watches your backs. We'll be back as soon as I'm done reporting this in to Restoration HQ."

With that, I knelt down so that Lanolin could get on my back piggyback style, then we raced off back towards the shuttle, with Surge running escort in case we were intercepted…

It didn't really take very long for us to get back to the shuttle, get that message sent off, then return to where we left the others. The Restoration was alerted that Eggperial City was actively expanding, and we were clear to continue with some slightly updated mission parameters.

"They're back!" Tangle alerted the others as we rejoined them at the crest of the hill overlooking Eggperial City. The base didn't look like it had gotten any bigger in just that short amount of time, but it was difficult to be sure.

"Okay, the Restoration knows about the expansion, and they'll be sending some observation teams to keep an eye on it, but for now our mission is mostly unchanged," Lanolin said. "Get into where Kit had found the Dream Machine, access the lab computers there, and see if we can recover any information Eggman had on Rally."

"Or at least try to find a lead to where any such data files might be stored if they aren't stored there," I add, trying to keep the stress out of my voice as vague memories of Eggman using the device in question on me flitted through my head.

Surge put a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "We'll get your memories back, Rally. You'll see. We've got this."

"Right, right…" I forced myself to relax.

"Anyway," Lanolin continued. "Once we've secured the objective and whatever other bonus intelligence we can get our hands on, we'll proceed to phase two…"

"Wreckin' stuff!" Surge announced with a grin.

"Asset denial," Lanolin stated with a slight smile. "There's too many badniks for us to clear the entire city in one go, but I believe that Kit had identified some key infrastructure elements that would severely hinder Eggman's efforts if they happened to be either destroyed or gone if he retakes this base?"

"I have," Kit nodded, using water from his hydropack to form a small 3D model of the city to use as a map. "Besides the central control tower, there's the foundry, badnik production facilities, various labs and workshops…"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves for now," Lanolin interjected. "Yes, we have some heavy hitters on our team, but enough badniks can wear down anyone. We go in, we get the intelligence, we try to hit one to three of our other objectives on the way out, then we're out of here."

Surge looked like she wanted to object, but visibly held herself back after some inner struggle. "Yeah, okay, fine. As much as I wanna wreck Eggman's stuff and show that I'm better than Sonic, even he got taken outta the action for half a year 'cause he's an idiot who likes to go solo. I'm in."

"And I," Kit and I said damn near simultaneously.

"Us too!" Tangle stated with so much enthusiasm that she almost looked like she was vibrating from excitement.

"I as well," Whisper added quietly.

Lanolin looked relieved that we had all agreed to her plan…

Which, okay, that's fair considering that I'm pretty sure that Tangle has just about as much impulse control issues as Surge even if they express it in different ways, and Lanolin didn't know Surge, Kit, and I well enough to get a feel for how we act yet.

Anyway, Lanolin's relief visibly shifted into resolve as she continued. "Okay, Kit, Whisper? Is there anything new to report about the city while we were gone?"

As it turns out, we weren't the only Team wanting to loot whatever had been left behind in Eggperial City. If anything, there were way too many people.

"Just how many people decided to do this same mission?" Surge asked and I couldn't help but agree with her.

"Just us," Lanolin said as she palmed herself in frustration. "Officially, that is."

"Well, nobody said it was secret or nothin' but I don't think Kit, Rally or I said much of anything outside of the after-action report stuff."

"I heard Tails talking about it with various people while he and I were making sure the Dream Machine was safe to use on Rally," Kit mentioned.

"And Sonic told me about it when I visited him in the clinic," Tangle added.

"Okay, so we can safely assume that up to maybe a quarter of everyone on Mobius knows about Eggperial City by now," I snark as I palm my own face before looking over the eggbase myself.

Huh…

One of the distant figures appeared to be a black and red hedgehog, so either Shadow or one of the many android copies of him that Eggface had made to be shock troops. Probably the real deal as he was talking with (or at) someone…

Was that Nack the Weasel?

Both were in some sort of standoff, pointing guns at each other, but were too far away for any of us to hear what they might be saying.

Shadow was a potential danger to us. Between his speed, Chaos Blades, and his ability to teleport, Surge and I were the only ones with any hope of being able to hold our own against him if he decided that we needed to be eliminated. Lanolin was at the most risk, and he'd target her as the team leader…

No, Rally. Stop being paranoid. We might be an independent team, but we're affiliated with the Restoration. Team Dark, and therefore Shadow, are nominal allies, not an existential threat…

Some explosions maybe a block and a half away from Nack and Shadow drew my eye to where E-123 Omega was actively battling a horde of badniks by himself. Another potential danger to the team if approached the wrong way. Best to avoid him if we could, nevertheless.

Still, if both Shadow and Omega were here, then it was best to assume that Rouge the Bat was also here somewhere in or around Eggperial City herself. Not as dangerous a threat to any of us personally, as she's the least likely member of Team Dark to go for a kill, but given her role as both a thief and a spy she'll most likely be after any and all intelligence she can get her hands on.

Including the intelligence we were after.

Glancing over at another commotion a few blocks over revealed…

Tough and Jumble or something? Well, I didn't read every bounty carefully, just giving the list a casual once over, but the two had worked with Starline for a bit before Surge and Kit were ready, or maybe even before he had decided to make them in the first place.

Those two were a minor threat, really. A couple of idiot thugs with a rhyming gimmick. Only really dangerous if we didn't pay attention. And most likely here to raid for badnik parts to bring back to whoever Starline had been buying parts from. Still, they had caused enough trouble to be on the bounty board, so maybe worth grabbing on the way out if they're still there when we're done.

Tangle seemed to be glaring at the two until Whisper put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down, so there's at least some history there. I'll ask later, as now is not the time.

"I think we can ignore the two idiots for now," I comment. "Nack and Shadow are going to be an issue though. High skill and tenacity. Best if we avoid them altogether. We should avoid Omega too, if possible, but keep an eye out for Rouge the Bat as she's likely to try to be after any intelligence she thinks may be valuable, including the files we're after."

"I don't doubt that for a moment," The normally perpetually upbeat Tangle practically growled out with a scowl. "She comes across as all cool and everything, and she does help against the big stuff, but she'll also steal whatever she wants even when you think she's making nice with you!"

There was a story there that I'd have to ask about later, but now was not the time for it.

"Well, it looks like we can avoid all of them by detouring around by a few blocks in either direction," Lanolin observed. "Let's avoid a confrontation if we can.

"Hey, don't those two guys, Rough and Tumble, got bounties on them?" Tangle asked.

Ah, so those were their names? My bad.

"Yeah they do." Lanolin the sheep said. "If we have the opportunity to go for them on the way out, we'll do so, but everything else has a higher priority."

And, with that, we headed in…

Navrin · Oct 29, 2026

Tangent said:
"I have," Kit nodded, using water from his hydropack to form a small 3D model of the city to use as a map.

This is extremely impressive finesse. Is he using his brain for that, a computer, or what? Also, is he just showing off, or is that actually the easiest/clearest way for him to show off a map?

Tangent said:
"Let's avoid a confrontation if we can.

Suggestion: Add closing quotation mark.

Tangent · Oct 31, 2026

CHAPTER NINE
(With still more contributed by @Pinklestia)

By unspoken agreement, we fell into what felt like a natural formation for the team: Surge and I the furthest out on perimeter defense as we were the fastest and hardest hitting; Kit and Tangle in the mid-range, defending our core from anything that got by Surge and me; and Lanolin and Whisper at the core as our long-range attackers, leader, and overwatch.

This wasn't something that Starline had covered in our training at all, as he apparently didn't foresee Surge, Kit, and I being accepted as part of a larger team…

Or maybe he just hadn't gotten around to trying any of his no doubt asinine ideas for how we'd potentially work into a larger team dynamic.

Still, this was new territory for the three of us. Something outside of the garbage Starline had put us through and it felt…

Right.

We were perhaps a few blocks in after diverting around the general area where Shadow and Omega were, when a lone, slightly damaged Shadow android showed up.

Whisper shot it in the eye, with Lanolin throwing a follow-up glue bomb just to make sure.

Good thing she did because that meant the android didn't get close to us before it exploded.

"I didn't know that Eggbreath boobytrapped badniks," Surge commented with a slightly confused tone. And rightly so as this wasn't covered in any of the messed up anti-badnik exercises that Starline had put us through.

"He usually doesn't," I replied, although I wasn't sure where that particular bit of knowledge came from. "Not unless they are purpose-built for demolition or are decoys of himself."

"I recognize that type of sabotage." Lanolin said in an exasperated tone.

"Aw shucks, Fluffy, you do remember me!" A green woodpecker showed up, six Shadow androids in formation behind him.

Bean The Dynamite. Crazy but good with tech, particularly explosives and several varieties of bombs and other single-use area-of-effect devices.

"Bossman told me to take care of anyone who got in the way of our job and well-" Bean was interrupted by Surge trying to hit him with a spin attack, only to bounce off a bubble energy shield. Even so, her spin-dash at least broke the shield, leaving Bean undefended for my follow-up as I performed a high-speed clothesline with my arm out as I passed right next to him on the right.

It would have been far too easy for me to bisect him right then by having the energy blade from that bangle deployed, but I'm trying to be better than the monster that Eggman and Starline made me to be…

Two of the Shadow androids were already being taken out by Whisper's cyan wisp enhanced laser attack piercing them again and again and again in rapid succession (no idea how that worked, as lasers shouldn't just change directions in mid air like that without a reflective surface to bounce off of, but I will admit that it's very cool).

Surge rebounded off of another two with an electrified spin-dash that stunned them long enough for Kit to grab them and rip them apart with his water tendrils.

Lanolin used her bell wispon to disrupt the remaining two with a focused blast of purple-hued sound (weird as Hell, I know, but the colorful soundwave was apparently directional enough to not harm Whisper despite her sensitive wolf ears being practically right next to the source, so I'll just call it the good kind of weird science attack for now).

Tangle promptly grabbed them both with her extendable tail and I motioned for her to toss them at me, deploying both energy blades and spinning like a top before they reached me, shredding them to bits before they could explode.

The battle was over barely after it had started, the instigator on the ground struggling to breathe, and the squad of Shadow androids he had apparently subverted destroyed.

"Aw yeah, we rock!" Tangle exclaimed as she high-fived Kit and exchanged fist-bumps with Surge while Lanolin secured the idiot with cuffs, rope, and more duct tape than even I thought was necessary.

I was more concerned with Whisper though.

We had won, but she was trembling like a leaf.

I approached Whisper and put a hand on her shoulder to reassure her.

"Are you okay?" I asked, worried. As far as I knew she had no reason to be scared of Bean or the Shadow androids. At least not just a squad of them that had obviously been previously wrecked and jerry rigged back into a less than fully effective state.

"Bad memories," was all the wolf girl said before she got hugged by Tangle.

"Her previous team, the Diamond Cutters, got wiped out by these things," the lemur explained briefly. "It was an ambush arranged by Mimic, and there were more of them than I could count."

"There's footage?" I prompted.

"Yes. In my mask…"

"We're gonna wanna see that when we get back," Surge stated. "Starline used maybe a couple more squads than this against us for training. Not sure where he got 'em, but it was rough. More so than most of the other badniks the fucker stole to throw against us."

"If you don't mind, that is," I added. "But it would really help if you could."

"Ah, yeah… That…" Surge backed off, conceding that maybe she was being a bit insensitive.

"I… Yes. When we get back, I'll show you everything."

"Whisper, do you think you will be able to continue the mission?" Lanolin asked in a serious tone.

"...Yes."

"Fine, but if it happens again, I will have Surge take you away to safety." On the one hand, I didn't like our leader's tone, but on the other I understood. Whisper being unwell put the whole team at risk, not just herself. It didn't matter if Surge and I could take down a couple dozen Shadow androids if one of our teammates had a panic attack at the wrong time.

Tangle opened her mouth as if wanting to say something, then closed it. Like it or not Surge was the fastest one in the Team, so she was the best choice to evacuate someone from danger.

"Well, what are we gonna do with bird-brain here?" Surge asked.

"Bean is crazy and probably boobytrapped the way ahead." Lanolin said. "When Dr. Eggman had taken over the world, he showed up sometimes to help, but he never showed any signs of caring about collateral damage. Sometimes he did even more damage than Eggman's Badniks did!"

"And we almost dated once!"

Everyone turned to stare at the woodpecker, now in the arms of a chimeric blend of an Eggrobo and other badniks that had been jerry rigged together even worse than the subverted Shadow androids had been. And he was already free of most of the restraints.

HOW!? We only took our eyes off of him for maybe a minute! Wait, was that an old Metal Sonic engine in that Chimera badnik?

"Don't," Lanolin said, staring at Surge before she attacked him. Surge grumbled but obeyed.

"What do you really want, Bean?" our leader asked.

"We're here mostly for the badniks. What are you guys here for?"

"Mostly data extraction and bounties. With how much your boss seems to have pissed off Shadow, I don't think we will go out of our way to target your team unless you get in the way."

"Good, then I don't have to kill you, even if the explosion would have been cool."

"You boobytrapped this whole area, didn't you?" Lanolin concluded in a resigned tone.

He what!? Oh shit, no wonder Lanolin was so worried about him!

"Oh, Fluffy, you know me so well! Are you sure I am not your type?"

"No."

"Very well. Ciao!"

Did... did this fucker just freaking fly away? That must have been what the jet turbine unit from the Metal Sonic had been for…

"Kit, you and Rally scout ahead, very carefully, for traps and bombs. This mission just got a whole lot more complicated." Lanolin didn't even sound angry. Just annoyed.

"Eggman isn't here," I stated sometime after Kit and I were sure that we were all well clear of the boobytrapped zone that Bean had set up.

"What do you mean?" Tangle asked.

"It's too quiet," Whisper said.

"With all the commotion going on, we'd have heard Eggman on the city's speaker system by now," I pointed out. "Either yelling at us, someone else, or his badniks for not having already dealt with us."

"Or braggin' about somethin' stupid like building the perfect coffee maker or some shit like that," Surge snarked. "Guy likes to brag as much or more than Starline did."

I just cocked a brow at my best friend and looked at her pointedly.

"Yeah yeah, pot kettle and all that. I'm workin' on that, but I ain't promisin' nothin'!"

I nodded and left it at that. As long as Surge was aware of her own ego issues, we could work with or around them. Lord knows she, Kit, and I had enough issues to each have our own subscriptions.

"There's a maintenance tunnel access point over there," Lanolin pointed out. "Might be a good way to bypass the other groups and all the badniks in the streets."

"Yeah, Sonic and I fought in some of those tunnels," Surge nodded. "Not a lot down there at the time as far as badniks go."

"That might have changed since then," I pointed out. "Still, narrow spaces and bottlenecks play into our strengths more than it would for most badniks."

After a short debate about the pros and cons of detouring downward, we began our decent into the underworld of Eggperial City…

Navrin · Oct 31, 2026

Suggestions:

Tangent said:
Surge and I the furthest out on parameter defense as we

perimeter

Tangent said:
It didn't matter if Suge and I could

Surge

Tangent said:
"Oh, Fluffy, you know me so well! Are you sure I am not your type?"

"No."

Not necessarily a problem, but taken literally she actually said that she is not sure that he is not her type. (That or she ignored his question entirely and told him "no" in general) If she is intending to unambiguously answer it in a way that doesn't rely on familiarity with her speech patterns she could use "Very sure" or something along those lines.

Tangent said:
"Still, narrow spaces and bottlenecks play into our strengths more than it would for most badniks.

Add closing quotation mark.

Tangent · Tuesday at 1:36 PM

CHAPTER TEN
(With still more contributed by @Pinklestia)

The maintenance tunnels beneath Eggperial City were indeed clear of the majority of the free roaming badniks that Starline's signal was still attracting towards the slowly expanding base.

What it wasn't free of were the regular traps and badnik patrols that Eggman had already had in place. It's just…

All of it that we've seen so far was pretty basic low tier defensive arrangements by Eggman's standards. Dangerous, sure, but anyone with even a little experience and actual training could handle passing through these tunnels with minimal difficulty.

And the pattern was repeating.

"Whatever Eggman is doing to expand this city is operating in autonomous mode without any active guidance," I noted.

"Yeah, even Orbot and Cubot tend to mix things up a bit more than this when they're left in charge," Tangle agreed.

"That's…" Lanolin started, then paused for a moment. "Okay, everyone stop here for a bit. When Jewel posted this mission, it was assumed that the Resistance just missed finding this base because this valley is normally uninhabited. What if, instead, nobody had found this base because it simply wasn't here to find in the first place?"

"There are no construction mechs," Whisper pointed out. "They are about five stories tall on average. We'd have seen them."

"So this city is actively expanding with no visible means to explain the expansion," Lanolin stated.

"That would imply either nanites or Chaos Energy manipulation," Kit said as he pulled out his Miles Electric and started scanning, prompting Lanolin to do the same with her more compact model.

I felt a spike of anger and frustration, and punched a wall, leaving a spiderweb of cracks in a shallow depression and causing everyone to stare at me.

"It… It doesn't matter which it is," I said. "Nanites or Chaos Energy manipulation are both too dangerous at this scale if left unattended. F… Forget the intelligence objective. We need to stop this any way we can, before the expansion becomes unstoppable."

"We're going to have to go back topside," Lanolin concluded. "We need to be able to go around any obstacles we can avoid in a hurry, so bottlenecks aren't in our favor anymore. Surge, Rally, once we're all up there, we're going to need the two of you to clear a path to the control tower for the rest of us and keep it clear."

"You got it, Lan!" Surge nodded with a vicious grin as she smacked the palm of one hand with a fist.

"Affirmative," I acknowledged, forcing my frustration down.

Thanks to Eggman's reckless methods, we were no longer on track to recovering any files he may have had on me and my past.

Unfortunately, this was far more important, so it had to take priority…

Surge felt a bit bad about enjoying the move back up to the streets where she and Rally were finally cutting loose running back and forth along a killzone corridor they were maintaining for the others to run through.

Not about the destruction they were causing.

No, that part was fun!

No, what she felt bad about was having fun despite the fact that Rally might be giving up one of her chances to find out more about her past because of this nonsense.

And, perhaps, that was more proof that Rally was right about Starline fucking them over with his ideas of what heroes were supposed to be. Which sucked, but it was what it was, and was why she went along with Rally's idea of letting someone else be in charge.

At least Lanolin seemed to have a more tolerable style of leadership than the mindfucker's had been. Sure, it was kinda obvious that Lan wasn't experienced with actually leading others, but she didn't try to come off like she was smarter than everyone or that her plan was the best. If anyone had something to say, or advice to give, Lan listened, and she took whatever it was into account when she made her decisions.

And she actually cared about the team, Surge, Rally, and Kit included.

Sure, maybe she, Rally, and Kit might decide to go ahead and split off to do their own thing in a few months, but then again maybe they wouldn't.

And would that be such a bad thing?

Tangle was alright, once Surge got used to how upbeat she usually was. The lemur liked to have fun, could hold her own in a fight, and seemed to work well with whoever she was paired with. Maybe she could tone down the whole highly energetic morning person thing a bit, but frankly seeing Rally get grumpy at the early morning interruption during breakfast had been hilarious.

Whisper was okay too. Competent, professional, and was partnered to multiple wisps, which Surge hadn't even known was possible. It was kinda obvious that she was still hurting from that Mimic guy turning on her old team and getting them killed, but the wolf wasn't letting that stop her, and Surge could respect that.

Maybe this being part of a larger team would work out, maybe it wouldn't…

But Surge was willing to give it a try.

Lanolin never imagined she would be leading a Team of powerhouses. Sure they weren't Team Dark, but by power alone her Team already was near the top ten, with only their lack of experience holding them back.

Even so, her Team did have problems. Four of them had some kind of trauma, and in the case of Kit, Surge, and Rally...

They literally couldn't trust their own judgment. What Starline had done to them was monstrous, and what Rally had been subjected to at the hands of Eggman before then was possibly even worse.

Fortunately, they seemed to realize on their own that their so-called training and conditioning under Starline had left them messed up, and while the Dream Machine hadn't magically cured them, it had obviously helped each of them significantly, and each of them was willing to undergo further therapy sessions, both in the Dream Machine and with an actual councilor.

It said a lot that they even still wanted to be heroes, even if they felt they needed someone else's guidance due to what had happened to them.

Whisper also definitely needed some form of therapy. Maybe they could sign her up for the Dream Machine and/or the counselor?

Lanolin would have to broach the subject carefully. Just because Surge, Rally, and Kit had been willing to do both didn't mean that Whisper would be willing to do either, and it wouldn't be right to force her.

But it also wouldn't be right to keep her on the team if her issues became more of a problem. Both for her own safety and for the safety of the team. And losing Whisper would likely also mean losing Tangle as well. Even Rally had noticed that the two cared deeply for each other, although the chipmunk's attempt to ship them had been hilariously unsubtle.

As for Tangle?

Well she was a nice person.

The problem was that Tangle was too nice and naive for her own good.

But at least she was aware of that, hence why she had declined taking on a leadership role and had nominated Lanolin for that role instead, as the new proactive team had been Lanolin's idea in the first place.

Lanolin didn't exclude herself in her musings, as she felt that she had her own share of flaws to consider. While she wasn't a rookie, being a Team leader was new to her, and she hadn't really expected to be thrust into this position even after proposing that a more proactive team be formed. Honestly, she had initially assumed that either Tangle or Whisper would be the team leader, and that it would just be the three of them. Tangle going out and recruiting the other three and all five of them voting for Lanolin to be team lead had been totally unexpected.

It didn't help that this mission was proving to be more complicated than expected.

Of course, the city's defenses just had to go extra crazy while Lanolin was thinking about all of this.

A Spider Mobile was barreling right for them from a side street, and Surge and Rally were both busy wiping out a horde of lesser badniks up ahead.

Sure, the thing was less dangerous on the ground but was still a Boss eggrobo even if an older model one.

"Kit, want to take care of this one?" Lanolin asked, trying to keep the panic she was feeling out of her voice.

"On it," the blue fennec stated as he started to move towards the spider-like robot.

"Need backup?" Tangle asked.

"No, I've studied this model; I got this."

Apparently, Kit had made modifications to his gear with Tails' assistance to help him sabotage badniks.

And in an old model that Kit knew how it worked?

Kit baited the boss eggrobo into a spike pit, then cut his legs off with very sharp water blades and made the robot fall to the pit, causing it to explode.

However, apparently forming those sharp water blades took a lot out of Kit as he now looked very tired.

Fortunately, Surge and Rally had finished up wrecking the badniks up ahead and were now returning to check on them.

"Rally!" Lanolin called out, directing her into the side street Kit had charged down in order to fight the Spider Mobile.

"Got him!" Rally replied, easily thrust-skating to catch Kit before he collapsed. Sure, she wasn't as fast as Surge, but she was still very fast and she was their strongest Team member when it came to carrying weight. She quickly hefted Kit up into her arms and brought him back.

And then Team Dark showed up, incidentally bringing their own fight into their midst! This one involving over a dozen giant Eggman-looking robots that, while slow, had a lot of firepower!

It was clear to Lanolin that no one was directing the city's defenses. All the weapon placements… All the badniks… Even all the Bosses…

They were all acting too stupid.

They were all randomly getting in each other's way and even accidentally hitting each other every minute!

"Does... does Sonic have to deal with shit like this all the time? This is crazy!" Surge asked.

"Sometimes." Rouge replied as she touched down between Tangle, Whisper, and Lanolin, breathing heavily. "It's usually not this bad though, and I've never seen this many Boss robots active at the same time. But they are all definitely acting way dumber than usual."

"WE ARE COMPLETELY SURROUNDED! THEY CANNOT GET AWAY FROM US NOW!" E-123 Omega announced loudly.

"Well, at least somebody is happy about this," Rally snarked.

Tangent · Tuesday at 7:32 PM

My apologies, but due to drama the ongoing transfer of SUBJECT: RALLY the CHIPMUNK is now on indefinite hiatus pending a major rewrite...

Navrin · Tuesday at 10:47 PM

Suggestion:

Tangent said:
Apparently, Kit had made modifications to his gear with Tails assistance to help him sabotage badniks.

Tails' or Tails's. (I prefer the former, but I think both are considered correct? - Both suggestions are possessive)

Tangent said:
My apologies, but due to drama the ongoing transfer of SUBJECT: RALLY the CHIPMUNK is now on indefinite hiatus pending a major rewrite...

Sorry about whatever is going on there. Disruptions to creative efforts are rather unfortunate.

SUBJECT: RALLY the CHIPMUNK (a Sonic the Hedgehog AU/SI)

I trust you know where the happy button is?

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Well worn.

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Well worn.

I trust you know where the happy button is?

I trust you know where the happy button is?

I trust you know where the happy button is?

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Well worn.

I trust you know where the happy button is?

I trust you know where the happy button is?

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Well worn.

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Well worn.

I trust you know where the happy button is?

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Well worn.

I trust you know where the happy button is?

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Well worn.

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Well worn.

I trust you know where the happy button is?

I trust you know where the happy button is?

Well worn.

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