Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Prologue: Beginnings

“WHOOOOHOOOOOO!” Tangle shouted as she went over a hill on her bike.

“Tangle, could you please slow down a bit?!” Jewel shouted over the sound of the wind and her friend.

“When we get to the bottom!” Tangle shouted back.

“It’s HOW we get to the bottom that I am worried about!” Jewel shouted.

“Oh you’ll be fine! What’s the worst that could ha-“

Tangle was cut off by the bike hitting a rock. This caused the bike to go air-born and sent the two of them flying off of it.

“WAH!” Tangle shouted as she began to plummet to the ground.

Moments later, Jewel carefully fluttered towards the ground and landed next to Tangle, who currently had a face full of dirt.

“You alright?” Jewel asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine…” Tangle said as she picked herself up from the ground. “It’ll take a lot more than that to keep me down!”

“Seriously, you have to have the hardest head I have ever seen!” Jewel said.

“Says the one with an actual shell for a head…” Tangle said.

“You know what I mean.” Jewel said with a laugh.

The two then enjoyed a good laugh together.

“So uh… we are on our own now… huh?” Jewel asked.

“…Yeah, we are.” Tangle said.

The two of them had just left their home in Spiral Hill Village in order to go out and make a name for themselves.

Jewel wanted to someday open a museum, to show the world just how beautiful their planet could be.

As for Tangle…

“You think we’ll ever bump into Sonic?” Tangle asked.

She wanted to go out and see the world. Not only that, but she wanted to live as a free spirit, all while helping those in need, just like her, and everyone’s, hero: Sonic the Hedgehog.

“Maybe one day.” Jewel said. “For now though, we should head for some kind of town or city, it’s starting to get dark, and we are going to need a place to stay for the night.”

“We could just camp out.” Tangle said.

“True, but I would rather not completely use up our food and supplies on the first night.” Jewel said.

“Point taken.” Tangle said. “Alright, let’s head…”

CRASH

“WHAT IN THE WORLD?!” Jewel said as she leapt behind Tangle in fear.

The two then looked off in the direction of the noise to see a cloud of dust floating up into the air nearby.

“That looks like trouble…” Tangle said.

“We… should probably stay away…” Jewel said.

“What if someone needs our help though?” Tangle said. “I’m heading over there to see what’s going on, you can stay here if you want.”

Tangle then hopped on her bike.

“Hold on, I’m coming too!” Jewel said as she hopped onto the back.

And with that, they rode off towards the cloud of dust.

“I’ll be taking this!” Eggman said as he pried the Chaos Emerald out of Cream’s hand.

“No! Give that back!” Cream said as she tried to throw a couple of punches, though she couldn’t reach from her position, being held up by the ears.

“I really appreciate you holding onto this for me rabbit! As thanks, I think I will give you free lodging at my base for a while!” Eggman said with a laugh as he put the emerald away.

“Cheese!” Cream shouted towards her friend.

Cheese then shot up and managed to land a pretty decent uppercut on the doctor.

“Oof, ok, if you want to come so bad!” Eggman said as he grabbed the chao with his other hand. “Well, let us be off!”

“Cream! Cheese!” Vanilla shouted from the ground.

At this point, Tangle and Jewel finally showed up.

“Is that that Dr. Eggman guy?” Tangle asked.

“I think so, looks like he’s kidnapping someone!” Jewel said.

“Not if I have anything to say about it!” Tangle said.

Before she went to chase after Eggman, Tangle rode over to Vanilla.

“Don’t worry miss! We’ll have your daughter back before you know it!” Tangle said.

“I’m sorry… who?” Vanilla asked.

“Not important right now! Jewel, you stay here. I think she could use some emotional support.” Tangle said.

“Oh, you got it.” Jewel said.

Tangle was always good about these kinds of situations.

“Hold on.” Vanilla said before reaching into her pocket. “Here.”

She then handed some sort of device over to Tangle.

“If you manage to find his base, just push the button, it should lead Sonic and Tails straight to you.” Vanilla said.

“Gotcha!” Tangle said.

And with that, she rode off in pursuit of the Doctor.

“This looks like the place…” Tangle said as she looked at the massive base in front of her.

“Charging in without a plan would probably be a really bad idea…” Tangle said. “So… I hope this thing works.”

And with that, she pushed the button on the device that Vanilla gave her.

“… ok, now what?” Tangle asked herself.

Meanwhile, with Jewel

“And that’s what happened.” Vanilla finished explaining.

After Tangle had left, Vanilla called Sonic and Tails to let them know what was going on. When the two arrived however, she was pleasantly surprised to see that Amy was with them.

“Right, so once this Tangle girl activates the tracker, we’ll be able to find them.” Amy said.

“If she was quick enough to keep up with the Doctor.” Sonic said.

“Have faith in her, she’s never let me down before.” Jewel said.

“Alright, if you say so.” Tails said. “Anyways, should we go see Knuckles? If Eggman has the last emerald, then we could probably use the help.”

“Nah, I think we’ll be fine. Knuckles has this habit of just showing up when he is needed anyways.” Sonic said.

“That’s true.” Tails said. “Then all we have to do is wa-“

At that moment, their tracker began to beep.

“And there she is!” Sonic said as they took a look at the tracker.

“Looks like they are north of here.” Tails said.

“Right, so I’ll go on ahead and get the party started. You and Amy follow in the Tornado.” Sonic said.

“Sounds like a plan. See you there Sonic.”

And with that, they were off.

Meanwhile, Tangle was wondering what she should do.

Her first thought was to charge in, trash as many robots as she could. However, that thought was quickly put to the side when she saw a horde of turrets surrounding the base. She wouldn’t even get close that way.

Her next thought was to try and sneak in. Problem was, she wasn’t exactly that good at stealth, and often gave herself away really easily when she tried to be sneaky, which she couldn’t afford to let happen.

So, she finally decided that this was just out of her league right now, and sat around to wait for Sonic and Tails to show up.

She wanted to see them in action at the very least before heading back to Jewel.

“Come to think of it, why did that lady have this thing?” Tangle asked herself. “I guess that they might be friends with Sonic and Tails, or maybe a friend of a friend?”

Deciding not to dwell on it, Tangle took a seat against a nearby tree and kept an eye on the base.

Eventually, an alarm began to ring out.

“What?!” Tangle said to herself.

Was she spotted?

However, that is when she saw it, a blue blur approaching rapidly from the south.

Sonic had arrived.

Tangle could only watch in awe as the hedgehog swiftly rushed into the base, dodging hundreds of lasers and missiles along the way.

Eventually though, he was flung out by a large robot.

“Oof, that had to hurt.”

What surprised her though was the plane that was flying towards Sonic shortly after. It then seemed to fire a missile at him, though it broke apart and something shiny came out of it.

When the light faded, Sonic came rocketing back towards the base, even faster than he was before, and he managed to successfully crash through a wall and entered the main building.

Tangle then looked over to the plane to see that it had almost crashed into a rock, only for some red dude to destroy it just in time.

“Well, I guess Sonic has things covered from here, so I should probably go introduce myself.” Tangle said as she began to walk over.

Her trip over there was interrupted though, as a bright light suddenly began to envelop the entirety of Eggman’s base.

“That… doesn’t look good.”

There was no time to get away, and before she knew it, everything went white.

End of Prologue

Hello all! This story is… actually quite different for me. This is a look into what Sonic X would be like if Tangle was around for it. So, in short, it’s a rewrite. This started as something that I was only doing on a whim and I wanted to see what I could come up with. I didn’t even initially intend on posting this… but then this story grew into something quite a bit more. I am going to say it, this story might end up being my greatest work like, ever. I am honestly really proud of how this story is coming together, and I can’t wait to get into some of the later arcs! Tangle won’t be the only character included as you probably have already figured out, but Tangle is kinda the one that brings everyone together in this case. Not every episode will be written out, but well, you’ll find out what I have planned. Also, this is all based on the Japanese version, so if anything seems… different from what you remember, it’s because the dub decided to change stuff… One last thing, these first couple of chapters will be completely original, just taking place in the same world as the show. These are to basically set everything up.

Alright, so, time for some extra knowledge that would be nice to know for this story.

First off, Tangle and Jewel’s age. I could of kept them the same, but I am gonna say they are slightly younger. Instead of 15, Tangle is gonna be 12, while Jewel is 13 instead of 16. There is a good reason for this, but I’ll go into that in a couple of chapters. For now, just know that they are a couple years younger than they would be in IDW comics.

Next up… no ships are in this story. None at all, whatsoever… ok, Tails and Cosmo are still gonna be a thing, and I might expand upon it a bit, and there will of course be mentions of Sonic and Amy, but that is it.

Finally, I just want to mention that this story is being written assuming that you have watched Sonic X before. There will be a lot of things happening in the background that are shown in the show, but I will not include here… it would just be really redundant to just copy-paste scenes from the show. So, watch Sonic X… subbed if you can, cause I honestly think that Subbed is much better than dubbed in this case, which is not a stance I take too often. If you haven’t watched it before, watching along with reading this story could be a good idea, seeing as how that is how I am writing this story. I will tell you what episodes you should watch up to at the end of each chapter, so don’t worry.

Anyways, the next chapter mostly takes place after Episode 5, so watch up to that first, and I will see you all in the next chapter!

Chapter Text

Chapter 1: Meeting 

“Ugh… what happened?” Tangle said as she regained consciousness.

When her vision cleared, she got a good look around.

“Am I… back in the forest?” She asked.

That didn’t make sense though, how did she get in the forest again? She was in the middle of a field when that light appeared.

“Hey, did you hear something?” A voice suddenly said.

“Yeah, it came from over there.” Another responded.

“Oh thank goodness, someone’s here!” Tangle said. “Hey! Do you guys have any idea where I am right now?”

“Was that a girl? Probably got lost.” Said the first voice.

“Hold on miss! We’ll help you out of here.” The other added.

Eventually, after guiding each-other with their voices, they were finally able to meet up…

But none of them expected what they saw.

“Uhhhh….” Tangle said. “Are you guys related to someone named Eggman by any chance?”

…

…

…

“AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!”

“AH! WHY ARE YOU SCREA-“ Tangle started, but was cut off by a loud noise, which immediately made her decide to run away.

“OK! THEY HAVE PORTABLE TURRETS?! DO THEY WORK FOR EGGMAN?! WHAT’S GOING ON HERE?!” Tangle shouted as she ran as quickly weaved between the trees, trying to get away from those men.

Eventually, she managed to get away… only to find a city right outside the forest.

“… WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE?!”

One week later

“Tangle’s log, day seven.

It’s been about a week since I showed up in this forest, and yet I still haven’t managed to make any sense of anything.” Tangle wrote in a notebook she… found.

“On the first day, I decided to take a trip into the nearby city, though at night to avoid being seen. I didn’t want to risk more of those guys working for Eggman finding me. It is then that I found out that the city is full of people that looked just like him! Well, a lot like him… not many of them were as… round as the doctor, but you get the point. I did manage to overhear a conversation about how a blue hedgehog had outrun something called a… S-Team. I am assuming that was Sonic, so he is around here somewhere too. What I did the next couple of days was look around, and try to find some kind of hint as to where he could be. I’m hoping that he could shed some light on what is happening around here. That being said, no luck. I did see a lot of smoke coming from the city at one point, but it was the middle of the day, so I decided to not check it out, to avoid getting into trouble.

Now for some good news! While I can’t find Sonic, I think I might have found a good way to let him find me! I still have that tracker that the lady from the other day gave me, so maybe if I use that, he will see that I am here and come find me!… Don’t ask why I didn’t think of this sooner…

The bad news though, is that its batteries died, so I gotta find some way to charge it first, and that is what I am going to try and do tonight.”

Putting the notebook in her bag, Tangle set off back towards the city. If she could find some kind of plug, she should be able to recharge this thing.

She quickly found that she wasn’t going to have any luck in that department though.

“Seriously, would it kill em to put a plug outside?!” Tangle groaned out.

At this point, she was considering breaking into some place to try and find a plug.

“Well well well, look at what we have here!”

Well… crud.

Meanwhile, with Sonic.

“Hmm… well that certainly is strange…” Chuck said as he looked at his computer.

“What’s up?” Sonic asked.

“Well, I was doing some research on my computer here, trying to find out if another Chaos Emerald was found somewhere.” Chuck explained. “Instead, I found something quite interesting.”

“And that is…?” Sonic asked.

“Well, you did say that just about everyone in your group was here, outside of Knuckles, right?” Chuck asked.

“Yeah, that’s right. Why?” Sonic asked.

“Well, look at this.” Chuck said as he turned the computer screen towards Sonic.

Another Mysterious Creature Spotted?

“It says here that some hunters found someone that looked like it was related to you last week, Sonic.” Chuck said. “They said it tried asking them for directions, but they were so freaked out about it that one of them accidentally fired a bullet at it, causing it to run away.”

“Well, that’s weird…” Sonic said.

“You think it was Amy or Tails before they met up with you?” Chuck asked.

“Nope, wasn’t me.” Amy said as she walked into the room. “I would of remembered something like that.”

“Same here, I was in the middle of a field when I came to after Chaos Control.” Tails added.

“And we all know it wasn’t Cream, since the government found her pretty quickly.” Chris said.

“What about Mr. Knuckles?” Cream asked.

“I was with him pretty much the entire time before I met up with Sonic and Tails, so it couldn’t be him either…” Amy said.

“So… who is this?” Sonic asked.

“… Wait a minute, wasn’t there someone else who went after Eggman that day?” Tails asked. “If I remember correctly, she was a friend of that beetle that was with Cream’s mom.”

“Oh yeah! I think her name was… uh… Knot?” Amy said, though unsure.

“I think it was Tangle, actually.” Sonic said. “Good thinking Tails.”

“So wait, you think she got caught in Chaos Control?” Amy asked.

“Looks to be the case.” Chuck said.

“I was worried about that… I honestly had hoped that she left the tracker there and left before we arrived.” Sonic said.

“Tracker?” Chris asked.

“Yeah, it’s how we found Eggman’s base in the first place.” Sonic said. “We gave it to Vanilla just in case Eggman tried to kidnap one of them.”

“Maybe she still has it then? Maybe we could use that to track her down!” Chris said.

“Problem is, she needs to turn it on first, and I am willing to bet that the batteries died after she used it.” Tails explained. “So, unless she finds a way to charge it, that option is out.”

“How about we go to that forest tomorrow, maybe we’ll just find her.” Sonic said.

“Sounds like a good idea!” Tails said. “We’ll head over there tomorrow.”

“You don’t look like you’re from around here.” Said the woman before Tangle.

“Uh… who are you?” Tangle asked.

“Me? You can call me Rouge, Rouge the Bat, and you are?” Rouge asked.

“Oh, I’m Tangle.” Tangle said, recognizing that Rouge was not the same species as Eggman. “So… you got caught in that light too?”

“Yeah, was right near the source too.” Rouge said. “It’s called Chaos Control by the way.”

“Chaos Control?” Tangle asked. “So you know what that was?”

“All you need to know is that it sent us to some other world.” Rouge said. “At least, that’s what Doc said.”

“Doc… so you work for Eggman?!” Tangle asked.

“Pfft, no. I was trying to steal the Chaos Emeralds he had, but got caught up in this mess.” Rouge said.

“Oh… ok then.” Tangle said.

“So, what are you doing scurrying around here?” Rouge asked.

“Well, I WAS hoping to get this charged, but there isn’t anything to plug it into around here…” Tangle said, holding up the tracker.

“And this is?”

“A tracker, I’m hoping it’ll let me meet up with Sonic.” Tangle said.

“Hmm… well, how’s about I lend a hand.” Rouge said as she walked over to a nearby door.

Moments later, the door opened.

“Hold on, you can’t be serious.” Tangle said.

“Do you have any better ideas?” Rouge asked. “Now be quick, don’t want to risk anyone finding you in there.”

“Right… thanks…” Tangle said as she walked inside. “Gosh this feel so wrong…”

It didn’t take too long for Tangle to find a plug, and a few minutes later, the tracker was fully charged.

“Well, at least it charges quickly.” Tangle said as she walked out. “Rouge?”

She then closed the door to see a note there.

“You owe me one ;)

-Rouge”

“… She just wanted me to owe her a favor…” Tangle said. “Well, at least I can use this now… though they might be asleep, so I’ll try it in the morning.”

—

The next day

“Ok, it’s morning… let’s hope this works!” Tangle said as she pushed the button. “And now… I wait.”

...

One hour later

“WHERE ARE THEY?!”

“Ah man, that was good!” Sonic said as he finished off his plate of food.

“You sure Ella hasn’t caught on to us being here yet?” Tails asked.

“Well, she has been asking why I have been asking for more food lately, but I think it’ll be fine for now.” Chris said. “Anyways, you should get going.”

“Right, we gotta go find Tangle!” Sonic said as he and Tails went down to the Tornado.

When they got there though…

“Hey, is that beeping I hear?” Sonic asked.

“Yeah, it sounds like…” Tails said as he hopped into the cockpit. “Look! The tracker was turned on!”

“Well, that makes things a bit easier for us.” Sonic said. “Let’s go pick her up then!”

“Right!” Tails said before they took off.

Meanwhile

“Hmmm what is this…?” Eggman said as he looked at his screen. “Some kind of signal?”

“Hmm… this looks familiar.” Bocoe said.

“Yeah, almost like that one we saw just before Sonic showed up in our world.” Decoe added.

“… And you waited until now to tell me about this BECAUSE?!” Eggman asked.

“You were so busy with that energy amplifier that we didn’t want to interrupt!” Bocoe said.

“What if that signal is the reason that Sonic found us you incompetent buffoons?!” Eggman asked. “If that’s the case… then someone had to of lead them there….”

“What do you plan to do?”

“Oh, I am not going to do anything! You’re going to fix your mess though!” Eggman said with a grin.

“Is… is that them?” Tangle asked herself. “No… their plane was blue I think… I am starting to get tired of waiting.”

Deciding to take manners into her own hands, she decided to start walking towards a more open area.

It would of helped if she didn’t drop the tracker though.

“Ok, this should be good. Back to waiting I guess.” Tangle said.

Meanwhile, in another open area nearby.

“Ok, she should be over this way.” Tails said as the two of them began walking.

Meanwhile, in the sky.

“Ok, they should be over that way.” Bocoe said as they flew down into the forest.

Eventually, Sonic and Tails made their way to where the tracker was left.

“Ok, here’s the tracker, so where’s Tangle?” Sonic asked as he picked up the tracker.

“Maybe she dropped it… maybe she’s in trouble!” Tails said.

“Right, so let’s comb the are-“

“Hold it right there!”

“You shall pay for interfering with the great Dr. Eggman’s plans!”

“Oh great… speaking of trouble.”

“Wait, it’s just Sonic and Tails…” Bocoe said.

“Where’s the one that lead them to our base?” Decoe asked.

“That’s what we would like to know… and what’s with the armor?” Sonic asked.

“Dr. Eggman wants us to take care of whoever lead you to our base in the other world, so he gave us this armor to help with that.” Bocoe said.

“Well, sorry to say, but she isn’t here.” Sonic said. “I’ll be more than happy to help you test the armor out though.”

Tails just sighed at this. “I’ll go get a ring from the Tornado.”

“Alright bolts for brains, let’s dance.”

Back with Tangle

“Why do I hear fighting?” Tangle asked herself. She then looked towards the direction the noise was coming from, to see dust being kicked up.

“… Seriously? Instead of finding me, he picks a fight with someone?!” Tangle asked herself. “Ugh, fine, I’ll go to you then!”

And with that, she began to make her way over to the fight.

Eventually though…

“Whoa…”

Sonic was currently mopping the floor with a couple of robots, and she was completely mesmerized by the amount of skill the hedgehog was showing.

Shortly after, it was done.

“See you!” Sonic said as the two robots flew away with what was left of their armor.

“Whoa…”

“Huh?” Sonic said as he looked over in Tangle’s direction. “Hey! You Tangle?”

“Huh? Oh uh, yeah! That’s me!” Tangle said.

“Nice to finally meet you.” Sonic said. “You uh… dropped this.”

He then held out the tracker.

“… That explains a bit.” Tangle said.

“Yeah, sorry we couldn’t find you sooner, we really only just found out you were here.” Sonic said. “Now come on, Tails should be over by the plane, and we can take you to where everyone else is.”

“Sounds good!” Tangle said as they made their way over. “Say uh… you wouldn’t happen to know where my friend Jewel is, would you?”

“Probably still back home with Vanilla…” Sonic said.

“Oh… ok…” Tangle said, feeling a bit down.

She was really hoping that Jewel was with Sonic and the others.

“Still, we’re working on finding the Chaos Emeralds so we can go home, so hopefully you’ll see her soon.” Sonic said.

“Right… thanks.” Tangle said.

Eventually, the two arrived at the Tornado.

“Hey, there you are! I figured you were done already when you stopped making a bunch of noise, so I figured I would wait here.” Tails said. “Oh, and you must be Tangle! Nice to finally meet you!”

“Nice to meet you too… uh…”

“Miles Prower, but everyone just calls me Tails.” Tails said.

“Right, uh… why does everyone call you that exactly?” Tangle asked. “Been wondering that for a while now.”

“Oh, it’s cause of these.” Tails said as he gestured to his tails.

“… WHAAAAAAAAA?!”

End of Chapter 1

Not really much to say here, just know that the whole “Tangle’s log” thing is not gonna be a one time thing. I am basically going to use that to kinda give a good idea of which point in the show we are at, as well as give little snippets of what happens during some episodes that I simply didn’t want to fully write out, but got some good ideas for anyways.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2: Gifts 

“Uh… you alright?” Tails asked.

“Oh, uh, yeah! Just a bit surprised is all!” Tangle said. “I didn’t expect you to have two tails.”

“Seriously? Why did you think I was called that anyways?” Tails asked.

“I dunno, I never really thought about it!” Tangle said. “But still… two tails huh? That’s…”

‘Oh boy, here it comes…’ Tails thought.

“SO COOL!” Tangle said.

“Huh?” Tails said. “You think my tails are… cool?”

“Uh, yeah? Why wouldn’t I?” Tangle asked.

“Oh uh… no reason.” Tails said. “It’s just, not many people think they are cool at first.”

“Oh…” Tangle said. “Yeah, I guess some people wouldn’t be too… open, to the idea.”

“Yeah, Sonic here was the first, and really only person to call my tails cool right away.” Tails said.

“Really? What about Amy or Cream?” Sonic asked.

“They never really commented on them, so I never really knew how they felt about the whole thing at first.” Tails said.

“Yeah, the first impression would probably not be the best for most people…” Tangle said, though she seemed a little… down?

“Hey uh, you alright?” Tails asked, noticing Tangle’s mood change.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just uh, thinking of someone I knew.” Tangle said. “She had something similar, and well, she was bullied pretty bad for it.”

“I see… when we get back, maybe I can talk to her, give her some courage, you know?” Tails said.

“Yeah… I think they would like that…” Tangle said.

Sonic though, was not convinced by her story.

‘She’s hiding something…’ Sonic thought. ‘Better not press for details though…’

And with that, they all hopped on the plane, with Tangle taking a seat behind Tails, and took off.

“So, where are we going anyways?” Tangle asked.

“To our friend Chris’ place.” Tails said. “He’s been really nice to let us stay there until we find all the Chaos Emeralds, even though he really just met us last week.”

“Yeah, we gotta be careful though. He doesn’t quite want his maid and butler to know about us yet… don’t really know why though.” Sonic said.

“Maid? Butler? Is he rich or something?” Tangle asked.

“Pretty much, yeah.” Sonic said. “That being said, they should be out shopping most of the day, so you should be able to freely walk around the house for a while.”

“Speaking of the house, we’re getting close, so I should check and see if we are clear for landing.” Tails said before pushing a couple of buttons. “Hey Chuck, we found Tangle and are approaching the house now, are we clear for landing?”

“Chuck?” Tangle asked.

“Chris’ grandpa, don’t worry, he’s cool.” Sonic said.

“If you say so.” Tangle said.

“Hey Tails, that’s good to hear! Yeah, you are clear to land!” Chuck’s voice came in through the radio.

“…Whoa…” Tangle said as they landed.

“Pretty impressive, right?” Sonic asked.

“Yeah, I’ll say.” Tangle said. “It’s like a prince lives here!”

“I don’t know how Chris would feel about being called a prince…” Tails said.

“I wouldn’t mind, just don’t do it too often.” Chris said as he walked out of the garage.

“AH!” Tangle shouted as she leapt out and hid behind the Tornado.

“Uh… you good?”

“He’s one of those creeps working with Eggman!” Tangle shouted.

“Uh… what?” Chris asked.

“Hold on, they’re just the same species, they don’t actually work together.” Tails said.

“Then why did one of them shoot at me with their portable turret?!” Tangle asked.

“… I think there needs to be a lot of explaining here…” Sonic said.

Shortly after…

“Ok, so, Chris and Chuck are ‘Humans’ and that just happens to be the same species as Eggman.” Tangle said.

“Yup.”

“So, not every human is out to rule the world?” Tangle asked.

“Nope, most of them hate the doctor really.” Sonic said.

“Ok, but that doesn’t explain why that one guy shot me with his portable turret!” Tangle said.

“Well, he was a hunter… and they were kinda freaked out by what you looked like.” Chuck said.

“Wow… rude.” Tangle said, slightly annoyed at this.

“Mobians don’t normally exist in this world…” Tails said. “If it was any of us they probably would of reacted the same way.”

“Also, it was a hunter’s rifle, not a portable turret.” Chuck said.

“O…kay… a lot to take in here, but I think I got the gist of it.” Tangle said.

“Right, so let’s go show you around!” Sonic said as he went to exit the garage. “Oh geez, when did it start raining?”

“Probably just a moment ago.” Chuck said. “Come on, I have an umbrella.”

By the time they finished showing Tangle around and it became night, the rain finally let up, so now Tangle was relaxing on the roof of the garage.

“Gotta admit, Sonic was right. You really do get a good view of the stars from here.” Tangle said.

“Yeah, he always seems to know the best spots for this kind of thing.” Tails said.

“Yeah… wait…” Tangle said, realizing that Tails was in front of her… when she was on the edge of the roof.

Looking towards the fox, she was amazed at what she saw.

“YOU CAN FLY WITH THOSE?!” Tangle asked.

“Yeah, don’t ask how it works though, it’s complicated.” Tails said.

“…Tails?”

“Yeah?”

“You are officially the coolest dude I have ever met!” Tangle said.

“Nah, you’ve met Sonic!” Tails said bashfully.

“Can Sonic fly with his two tails that he totally has?” Tangle asked.

“Uh… no?”

“Then you’re cooler to me!” Tangle said.

“… Thanks Tangle…” Tails said.

This was the first time anyone thought he was cooler than Sonic.

“Anyways, we should probably get some sleep.” Tails said.

“Right.” Tangle said as she got up.

She didn’t count on how slippery the roof was from the rain though.

“WHOA!”

“Ta-“ Tails said before stopping himself.

Acting on instinct, Tangle used her tail to grab onto the ledge of the roof to try and stop her decent. Neither she, nor Tails expected what happened next.

THUD

“Ow…” Tangle said.

“Hey! You alright out he-“ Sonic said as he ran outside, but he stopped himself when he got a good look at the scene before him.

Tangle’s tail was still hanging onto the roof, but it had stretched out long enough for her to still land on the ground.

“… Tangle?” Sonic said.

“Y-yeah?”

“Why didn’t you tell us that you had a super stretchy tail?” Sonic asked.

Tangle sighed at this.

“I was worried at how you guys would react.” Tangle said as she curled up into a ball.

“Why in the world would you worry about that?” Tails asked.

“… Cause everyone always calls me a freak for it…”

“Oh… so that girl you mentioned earlier…” Sonic said.

“That was me… yeah.” Tangle said.

“Well, they don’t know what they’re saying!” Tails said. “I think your tail is really cool Tangle!”

“R-really?” Tangle said.

“Of course!” Tails said.

“That thing could really come in handy too.” Sonic said. “I think you will be able to do great things with it.”

“Heh… you know, I always wanted to become a great hero like you some day…” Tangle said.

“And I think you will. You have the heart for it, I can tell!” Sonic said.

“Yeah but… I literally would have no idea what I am doing to be honest.” Tangle said. “I haven’t really used this thing for anything…”

“So you need practice?” Tails asked. “We can help you with that!”

“R-really?!” Tangle said.

“Of course!” Sonic said. “From this day forward, you are a hero-in-training, studying under the great Sonic and Tails! Glad to have ya Tangle!”

Tangle didn’t respond verbally, but pulled the two of them into a hug.

“Thank you…”

“HEY! EASE UP ON THE HUGS!” Amy shouted from the window.

Tangle then leapt away.

Sonic and Tails just laughed at this, while Tangle was just wondering what just happened.

End of Chapter 2

So, I mentioned in the prologue that Tangle and Jewel were going to be a bit younger at the start of this. The reason I wanted to do that was because I wanted Tangle to have a bit of a student-teacher relationship with Sonic and Tails, and I thought it would make more sense if she was a bit younger than Sonic. As for Tails, well, that dude is smart enough to be considered an adult, so I’m letting that slide. As such, I decided to put Tangle’s age at the same as Amy’s, just so they are on equal footing. Honestly, I would of loved it if she was like this in IDW comics as well, but I still love what we got with her already. :)

I will reiterate this for you guys though, no, there won’t be any ships in this story. It may look like I am setting up something with Tails and Tangle, but that is simply a friendship thing, nothing romantic. The Cosmo and Tails thing during the metarex saga would be reaaaal awkward if I made them a possible pairing lol.

Something I want to mention: always assume that Tangle ends a chapter by writing in her log, unless the next chapter is a direct continuation of what is happening. The reason that she keeps a log of everything will be explained, don’t worry, but it would be better if you just assumed that.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed! The next chapter is going to take place during Episode 10 of the anime… yes, we are covering the baseball episode. It is a personal favorite of mine after all!

So, I will see you then!

Chapter Text

Chapter 3: Baseball 

“Tangle’s log, day… I’ve lost count at this point.

Things have been pretty nice since I met up with Sonic and the others. Not long after I starting living here, Chris’ parents decided to hold a house party, so we had to stay hidden in Chuck’s lab… with little success mind you as Cream I guess didn’t really want to do that… anyways, after that was all done, Ella and Tanaka found out that we have been living here, and they were very open to the idea… thankfully. They’ve been really nice to us, and have even been teaching Amy how to cook.

That being said, it hasn’t been perfect. Eggman is still being… well, from what I can tell, Eggman. Pretty quickly after the house party, he began sucking up these ‘satellites’ in space. It basically made it so we couldn’t watch TV… well, we could, but they were all these dumb shows that he made.

By the way, TV is just this thing that let’s you look into other peoples lives I guess? Though sometimes they try and put on some kind of show. Cream’s been really liking this show with a big purple guy, I forget his name.

Anyways, back to Eggman’s whole thing. Sonic and Tails attempted to fly up into space to try and stop him, but it didn’t work out the first time, so Tails completely rebuilt his plane in like… a day. That dude is actually incredible! Well, me and Chuck helped out. I didn’t really know anything about what they were talking about though, so I just helped them grab tools and stuff with my tail.

So now, we have the X-Tornado. It’s really cool, and was easily able to stop Eggman’s plan… but there is just one issue with it… the cockpits are a bit too tight for my taste… maybe I’ll talk about THAT some other time. Thankfully, I’ve been able to just ride on the outside for now. The amount of traction my shoes get on that plane is really surprising…”

“You don’t want to ride in the cockpit?” Tails asked.

“N-Nah, I’d rather ride on the outside.” Tangle said as Amy and Cream finished loading up the X-Tornado. “Feel the wind as we fly, you know?”

“I get it, Sonic likes riding on the outside too for the same reason.” Tails said. “Ok, just make sure you hold on tight when we take off. It’s pretty tough to hang on the first time.”

“You got it!” Tangle said.

“Anyways, a couple of days later, we ended up going to the beach. Eggman tried to take over a resort nearby, but Sonic and Amy were able to take care of that easily. After that, it was just fun in the sun for the rest of the day.

Oh yeah! I’ve been practicing a lot with my tail lately! I mentioned how I helped grab some tools before, and that helped me be a bit more precise with moving it. Today, I am planning on trying to work on that a bit more. Tails said he’s going to go for a test flight in a bit though, so I guess I am on my own for now.

Forgot to mention, since Tails is a bit of a tail expert, he’s kinda been coaching me on using mine, which has been really helpful.

Anyways, not much more to say, so I better get practicing!”

When Tangle finished writing, she put the notebook away and began to head outside.

“Hey Tangle! What are you doing?” Amy asked.

“Just gonna go out back and get some tail practice done.” Tangle said.

“Oh, well, Tails already left for his test flight if you were looking for him.” Amy said.

“Nah, it’s fine. I can practice on my own.” Tangle said. “Anyways, what are you doing?”

“Oh, right. Ella wanted to teach us all proper dining table etiquette tonight, and I was just telling everyone about it.” Amy said.

“That sounds… really boring…” Tangle said.

“It might be, but you never know when it could come in handy!” Amy said. “So you should probably come and at least listen for a bit. Even Sonic agreed to come!”

Tangle sighed at this. “Fine, but I want to get some practice done first.”

“Of course! Let us know if you need us!” Amy said as she walked away.

“Alright, let’s get to work!” Tangle said as she began to get set up for practice.

A couple of hours later, she wished that she went on that flight with Tails.

“That’s right! You’re all such smart good children!” Ella said in praise of Amy, Cream and Cheese.

“I still don’t get the point of this…” Tangle said as she took a bite out of her food.

“You never know when you will be eating out in a fancy restaurant Tangle!” Amy said. “You don’t want to be rude in that kind of setting, do you?”

“I was kinda hoping we could get home as soon as possible to be honest…” Tangle said, still worried about Jewel back home.

“That is something we can agree on.” Sonic said as he took a bite out of an apple.

“Sonic, that is bad manners.” Tanaka scolded.

“Seriously though, why does Tails get to pass on this?” Tangle asked.

“He HAS been gone for quite some time… I hope nothing happened.” Chuck said.

At that very moment, the group heard the sounds of a rocket flying into the room.

“Hello!” The Messenger Robot said as he floated into the room. “I have a message for you from the great Dr. Eggman!”

“An Eggman robot?!” Tangle asked.

“Eh? Who’s this girl?” Messenger Robot asked. “You new? I didn’t see you the last time I was here.”

“Uh… yeah, name’s Tangle.” Tangle said.

“That’s just the messenger robot, don’t worry, he doesn’t do that much harm normally.” Amy said. “He mostly just delivers messages… that typically explode.”

“… So take cover, got it!” Tangle said as she hid behind the chair.

“Wow… rude.” Messenger robot said before the small TV in his hands lit up.

“Hey Sonic! Look out the window!” Eggman said.

“Window?” Sonic asked as he walked over to the window and opened it.

In the distance, they could see a large pillar of light.

“What in the world?!” Tangle asked.

“That’s the light of a Chaos Emerald!” Cream said.

“And from the looks of things, there’s more than one.” Sonic said.

“At the base of that light should be multiple Chaos Emeralds!” Eggman said. “That location is…”

He then disappeared from the screen, only to come back in… a baseball uniform?

“Diamond Stadium!”

Chuck and Tanaka both looked really excited at this revelation.

“I’ll pay you back for everything with this white ball!” Eggman said as he held up a baseball, before the screen went blank.

“Now! This robot will automatically hit a thousand baseballs!” Messenger robot said as he pulled out a bat.

“… Say what now?” Tangle asked.

Messenger Robot then began laughing as he sent hundreds of baseballs hurdling around the room.

“WHOA!” Tangle shouted as she took cover under the table, while everyone tried dodging the baseballs.

Thankfully, Ella stopped the robot before he could do much damage, and threw him out of the building.

“We gotta get going!” Sonic shouted as everyone rushed out of the building and into Chuck’s Car… though Sonic opted to run instead.

“… Wait, when did Tanaka get the time to change?!” Tangle asked.

When everyone arrived, Eggman was already in the stadium. What caught Tangle by surprise was the fact that Tails was also already there, along with some red dude she didn’t know.

While Sonic and Eggman talked, the red dude walked over.

“So, who’s this?” He asked.

“Tangle, nice to meet you.” Tangle said as she put her hand out.

“Knuckles.” Knuckles said as they shook hands.

At that moment, a shadow covered the group as they looked up to see some kind of ship. The ship then dropped a group of nine robots onto the field.

What happened next was what Tangle considered to be the craziest thing she had seen since she arrived in this world.

They were all agreeing to wager the two chaos emeralds on a baseball game.

“Uh… is this really a good idea?” Tangle asked.

“Don’t worry about it, we’ll win just fine.” Sonic said with a grin.

“It could be a lot of fun!” Amy said. “Definitely a welcome change from fighting robots.”

“Are you all stupid?!” Knuckles asked. “This is the fate of the entire planet we are talking about here!”

“Geez, don’t be a spoil sport…” Eggman said.

“You really are lame Knuckles…” Amy said.

Everyone then proceeded to make fun of Knuckles, with even Tangle joining in.

“Seriously, are you really such a kill-joy?” Tangle asked. “Not a good first impression dude…”

Eventually, Knuckles relented, and even made a claim that he would hit a home run during every one of his times at-bat.

And so, the game began.

The game itself went… weirdly.

The team of robots that everyone was up against was flat out ridiculous. They pitched incredible fast-balls, hit the ball really hard, and just overall had incredible physical abilities.

Yet somehow they were able to keep up with it.

Knuckles, true to his word, had just hit another home run, scoring three runs, since Cream and Cheese were on base from getting walked.

So now, at the bottom of the final inning, with two outs, they were only down by one run.

And it was at this point that they noticed that they had gathered a bit of a crowd.

“Well… that’s something I guess.” Tangle said.

“This really isn’t a good situation though…” Chuck said. “We were able to tighten the gap, but if they get one more out here, we lose…”

“We’ll be counting on you, Tangle.” Sonic said.

“Right…” Tangle said as she grabbed a bat.

She then looked back towards everyone.

“I promise you guys, I will score the tying run.” Tangle said. “You can count on that!”

“That’s the spirit!” Sonic said. “Give it your all!”

Tangle then went up to home plate.

“You sure this is a good idea?” Knuckles asked. “We don’t really know what she’s capable of, do we?”

“True, but I can tell what she wants to do here.” Sonic said. “She wants to prove herself, prove that she is capable of helping us. Who am I to deny her the chance to do that?”

“I guess…” Knuckles said.

At this moment, Eggman walked over.

“Been meaning to ask, who’s the new girl?”

“That’s Tangle, she got caught up in Chaos Control.” Sonic explained.

It was at this moment that the first pitch was thrown, with Tangle barely missing the swing.

“I see…” Eggman said. ‘She must of been the one who led them to my base!’

He then got a wicked grin on his face.

‘Time to teach her a lesson…’

“Time out!” Eggman suddenly shouted before the second pitch was thrown.

“Huh?” Sonic asked.

Eggman then walked over to the pitcher and whispered something.

Sonic walked over to Tangle as well.

“He’s up to something, keep an eye out.” Sonic said.

“Gotcha.” Tangle said.

Shortly after, the game resumed.

‘Alright, this is it. Time to prove myself!’

The robot began his wind up.

‘I am going to get on base, then I am going to do my thing and score that run! I am going to prove that I belong with everyone! I am going to win the game for them! I AM GOING TO-‘

“TANGLE WATCH OUT!”

“Huh?”

THWACK

The group could only look on in horror as pitch struck her in the left temple, sending the poor lemur flying back and onto the ground, completely out cold.

“Tangle!” Tails shouted as he rushed over.

“AH! I SAID A SLOW BALL YOU IDIOT! SLOW! BALL!” Eggman shouted.

At this point, the crowd began booing.

“HEY!” Tails shouted at Decoe. “That was clearly on purpose!”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Decoe said. “Pitcher robot is kicked from the game!”

“Oh… that was easy.” Tails said as the pitcher robot sulked off of the field… only for another robot just like him to drop down from the ship and take it’s place. “… Should of seen that coming…”

“Someone get her some ice! Her head is gonna be really sore when she wakes up!” Chuck said as Tanaka went to do just that.

“Well hurry up and get her off the field!” Eggman said. “We have a game to finish!”

“We are NOT playing again until she wakes up!” Amy said. “This is your fault, so deal with it!”

“Oh come on, we are one out away!” Eggman said.

“Doesn’t matter, a player is hurt on the field, so we have to make sure she is alright.” Chuck said. “Deal with it.”

“Grrr… fine!”

And so, the game was put on hold until Tangle woke up.

After a couple of minutes…

“Ugh…”

“Hey! I think she’s waking up!” Amy said.

At that moment, Tangle’s eyes slowly opened.

“What happened?”

“You got hit in the head pretty hard.” Sonic said. “Don’t worry, we put the game on hold for you.”

“Oh… ok… ow…” Tangle said as she rubbed her left temple. She then got up with Amy’s help.

“Gimme a minute…”

“Take your time.” Tails said.

After a moment, she managed to collect herself. “Ok, I’m good.”

“Alright, go take a seat, we can…” Chuck started.

“Hold on, isn’t that called a ‘Dead ball?’ And doesn’t that mean I go to first base?”

“Uh… yeah?” Chuck said.

“I still have a promise to keep, don’t I?” Tangle said.

“Hold on, you can’t expect me to believe you can run like that, can you?” Chuck asked.

“Who said anything about running?” Tangle said. “Don’t worry, I got this!”

“Geez, it’s a miracle that you are still standing right now, and you want to keep playing…” Chuck said.

“Jewel always said that I had a hard head!” Tangle said with a laugh. “Ow ow ow… ok, laughing hurts…”

“… Alright, we’re counting on you.” Chuck said as Tangle walked over to first base, but not before whispering something to Sonic.

“Play ball!” Decoe shouted out as Sonic went up to bat.

Eggman then began to laugh.

“You all seem to not of realized the genius part of my plan here!” Eggman said. “With someone on base in front of him, Sonic can’t use his speed at all! He’s completely stuck!”

“Oh? Am I really?” Sonic asked.

“Uh… yeah?” Eggman said.

“We’ll see about that.” Sonic said

Sonic then did something that caught everyone off guard… he just stood there. He didn’t get ready to bat, he didn’t really do anything.

“What’s he doing?” Chris asked.

“Wait… what’s Tangle doing?!” Tails asked as he pointed to first base.

That is when they realized what Tangle had planned this whole time, as her tail was currently stretching all the way to second base as the robot threw the first pitch.

The robot behind home plate very clearly saw this, and threw the ball to the second base robot, who tagged the tail.

“HAHA! WE WI-“ Eggman began to shout as the tail touched second base.

“Safe!” Bocoe shouted.

“WHAT?!” Eggman practically screamed.

“She was on first base when she was tagged.” Bocoe explained as Tangle casually walked to second base, tail still on the base.

“Oh come on! That has to be against the rules!” Eggman said.

“Not my fault she has a really long tail.” Bocoe said.

“HA! A TASTE OF YOUR OWN MEDICINE!” Tails cheered.

It was at this moment that Eggman realized what this meant. There was absolutely no way to get Tangle out at this point… meaning…

“Safe!” Bocoe said as Tangle successfully stole third base.

“AH! WHY’D YOU TRY TO PICK HER OFF YOU IDIOT!” Eggman shouted. “JUST STRIKE SONIC OUT!”

Tangle then began stretching her tail towards home plate as the wind up began, and she was successfully able to touch home plate before third pitch was thrown.

“Safe!” Bocoe said.

“ALRIGHT!” Everyone shouted.

The game was now tied.

Tangle then walked over to the dugout in high spirits… and then promptly collapsed onto the bench.

“Someone get me an ice pack… please?” She pleaded.

“I’ll get it.” Tails said.

He shortly returned.

“Thank you…” Tangle said as she applied it to her head.

“No proble-“

“CHRIS RUN!” Chuck suddenly shouted.

“OW!” Tangle shouted back. “Keep it down please…”

“Oh… sorry.” Chuck said. “But hey! We won!”

“Wait, what?” Tangle asked. She then saw that Sonic was standing on home plate, with Chris on first base.

“… Huh… go us!” Tangle said before laying down on the bench.

Though the sounds of the cheering crowd was not making things pleasant for her.

“Rest up, you earned it.” Knuckles said. “Wait, what’s going on out there?”

At this point, Tangle tried to tune out all of the noise… but Knuckles suddenly shouting at Sonic to jump, and the explosion shortly after didn’t help.

Then, there was a lot of talking happening, but she didn’t really know what it was about, until…

“And as for the young lady on the bench.” A voice said. “Our team trainer is here, and they would be happy to check her injury for you.”

“Oh, that would be great! Bring him out!” Chuck said.

Because she was able to hear that last part, she had a fairly good idea of what was happening when someone came over and began to check out her head.

“Well, that’s surprising, she doesn’t seem to have a concussion.” The man said.

“That’s good.” Sonic said. “Just try and get some sleep, we’ll take you home.”

“Mmkay.” Tangle said as she began to close her eyes.

She then heard Knuckles’ voice.

“You did a good job kid, you should be proud.”

And with that, she drifted off to sleep with a smile on her face.

End of Chapter 3

I had to write a chapter on this episode. Sports episodes of anime are always a good time in my opinion, and this is a personal favorite of mine!

Tangle getting nailed in the head is something I was debating on for a bit. I wanted her to get on base so she could do the tail thing, but I also wanted to establish that she is REALLY capable of taking a hit. The lack of a concussion proves that. So, I beat her up a bit… sorry Tangle…

Anyways the next chapter is gonna cover Episodes 12 and 13 of the anime, so I will see you then!

Chapter Text

Chapter 4: Infiltration

“Tangle’s log,

It’s been about a week since the baseball game. While Eggman got away with the second Chaos Emerald that day, I won’t let that get me down! We’ll find a way to get that one back, so for now we are focusing on finding the other five.

A couple of days ago, me, Sonic, Tails and Chris all went for a flight on the X-Tornado to try and find an emerald, but came up with nothing… also, Sonic almost fell off the plane.

Then, the next day, Chris ended up getting a bit of a lead on what might of been a Chaos Emerald, so we went to check it out with a couple of his friends from school as well as Amy… either we were sent on a wild goose chase, or someone got to it before us… great.

Might not seem like much, but that is pretty much everything that’s been going on. I’ve been practicing with my tail a lot of course, with me starting to practice fighting with it now. This thing really packs a punch though!”

“Alright, let’s see if you can break this!” Chuck said as he pointed to a giant rock next to him.

“…Where did you get that?” Tangle asked.

“I know a guy in construction, he said this was in the way, so I told him I could use it.” Chuck explained.

“… Gotcha…” Tangle said as she began to wind up her tail.

When she sent it shooting forward though, she was amazed to see that the rock completely broke apart on impact, leaving just a pile of rubble in it’s wake.

“Wow!” Tails said. “Talk about powerful!”

“AWWWW YEAH!” Tangle said. “We are going places with power like that!”

She then proceeded to give her tail a high five.

“That being said, Tails told me that just having power is not everything, and I need to be able to use it well. Makes sense, so I have been trying to practice using my tail in fights… though it is hard to do that when I don’t want to risk hurting someone by accident.

Anyways, something else that’s been on my mind though is that bat girl, Rouge. I haven’t heard from her at all since I met up with Sonic and the others. I hope she’s alright…

Welp, that’s all I got to say! Everyone went out looking for a Chaos Emerald already, so I am gonna spend the day practicing. I better get to it!”

The White House

“So that’s the plan.” The general said.

“Hmm… I see.” The President said. “And what are the chances that we could get Sonic to help us?”

“Knowing that guy, not too high.” Rouge said. “He marches at the beat of his own drum that one.”

“I see… I would like to get some additional help from Sonic and his friends truth be told.” The president said.

“Understandable, just having one of them would increase the chances of success by a large margin.” Topaz said.

“Hmmm… well, I may not be able to get Sonic’s help, but I think I know someone who would be a lot more willing.” Rouge said.

“Really?! Who?” Topaz asked.

“Well…”

Shortly after putting the notebook down, Tangle heard a knocking at the window in the living room.

“Huh?”

She went over to the window and opened it, and was surprised at what, or rather, who she saw.

“Rouge?” Tangle asked.

“Well well, looks like you found Sonic and the others just fine.” Rouge said as she flew in through the window.

“Yeah, thanks to you.” Tangle said. “Thanks a lot for that by the way.”

“Don’t mention it. Actually, I am here to cash in on that favor you owe me.” Rouge said.

“Oh… right yeah I guess I do owe you one…” Tangle said. “Alright, what’s going on?”

“Well, let’s just say that I had been having fun stealing some nice gems lately…”

“THAT WAS YOU?!” Tangle asked. “Nope, no way, not helping you steal something.”

“Oh just listen, I’m not asking you to help steal something.” Rouge said. “I ended up getting caught… and the president then recruited me into the military.”

“Wait, what?” Tangle asked.

“Don’t ask, they seem to think I would be a good asset. And I am getting amnesty for my previous crimes, which is nice.” Rouge said. “That being said though, we are planning an attack on Eggman.”

“You are?”

“Yup, and we were hoping that you could help us out.” Rouge said.

“Why me?” Tangle asked.

“Sonic’s too much of a loose cannon to rely on helping us, Tails and Amy would only really follow him, the rabbit is too young and Knuckles is who knows where right now.” Rouge explained. “You’re the only one we can reliably recruit for this.”

“I… see…” Tangle said. “But you have to realize, I haven’t really gotten in a fight with Eggman or his robots before. I don’t know how helpful I would be.”

“Oh please, I’m sure you’ll be fine.” Rouge said. “That pile of rubble in the back yard tells me that you could hit hard at least.”

“How do you know that was me?” Tangle asked.

“I have my ways.” Rouge said.

In truth, one of the President’s spies were keeping an eye on them, and he got footage of her destroying the rock.

“Also, we all saw what happened during the baseball game.” Rouge said.

“You mean me getting knocked out?” Tangle asked.

“Yeah, but I think even Knuckles would of been hurt pretty bad from a baseball going over two hundred miles per hour hitting his head.” Rouge said.

“… It was going THAT FAST?!” Tangle asked.

“Apparently. And you were able to get up and keep going after that.” Rouge said. “That means you can really take a hit.”

“Alright…” Tangle said. “You… really believe that I can help?”

“Yup.”

“… Alright, I’ll do it… but under one condition.” Tangle said.

“And that is?”

“We have to try and take back the Chaos Emerald that Eggman took during the baseball game.” Tangle said.

“I was already planning on it.” Rouge said. “Don’t worry, it should be right around where our target is.”

“Alright, good.” Tangle said. “Let’s get going.”

And with that, the two left through the window.

“Ms. Tangle? Who are you talking to?” Cream asked as she walked into the room. “Ms. Tangle?”

“You must be Tangle, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” The President said as he extended his hand.

“Oh uh… nice to meet you too.” Tangle said as they shook hands. “So uh… what’s the plan here?”

“Our air and sea forces will be causing a diversion with a direct attack on Eggman’s base. Then a smaller team, which you will be on, will infiltrate the base and destroy the reactor.” The General explained.

“Sounds simple enough.” Tangle said. “When do we leave?”

“You shall be heading out right away.” The President said. “One of agents has confirmed that your friends have found a Chaos Emerald, and we believe that Eggman will be leaving his base to try and take it.”

“They found one?!” Tangle asked. “That makes three now!”

“Indeed.” The President said. “While I would like to know more about these emeralds, that could wait. For now, we must strike. Good luck team.”

And with that, they were off.

Meanwhile

“Mr. Sonic!” Cream shouted as she ran up to Sonic.

“What’s up kiddo?” Sonic asked.

“The president is launching an attack on Dr. Eggman!” Cream said. “And not only that, I can’t find Ms. Tangle anywhere!”

“What?!” Sonic asked.

Cream just nodded her head. “I thought I heard her talking to someone about Dr. Eggman, but when I walked into the room, she was gone!”

“Don’t tell me she’s planning on going to Eggman’s base…” Sonic said. “We gotta get over there and help out!”

“Right!”

The two of them then went off to find Tails so they could take the X-Tornado.

Later, in Eggman’s base

“Alright, we’re in.” Rouge said. “Let’s get moving.”

“Right!” Tangle said as they began to follow Rouge.

Not long after though, they stopped.

“Great…”

“What’s up?” Tangle asked.

“We got company.” Rouge said as a robot walked into view.

Tangle swallowed thickly at this. “Ok… first robot…”

“You’ll be fine, just follow my lead!” Rouge said as she leapt into action, kicking the robot with all her might and sending it backwards a bit.

Following Rouge’s example, Tangle charged forward, and shot her tail towards the robot at full power, punching a sizable hole in it’s chest.

“HAHA! GOTTEM!” Tangle said as the robot collapsed to the ground.

‘Dang, that tail really does pack a punch… that thing’s armor was thick!’ Rouge thought. “Good work, now, let’s keep moving.”

“Right!” Tangle said in high spirits.

Eventually, they arrived at their destination.

“There’s the location!” Topaz shouted as they began to approach the door.

Suddenly, another large robot identical to the previous one burst through the wall.

“Another one?!” Tangle asked.

“Don’t worry, we can handle it. You guys just go in and get started!” Rouge said, gesturing to Topaz and the troops with them.

“Right.” Topaz said.

While Tangle and Rouge began fighting the robot though, a bunch of turret robots rose up from the ground and began firing at the group.

“What in the wo-“ Tangle said before getting cut off by a laser brushing across her right arm. “Ow!”

“You alright?” Rouge asked, but was then suddenly grabbed by the robot they were fighting… only for her to quite easily destroy the claw.

‘Remind me to never make her mad…’ Tangle thought.

“We’re pinned!” Topaz shouted as they all ducked under some lasers.

Suddenly, Knuckles burst into the room, and began to tear the robots apart.

“Wait… what?” Tangle asked. “Knuckles, when did you get here?”

“I uh… may or may not of just hitched a ride…” Knuckles said. “Wait, Tangle? What are you doing here?”

“Helping out, duh!” Tangle said.

“Ok, but helping out with what?” Knuckles asked.

“Destroying this place.” Rouge said. “Now come on, we have work to do.”

“Uh… right. I guess I can help out with that.” Knuckles said. “Lead the way!”

And with that, they all went into the power station.

“So, we just gotta go down this hole that you made the last time you were here, and they will plant the bomb, right?” Tangle asked.

“Yeah, you mind lending them a hand in getting down there?” Rouge asked.

“Sure.” Tangle said as she began stretching her tail to be used as a makeshift rope. “Just don’t pull on it too hard, ok?”

“Right.” Topaz said as they all began to climb down the tail.

“So, where is that Chaos Emerald?” Tangle asked.

“Hold that thought.” Rouge said as she suddenly kicked behind her.

Turns out, there was a drone monitoring the room.

“Anyways, last time we were here it was up here… but that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore…” Rouge explained.

“Ugh… seriously?” Tangle asked. “Well, hopefully Tails and the others were able to get that third Emerald…”

At that moment though, the entrance to the room suddenly became sealed shut.

“What in the world?” Tangle asked.

“Looks like we’re locked in…” Rouge said.

“What?!” Topaz asked as she climbed back up the tail.

“Don’t worry, I’ll have us out of here in a jiffy.” Rouge said as she went over to kick the door.

Only for it to not have any effect.

Then Knuckles tried punching it, to the same result.

“Let me try.” Tangle said as she sent her tail at the door with full force. Again though, nothing.

Topaz then asked if they could disarm the bombs, but was horrified to find out that it would be impossible.

“Come on! Maybe if all three of us attack it, we can get through in time!” Knuckles said as he got to punching.

Rouge then joined in with a flurry of kicks, as Tangle began to punch the door with her tail.

After a while, they managed to deal some good damage to the door, before the entire building began to suddenly shake.

“I don’t like where this is going…” Tangle said.

“Together now!” Knuckles said as they all wound up for a large attack.

And they managed to blow a hole into the door.

“ALRIGHT!” Tangle shouted. She then took a look at the hole in the door, and saw…

“GET DOWN!” She shouted as they all ducked underneath a beam of light that suddenly tore through the door and into the room. “Was that Sonic?”

Tangle then noticed that Knuckles and Rouge began to argue over… something.

“Come on! We gotta get going!” Tangle shouted as she began running.

Eventually, they all made it outside of the base, just before it all went up in flames.

When it was all said and done, the base was gone.

“Wait… where’s Sonic?” Tangle asked.

Suddenly something shot out from the smoke and landed on the X-Tornado flying above them. Tangle looked up to see Sonic, and he was holding two Chaos Emeralds!

“ALRIGHT!” Tangle shouted.

Meanwhile, up with Sonic.

“Sonic? You alright? You seem kinda worried about something.” Chris asked.

“…Tangle was in there.” Sonic said.

“What?!” Tails asked. “Did she get out in time?”

“That’s what I’m worried about.” Sonic said as he began looking around. Eventually, his eyes landed on the group on the ground. “Found her! Go down for a landing.”

“Right!” Tails said as he began to descend before switching to X-Cyclone for a landing.

“SINCE WHEN DOES THAT THING HAVE LEGS?!” Tangle asked. “THAT’S SO CO-“

She was cut off when she noticed how upset that Sonic looked.

“What in the world were you doing in there?!” Sonic asked.

“Uh… they wanted my help with the mission… so…” Tangle said.

“So you, someone who has had zero experience in fighting Eggman or his robots, thought it would be a good idea to just barge into his base?!” Sonic asked.

“Uh… I… uh…”

“Hey Sonic, ease up a bit.” Tails said. “She’s ok, that’s all that matters…”

“She almost died in there Tails… I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if that happened…” Sonic said. “Listen, I know you are eager to help out. I get that, but please, don’t be so quick to jump into danger like that. You could of at least told us that you were going…”

“R-right… I’m sorry.” Tangle said.

“While I agree that she was being a bit dumb, she actually did a really good job.” Rouge said.

“You were the one who invited me…” Tangle mumbled out.

Ignoring Tangle’s remark, Sonic turned to Rouge. “Really?”

“Oh yeah, took out a robot in one shot that even I would of had trouble breaking through it’s armor.” Rouge said. “That tail of hers really packs a punch.”

‘Wait, but she did the same thing a bit later…’ Tangle thought, but then she noticed Rouge smirk in her direction.

Rouge was covering for her.

“Really now? Well, that is pretty impressive.” Sonic said. “… Alright fine, you did a good job in there, just make sure you tell us the next time you plan on doing something like this, ok?”

“Right…” Tangle said.

“Anyways, Tails, get some bandages out? We should probably wrap up that arm of hers.”

“Huh? What are you talking…” Tangle said as a sharp pain suddenly shot through her right arm.

That’s right, that laser from before.

“OW!” Tangle said.

“Guess the adrenaline from the whole situation dulled the pain.” Knuckles said.

“Here, let’s clean the wound and get it patched up.” Tails said as he came back with a first aid kit.

Shortly after, the wound was patched up and the group said goodbye to Knuckles and Rouge. After that, they took off, with Tangle in tow.

While they were flying back however…

“Hey uh… Tangle?” Sonic suddenly said. “Sorry about being so mad at you before.”

“It’s no problem, you were right, I was being kinda dumb.” Tangle said.

“Still, doesn’t excuse me yelling at you.” Sonic said. “It’s just… I’ve been doing this hero thing for a while now. I’ve seen a lot of things…”

“Sonic?”

“I’m gonna be honest with you Tangle, I’m not perfect. I’ve seen people die before… and had to tell their friends and family about it.” Sonic said. “It… isn’t easy… on the outside, I have to try and keep a straight face… look tough in the face of adversity… but on the inside…”

“It tears you apart.” Tangle said.

“Yeah… I just… when I saw that you were hurt… I just thought about having to tell Jewel what had happened if you died…” Sonic said. “That… that would break me, telling her that you died, and just after I agreed to help you…”

“Sonic…” Tangle said before tearing up a bit. “I’m so sorry...”

“Don’t be… you just wanted to help.” Sonic said. “Again though, tell us when you plan on doing something like that.”

“You got it.” Tangle said.

The two then looked on as they flew back to the house.

End of Chapter 4

I would like to reiterate that Sonic is taking on a bit of a mentoring role with Tangle in this story. He has been shown to get a bit mad at his friends when he thinks they do something dumb, as shown in Sonic Lost World, so I think he would scold Tangle on going off without telling him.

Anyways, next chapter is actually going to be fully original. It’ll take place in between episodes 13 and 14 in the anime, so you don’t really need to keep watching any further to be up to date on what happens.

So, see you all next time!

Chapter Text

Chapter 5: Claustrophobia 

“Tangle’s log,

It’s been two days since we took down Eggman’s base. With us having three Chaos Emeralds now, we are in high spirits. It’s looking like we might be able to go home soon… that being said, we aren’t even half way there yet, so it might still be a while.

My little injury from the attack has completely healed now, and thankfully there isn’t a scar… at least, not one visible through my fur. Thank goodness us Mobians heal real quickly.

Anyways, that whole thing made me realize something, Knuckles was able to easily dodge in between the lasers while charging at those turrets. There is no way I would be able to do that right now, so, I am setting aside the tail practice for a bit and working on being more agile. I’m actually taking a bit of a break from the training right now. We flew out to a field with some trees and rocks around, and Sonic ran back to the house to grab some water, so we are waiting for him at this point.

Anyways, I better do some stretches before Sonic gets back.”

Tangle put the notebook in her bag and walked over to Tails.

“You really like keeping a log of everything, huh?” Tails asked.

“I figured Jewel will probably want to know everything that I’ve been up to when I get back, so keeping a log of it all will help with that!” Tangle explained.

“Right, anyways, looks like that’s Sonic right now.” Tails said.

When Sonic got closer, they immediately noticed that he didn’t have the water he promised.

“Hey, sorry, but I think we should end things off for today.” Sonic said. “A really nasty storm is heading straight towards us. It’s already over the house too.”

“Oh… alright, let’s get going then.” Tangle said as she made her way over to the X-Tornado.

Shorty after, they took off, though it didn’t take long for them to be in the storm.

“Geez, this wind is crazy!” Tangle said.

“Yeah, we should probably get into the cockpit.” Sonic said. “Hey Tails, open them up for us?”

“Yeah, sure, just be quick!” Tails said as he opened up the back cockpit.

“Wait… can’t I just stay out here?” Tangle asked.

“You could, but you would probably fall off, and we can’t have that.” Sonic said. “Come on, you’ll be a lot safer in here.”

“R-right…” Tangle said as she climbed in after Sonic.

It didn’t take long for Sonic to realize that something was wrong though.

“Geez, this wind must be worse than I thought, the whole plane’s shaking!” Sonic said.

“Uh, no it isn’t… what are you talking about Sonic?” Tails asked. “Do you really think the X-Tornado can’t handle a bit of wind?”

“Wait, if the plane isn’t shaking… then why does it feel like it is?” Sonic asked.

He then looked backwards and found his answer.

Tangle was curled up in a ball, and shaking uncontrollably. It was so violent that it was affecting his own chair as well.

“Tangle?! You alright?” Sonic asked.

No response.

He then got a good look at her eyes.

She looked absolutely terrified.

“Tails, we need to hurry home.” Sonic said. “I think the sooner we land, the better.”

“Gotcha!” Tails said as he sped up.

Eventually, they landed and pulled into the garage.

As soon as they stopped though, Tangle practically leapt out of the cockpit and began breathing heavily as she laid on her back.

“You alright?” Sonic asked.

“N-not really…” Tangle said.

“You want to talk about it?” Tails asked.

“Y-yeah… just give me a minute.” Tangle said.

“Come on, we’ll talk inside.” Sonic said as he helped her to her feet and guided her to the house.

“Here you go sweetie, it’ll help you calm down a bit.” Ella said as she handed Tangle some tea.

“T-thanks Ella…” Tangle said as she grabbed the cup.

“So, what’s going on with you?” Amy asked. “It’s not like you to freak out like that.”

“… Promise me none of you will laugh?” Tangle asked.

“We would never laugh at you sweetie, now, what’s wrong?” Ella said.

“… I’m claustrophobic.” Tangle said.

“Claustro-what?” Chris asked.

“Claustrophobic, it means that she’s afraid of tight spaces.” Chuck explained. “From the looks of things, a pretty bad case of it too.”

“Whenever I get into a tight space, my mind just… shut’s down… and you saw what happens to me after that…” Tangle said.

“Any idea how this started?” Sonic asked.

“No… not really…” Tangle said.

“Alright, but why didn’t you tell us about this before?” Tails asked.

“I was… embarrassed about it.” Tangle explained. “You are all so fearless all the time… I thought that if you found out, you would think I was weak…”

“Tangle… that’s so dumb…” Sonic said rather bluntly.

“Huh?”

“Sonic! You can’t just-“

“Let me talk.” Sonic said. “You really think that we’re all completely fearless?”

“You… you’re not?” Tangle asked.

“Of course not!” Sonic said.

“There are a lot of things that scare me…” Cream said, with Cheese giving an affirmative “Chao Chao!”

“I’m afraid of Sonic getting hurt or… you know… worse…” Amy said.

They all then looked to Tails.

“… I’m afraid of-“

At that moment, a bolt of lightning struck outside.

“AH!” Tails shouted as he hid under the couch.

“…Lightning, he’s afraid of lightning.” Sonic said. “As for me, well, you already know that I can’t stand water.”

“Right… so, it’s alright for me to be afraid?” Tangle asked.

“Of course it is! Nobody’s perfect.” Sonic said. “That being said, if you want, we could work on it a bit.”

“Work on it?” Tangle asked.

“Try and get you to overcome your fear. At least to the point that a ride in the X-Tornado wouldn’t cause you to freak out like that.” Sonic explained.

“You… would really be alright with helping me with that?” Tangle asked.

“Of course!” Sonic said. “For now though, let’s wait out the storm.”

“Right… so uh, we gonna help Tails out from under the couch or…?” Tangle asked.

The Next Day

“Alright Sonic, how are we going to do this?” Tangle asked as Sonic was leading her somewhere.

“Well, here’s what I think.” Sonic said as he stopped walking. “The best way to overcome your fear…

is with a trial by fire!”

“Wait, wha-“

Tangle didn’t get to finish the thought as Sonic suddenly shoved her into a nearby closet and blocked it from opening.

“NONONONONONO! SONIC THIS ISN’T FUNNY!” Tangle shouted as she banged on the door.

“The best way to overcome your fear is to face it Tangle! You can do this!” Sonic said.

“PLEASE! LET! ME! OUT!” Tangle continued to shout.

“Just try and calm down a bi-“

“I SAID! LET! ME! OUT!” Tangle shouted again.

“If you would just calm do-“ Sonic started.

Then, he suddenly felt a large weight on his back as the door to the closet was knocked off it’s hinges and fell on top of him.

“FREEDOM!” Tangle shouted as she leapt out of the closet, and laid down on her back, tears still threatening to leave her eyes.

“What is with all the noise down he-“ Ella said as she and Amy got a look at the scene before them.

“…Sonic? What did you do?” Amy asked.

“Trial by fire… didn’t work…” Sonic grunted out.

“Geez, you can’t just force her in there…” Amy said. “Come on Tangle, let’s get you calmed down, and we can try something a lot more… tame.”

“R-Right…” Tangle said as Amy led her away.

“… You’re helping me clean this up.” Ella said.

“…Right…”

“Alright, take a deep breath.” Amy said as the two of them stretched.

Tangle complied. “So, what are we gonna try?”

“Well, I used Chuck’s computer, and I found something called ‘Image Training.’” Amy explained.

“Uh… what?” Tangle asked.

“It’s something that some people do on TV, basically, they imagine what they are fighting and have a fight with them in their mind.” Amy explained.

“So… shadow boxing but in your head?” Tangle asked.

“Exactly!” Amy said. “Now, I want you to close your eyes and clear your mind.”

“Right.” Tangle said as she did just that.

“Now, I want you to imagine that you are in a box, a very tight box.”

Tangle did just that, and she began to shake a bit. Though, Amy didn’t notice this seeing as how her eyes were also closed.

“And now I want you to relax, forget that you are in a tight space…” Amy said.

“… Uh Amy?” Tangle asked.

“Yeah?”

“How is this supposed to work if I am only imagining that I am in a tight space?” Tangle asked.

Amy’s eyes opened at this realization.

“…Oh…”

“Yeah… I don’t think this is going to work…” Tangle said.

“Right… I’ll try and think of something else. I think Cream had an idea though, so maybe go see her for a bit?” Amy said.

‘Cream huh? It probably won’t be so bad…’

“Uh… what is that?” Tangle asked as she reached the upstairs of the garage.

“A pillow fort!” Cream said.

“Chao Chao!”

“Uh… ok? And why is there a pillow fort?” Tangle asked.

“Whenever I had a nightmare at home, Cheese and I would always build a pillow fort like this, and it would help me not be afraid anymore!” Cream explained. “I thought it might help you with your fear!”

“You… do know that a pillow fort is a tight space… right?” Tangle asked.

“I know, you can’t get over your fear if you aren’t afraid, right?” Cream asked.

‘She does have a point…’

“Alright… let’s try it.” Tangle said as she climbed inside.

“See, even though you are in a tight space, don’t you feel safe and…”

Cream then noticed that the entire pillow fort began to shake.

“Uh… Ms. Tangle?”

“GET ME OUT OF HERE!” Tangle shouted as she suddenly burst out from the pillow fort, scaring poor Cream in the process.

“Ok, so none of our plans worked…” Sonic said as he took a bite out of his apple.

“I’m sorry Ms. Tangle… I didn’t think it was that bad…” Cream said.

“It’s fine Cream, it was a smart idea… but this is just…”

Tangle then sighed.

“Well, I have an idea, if you want to try it.” Tails said.

“You do?” Sonic asked.

“Yeah, and I am very confident that this is the best way to go about this.” Tails said.

“Alright, we’ll be counting on you Tails.” Sonic said.

“Right!” Tails said. “Come on Tangle, let’s go flying on the X-Tornado!”

“Oh, alright?” Tangle said as the two of them left.

“Alright, we’re in the air… now what?” Tangle asked.

“Well, I figured that we could go for flights every day for a bit, and you can try and come into the cockpit whenever you’re ready to do so.” Tails explained.

“What makes you think I’ll ever be ready though?” Tangle asked.

“You want to beat this… right?” Tails asked.

“Of course!”

“Then you’ll be ready, trust me.” Tails said. “Anyways, I’m gonna go higher, so hang on!”

“Right.”

The X-Tornado then began to ascend, until it went above the clouds.

“You know, I don’t think I’ll ever get over this view…” Tangle said, watching as the sun began to dip below the clouds, and out of view. “Have you Tails?”

…

“Tails?” Tangle asked.

She then looked towards the fox, and was shocked at what she saw.

He was out cold.

“TAILS?!” Tangle said as she carefully went over to check on him.

When she got over to him, she noticed the terribly dark rings underneath his eyes.

“Did he stay up all night trying to come up with ideas to help me? Or was it because of the storm?” Tangle asked herself.

At this moment, the plane began to suddenly descend.

“Oh no! We’re gonna crash! AH!” Tangle shouted. “Come on Tails! Please wake up!”

Nothing, no response from the fox.

Then, without even thinking, Tangle opened the cockpit from the outside and climbed inside. She then carefully took Tails out from the drivers seat and put him in the seat behind her.

“Ok, so I want to go up, so I just…” Tangle said before pushing the flight sticks forward… only for the plane to go into a nose dive.

“OK! PULL BACK! BACK!” Tangle shouted as she did just that, and the plane leveled out.

“Phew! Talk about a close call…” Tangle said to herself.

“Nice work.”

“Thanks Tai-“ Tangle started before stopping herself. “TAILS?!”

“Was a bit touchy there for a second, but you got the hang of it just fine!” Tails said with a laugh.

“You’re alright!” Tangle said.

“Of course I am! Did you really think I would actually put myself in a situation where I could fall asleep at the wheel?” Tails asked.

“Hey, I was panicking, ok?” Tangle said. “Why in the world did you do that?”

“Tangle… look around you.” Tails said.

Tangle complied, and realized what was happening.

She was in the cockpit of the X-Tornado, and she was just fine. She didn’t feel afraid, she felt perfectly… normal.

“I… I did it…” Tangle said.

“Yup, I figured that if you were put in a situation where you had to get in here, then you would forget about your fear and get in!” Tails explained.

“But… what if I didn’t?” Tangle asked.

“Then I would of taken control and we would of tried something else!” Tails said. “That being said, I had faith in you.”

“Tails… remind me to hug you when we land.” Tangle said.

“Sure thing, now, you want me to take over or…?” Tails asked.

“Nah, I’m not ready to get out of here quite yet… think you can walk me through how to land as we head back?” Tangle asked.

“Sure thing.”

“Hey look! They’re back!” Amy said as the X-Tornado came into view.

They were surprised though when instead of doing the normal landing, the plane changed into the X-Cyclone and landed that way.

“Wait… where’s Tangle?” Sonic asked.

What they didn’t expect was for the cockpit to open, and for Tangle to hop out with a grin on her face.

“Tangle?!” Everyone shouted.

“YOU DID IT!” Amy shouted as she pulled the lemur into a hug.

“Yeah I did!” Tangle said.

“How did you do that Tails?” Sonic asked.

“I made her feel like she needed to do it, and she just did it.” Tails said.

“Well, good work.” Sonic said. “So, you’re completely over your fear?”

“I… think so…” Tangle said.

“Want to test it out?” Sonic said with a grin.

“…Sure?”

Moments later

“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!” Tangle screamed as she burst out of the closet.

“Huh… guess she just feels safe in the X-Tornado…” Tails said.

“Well, it’s a start.” Sonic said. “Now come on, let’s get her to calm down.”

“Right.”

End of Chapter 5

I really wanted to do a chapter all about Tangle’s claustrophobia. Don’t think she’s completely over her fear by the way, she’s just gonna be fine in the X-Tornado for right now.

Anyways, next chapter is gonna be about episode 16, but with a bit of 14 and 15 thrown in during the log. Have fun!

See you all next time for Chapter 6!

Chapter Text

Chapter 6: Hydrophobia 

“Tangle’s log,

It’s been about a week since everyone tried to help me with the claustrophobia. I may still freak out a bit in most tight spaces, but I seem to be fine in the X-Tornado for now, so that’s good.

The day after that whole situation, we actually got invited by the president to some kind of charity party… Sonic had other plans though. Can I also just say that I do NOT like wearing dresses…”

“No.” Tangle said.

“You are GOING to wear this dress even if I have to force you to!” Amy said, holding up a yellow dress.

“I said NO!” Tangle said as she dodged a tackle from Amy.

“Tangle, you would be the only one there who isn’t dressed up!” Amy said. “You already skipped on the table etiquette lesson Ella gave us, so you have to AT LEAST dress nicely!”

“Ugh, you really aren’t going to give up on this, are you?” Tangle asked.

“Nope!” Amy said as she held out the dress.

“… fine, but this is the only time I am doing this!”

“Deal!”

“ It was nice to see the President again though, we didn’t really get a chance to talk the last time I saw him.”

“It is good to see you again Tangle.” The President greeted.

“Good to see you too.” Tangle said.

“You met the President before?!” Chris asked.

“Yeah. I was helping with his plan against Eggman, remember? Had to meet him to be told about the plan.” Tangle explained.

“Oh, right.”

“Anyways, where’s Rouge? I thought she would be here.” Tangle asked.

“Agent Rouge had some other business she wanted to attend to, so she won’t be making it here today.” The President explained.

Tangle just stared at him.

“Agent Topaz is keeping an eye on her, don’t worry.” The President said.

“Ok, good.”

“Anyways, I better go and greet the other guests.” The President said before walking away.

“Sonic did end up showing up towards the end of the party though, and he brought one of Chris’ classmates with him. The poor girl is paralyzed from the waist down, and he was trying to help her get to an island she wanted to go to he said. Sonic really is a wonderful person, isn’t he?

Anyways, after that, things were pretty calm…

for about a day.

Since people finally knew who we were, we decided to try and have a day on the town… it didn’t go too well. Turns out, being famous means everyone has to crowd around you and try and get to know you at all times!

And if that wasn’t bad enough, it turns out that Eggman survived his base being destroyed. So he launched an attack on the city, and we had to hurry back to the house to get the X-Tornado…

That car ride though… was terrible.”

“GET ME OUT OF THIS CRAZY THING!” Tangle screamed as Sam drifted around a corner.

She was alright for a while, but then they decided to shove Chris’ teacher into the car, and it was… well, a very tight fit.

“Just try and stay calm! We’ll be there soon!” Tails said.

“SOON ISN’T QUICK ENOUGH!” Tangle screamed.

“Is she calling me slow?!” Sam asked.

“No she isn’t!” Tails said frantically.

“YES I AM! HURRY IT UP ALREADY!” Tangle continued to scream.

“Alright then! Let’s see how you like this!” Sam said as he began to drive faster.

“Thankfully, Tanaka came to my rescue and brought the X-Tornado to us, meaning that we didn’t need to ride in that death-trap any more…

Anyways, we all went and picked Sonic up, then he completely trashed Eggman’s new airship, and the day was saved.

That was about a week ago. Today, we are planning on going on a bit of a relaxing trip. We got these passport things now, so we can go to other countries. So, we are gonna do just that I think, we’ll see what happens.”

Tangle put the notebook away and began walking to the garage.

“So, what’s the plan for this little trip?” Tangle asked.

“We’re really just going to fly around and see what we can find.” Tails said.

“I have a this travel guide, so maybe there will be something in here that we can go to!” Amy said, holding up said travel guide.

“Well, let’s get going!” Tangle said before hopping on the wing of the X-Tornado.

As the X-Tornado began flying over the ocean, Tangle decided to start a conversation with Sonic.

“So Sonic, I was just wondering something.”

“What’s up?” Sonic asked.

“Why ARE you so afraid of water?” Tangle asked.

“That… is a long story… and not one that I am too willing to tell.” Sonic said.

“Oh… alright…” Tangle said. “Still…”

At that moment, the entirety of the X-Tornado began to shake.

“W-what’s going on?!” Tangle asked.

“The Chaos Emerald is reacting! That must mean that we are close to another one!” Tails explained.

“Well, what are we waiting for?! Let’s land and go find it!” Tangle said.

“Right!” Tails said as he turned the plane towards land.

Later

“Ugh, how long is it going to take for people to get used to us?!” Tangle asked as she sat down on the beach.

“Hopefully soon…” Chris said. “Wait… where’s Sonic?”

“He was just with us a minute ago… did he go looking for the Emerald?” Tangle asked. “I’ll go look for him, you guys sit tight!”

After a bit of looking, Tangle found who she was looking for.

“There you are!” Tangle said as Sonic came into view. “What are you doing?”

“… Thinking of a way to get the Emerald…”

“Ah, right, that’ll be a problem for you, won’t it…” Tangle said, looking out to the ocean. “It wouldn’t be a problem if you could swim...”

...

“Wait a minute!” Tangle said. “How about I teach you?”

“Uh… what?”

“I teach you how to swim! You’ve been helping me with so much, now it’s my turn to repay the favor!” Tangle said.

“Uh… I think I’ll pass.” Sonic said.

“Come on, I’ll have you know that back home, I helped teach all the little kids in town! I’m sure I could get you treading water in no time!” Tangle said.

“Tangle, I mean it! I don’t think this is a good idea!” Sonic said, looking pretty… afraid?

“How about this.” Tangle said as she got an evil look in her eyes. “This could be payback for you shoving me in the closet… twice.”

“Uh…”

“So, what’ll it be?” Tangle asked.

“… Alright…”

“Great! I’ll have Chris go and pick up some things that we need!” Tangle said before running off.

“… What in the world did I just get myself into…?”

“Alright! Step one! Get in the water!” Tangle said as she walked into the shallow water.

“R-Right…” Sonic said as he followed.

“Ok, you can get in water, that’s a good start!” Tangle said.

“It’s less being in water, more being UNDER water…” Sonic said.

“Well, we will work on that!” Tangle said. “Now, put that inner tube on!”

“Y-yeah…” Sonic said as he did just that.

“Now, you have what are probably the strongest legs in the universe! Time to put them to use!” Tangle said. “Just come into the water slowly, the tube will keep you afloat as long as you hang onto it!”

“Right…”

Sonic complied, and he was now floating in the water.

“Good!” Tangle said. “Now, this will be practice for when you can’t have the tube, just kick your legs.”

“Got it.” Sonic said.

He then began to kick his legs at full speed… and the force of it caused a wave to wash Tangle away.

“You alright?!” Sonic asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine!” Tangle said. “Don’t go so fast, you gotta take it slow.”

“Right… slow…” Sonic said.

“That being said, they have to be strong kicks. Slow, strong kicks. Got it?”

“Got it!” Sonic said as he did just that.

“Ok, good!” Tangle said. “Now, let’s try it without the tube!”

“Y-you sure?” Sonic asked.

“As long as you do what you just did, you should be able to at least somewhat stay afloat!” Tangle explained. “So, you want to try?”

“Alright… let’s do this.” Sonic said as Tangle took the tube away…

And he instantly sank.

“WHOA!” Tangle shouted as she dove down after him.

When she got a good look at him, she saw that he was panicking.

Moments later, they were on shore.

“You can’t panic Sonic… Panicking would just make it worse.” Tangle said.

“R-right…” Sonic said. “Listen Tangle, I appreciate you wanting to help… but I don’t think this is going to work…”

“Sonic, you just gotta keep trying…” Tangle said.

“Yeah, but I have had enough of almost drowning for one day, and we still need that Emerald.” Sonic explained. “We have no idea how long it’ll be until Eggman decides to show up after all.”

“… Alright, good point.” Tangle said.

“Wait, that’s what you were teaching Sonic to swim for?” Chris asked as he walked over. “You do realize that he could of just walked on the ocean floor… right?”

“…Huh?” Sonic asked.

“Yeah, we just need a way to let you breathe underwater!” Chris said. “There are a few options for that!”

“… Tangle? You’re going down there…” Sonic said.

“… Fine…”

“Uh… what is that?!” Tangle asked.

Chris was just standing there with a giant bell in his hands.

“It’s a diving bell! It’ll let you breathe underwater!” Chris explained.

“Uh… would you be alright with that Tangle? Wouldn’t that trigger your… you know…”

“I wouldn’t be COMPLETELY enclosed, so I think I might be fine…” Tangle said. “Here, hold onto my tail, if I tug on it twice, pull me back up!”

“Gotcha!” Chris said as Tangle took the bell.

“Well… here we go…” Tangle said as she went in.

“Ok… just try and keep calm Tangle… you’re not completely enclosed in this thing… you’re fine…” Tangle said to herself. “That being said… I can’t see anything like this… and it is hot in here…”

At that moment, she accidentally tripped on a rock… and got trapped by the bell…

…

…

…

“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

“Maybe we should just go and get some diving gear…” Chris said as he lead the group into town.

“We couldn’t do this BEFORE you gave me a giant bell of death?!” Tangle asked.

“Sorry, sorry…”

Not long after getting the diving equipment, the group was on a boat, ready to dive down into the ocean to retrieve the emerald.

“So wait… these things just… let us breathe underwater? And we can talk no problem too?” Tangle asked, holding up her mouth piece.

“Yeah, pretty much!” Chris said.

“How in the world does that work?”

“Well, you see, it all has to do with the…” Tails started before going into a long-winded explanation about how it works, none of which Tangle had any understanding of.

“So in conclusion…”

“Ok! Ok! I get it! It just works!” Tangle shouted, steam starting to come out of her ears.

And everyone shared a good laugh at this.

After diving into the water, the group quickly swam, or in Sonic’s case, sunk, to the ocean floor, so they could stay together.

Tangle and Sonic were both walking, Sonic cause he couldn’t swim, and Tangle to save her energy just in case of any trouble.

“So uh… any idea where we are going?” Tangle asked.

“Well, if we just keep an eye on the emerald, and pay attention to when it glows brighter, then it should lead us in the right direction!” Tails explained.

“Gotcha, well let’s keep go-“

At that moment, she felt it…

A very… VERY sharp pain in her foot, specifically, her toe.

“YOW!”

“Tangle? You good?” Sonic asked.

“Ow ow ow!” Tangle grunted in pain as she lifted up her foot…

Revealing a very annoyed looking crap attached to it.

“Huh… think she stepped on it by accident?” Chris asked.

“Either way, that has to really hurt…” Amy added.

“Alright shrimp… I hope you’re ready for what’s coming!” Tangle said with an evil look on her face.

The crab decided that it had enough fun at that point, and let go, before quickly scurrying off into the distance.

“HEY! GET BACK HERE!” Tangle shouted as she began swimming after the crab at full speed.

“Tangle! Don’t go off on your own!” Tails shouted.

Deciding that sticking together was more important than finding the emerald right away, the group chased after the lemur.

“What in the world…?”

The group had finally caught up to a still irritated Tangle, and were surprised by what they saw.

A large, sunken ship.

“Hey guys, look!” Tails said as he held out the Chaos Emerald.

It was glowing a lot brighter now.

“… Well then! Guess we got lucky here!” Sonic said.

“Let’s get in there and…”

“COME OUT HERE YOU COWARD!” Tangle shouted.

“… Find the emerald…” Tails finished.

The group then went inside.

“FIGHT ME!”

When they got inside, they were greeted by the sight of a pile of treasure.

“Whoa…”

“That’s a lot of…”

“FOUND YA!” Tangle shouted as she dove into the pile.

When she emerged, she was holding up the crab by it’s claw.

“Thought you could get away huh?!”

“Uh… Tangle?” Sonic asked.

“Gimme a minute! I want to enjoy this…”

“See… the thing is… well… there’s something on your head…”

“Huh?”

Taking her spare hand, she felt around the top of her head, and when she grabbed it…

“Huh… guess this makes four!” Tangle said, admiring the Chaos Emerald in her hand.

At that moment, the whole ship began to shake, as a tentacle appeared outside.

“… Called it…” Sonic said.

Before long, the majority of the group was back at the surface of the water, while Sonic was fighting Eggman’s robot on the ocean floor.

“Are you guys sure he’ll be alright? Maybe I should of stayed down there and helped…” Tangle said.

“Relax, knowing Sonic, he’ll be back up here  before I finish thi-“

And just like that, Sonic shot up out of the water, and onto a nearby rock.

“You see!” Tails said.

“… I am just gonna play along and say ‘that makes sense’…” Tangle said.

Then, they noticed that the hedgehog was in trouble. He was currently being held up by the tentacles of the machine, and being held over the ocean.

“Sonic! Hold on! I’m…”

At that moment though, they saw someone coming from the distance…

“Uncle Sam?!”

“Oh great, some last minute help… not on my watch!” Eggman said.

“Here Sonic, grab this!” Sam shouted as he attempted to throw a handle connected to a rope.

Though Eggman fired a laser and cut the rope pretty quickly after he let go.

“… Well I’m out of ideas…” Sam said.

“Well I’m not!” Tangle said as she hopped onto the back of his Jet Ski.

She then grabbed the handle with her tail, and stretched it all the way over to Sonic, so he could grab on and go water skiing.

From there, things went a lot quicker and easier, as Sonic was able to easily bypass the machine’s defenses and score a critical hit, ending the fight.

“Grr… You’ll pay for this! Next time, I’ll show you for going on a vacation!” Eggman shouted.

“… wait what?”

Before long, the group returned to shore, and Chris and Tangle returned the diving equipment they rented.

On their way back though…

“Hey, what kind of shop is that?” Tangle asked.

“Oh, looks like a junk shop. Tails would probably like a look in there, actually.” Chris said.

“Huh… wait…” Tangle said as she noticed something purple in the pile.

She then walked over to get a better look at it, and she was amazed at what she saw.

“A bike?” Sonic asked.

“Yeah, this is the same bike that I used to chase after Eggman before we got sent here!” Tangle explained. “I was wondering what happened to it!”

“Still, it’s just a bike, you could of just left it instead of asking to have it back like that…” Chris said.

“Yeah… but this bike is special to me…” Tangle said.

“Special?” Amy asked.

“Jewel got it for me for my birthday last year…” Tangle explained. “She… worked really hard for so long to make the money for it… and it really meant a lot to me that she did that.”

“You two really are great friends!” Cream said.

“Yeah… I… really miss her though.” Tangle said starting to look a bit down.

“Hey, we got four emeralds now! You’ll be back before you know it!” Sonic said.

“Right!” Tangle said.

And so, with Tangle’s bike and the fourth Chaos Emerald in tow, the boat went off into the sunset.

“Wait a minute…”

“What’s up?” Tails asked.

“THAT DUMB CRAB GOT AWAY! GOSH DANG IT!”

End of Chapter 6

In case you are wondering what scene I wanted to add at the last minute, it was the entirety of them going under water, as well as the fight with Eggman… yeah, quite a bit.

Tangle has her bike back! Expect that to pop up a couple of times!

Anyways, next chapter is gonna be based on episode 18, meaning we will be skipping 17… which is a Chaos Emerald episode. Yeah, I know I just mentioned I wanted to do all of those… but only Knuckles and Rouge are in that episode, and I really can’t think of a way to bring Tangle in there, so it would play out completely the same way as in the show. I promised an extra chapter this weekend, so it’ll be tomorrow, see you then! :)

Chapter Text

Chapter 7: Bullies

“Tangle’s log,

After our whole underwater adventure, we went back home to plan out our next move in terms of our little vacation. Amy and Cream are still there actually.

As for the rest of us, we all went to investigate what looked to be Eggman up to no good again. Sonic was able to destroy his airship, but we ended up getting hit by some debris and crashed, so we’re separated from him for now.

Right now, Tails is working on the repairs, while Chris and I just… rest I guess. Not much we can do to help the super genius of the group… Kinda wish I brought my bike to be honest, I could of rode around a bit and looked for Sonic that way. This place is really flat, so it would be great for building up some great speed… oh well.”

Tangle put her notebook away just in time to catch the end of Tails and Chris’ conversation.

“Lately, I’ve been thinking of becoming a Zoologist.” Chris said.

“Wait, what are you two talking about?” Tangle asked.

“Oh, just our dreams for the future.” Tails said. “I want to open up a workshop near Station Square, and Chris wants to be a Zoologist.”

“Oh, that’s nice!” Tangle said.

“What about you Tangle?” Tails asked.

“Me?… To be honest, I am already living my dream.” Tangle said. “I’ve always wanted to live freely, to go around and help people in need, just like you and Sonic… Actually, me and Jewel had just left our hometown in order to chase our dreams.”

“Oh? And what is Jewel’s dream if you don’t mind me asking?” Tails asked.

“She wants to open a museum.” Tangle said. “‘Show everyone just how beautiful our world could be’ she always told me.”

“That sounds like a great dream.” Chris said.

“And I am happy that we can help you live yours Tangle.” Tails said.

“Thanks a lot Tails…” Tangle said. “But… it kinda bums me out that I am here, living the dream, yet Jewel is back home on her own…”

“All the more reason to find the last of the Chaos Emeralds as soon as possible!” Tails said.

“Right!” Tangle said. “First thing’s first though, we gotta find Sonic!”

“Well it’s a good thing I finished repairs!” Tails said. “Let’s get going!”

Later

After searching around for a while, the group stumbled upon a construction site. It didn’t take long to figure out that what they were building would pretty much ruin the homes of all the animals that lived in the area. When they voiced their concerns however, it fell on deaf ears…

“I just… can’t believe those guys!” Tangle growled out.

“Relax, charging in there and attacking them would only cause trouble!” Chris tried to reason.

“But did you hear what that guy said?! These are lives we are talking about here! And he just called it ‘not his problem’ like they don’t matter to him!” Tangle said.

“Still, you can’t just charge in there and start breaking things…” Tails said.

“I know… it’s just… UGH!” Tangle said as she sat down on the ground.

Tails then took a look at the animals in the area.

“Are you just going to take this? Let these guys come here and ruin your home?!” Tails asked them.

“Tails…”

“They… they’re being treated just like…” Tails said, starting to look really down.

“Tails?” Tangle asked.

Tails just sighed.

“Like I was before I met Sonic…” Tails said. “You see, before I met Sonic, I was being picked on a lot. The twin tails and being great with machines really brought a lot of… unwanted attention to me.”

“Oh…” Chris said.

“It was really rough, but then I saw Sonic running around.” Tails said. “I… thought he was so cool, and wanted to follow him, and see what he was doing. I found the Tornado on the nearby beach, and met Sonic shortly after. And my life pretty much changed for the better after that.”

“… I… see…” Tangle said, starting to look down herself. “Alright! Now I am doubly motivated! We have to find some way to get these guys out of here!”

“Well, I have a plan!” Chris said as he began to walk away.

Later again

As it turns out, Chris’ plan was to get the people in a nearby town to help protest the construction. Before long, a whole mob was surrounding the construction site, and the heads of the project were leaving.

“AND GOOD RIDDANCE!” Tangle shouted as the two guys in charge of the construction drove away.

“Now all that’s left is for them to get rid of all this construction equipment, and things can go back to normal here!” Chris said.

“Right, but for now, we should probably get to work on finding out where Sonic went…” Tails said. “Why don’t we stay with the animals until everyone leaves though? They still seem a bit on edge right now.”

“Sounds like a good idea.” Tangle said.

After a while, the crowd of people as well as the construction workers all left, and the animals began to calm down.

“Alright, I guess it’s time to say goodbye.” Tails said.

“Right, we gotta go find Sonic!” Tangle said.

“Speaking of! There he is right now!” Chris said as he pointed towards Sonic who was running towards them.

“Ok… that is way too convenient…” Tangle deadpanned.

“Hey guys!” Sonic said as he skid to a stop.

“GET BACK HERE!”

“Huh?”

The group then looked over to the source of the voice to see Eggman heading towards them with a large robot.

“Looks like we missed a bit…” Tangle said.

“Yeah, I’ll be quick here.” Sonic said as he ran off to take care of the robot.

And quick he was! Before long, the robot was completely destroyed, along with all of the construction equipment in the area.

“Grrr, curse you Sonic! Now you have to fight me!” Eggman said.

“Oh? Well then let’s…”

“DIBS!” Tangle suddenly shouted as she got in front of Sonic.

“Huh?”

“Let me have this Sonic, I really need to blow off some steam after today.” Tangle said.

“Oh, alright. Go nuts!” Sonic said. “I’ll be right here if you need me.”

“Right!” Tangle said as she began to stretch.

“Uh… ok? I guess I can play with the girl before I deal with Sonic.” Eggman said. “PREPARE YOURSELF!”

And so, the two began to charge at each other…

and it was over within a matter of seconds.

Eggman fired a single laser at Tangle, who was able to dodge it effortlessly. The lemur then put all of her power into a single strike from her tail and punched a hole into the Doctor’s Egg mobile.

“You’ll pay for this!” Eggman shouted as he was carried away by Bocoe and Decoe.

Shortly after, Messenger Robot came back with a TV.

“Well little girl, I guess we can call this a draw, but I won’t go easy on you next time!” Eggman said on the screen before the picture faded away and Messenger Robot flew away.

“That… felt great.” Tangle said.

“Uh… yeah…” Sonic said. “Did I miss something?”

The group then explained to the hedgehog just what they’ve been up to.

“Ok, but I still have one question.” Sonic said

“And that is?”

“I can get why Tails would be so upset about all that, but what about you Tangle?” Sonic asked. “You seemed a lot more upset by everything than Tails.”

“Oh uh… yeah…” Tangle said. “It’s just… those jerks really reminded me of the bullies that I used to deal with back home.”

“Oh yeah, you did mention that you had to deal with bullies, didn’t you?” Sonic asked.

“Yeah… but, the bullies never really bothered me.” Tangle said. “I mean, being called a freak hurt, but I knew I could take any of them in a fight really easily… but then they got an idea.”

“And that was?”

“They started targeting Jewel…” Tangle said. “Tried to get her to not want to be my friend any more. Eventually, I had enough of it, and I stopped using my tail to try and get them off our backs.”

“Oh, so that’s why you didn’t have much practice with it.”

“Yeah… it worked a bit, but they still had the memory of what my tail could do, so the bullying never really stopped.” Tangle explained. “We had to deal with them for years… the constant insults, the pranks… everything.”

“That sounds really rough.” Chris said.

“It was… eventually though, the Mayor came up to us with an idea.” Tangle said.

“The Mayor?” Sonic asked.

“Yeah, Jewel interned with him for a while. It’s how she saved up for that bike, not to mention the fact that he’s been the one to look after me for… well, as far back as I can remember.” Tangle said. “Back to Jewel though, she mostly helped him grab papers and stuff, but she learned a lot about how to organize a town or a business from him.”

“Ok, so what’s this idea he gave you?” Tails asked.

“Well…”

“I am so sorry you two, I have tried so hard to talk to those bullies parents to get them to leave you alone, but they just don’t seem to believe me.” The mayor said.

“It’s fine mayor… we can figure something out.” Tangle said.

“Well, I actually had another idea.” The Mayor said. “This… is entirely up to you two though.”

“Ok, let’s hear it.” Jewel said.

“You two should move out.”

…

...

…

“Huh?!” Tangle asked.

“If you leave town, the bullies can’t follow you, and you will be free to live your lives without the constant harassment.” The mayor said. “Tangle, you are one of the kindest, most selfless people I have ever met. You deciding to stop using your tail for Jewel’s sake is proof of this, not to mention your dream of being a great hero like Sonic. I know that given time, and experience out in the world, that dream will be a reality.

As for you Jewel, your dream of opening a museum, you can’t show others how beautiful the world is without seeing it for yourself... So, in the end, I think you two leaving would be very beneficial for the both of you.”

“… What do you think Jewel?” Tangle asked.

“Why are you asking me?”

“Cause if we do this, I am doing it for you. So, I want to know what you want to do.” Tangle said.

“Tangle… We’re doing this for you too!” Jewel said.

“Alright, then I guess we should get packing.” Tangle said before hugging the mayor. “Thank you for everything.”

Jewel then joined in.

“And thank you two for being such wonderful members of our community.” The mayor said. “We will miss you both, and good luck.”

And with that, the two of them got to work packing their things.

“And that’s what lead to us leaving our home.” Tangle said. “So, now you know my full story.”

“Wow… you were really willing to do all of that for your friend?” Tails asked.

“She’s the closest thing to family that I have, so I would do anything if it meant helping her.” Tangle explained.

“Yeah… I can get that.” Tails mumbled to himself.

“What was that?” Sonic asked.

“Nothing important.” Tails said with a slightly red face.

“Well, now that that’s done, how’s about we… wait a minute…” Tangle said. “Aren’t those the creeps from before… and are they...?”

Tangle then got a giant grin on her face as she ran towards the two men… who were being arrested.

“You’re under arrest for attempted arson.” The officer said.

“HAHA! THAT’S WHAT YOU GET!” Tangle cheered.

“… I think she had a good day in the end!” Tails said.

“Yeah…” Sonic said, though there was one question left on his mind.

‘If the mayor raised her… what happened to her folks?’

End of Chapter 7

Ah yes, a question that won’t be answered for well, a while! This is gonna come into play WAAAAY later! You’ll know when it happens.

A bit of a shorter one, there will be some chapters that are a lot shorter in others. This chapter was one that I wanted to write because it seemed like the perfect place to put Tangle and Jewel’s full story on why they left Spiral Hill in the first place, cause it will be important for something in Season 2.

Also, a little bit of a tease about Tails thinking of Sonic like family. Just know, they don’t actually consider each other brothers just yet, but they will at some point.

Next chapter will be about episode 23, but the log will have a lot of bits and pieces from episodes 19-22, so see you then!

Chapter Text

Chapter 8: Anniversary

“Tangle’s log,

Oh boy, things have been busy lately! Sorry I haven’t had a chance to write lately, but it was so busy I kept forgetting!

Ok, let’s start with the movie shoot. Chris’ Mom had a movie shoot going on and she invited all of us to come and watch… she still thinks we’re in costumes…

Anyways, it turns out that the mansion where the filming was taking place was haunted… cause of course it was… and we had to save everyone from a bunch of ghosts…

Yes… we did that… and I totally helped a lot… completely fearless might I add!”

“Oh come on, you do know that ghosts aren’t actually real, right?” Tangle asked a very afraid Amy and Cream. “These ‘arms’ are probably just some weird fog that came in through a window. Or maybe some of the equipment broke or something.”

At this moment, Tangle felt something brush up against her back.

“Oh haha. Very funny you jerk.” Tangle said as she turned around. “Trying to scare me… like… that…”

There was a group of ghosts right there…

And the girls all began to scream.

Shortly after, Sonic, Tails and Chris all arrived, but not before Ella, Cream and Cheese all got pulled into the wall.

And then Tails got pulled in…

And finally Sonic.

“Sonic!” Tangle shouted as the hedgehog got pulled into a wall by the ghosts. She then stretched her tail into the wall to try and grab him, but something grabbed onto her and began to pull her in.

“NONONONONONONONONO!” Tangle screamed.

And just like that, she was gone.

“Yup… completely fearless…

Anyways, after that was all done, we decided to get back to our vacation. It was enjoyable at first… but then there was Sonic. That dude really… REALLY did not like being on a cruise ship that entire time. So much so that he tried to trick us into wanting to go home ourselves…”

“Hey Tangle, are you alright?” Sonic asked.

“Uh… yeah? Why do you ask?”

“Oh, it’s just, I thought you wouldn’t be too happy about being in a tight space like this.” Sonic said.

“Uh… what?” Tangle asked. “I’m not in a tight space…”

“Really? You’re trapped on a boat with no way off… sounds like a tight space to me!” Sonic said, sounding just a little bit desperate.

“Oh, I guess your right!” Tangle said with a very sarcastic tone. “As a matter of fact, I should be freaking out all the time! How could I stay calm when I am stuck on a planet with no way off?!”

“… I see your point.”

“Yeah, nice try though!”

“He eventually calmed down enough to stick around for the rest of the cruise, so that’s good.

After the cruise, Sonic had a race with Chris’ uncle… he won… that’s it… seriously, the guy crossed the finish line twice he won by so much. No-one’s ever gonna beat that guy in a race.

Not long after the race, we went on a camping trip in Tanaka’s homeland, and it was gonna be just a really relaxing time... and it was, until Cheese went missing… and Eggman showed up… but hey! We found a chao garden in the area! Guess that means that chao have always existed in this world.

So, that just leaves today. We really don’t know why, but we are on our way to some place called ‘Filmdom City’ to meet with Chris’ father. I’m just relaxing in the cockpit while Tails flies the X-Tornado.

Oh yeah! I completely forgot! Knuckles got in contact with us the other day! He actually managed to find another Chaos Emerald! So now there are only two left! I really can’t wait to get home and see Jewel again, though it will be sad to leave Chris and the others here… but hey! We can come and visit some time! Tails is really smart, I’m sure he’d be able to figure out a way to do that!

Anyways, looks like we’re going down for a landing, so I better get ready to go!”

Tangle closed the notebook and put it away for safekeeping as Tails landed the X-Tornado.

When everyone went inside, they quickly introduced themselves to Chris’ father, Nelson…

“Seriously though? When did his teacher get here?!” Tangle asked as Chris’ father went over his plans for the day.

“Eh, let’s not worry about that right now…” Amy said.

“By the way Ella, what do you think about this ring?” Nelson said as he opened a box to reveal the ring.

Then, all hell broke loose.

The ring began to emit a very bright light, along with Sonic’s Chaos Emerald.

Shortly after, it stopped when the ring, and Nelson left.

“…That was a Chaos Emerald… wasn’t it?” Tangle asked.

“Yup…”

“So we gotta take it from them somehow… don’t we?”

“Yup…”

“… Great…”

“So wait… this means that we are about to have six of the Chaos Emeralds, right?” Tangle asked. “Including the one Knuckles has of course.”

“Yeah, looks to be that way.” Tails said. “Just one left…”

“By the way… shouldn’t we also be disguised? I mean, she knows what we all look like, so if she see’s us…” Tangle asked.

“Eh… I think it’ll wo-“

And then Nelson tripped.

And once again, all the Chaos Emeralds in the area began to glow a bright light, including the one that Knuckles brought…

“WAIT?! WHEN DID KNUCKLES GET HERE?!”

“JUST HURRY AND PUT THAT EMERALD AWAY!”

And they did just that…

And then Eggman showed up.

“Can anything just go RIGHT today?!” Tangle shouted as the doctor and his robot companions charged at them. Deciding to split up for the most part, Tangle decided to stick with Knuckles for the time being.

“Why are you following me?” Knuckles asked.

“Eh, there doesn’t seem to be a giant robot this time, so it should be easy. Thought I would take the time to finally get to know you!” Tangle said. “We barely got to talk before now!”

“Oh, okay then…”

The two then lost one of the robots in a space movie shooting.

“So what’s going on here?” Knuckles asked.

“Eh, it’s Chris’ parents anniversary, and his dad made a ring out of a Chaos Emerald to give it to his wife as a gift.” Tangle explained.

“Wait… don’t you have to drill holes into the gem to make rings?” Knuckles asked.

“Nah, there’s a bit more to it than that. I think they make a perfectly sized hole in the ring and wedge it in there or something like that. Then there are some metal bindings to help keep it in place.” Tangle explained.

“… Ok, you do not seem like the kind of person to know about this kind of thing.” Knuckles said.

“Blame my friend Jewel. She’s really into gems and stuff like that, so I took her to a place to watch how they make rings for her birthday last year.” Tangle said.

In truth, the mayor was kind enough to pay for the trip, but Tangle was the one who came up with the idea, so the mayor let her take credit for the gift.

“BOCOE! DECOE! I GOT THE EMERALD! LET’S GET OUT OF HERE!” Eggman suddenly shouted before the two robots ran towards him.

“Crud! We gotta go get it back!” Tangle said as the two of them ran towards the doctor.

“EGGMAN!” Tangle, Knuckles and Sonic all shouted together. “YOU’RE GIVING US BACK THE CHAOS EMERALD!”

...

“How did we do that?” Tangle asked.

“Just a thing that happens every now and then.” Sonic said.

“Seriously… I can’t help but feel lost all the time…”

Then, a giant green robot burst into the building.

“An Eggman robot…” The trio once again said in sync.

“SERIOUSLY! WHAT?!”

Then something crazy happened… Tanaka tried to fight the robot… emphasis on the word “tried.”

“… Seriously, how did he think that was going to end?” Tangle asked.

“Tangle, you try and get the emerald back! Me and Knuckles will take care of the robot!” Sonic said as the two of them went to work.

“Got it!” Tangle said as she chased after Eggman, who was currently trying to retreat to his ship.

Unfortunately for Tangle, her lack of super speed meant that he managed to board the ship and take off, so she had to resort to using her tail to spring onto the hull and go for a ride.

“Dr. Eggman, the lemur is hitching a ride!” Bocoe said.

“Really now? Well, let’s turn on the turrets and take care of her, shall we?” Eggman said as he pushed a button.

Meanwhile, with Tangle.

“Ok, gotta find a way inside…” Tangle said.

Then the turrets came out.

“… Uh oh.”

When the turrets began to fire, Tangle was actually surprised by her actions.

She was dodging in between the lasers, just like Knuckles did during the raid on Eggman’s base!

Her training was really paying off!

That being said, she wasn’t perfect.

She was trying to get closer to the cockpit of the ship, but that meant getting closer to the turrets, and between that and the fact that she was on a moving aircraft, it made it really difficult to dodge the lasers from the turrets.

“AGH!” Tangle shouted as a laser hit her stomach and sent her flying back, off of the ship.

“NO!” Tangle shouted as the ship flew off out of view.

Then, she realized how much danger she was in…

“NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONO!” Tangle screamed as she plummeted towards the ground.

Thankfully for her, Tails came flying towards her with the X-Tornado, and she managed to grab onto the plane before she hit the ground.

“Tails… you really are a lifesaver… thanks.” Tangle gasped out.

“Don’t worry about it. Come on, the others are worried.” Tails said before he began to fly back to the theatre.

When they arrived.

“Sorry guys… he got away.” Tangle said.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. That was a tough situation I put you in without any backup.” Sonic said. “I should be the one apologizing.”

“Still… I was so close. I thought I could do it once I started dodging the lasers…”

“Wait, you were able to do that?” Sonic asked.

“Y-yeah.” Tangle said. “One got me in the gut though…”

“Still, that shows some real improvement. Good work!” Sonic said. “We’ll get you all patched up at home though.”

“Right… thanks.” Tangle said as she sat down on the ground.

“Still… now Eggman has an emerald…” Knuckles said.

“Eh, we’ll figure it out.” Sonic said. “We always do!”

Tangle, while still feeling a bit down, couldn’t help but smile at this.

Yeah, they’ll figure it out.

End of Chapter 8

So, let’s address the elephant in the room. Yes, I saw the Sonic Central this past week. The Sonic Colors part of this story is not going to be starting until probably next year, so chances are I won’t have to worry about it too much if they add a lot of story or something. I will try to do something with Rise of the Wisps though. As for Sonic 2022… again, I am not getting to Colors until some time next year, maybe not even until 2023… yeah, these stories could very well be THAT LONG! Even so, it doesn’t really matter. Act 3 is basically going to be “IDW comics and beyond.” This means that whatever games, tv shows, comic arcs or whatever get released at this point, they’ll just be added to that story as they release. I have a plan for how I want to do that, but I’ll save it for when we actually get to Act 3.

I wanted to do a couple of things with this chapter: Do something to more so differentiate it from the actual show, and try and establish something. Tangle is still really new to all the shenanigans the crew get into. An outsider looking in I heard someone on youtube describe it. So, having her surprised and questioning stuff like all of them saying the same thing at the same time was to do that… and to clue in that she is starting to kinda merge into their culture, kinda like Law in One Piece suddenly yelling out that he doesn’t like bread.

Chapter Text

Chapter 9: Chaos Control

“Tangle’s log,

It’s been a couple of weeks since we lost the sixth Chaos Emerald to Eggman. Still feeling a bit down about that to be honest…

Anyways, the weirdest thing happened the other day. Sonic had completely lost control of himself. Like, the dude was running… a lot. In fact, he didn’t stop for over a day.

We all tried to come up with ideas on how to help him of course, but we pretty much screwed it up every time…

My plan though? That might of been the biggest disaster of them all…”

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Knuckles asked.

“Yup! I will slingshot him onto that treadmill thing that Tails made, and he’ll be pretty much stuck there!” Tangle said.

“Yeah, I get that, but will it really work out like that?” Knuckles asked.

“Trust me, I know my limits, and I know I can handle this!” Tangle said.

She couldn’t handle it.

As soon as the hedgehog ran into her tail, she immediately became aware of this fact, and she was swept off of her feet, and trampled by the speedster.

“SORRY TANGLE!” Sonic shouted as he ran away.

“… That went terribly…”

“Eventually Sonic managed to stop himself, so that’s good. He had to take a real long nap when he got home though.

As for what is going on right now, Sonic, Tails and Amy just took Chris and one of his friends up in the X-Tornado to try and find that last Chaos Emerald. I’m actually about to head out on my bike to try and look around the area… yeah, I know the odds are really low, but it beats just sitting around and doing nothing.

Hopefully this is the last log entry I make before I see you again Jewel. I really miss you.”

Putting her notebook away, into her backpack, Tangle shoved off on her bike and began the search on the ground.

The next day

“Chris? You alright over there?” Tangle asked the boy who was staring off into space.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, just thinking about some things.” Chris said. “Any luck on finding the last Emerald?”

“No, not really… Tails said they usually just end up getting lucky when they find it, so we just gotta be patient I guess…” Tangle said. “I am really bad at that…”

“Well, you have been wanting to get back home to Jewel since you got here, so that’s understandable.” Chris said.

“Yeah… hey, are you sure you’re alright? You seem kinda…”

“Hey, anyone home?” Said a familiar voice.

“Huh?”

The two went downstairs and were greeted by the sight of Knuckles, along with…

“Is that an Eggman robot?” Tangle asked, to which Knuckles nodded. “Uh… why did you bring it here?”

“It doesn’t seem to be able to cause trouble, so I let it tag along for a bit.” Knuckles explained. “Listen, I need to talk with Sonic.”

“Hope you got a plane and a Sonic tracker then… cause that’s the only way you’re talking to him any time soon.” Tangle explained. “He’s up with Tails trying to find that last Emerald.”

“Well, deliver a message to him for me?” Knuckles asked. “Tell him I want us to work with Eggman to create Chaos Control.”

“… WHAT?!” Tangle asked. “That’s crazy!”

“It might be, but it is the only way we can get home at this point.” Knuckles explained. “Eggman has one Emerald, and we have five. Even if one of us finds the last Emerald, we won’t be able to activate Chaos Control without either fighting it out, or working together.”

“Ok, so fight it out it is!” Tangle said.

“But we don’t have time for that!” Knuckles said. “I have something important to get back to, and quickly. If we get Eggman to agree to work with us, he can also help us find that last Emerald too!”

“I mean… I guess… but can we really trust him?” Tangle asked.

“I have very little choice at this point.” Knuckles said.

“… Alright, I’ll tell Sonic.” Chris said.

“Good, I’m actually going to go and talk with Eggman now.” Knuckles said.

“You found him?”

“Yeah, in Forest Hill.” Knuckles said before he began walking away.

“… Can I come with you?” Chris suddenly asked.

“Huh?!”

“Yeah, sure, come on.” Knuckles said.

“H-hold on a second!” Tangle said as Chris and Knuckles left with the robot. “This is crazy… wait for me!”

After a train ride, a walk, and a meeting with Eggman, the trio had managed to get the doctor to agree with their plan.

“Honestly… I feel like that went a bit too well…” Tangle said to herself. “Whatever, if he doesn’t betray us, we’ll be back home soon... I still have a bad feeling though…”

“Hey…” Chris said as he walked up to Tangle. “You ready to go?”

“Should we really be doing this behind everyone’s backs?” Tangle asked. “What if something goes wrong?”

“It’ll be fine. As long as you and Knuckles are there, there’s no way Eggman will be able to just take these from us!” Chris said.

“If you say so…”

“What?! Lucky found the last Chaos Emerald?!” Eggman exclaimed.

“Wow… I guess Tails was right, we just needed to get Lucky…” Tangle said with a laugh.

“This is great! Now we’ll be able to go home!” Knuckles said.

“Yeah, there is just one thing left to do…” Eggman said before Decoe pushed a button on his dashboard.

… And the floor beneath Tangle and Knuckles opened up.

“… Nerts…” Tangle said before the two began to fall.

“I DON’T THINK SO!” She shouted as she stretched her tail out and grabbed onto the ledge up above. “HAHA! TAKE THAT YOU CREEP!”

“Yeah, no…” Eggman said as he kicked the tail into the hole.

“DANG IIIIIIIIIIIIT!” Tangle shouted as she plummeted to the ground below.

When she landed, she heard Knuckles shout Chris’ name as the Egg Fort II began to fly away.

“No…”

Suddenly, Sonic came out of seemingly no-where.

“Where’s Chris?!”

“On Eggman’s ship, with the Emeralds!”

“What?!”

“Sonic…” Tangle said. “I… I am so… so sorry…”

“Don’t be, you just wanted to help…” Sonic said.

“But… I just keep screwing things up…” Tangle said. “First with the sixth emerald… and now this…”

“Tangle…”

“Please, you have to get Chris and the emeralds back!” Tangle said, tears threatening to fall. “If he gets the last one…”

“… Got it. I’ll talk to you about all this later…” Sonic said before speeding off after the ship.

“We’re counting on you…” Tangle said as she just watched.

“… This isn’t your fault.” Knuckles said.

“Huh?”

“I said this isn’t your fault.” Knuckles repeated. “This was my plan in the first place. If anyone’s to blame, it’s me.”

“Still… I couldn’t do anything to help…” Tangle said. “I… had a feeling that this would happen, but I still didn’t do anything…”

“So? I was the one who was gullible enough to completely fall for that jerk’s lie. And I couldn’t do anything in the end either.” Knuckles said. “What really matters right now, is that we catch up to Sonic, and help in any way we can!”

“… You’re right. Now’s not the time to be wallowing in self pity…” Tangle said as she dusted herself off. “Hang on Chris! We’re coming for you!”

Thankfully, they were able to hitch a ride from Rouge and Topaz, who were in the area.

“Sonic…” Tangle said as she watched Sonic getting pummeled by a giant, gold robot.

“He’s probably using the emeralds to power that thing…” Knuckles said.

“Yeah, well big deal!” Tangle said as she jumped off the helicopter.

“Tangle!”

“TAKE THIS YOU CREEP!” Tangle shouted as she did a front-flip and stretched her tail out to strike the machine.

And, to everyone’s surprise, it seemed to do something!

… Make the machine mad.

The machine brushed off the attack and swatted Tangle away, who hit the ground hard.

“Tangle!” Sonic shouted as he sped over to her, though no-where near his usual speed.

“Ugh… that thing hits like a truck…” Tangle said as she pulled herself up. “And it took that attack like it was nothing…”

“Chaos Emeralds… really beefed it up.” Sonic said. “Listen, you should get out of here… I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Not happening.” Tangle said. “Now, I have an idea…”

Putting Tangle’s plan in action, Tangle wrapped her tail around a nearby crate and created a slingshot with it, which Sonic launched himself out of with great speed.

The robot didn’t seem phased by this though, as it nailed Sonic with another strong blow, sending the hedgehog flying right into Tangle.

“Ok… that… uh oh…”

The robot followed up by appearing beside them, and throwing a massive punch down on them.

“MOVE!” Tangle shouted as she shoved Sonic away, taking the blow herself.

“TANGLE!”

When the fist moved, he saw that she managed to cushion the blow a bit with her tail, but she still was in real rough shape.

“Tangle… just stay down…” Sonic said.

“Sonic… I can still…” Tangle said as she struggled to get up.

Deciding that Tangle was no longer a threat, the machine began a brutal assault on Sonic, eventually dangling him up by his quills.

“No… Sonic… please…”

And with one last kick, Sonic was sent flying into the ocean.

“NO!”

Without thinking, Tangle got up, and began sprinting towards the water.

‘Ignore the pain Tangle! You have to help him!’ Tangle thought as she dove into the water. ‘If he dies here… I’ll never forgive myself!’

She began to swim, quickly locking her eyes on Sonic.

‘Faster!’

She began to struggle, her injuries and her inability to breathe inhibiting her abilities.

‘Ignore it! FASTER!’

Soon enough, she began to feel her consciousness fading.

‘I have to help him!’

Eventually, she succumbed, and closed her eyes.

This didn’t last long though, as she suddenly felt herself being carried, her left arm draped around something, or someone.

“*cough* Wh-what?”

When she opened her eyes, she didn’t believe what she was seeing.

“Sonic?”

“Just relax, I’ll take it from here.”

“W-wait… why are you gold?!” She asked.

Sonic just looked at her and smiled, before using the hand he wasn’t using to carry her to block an attack from the robot, which was no longer gold.

She then put two and two together.

“This… is what the Chaos Emeralds can do?”

“Yeah… hang tight.” Sonic said. “Knuckles… please stay away and safe…”

In a flash, Sonic began to tear his way through the machine, and completely destroyed it before the entire area began to be covered in a bright light.

“This is…”

“Chaos Control… things are going to be changing around here Tangle, you ready?” Sonic asked.

“… Yeah… I’m ready.”

And with that, Tangle could only watch as Chaos Control activated, and began a major change to the world around them.

End of Season 1

And that is a wrap on the first season! Pretty short, as I only covered about a third of the episodes… but don’t think that season two will be the same. We will be covering the vast majority of the episodes in that season! This is when the REAL story begins! I also start to divert quite a bit from what happens in the show, so if you think there hasn’t been much of that lately, don’t worry, things will be getting better!

Now, as for my other stories, cause I am sure some people are wondering about those: I have made some really good progress, and the first draft of both are done. That being said, they are still pretty rough, so it’ll still be a couple of weeks until they are ready! Soon though, soon…

Anyways, see you next time for the start of season 2!

Chapter Text

Chapter 10: SA1 Part 1

“Tangle’s Log

It’s been about… six months I think since the last time I wrote in here. Don’t know why I stopped… I guess I just lost the motivation after what happened with the Emeralds.

Ok, I never actually wrote about that, so, here we go. We managed to gather all the Chaos Emeralds and activate Chaos Control. Cool huh? Well, about that, Sonic and I almost got killed in the process, and, as it turns out, Sonic doesn’t really have much experience using Chaos Control, so he might of done something other than what was intended.

So, instead of us going back home to our world, our world is coming here to us.

There is this place called the Mystic Ruins from our world that showed up, along with a place called Angel Island. Apparently, Angel Island is the place that Knuckles really wanted to go back to, so I am happy for him.

That being said, there is still the matter of Cream’s Mom and Jewel…

From the looks of things, more and more parts of our planet are making their way to this planet. Mainly, the residents. Right now it looks like this is mostly just the Flicky’s and the like, so those two are unfortunately not here yet, but we think they’ll show up eventually. Truth be told, we are still a bit unsure about all this world merging thing, so we decided to not try and gather the emeralds again to avoid things taking a turn for the worse.

While this means that things have been kinda relaxing lately, this also means that Jewel is stuck home for a while…

Truth be told, for a while I blamed myself for things going so badly, but Tails and the others pretty much drilled it into my head that it wasn’t.

That being said, I have been working to make up for it, and I helped Tails with a little project that he was excited about.

Remember when we were talking about our dreams, and how Tails wanted to open a workshop nearby? Well, that’s what we’ve been working on! We built him a nice little place in a cliffside in the Mystic Ruins! Took a while, but I think it came out pretty well. As a matter of fact, I have kinda been staying here for the past couple of days. I just needed a change of scenery for a while, and I’ll go back to Chris’ place pretty soon I think, or maybe I will stay with Amy in her new apartment.

Oh yeah, Amy moved into the city… don’t know why really, but she seemed pretty keen on doing it.

Anyways, I mentioned before that it’s been six months since my last entry, and you know what that means!

YUP! I am officially a teenager now! I mean, we didn’t really celebrate it… seeing as how I didn’t tell anyone… but that’s fine. I want to wait to celebrate with Jewel.

I’m not the only one though, most of us had our birthdays really. Tails is nine now, Amy is also thirteen, and Sonic sixteen… no clue about Knuckles though. As for Cream, she turns seven pretty soon here. I think it’s in a few weeks.

Speaking of Sonic, dude’s been off the grid lately. No-one really knows where he’s been. We’re not worried though, he can take care of himself… Amy still misses him though.

And… I think that’s it. I think that pretty much sums up everything!”

Tangle put the notebook away, and got up to stretch. She then went outside to take a look at the weather.

“Seems like the weather is gonna be better than last night… that rain was nuts.” Tangle said. “Hey Tails! I think I’m gonna go for a walk in town! You want me to pick you up anything?”

“Nah, I don’t think I need anything. Thanks though!” Tails said.

“Alright, see you later!” Tangle said as she ran outside.

“I have a feeling today is gonna be an interesting one!”

After walking around in town for a while, Tangle spotted a couple of familiar faces.

“Oh hey! Cream! Chris!”

“Huh?… Oh! Tangle!” Chris said as she approached the two.

“How’s it hanging?” Tangle asked.

“Well… we just got out from seeing my mom and…”

Cream then held out a jewelry box, and inside was…

“A Chaos Emerald?!”

“Yeah, she bought it on a whim for Cream…” Chris said. “We were just about to head home to decide what to do with it.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Tangle said. “I better come with, you never know when Eggman might show up and try to take it.”

“Well, let’s get going then.”

The following series of events were… strange to say the least.

First, Cheese crashed into a frog… then they saw that the frog had a tail… then a giant purple cat came and crashed right into them.

And now, they were just trying to find out from this giant purple cat just what in the world he was doing…

For the past several hours.

“He’s not a frog…”

“Huh?”

“He’s Froggy!”

“OH COME ON!” Tangle shouted in frustration. “Ok, you were looking to find your friend Froggy, right?!”

The cat, named Big, nodded.

“Ok! Great! We’ll help you look! Let’s get going!” Tangle said before leading the group away.

For another hour, the group searched the city to try and find Froggy.

Eventually though…

“Uh… is that puddle moving?” Tangle asked, pointing at a nearby puddle.

The puddle was indeed moving, and morphed into some weird water monster.

“… I don’t like the looks of this…” Chris said.

The monster then seemed to go on a rampage as it began to destroy the park around them.

“Whoa! Ok! Uh… this is looking dangerous! You guys get somewhere safe, and I’ll take care of this!” Tangle said.

“Right, good luck!” Chris said before they ran away.

“Alright you pile of blue snot, let’s… wait where did it…?”

Looking around the park, Tangle saw that it was trying to escape through a manhole.

“Hey! Get back here!” Tangle shouted as she ran over and tore the manhole off.

Taking a look inside though…

“… That is too tight of a fit for my liking, I’ll pass…”

Taking note of which direction the monster was going, she began her chase from above ground.

“Ugh, I have no idea where this thing went… hopefully the others got to safety…” Tangle said as she kicked the dirt.

“Yo Tangle!” She heard from above.

Looking up, she saw Sonic waving to her.

“Sonic! What’s up?”

“There’s something going on over that way, I’m gonna go check it out!”

Turning towards where Sonic was pointing, she saw a crowd begin to form along side some police cars.

“… I think I found my snot monster!” Tangle said as she ran towards the crowd.

Making her way to the front, she was just in time to see a bunch of police officers try and shoot the thing… only for the bullets to do nothing.

“Ok… that didn’t work…” Tangle said as the officers and crowd began to run away. “Alright creep, now you got me to deal with!” She shouted while stepping forward.

She looked towards Sonic and winked, to reassure him that she could handle this.

The monster began by swiping it’s rather stretchy arms at her, which she was easily able to duck under. She then quickly closed the distance and delivered a quick roundhouse to it’s abdomen, though it didn’t seem to do much.

“Geez, this thing really can take a hit…” Tangle said. “That’s fine though, gives me a chance to try out my new move!”

The monster then fired out a stream of water that tore holes into the ground.

“Don’t want that to hit me…” Tangle said as she began to close the distance once more.

The monster then attempted to deliver a large punch, only for her to jump over the fist.

She then did a front flip and used the momentum from the flip to slam her tail onto the monster’s head, crushing it and reducing it to a puddle once more.

“And that, is how it’s done!” Tangle said.

“Nice work!” Sonic said as he hopped down from his hiding place. “That move you just did was pretty impressive.”

“Thanks, been working on that for a while now!” Tangle said.

“Kinda reminds me of what you tried against that big robot six months ago.” Sonic said.

“That’s where I got the idea!” Tangle said with a laugh.

“So, does the move got a name?”

“It needs a name?”

“Yeah, you know, like I have the spindash, you have the…” Sonic started.

“Uh… How about Tail Hammer?” Tangle asked.

“Sounds good to me!” Sonic said.

“Uh… guys?” Chris suddenly interrupted.

“Yeah?”

“It’s getting away…”

Sonic and Tangle looked over to see the monster trying to escape through a manhole again.

“Hey! Get back here!”

“Oh ho ho ho ho ho ho ho!”

The group looked up to seen Eggman floating there.

“Oh great… he’s back…” Tangle said.

“Yes, and I will be taking this!” Eggman said as a claw came out and snatched the Chaos Emerald out of Cream’s hands.

“RUDE!” Tangle said as she leapt after the claw, only to fall just short.

“Chaos! Catch!” Eggman shouted as she threw the Emerald at the water monster.

“Chaos?”

When the emerald reached the monster, it reemerged, now wielding a large, rather creepy arm.

“I see, so the stone tablet was right! Chaos grows stronger with each emerald it absorbs!”

“So it’s called Chaos?”

And then Knuckles showed up.

“What did you do with the Master Emerald?!” Knuckles asked.

“Wait, what happened?”

“We’ll talk later, we gotta take this thing down first!” Sonic said.

“Three on one really isn’t that fair… good thing I have this!” Eggman said as he threw another Chaos Emerald at Chaos.

“WHERE DID HE GET THAT?!” Tangle asked.

When the light faded, it’s other arm took the same shape.

“Well… big deal! If I could handle regular Chaos by myself, all three of us can easily beat him now!” Tangle said before charging.

She then attempted a Tail Hammer to strike Chaos’ head.

“What the, a barrier?!”

“GET AWAY!” Sonic shouted.

Chaos’ barrier then began to envelop Tangle as she grunted in pain from the electricity flowing through her, before she got sent flying back by a punch from Chaos.

“Ugh… that hurt…”

“Stay down, we’ll handle this!” Sonic said before the two of them got to work.

“I can still help…” Tangle said before pulling herself to her feet.

When she got a good look, she saw Knuckles rapidly punching the barrier while Sonic was building up speed.

Deciding to help, Tangle used her tail to deliver a massive blow to the barrier, and with Knuckles’ help, they were able to destroy it.

Just in time too as Sonic suddenly charged in at a blistering speed and tore a hole straight through the beast, sending it to the ground.

“Whoo!” Tangle shouted before feeling a slight bit of pain from that punch earlier. “And ow… Whoo and ow!”

“Grr…. this isn’t the end!” Eggman shouted before taking Chaos and leaving.

“So… This really is a mess… huh?” Tangle asked.

“Yeah…” Sonic said.

“Let’s head home and…” Tangle said before a strange feeling overcame her, causing he to stumble a bit.

“Tangle?”

She felt herself suddenly start to fall towards the ground… and everything went white.

End of Chapter 10

Uh oh… Something happened to Tangle! Eh, I’m sure she’ll be fine.

So, this is technically the first game rewrite! I will be titling game rewrite chapters as such for those of you who want to skip to a specific game. So the next chapter is just gonna be SA1 part 2 and so on. If you have thought I haven’t really changed much so far, don’t worry, the game rewrites are where I am going to REALLY be mixing it up, as you will see in the next chapter.

Also, something big is established in this chapter that I feel like a lot of people will overlook… almost everyone is a year older now! Yeah, I always find it really weird when characters don’t age despite it being clear that a large amount of time has passed, or a plot point involves a birthday. The fact that Sonic is 15 both before and after Generations is something that bothers me… By the way, Knuckles was already 16 when the story started, as his birthday is in February, so he is still 16. Cream’s birth date is unknown, so I am gonna say that it is the same date as Sonic Advance 2’s release date, being Mid-December, and since the turning of a new year is a plot point in a later episode, we will get to that at some point! If you are wondering when Tangle’s birthday is, let’s just say it is Mid-November. It just makes it a lot easier to think about. I know her first appearance was in April, but it just wouldn’t work out if it was then, so Mid-November it is!

Anyways, see you all next time!

Chapter Text

Chapter 11: SA1 Part 2

“Ugh… what was that…?” Tangle asked as she opened her eyes.

When the blurriness in her eyes cleared, she became even more confused.

“Uh… wasn’t I in the middle of a city before?”

She got a look around to see that she was now standing in front of what appeared to be a temple of some sort.

“How in the world did I get here?”

Deciding that answers wouldn’t come by just standing around, she began to explore.

“Ok… so there seem to be a lot of Knuckles’ relatives here… what in the world is this place?”

Then, she heard a voice. She turned the corner to see a girl, looking at the temple while saying… something.

“Um… hello there!” Tangle said as she approached the girl.

“Oh, hello there friend!” The girl said. “Who are you?”

“Uh, no-one important… hey, what were you saying a second ago?” Tangle asked.

“Oh, just something that my grandmother used to tell me…” The girl said. “The servers are the seven chaos… chaos is power, power enriched by the heart. The unifier is the one who controls the chaos…”

“… Uh huh…” Tangle had no idea what any of that meant.

Wait…

“You said seven chaos?” Tangle asked.

“Yes, that is correct.”

‘Is she talking about the Chaos Emeralds?’ Tangle thought.

“It is the same as the number of emeralds that are at the shrine… so maybe it has something to do with them…”

‘Yup…’

“Uh, forgive me, but have we met before?” The girl asked.

“Uh, no, I don’t think so…” Tangle said. “The name’s Tangle, who are you?”

The girl just smiled.

“I am Tikal!”

The two spent a bit of time walking and talking to each other.

“So… you have no clue how you got here…” Tikal said.

“Yeah, pretty much.” Tangle said.

“Well… I hope that you find your way home soon!” Tikal said.

“Me too, the others must be really worried…”

“Others?”

“Yeah, my friends.” Tangle said. “There’s Sonic, he’s super cool. Then there’s Tails, a genius that kid is… Amy, Cream, Chris… and Knuckles!”

“Wow, you have a lot of friends.” Tikal said.

“Yeah, they’re all great.” Tangle said. “If you ever run into trouble, they are definitely the ones you want to have your back.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“So uh… you mentioned a shrine… mind if I take a look?” Tangle asked.

“Oh… I don’t know. It is a sacred place, and the guardian might not like it…”

‘Guardian?’

Then, Tikal suddenly looked up in surprise, as if something suddenly started calling for her.

Then, she got up and walked away.

“Tikal?” Tangle asked as she followed her out of the village.

Eventually, they arrived at what appeared to be the shrine that she mentioned before.

“The Chaos Emeralds…” Tangle whispered to herself.

“Oh my… are you sure it’s alright for us to be here?” Tikal asked.

Then, a sound rang out, almost like bells.

“So do you… trust us?” Tikal asked.

That noise again.

“I see…” Tikal said. “I guess you are in luck Tangle.”

“Y-yeah…” Tangle said. “This is the shrine that you mentioned before?”

“Yes, it is.” Tikal said as she went up the stairs.

When they reached the top…

“Whoa… that’s a big one!” Tangle said.

‘Wait… is this that Master Emerald that Knuckles was always talking about?’

Just what in the world was going on here?!

Then, she started hearing a familiar sound from behind her.

“Chao?”

“Oh, so those are the Chao…” Tikal said as she went over to greet them.

They seemed to shy away at first, but it didn’t take long for her to earn their trust, as one of them let her hold it.

“They seem to really like you.” Tangle said.

“Yes, I agree.” Tikal said.

Then, a couple of Chao went up to Tangle and began hugging her legs.

“They seem to like you as well!” Tikal said with a laugh.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right!” Tangle said.

Then, she thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye.

‘Huh? What was that?’

“…”

“Tikal?”

“My father… I need to speak with him.” Tikal said.

“Huh? Oh uh… ok!” Tangle said. “Want me to come with you?”

“No, I want to do this alone. Thank you though.” Tikal said.

“Ok…”

A couple of hours later, Tikal had returned.

“Everything alright?” Tangle asked.

“No… not really…” Tikal said grimly. “My father intends on pillaging this place…”

“Oh… yeah, that’s bad.” Tangle said. “Why though?”

“We’ve… been at war with some other tribes… over land, power… anything really…” Tikal explained. “He intends to use the power of the emeralds to win those wars but…”

“They’d be ruining these little fellas homes… right?”

Tikal nodded before beginning to cry. “I… don’t know what I should do… This place, it is so important to the Chao and the guardian… I can’t just let him destroy it…”

“Maybe you can convince him of another way? He’s after the Emeralds, right?” Tangle asked.

“Yes, he is.”

“Well, maybe he can come to some sort of an agreement with this guardian of yours? Maybe to let him use the Emeralds when they are needed...?”

“I… suppose I can suggest it.” Tikal said.

“Great! I’ll be here if you need me!” Tangle said.

“Tangle… thank you so much.”

“I didn’t do much…”

“I know… but to try and help a complete stranger like me…” Tikal said.

Tangle smiled.

“That’s what heroes do!”

Things… didn’t go well.

Not only did Tikal’s father not listen, but he was currently gathering an army to take all the Emeralds by force.

For a couple of days, Tikal tried to convince him to reconsider, but it proved to be useless as the army attacked the shrine regardless.

Tangle tried to hold as many of them back as she could, but the fact that she was overwhelmingly outnumbered made things pretty much impossible for her.

Eventually, she managed to pull herself to her feet, and turned around to look at the shrine.

“Oh no…”

“Tangle?!” A familiar voice said from behind her.

“SONIC?! KNUCKLES?!”

“What happened to you?!” Sonic said.

“I uh… might of gotten a bit over my head, fighting off a mob trying to storm that shrine over there…” Tangle explained.

“What?! How did that happen in such a short amount of time?” Sonic asked.

“I’ve been here for days! Where the heck have you been?!” Tangle asked.

“DAYS?! You were just helping us out on the Egg Carrier earlier!” Knuckles said.

‘Egg… Carrier?’

“Wait a minute… this place is…”

“You know this place?” Tangle asked.

“Yeah, I got visions of this place when I found pieces of the Master Emerald…” Knuckles said. “There was a girl… arguing with I think her father…”

“That would be Tikal. She’s a friend of mine… and she’s most certainly in trouble!” Tangle said before running towards the temple.

“Tangle!”

“We’ll figure out what’s going on later! I have to help her!” Tangle shouted as she continued to run.

They shortly arrived at the temple, and looked on in horror as Tikal and all the Chao were trampled by the mob.

“Tikal!” Tangle shouted as she ran to her friend.

When she got there though, she heard the sound of screaming coming from the shrine.

“What?”

“N-no!” Tikal said. “Why… why didn’t he listen to me?!”

“What was that?!” Sonic asked.

“The guardian… Chaos…” Tikal said.

“CHAOS?!” Tangle asked.

“They… they angered him… he must of used the Emeralds to… oh no…” Tikal said before she suddenly got up. “AH!”

Turns out, her injuries were worse than she thought, as she couldn’t support her own weight on her left ankle.

“Here.” Tangle said as she used her shoulder to support her friend. “You need to get up there, right?”

“Yes, please…”

“Right, let’s go!” Tangle said as she helped Tikal up the steps, Sonic and Knuckles following behind them.

“I… I think I understand what my grandmother was saying all that time ago.” Tikal said as they began to climb the steps. “The Master Emerald… it has the power to neutralize the power of the Chaos Emeralds…”

“Really?!” Tangle asked, turning to Knuckles.

“She’s right.” Knuckles said.

“The Master Emerald… it might be our only hope.” Tikal said as they reached the top.

She began to recite what she said when she and Tangle first met.

Then, the entire area was engulfed in a bright light.

“Tangle…”

“Tikal? What’s happening?” Tangle asked.

“I am sending you back, to where you came from.” Tikal explained. “None of this… really happened.”

“What?”

“I sealed myself and Chaos inside the Master Emerald… when it broke, we were released.” Tikal explained. “A piece of my spirit infused with Chaos during our slumber, and when you fought him, it moved to you. I then showed you what happened all those years ago… so that you may act accordingly.”

“O…kay?”

“Tangle, please, you are the only one that I can trust.” Tikal said. “Please, stop Chaos…”

“Wait, why me?” Tangle asked. “Surely Sonic… or Knuckles!”

“Despite barely knowing me, you did everything you could to help me.” Tikal explained. “I know I can trust you… so please…”

“… Alright. I’ll do everything I can to stop Chaos!” Tangle said.

“Thank you…”

And with that, everything went white.

End of Chapter 11

And we just knocked out all the Tikal flashbacks! Like I said last time, I wanted to do something different with the game rewrites, so I figured having Tangle experience pretty much all the Tikal flashbacks would be a good idea, after all, we only see the ones Knuckles goes to in the anime, and this is in the animeverse, so I figured we would have Tangle fill in the gaps. Also, let’s just say that Knuckles only got visions of the past from the Master Emerald, instead of him being able to interact with them until the last one.

We will be going back to the main anime next time, so I will see you then!

Chapter Text

Chapter 12: SA1 Part 3

“TIKAL!” Tangle shouted as she sprung up from the couch.

“WHOA!” Chuck shouted in surprise. “Tangle? Are you alright?”

“Uh… yeah… What happened?” Tangle asked.

“After you, Sonic and Knuckles beat that Chaos monster down town, you suddenly passed out.” Chuck explained.  “What happened anyways?”

“Oh, uh… guess that thing hurt me a lot more than I thought!” Tangle lied with a slight laugh. “So uh… how long was I out?”

“A couple of days…” Chuck said. “Sonic and Tails went to find the Chaos Emeralds again, but, long story short, they got shot down by Eggman’s new airship.”

“Oof… are they alright?” Tangle asked.

“Well, Sonic went off to go find Amy and Cream, and Tails is outside right now, fixing up the X-Tornado.” Chuck explained.

“Ok… I guess I’ll go see him then.” Tangle said before walking outside.

‘Sonic and Knuckles were in that… dream? Vision? Whatever that was… I better talk to Sonic about that when I see him…’

She quickly made her way to the garage where Tails was finishing his repairs on the X-Tornado.

“Hey, Tails!” Tangle shouted as she approached him.

“Tangle! You’re awake!” Tails said as he turned towards her.

She immediately noticed the bandage wrapped around his head.

“Oof… that crash must of hurt…”

“Yeah… thankfully Amy was nearby, and she was able to get us help.” Tails explained.

“That’s good…” Tangle said. She then noticed how down the fox looked. “Hey, we’ll figure this all out. Just have faith!”

“Right… thanks.” Tails said.

“Tails! There’s trouble!”

“Huh?”

Sonic then came running towards them, carrying Cream and Cheese on his back.

“Tangle? You finally woke up!” Sonic said.

“Yeah, just a bit ago.” Tangle explained.

“I am so glad that you’re ok Ms. Tangle!” Cream said with a smile.

“Yeah, me too.” Tangle said. “So, what’s going on?”

Sonic then had a grim look on his face.

“Amy’s been kidnapped…”

Shortly after Sonic caught the two of them up on what was going on with Amy, they quickly boarded the X-Tornado, and took off.

“Tails… are you sure you’re alright?” Sonic asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me, we have to hurry and get to Amy!” Tails said.

“If you say so… what about you Tangle?”

“Me?”

“Yeah, you were out for a while there… you sure you should be up and about already?” Sonic asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine…” Tangle said. “Hey Sonic, does the name ‘Tikal’ mean anything to you?”

“Tikal? No, why do you ask?”

“Oh, no reason. Just something I heard once.” Tangle said.

‘Either he doesn’t remember what happened… or he hasn’t seen that yet…’

She then remembered what Knuckles said in that dream.

“You were helping us out on the Egg Carrier earlier!”

‘Maybe… Tikal’ll show them that stuff later…?’

“You sure you’re alright?” Sonic asked, wondering why Tangle was staring off into space.

“Yeah, I told you, I’m fine.” Tangle said. “Let’s just focus on saving Amy and stopping Eggman for now.”

“…Right.”

Then Sonic’s ear perked up.

“Amy?”

“Sonic?” Tangle asked.

“Tails! Go that way!” Sonic suddenly said as he pointed to the left.

“Uh, Right!”

They turned in that direction, and started making their way towards some canyons.

“Hey, is that Knuckles down there?” Tangle suddenly asked.

“Yeah, I think it is. Let’s pick him up!” Sonic said as the X-Tornado turned into the X-Cyclone and went down to land.

Shortly after picking up Knuckles, they were engaged in a dogfight with the Egg Carrier.

“He’s charging up something big Tails!” Tangle said.

“Then it’s time for my ace in the hole!” Tails said. “Brace yourselves! And try not to bite your tongues!”

“HUH?!” Sonic and Knuckles shouted together as Tails flipped a switch.

They were then able to easily avoid the laser that was fired at them, as the X-Tornado transformed into it’s Battle Suit Mode.

“WHEN IN THE WORLD DID YOU ADD THIS?!” Tangle asked.

“Earlier today.”

“HOW IN THE WORLD ARE YOU SO SMART?!” Tangle asked.

“Hehehe… thanks.” Tails said.

The rest of the dogfight went well for them, despite the Egg Carrier undergoing it’s own transformation.

Eventually…

“Alright! We’re in!”

“Great! Now time to land!” Tangle said.

“… Uh oh…”

“What’s up?!”

“THIS FORM HAS NO LEGS!” Tails suddenly screamed.

“… WHAAAAAAAAA-“

Crash

End of Chapter 12

Yup, we are ending the chapter like that… hey, it’s how the episode ended in the show, it’s how I am ending this chapter!

See you all next time!

Chapter Text

Chapter 13: SA1 Part 4

When the group gathered their bearings after the crash landing, Sonic quickly sped on ahead to keep the missile launchers busy.

Shortly after, he came back.

“You guys alright?”

“Yeah! Let’s get moving!” Tangle said as she continued to run.

Tails followed close behind, and discarded his bandages that were wrapped around his head.

In that moment, a missile hit the deck of the ship, opening a hole into it.

“You guys go on ahead, I have to find the last of the Master Emerald!” Knuckles said as he jumped into the hole.

“And I’ll make sure he doesn’t get into too much trouble…” Tangle said as she jumped in after him.

“Tangle?” Knuckles asked as she landed next to him.

“I figured we shouldn’t leave anyone alone right now, who know’s what they have prepared for us on this thing.” Tangle said.

“Good thinking. Alright, let’s get moving!” Knuckles said as the two of them began their search.

“How much of the Master Emerald is left to find?” Tangle asked.

“Not much, one more piece should do the trick.” Knuckles explained. “It told me that the last piece is here, it’s just a matter of finding it.”

“Right… then we can figure out what we can do about Chaos!” Tangle said.

“Right.”

After searching for a while, they came to a very… open area of the ship.

“What in the world?” Tangle asked.

“The Emerald is close… there!” Knuckles said as he pointed to a caged off part of the ship.

“Ok… so how do we get over there?” Tangle asked.

“Hm… maybe this lever does something…” Knuckles said as he pushed it.

Then, the entire area felt like it was tilting.

“WHOAWHOAWHOA!” Tangle shouted as Knuckles let go, setting the area back to normal.

“Hmm… maybe we can use that…” Knuckles said.

“How so?”

“If you tilt the area the right way, I could just glide into the cage and get the last piece.” Knuckles explained.

“Sounds like a plan to me.” Tangle said.

And they did just that… though it took a couple of tries. Satisfied with their work, they started making their way back to the deck to try and meet up with Sonic and Tails.

“Wait… what’s that?” Knuckles asked.

A red orb suddenly appeared before them, and began to glow.

This feeling, was very familiar to Tangle.

‘Tikal?’

A moment later, the light was gone.

“What was that?” Tangle asked.

“I just… got a vision of something that happened in the past…” Knuckles said.

“A vision?” Tangle asked.

‘Ok, so not quite like what I went through… I was able to actually interact with everything there…’

She wasn’t at the point where Sonic and Knuckles went there yet.

“Come on, I’ll explain later.” Knuckles said as the two of them began running again.

Eventually, they made their way outside again… only to see Sonic getting thrashed by…

“Is that Chaos?!” Tangle asked.

“Looks like it. Come on, Sonic needs our help!” Knuckles said before charging forward.

After Knuckles stopped Chaos’ attack, Tangle helped Sonic to his feet.

“You good?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Sonic said. “So, you guys got a plan?”

“Yeah! Imma punch him!” Knuckles said.

Tangle may not be the most experienced member or the group… or the smartest, but even she knew that wouldn’t work.

“Uh, I think his body absorbs impacts Knuckles…” Tangle said. “He did that before he had any Emeralds… so…”

“Oh… uh… well… what should we do?” Knuckles asked.

“Well, it seems like he has a core… if we hit that, then we might get somewhere!” Sonic said.

“Sounds like a plan!” Tangle said.

They all nodded in agreement and began their assault.

Knuckles leapt into the air and used his shovel claw to tear a hole in Chaos’ body. Tangle and Sonic then followed up with a combination of a Tail Hammer and Spin Dash to make quick work of the beast.

“WHAT?!”

And so, all that was left were the Chaos Emeralds, along side Chris and Big.

“You guys alright?” Tangle asked.

“Yeah… thanks.” Chris said as Tangle helped him to his feet.

“So uh… how do we get out of here?” Tangle asked.

“Well, we have the X-Tornado…” Sonic said.

“I guess… wait…” Tangle said before pointing behind Sonic.

Eggman was trying to sneak away.

“HEY! WAIT YOU!” Sonic shouted before rushing over, the two of them flying off into the distance.

“Well… there he goes…” Tangle said. “Let’s get to the X-Tornado and…”

“Hmmm… I have no idea what this is…” Big said from behind her.

“Huh?”

Big was sitting in the cockpit of the X-Tornado…

“WAIT! DON’T TOUCH ANYTHING!” Tangle shouted as the three of them charged at the plane.

“What does this do?” Big said as the plane sprung to life.

Thankfully, they were able to grab on before he took off.

Though the flight wasn’t very pleasant…

Eventually, they managed to land… and in one piece! Bonus!

“Please… never do that again Big…” Tangle groaned out.

“Well, I’m going home.” Knuckles said. “Gotta restore the Master Emerald.”

“Right, good luck Knuckles.” Chris said. “And thanks for the help!”

Knuckles responded by just waving as he left.

“Wait up! I’m coming with you!” Tangle suddenly said.

“Huh?”

‘Knuckles said that I was helping them on the Egg Carrier earlier… that means that things can still go wrong…’

“I realized that I never saw your island before, or the Master Emerald! I just wanted to check it out!” Tangle lied.

“Oh… alright, I guess I can allow that. Come on.”

“I’ll see you later Chris! Get home safe!” Tangle said as the two of them walked away.

A little while later though…

“So, what’s the real reason why you want to tag along?” Knuckles asked.

“Huh?”

“You were lying before, I can tell. So, what’s the real reason?”

‘If only he was this observant when Eggman is tricking him…’

“I still have a bad feeling about all of this… I want to make sure you get the Emeralds back to Angel Island safely.” Tangle said. “I won’t be able to relax if I don’t.”

“Fair enough.” Knuckles said.

After a few hours of walking though…

“What in the world?!” Tangle asked.

“Eggman?!” Knuckles asked, in shock that the doctor was out cold right in front of them.

“… Looks like he’s dead…” Tangle said. “Rest in peace… he won’t be missed.”

“Hey, is that Knuckles over there?” They heard someone say.

They turned around to see Sonic and Tails approaching them.

“Eggman?!” Sonic asked.

“What did you do to him?” Tails asked.

“Nothing, we found him like this.” Tangle said. “Should we give him a burial or…?”

Tails then did the most scientific thing he could do at the time to determine if Eggman was alive or not…

Poke him with a stick of course.

And that woke him up.

“…Dang…”

“Who did this to you?” Sonic asked.

“That traitor… Chaos.”

“Chaos?!”

Tangle became visibly nervous at this revelation.

“Tell us everything you know!” Knuckles shouted.

“Uh… no.” Eggman said before he started floating in the air.

“HE CAN FLY?!” Tangle asked.

Turns out, Bocoe and Decoe arrived and began carrying him away from a hot air balloon.

“… Well that happened.” Tangle said. “What now?”

“I don’t know…” Knuckles said. “I mean… we could go after Chaos… but he can’t be THAT much of a threat on his own… can he?”

“I mean…”

“Knuckles is probably right, we were able to take him just fine when he had six emeralds, so it should be easy to beat him when has none!” Sonic said. “So… let’s let him come to us!”

“Sounds like a plan!” Tails said.

“Wait… but…” Tangle started.

She knew that she had no chance of getting them to agree to help… they were way to full of themselves right now.

‘Tangle…’

‘Huh? Tikal? That you?’

‘They’re Sonic and Knuckles… correct?’

‘Yeah, that’s right.’

‘Join hands with them, I will show them what I showed you…’

‘How about an abridged version of that? We’re short on time.’

‘Very well…’

“Sonic, Knuckles… there’s something I need to show you.” Tangle said.

“Huh?”

“Just… grab my hands, you’ll figure it out soon enough.” Tangle said as she offered her hands.

When Sonic and Knuckles grabbed them, they became engulfed in a bright light.

A couple of minutes later, the light faded.

“What… was that?” Sonic asked.

“Alright, talk! Just what is going on here?!” Knuckles asked more aggressively.

“Listen, I’ll explain that later, what’s important is that we can’t let Chaos get the Emeralds!” Tangle said.

“I agree…” Sonic said.

“Alright, well, at least the last one hasn’t been found yet.” Knuckles said.

As if on cue, they heard Chris calling Knuckles name as he approached from the distance…

And he had the last Chaos Emerald.

“OH COME ON!” Tangle shouted.

Then ground began to shake, as Chris suddenly got consumed by a pillar of water.

“Chris!” Sonic shouted before leaping in and grabbing on to his friend.

After a bit of a combo attack, Knuckles and Tangle were able to disperse the water, but not before Chris lost the emerald.

And then the ground opened up, and the bag filled with Chaos Emeralds fell in.

“Oh no… WAIT! THE MASTER EMERALD PIECE WAS IN THERE!” Knuckles shouted.

Thankfully, the piece came flying out of the hole shortly after.

“Oh… That’s a relief.”

“Guess he didn’t want anything to do with the thing he was stuck in all this time…” Tangle said.

“Still… this is bad… now he has all seven!” Sonic said.

“We… we got to get going!” Tangle said.

“Right, I parked the X-Tornado nearby! Tangle and Chris, you come with me!” Tails said.

“Right!”

‘Tikal… I’m sorry…’

End of Chapter 13

Next up is the Finale of SA1!

Chapter Text

Chapter 14: SA1 Finale

“Oh… no…” Tangle said as Station Square came into view.

The city was completely destroyed.

“I… I really screwed up…” Tangle said.

“This isn’t your fault Tangle.” Tails said.

“Still… I knew the stakes this entire time… I should of been able to do something!” Tangle said.

“Tangle… really, you have nothing to feel guilty about.” Tails said. “Besides, we’ll figure something out. We always do!”

“Tails…”

“Just have faith in us!” Tails said.

“… Sonic’s about to drown…”

“WHAT?!” Tails said before going in to save the hedgehog.

Thankfully, they were able to save him before he fell into the water.

“Geez this guys’ tough… gonna really need you guys to back me up here!” Sonic said.

“Right!” Chris said.

“Move out of the way!” They heard a booming voice from behind them.

They looked over to see… the Egg Carrier?

“Didn’t that thing get destroyed?” Tangle asked.

“Must of built a backup…” Sonic said.

Eggman then spouted some nonsense about how Chaos should obey it’s master.

A lot of good it did against the monster’s giant laser though.

“Welp… he’s dead.” Tangle said.

Then they saw Eggman get sent flying away, screaming.

“CAN’T I HAVE SOMETHING TODAY?!” Tangle groaned out.

Then, a bright light enveloped all of them, and brought the X-Tornado down to the ground.

“Is… that you? Tikal?” Tangle asked.

When the light faded, Tikal was standing there.

“I… I’m sorry…” Tangle said.

“Don’t be… you can’t fight fate…” Tikal said.

“Still, there has to be something we can do…” Sonic said.

At that moment, the Chaos Emeralds spread around the city, with one landing right besides them.

Chris however, noticed that another emerald landed nearby.

“Tangle, come with me!” Chris suddenly said, to which Tangle complied.

After a bit of running, Tangle saw what Chris wanted.

“Think you can stretch your tail out to grab it?” Chris asked.

“Hmmm… it looks like it’s wedged between a couple of rocks… or rubble… my tail is too big to grab it.” Tangle said. “I think I’ll have to propel myself down there.”

“Right… good luck.”

Tangle then wrapped her tail around a nearby street lamp, and began to stretch it out, allowing her to descend down towards the emerald.

She didn’t count on the pole bending slightly though.

“WHOA!” Tangle said as she began to swing a bit, and went face first into a nearby building.

“You alright?!” Chris asked.

“Yeah, I think I hurt the building more than myself!” Tangle joked.

“Just hurry up! I don’t know how long this’ll hold!” Chris said.

“Right!” Tangle said as she finished her descent, grabbed the emerald, and went back up.

“Whoo… that was stressful!” Tangle said.

“Still…we got the emerald but…”

“It lost all of it’s color… hopefully Sonic can still use it…” Tangle said.

“Let’s hurry up and get it to him!” Chris said as they began running back to the group.

“HEY! SONIC!” Tangle shouted as they began to approach.

Then Chris tripped.

“Oh… dude…” Tangle groaned out as she helped him to his feet.

Then Sonic ran over.

“Here… we got the emerald!” Chris said.

“Thanks you two… thanks a lot!” Sonic said.

And then, he began to glow, with all seven Chaos Emeralds floating around him.

“But… I thought the emeralds could only be awakened through hate and anger!” Tikal said.

“Those aren’t the only emotions that can access their power…” Knuckles said.

“What did I tell you Tikal… Sonic is someone you always want in your corner!” Tangle said.

They could only look on in awe as Super Sonic floated above them, ready to save the day once again.

Sonic then proceeded to completely tear Chaos apart. It was like none of the monster’s attacks could actually do anything to him, as he took multiple attacks head on, including one that was heading straight towards the group, and didn’t seem phased by it.

Shortly after, it was over.

As Sonic landed, his super form faded, and nearby, Chaos landed, back to his base form as well.

The citizens of the city began to cheer Sonic’s name, recognizing that he had won.

Tangle couldn’t help but look around in awe, as the crowd continued to cheer their hero on.

But… then she noticed something, and she didn’t like it.

She really did hurt that building more than herself…

The building that she crashed into before looked like it was collapsing, with it being split down the center, as a bunch of people began screaming in terror.

She looked towards the others, and none of them seemed to of noticed it.

Without thinking, she began to run.

When she got to the building, she stretched her tail out as quickly as she could, and tried to hold the building in place.

“GET… TO SAFETY!” Tangle shouted. “QUICK!”

While some of the people in the building were able to get across, most of them were either too afraid, or not physically capable of making the jump.

Meanwhile, back with Sonic and the others.

“Say… where’d Tangle go?” Sonic asked. “You’d think she would want to say goodbye to her friend…”

“Huh? She was here a moment ago…” Amy said.

After looking around for a bit, Tails spotted her.

“Over there!” Tails said. “Oh no…”

“Is she holding that building up?!” Amy asked.

“Come on! We gotta help her!” Sonic shouted before speeding over there.

“GRRRR COME ON! KEEP IT TOGETHER!” Tangle shouted.

“Hang on Tangle! We’re coming!” Sonic shouted before leaping over to the building and began to help.

“TOOK YA LONG ENOUGH!”

Shortly after, everyone else showed up, and the other mobians, excluding Cream of course, went to work saving the people stuck in the building.

“Ok… that looks like everyone!” Sonic shouted. “You can let it drop now!”

“R…Ri-“

Then, she saw it. A corner of the top floor of the building crumbled away…

Revealing a young girl, falling to her death.

“NO!” Tangle screamed as she suddenly leapt off the bridge she was standing on.

“TANGLE!” Sonic shouted.

Tangle then unwrapped her tail from the building, which caused it to begin to fully collapse, and used said tail to pull the girl close. She then used the tail to cushion her fall, as she landed on a piece of rubble that was waiting below. Then, recognizing that she couldn’t get away, especially since she still felt the impact from the fall, used her tail to shield herself and the girl as best she could as the building’s rubble broke apart and fell on top of them.

‘OWOWOWOWOW! OK! LEG IS DEFINITELY BROKEN!’

Then, she realized the situation she was in…

Her claustrophobia kicking into full gear, she began to breathe deeply, as she began to panic internally…

At least, that is what normally would of happened.

She took a look down and into her arms, to see the little girl looking absolutely terrified.

‘I… have to be brave… just for a bit. This girl… she’s way more scared than I am right now…’

“Hey… don’t worry…” Tangle said with a shaky smile. “Sonic and the others… they’ll get us out of here. I promise!”

The girl didn’t respond, but instead hugged Tangle close.

After a couple of minutes of waiting.

“HEY! I THINK I SEE HER!” They heard Knuckles call out.

A couple of moments later, she felt someone carefully move her tail aside.

“Hey, just hang tight! We’re gonna get some of this rubble out of the way so you can retract your tail!” She heard Sonic say.

“O…Okay…”

A couple more moments later…

“Ok, do it!”

Tangle complied, and brought her rather injured tail back to it’s normal length.

Then, she looked up to see the worried faces of everyone.

“H-here… take her to safety first…” Tangle said as she lifted the girl up as best she could.

When the girl was pulled away, the others noticed that her left leg was caught under some rubble.

“Knuckles.”

“Right.” Knuckles said before using his shovel claw to dig her leg out.

Then, they carefully carried her out of the hole.

And the crowd began to cheer.

Tangle couldn’t help but smile, as she lost consciousness.

“Whoo…”

End of Chapter 14

I love Tangle, I promise. This is a big moment for her actually… you’ll find out more in the next chapter though.

Next chapter will be a bit of an epilogue to SA1, and will set up the SA2 arc! So see you then!

Chapter Text

Chapter 15: SA1 Epilogue

Darkness, that is all that Tangle could see.

“Where… am I?” Tangle asked herself. “Let’s see… oh…”

Was she… dead?

That building did fall on her, and she did pass out afterwards… at least, she thought she did…

“Great… just great…” Tangle said. “Sorry Jewel… guess you’re gonna have to be on your own from now on…”

“Tangle…”

“Huh?”

She looked up to see a bright light appear, and from it, Tikal emerged.

“Tikal?” Tangle asked.

“Tangle… what you did there… I have to admit, I am impressed.” Tikal said.

“Oh uh… thanks.” Tangle said.

“Also, you’re not dead.” Tikal said. “I just… wanted to speak with you a bit.”

“Huh?”

“I just wanted to let you know, a piece of me will always be with you. Whenever you need my help or guidance, please, don’t hesitate to ask.” Tikal explained.

“Tikal… thank you… but how in the world does that work?”

“I… did tell you that a bit of my spirit merged with you… right?” Tikal asked.

Thinking for a bit, Tangle did remember that. “Oh yeah… I guess we’ll talk again then!”

“Yes, we will…”

And everything began to glow in a bright light.

“Ugh…”

Tangle slowly opened her eyes, and when her vision cleared, she got a look around.

“A… Hospital?”

She then looked to her left, and the sight made her smile.

“Hey Sonic… did I worry you?”

“Holy…” Sonic said in disbelief. “H-Hold on! I’m gonna go get your doctor! Just try and stay awake, ok?”

“Y-Yeah…”

Sonic then went to the entrance to the hospital, where Tangle’s doctor was at the time.

Coincidentally, the rest of the group had just walked in to visit their friend.

“Sonic? What’s going on?” Amy asked.

Sonic turned to the group and smiled as the doctor walked away.

“She just woke up.”

The group just stared at him in disbelief.

Cream was the first one to actually do something, as she suddenly broke out into a sprint towards Tangle’s room.

When everyone arrived, they were greeted by the sight of Cream hugging the lemur for dear life.

“Did I make you worry kiddo?” Tangle asked.

“You scared us is what you did!” Amy said. “We thought we might of lost you!”

“I’m sorry…”

“Don’t be, we’re just glad that you’re ok!” Amy said before joining in on the hug.

“R-right… uh… can I ask something?” Tangle asked.

“Sure, go ahead.” Sonic said. ‘Probably wants to know how long it’s been…’

“Is that little girl alright?”

…

Sonic couldn’t help but chuckle a bit at that.

“Sonic?”

“Oh, nothing… yeah, she’s fine. She got a couple of bruises, but otherwise she was perfectly safe.” Sonic explained. “You were the one who really got beat up there.”

“Ok… that’s good.” Tangle said. Then, she started to tear up a bit. “I… I was so scared under there…”

“I can imagine… your claustrophobia must of made that really terrifying for you.” Amy said.

“It was… but…”

“But…?” Sonic asked.

“I… had to keep it together… make that girl feel safe.” Tangle said with a smile.

Everyone smiled at that.

“Geez, you hero types…” Chuck said.

“So… what’s the damage? To the city I mean?” Tangle asked.

“Well, all the water finally got drained away the other day, so cleanup and rebuilding is starting today.” Sonic explained.

“Wow… in that short of a time?” Tangle asked. “I would think with all that water it would take a lot longer than that…”

“Uh…”

“I mean it’s been, what… a day or two?”

…

…

…

“Uh… Tangle?” Sonic said. “It’s been about two weeks now…”

“…What?”

“Yeah, honestly, we were expecting you to be out for a lot longer.” Chuck said. “But, it looks like you pulled through in the end.”

“… Ok… wow… that’s a lot to take in… It felt like such a short amount of time…”

“Yeah, that’s normal.” The doctor said as he walked into the room. “Anyways, I hate to cut your reunion short, but I have to give her a checkup.”

“Can you wait just a minute? I have something that I need to say.” Sonic said.

“Oh, alright. Go ahead.”

“Tangle… I think you know what I am about to say here.” Sonic said.

“Yeah… that was really dumb of me, I know…” Tangle said. “But… I couldn’t just do nothing! I-“

“Whoa whoa whoa! Slow down and listen.” Sonic said. “It’s true, what you did there was incredibly reckless, and a lot of people would call it dumb… But do you realize what you did that day?”

“Huh?… uh…”

“Here, maybe this will jog your memory.” Sonic said as he grabbed something at the foot of her bed.

A basket, filled with letters, flowers, you name it.

“These are from all of the people that were in that building… all the people who’s lives you saved.” Sonic said. “Here, I think this is one you need to look at.”

Sonic then handed a piece of paper over.

Tangle opened it up, and tears began to well up in her eyes once more.

It was a drawing, from that little girl she saved, of the two of them.

“Tangle… what you did was really reckless… but it was the most heroic thing I have ever seen.” Sonic said.

“I… I…”

“Tangle, you truly became an amazing hero, and you should be proud of that, cause I sure am!”

And that did it. The tears were now coming out in full force.

Sonic, the one she looked up to the most her life, just called her an amazing hero.

It was a dream come true.

“Gosh... I wish Jewel was here to see this…” Tangle said with a laugh.

And with that, everyone joined in, just enjoying a good laugh after all the stress that they were put through these past few weeks.

“Tangle’s Log,

So, still in the hospital. It’s been about… two days since I first woke up I think. Hard to tell when I’ve been kinda just laying here and sleeping a lot of the time.

Everyone is of course visiting me when they can, but Sonic and Tails are working hard to help clean up and rebuild since, you know, the city was pretty much wrecked. So those two haven’t been able to come around as much, but they still come whenever they can.

As for when I am getting out of here, it looks like they are in talks about letting me out in a bit. The doctor said that I am healing a lot faster than they thought, so I should be good to leave soon. Of course, it’s still gonna be another week until my ankle heals fully, but I’ll be fine as long as I use crutches to get around… gosh that is gonna be annoying.

Good thing too… cause it’s Cream’s birthday today! I gotta be there for that kid’s special day. Speaking of celebrations, Sonic said we are gonna celebrate my ‘Hero Graduation’ one day too… that guy can be so over the top sometimes… anyways, we agreed that we’ll do it when we reunite with Jewel.

Now for some bad news. Chris’ place got flooded pretty badly, so his family is gonna move out for about a couple of weeks until everything get’s fixed. They plan on leaving tomorrow… and Cream and I are going with them.

Yeah, since Cream is only seven, she can’t really live on her own, so she is pretty much staying with them, and since I have my ankle to worry about, they figured that I should stay with them so I have someone to help take care of me… I really hate the way they worded that… but they’re right.

They were able to make due with what they had for now, so that Chris could come and visit, but now that I am getting out of here they are putting their plans into motion.

So, after the party today, we’re gonna be getting ready to move out tomorrow.

Alright, the doctor just told me that I should be good to go, and that Tails is waiting to take me home, so I better get going!”

Tangle put the notebook into a backpack that her friends brought her and got up to get changed out of her hospital gown. When she was done, the doctor came back to help her learn how to use the crutches she would be using.

“You could use a wheelchair if you want.” The doctor said.

“Nah, I’d feel way too lame like that.” Tangle said. “I’ll be fine, thanks though.”

“Alright. You can walk on it by the way, but try to not push yourself too hard.” The Doctor said. “You Mobians heal so much quicker than us humans…”

“Yeah, crazy huh?” Tangle said with a laugh.

“Anyways, your friend is waiting.” The doctor said as he lead her out of the room.

Shortly after, they saw Tails waiting for them at the hospital’s entrance.

“Hey! Good to see you up and about again!” Tails said.

“Good to be up again… I do NOT like being stuck in a bed.” Tangle said.

“I can imagine.” Tails said with a laugh. “Now come on, the others are waiting.”

“Right.”

The two then left, and began a walk through the city.

“Good thing the hospital was outside the city… This place really did get wrecked…” Tangle said.

“Yeah, but even if it was destroyed, we would of gotten you somewhere else.” Tails said. “I don’t think I ever saw Sonic go so fast when he carried you there.”

“Sonic did that?” Tangle asked.

“Yeah. He may act cool all the time, but he really cares about his friends, and would do anything to help them.” Tails said. “You know this!”

“Y-Yeah… I know.”

Then, they heard something, the sound of someone crying.

“Huh?” Tangle said as she went over to the source of the noise.

“A kid? Did he get lost or something?” Tails asked.

“Looks like it…” Tangle said before getting down on her knees. “Hey kid, are you lost?”

The kid nodded.

“Any idea where his parents could be Tails?” Tangle asked.

“Well… Chris’ school is being used as a shelter right now… maybe they went there.”

“Right…” Tangle said as she got up and back onto her crutches before stretching her tail out to take the kid’s hand. “Come on kid, let’s go find your parents.”

The kid looked at the tail for a moment before grabbing onto it. “Hehe… soft…”

“Yeah it is, I take good care of this thing!” Tangle said with a laugh.

The three of them began to walk to Chris’ school, hoping the kid’s parents, or someone who could help was there.

Eventually…

“Have you not found our son yet?” They heard a voice say from the other room.

The trio entered the room to see a couple of adults talking to a police officer, and the little boy quickly let go of Tangle’s tail and ran over.

“Mommy!”

“Jim!” The lady said as she pulled the boy in and hugged him.

Tangle and Tails then walked over.

“Glad we found you guys!” Tangle said.

“Thank you two so much, Tangle, Tails.” The man said.

“Hehe…” Tangle said.

She really was making a name for herself.

“Geez, still doing hero stuff while hurt are you? Gotta admit, I’m impressed!” They heard a familiar voice from behind them.

“Sonic!” Tangle said as the hedgehog walked over. “Yeah, we found this lost child and decided to help him before we went home.”

“Good work.” Sonic said. “Don’t push yourself though, you still need time to recover.”

“I’ll be fine, don’t you worry!” Tangle said. “I’ll be back to one hundred percent before you know it!”

“Alright, if you say so.” Sonic said.

“Hey! You guys!” Chris said as he walked over.

“Oh, hey Chris!” Tangle said.

“Uh… it looks like there’s a reporter outside…” Chris said.

“Huh?”

They looked out a window to see that Scarlet Garcia was outside with her camera crew.

“What’s that all about?” Tangle asked.

“Let’s go ask…” Tails said.

When they got outside, Scarlet walked over.

“Hello, would you two mind if I asked you a couple of questions?” Scarlet asked.

“Huh? Us?” Tangle asked.

“Of course! Everyone already knows about Sonic’s heroics during the catastrophe that Chaos caused, but not nearly as many people really know about what you two did.” Scarlet explained. “I aim to change that.”

“Wait… What DID you do Tails?” Tangle asked.

“Oh uh… I might of stopped a missile from blowing up downtown…” Tails explained.

“What?!” Tangle asked. “That’s incredible! Great work!”

“Heh… thanks.”

The two then bumped their tails.

“Anyways, I guess we can answer a couple of questions.” Tails said.

“Great!”

After a while, and a few questions being answered, they got to the last one.

“So, last question. What inspires you two to do what you do?”

The two of them just looked at each other and laughed, before answering together.

“Sonic.”

“Of course, why did I think any differently…” Scarlet said with a laugh.

“Back home, Sonic was always a big deal. Running around, being free, and saving lives is just what he does.” Tangle started to explain. “I didn’t have things easy, my friend Jewel and I were bullied pretty bad… but I always kept strong, cause I wanted to one day live like Sonic, and Sonic wouldn’t give into the bullies.”

Sonic, who was watching and listening to all of this, couldn’t help but shed a tear at this.

“As for me… truth be told, I was kinda the same before I met Sonic.” Tails said. “Bullied every day cause of my two tails and my love for technology… but then I met Sonic. He… he really changed my life… every day is an adventure with Sonic around… Not only is he my inspiration… but..”

“But…”

“He’s like a brother to me… to be honest.” Tails said with a bit of a red face.

Tangle smiled at this. “I think he would love to hear you say that.”

“I agree.” Scarlet said.

“Thanks… maybe I’ll tell him one day…” Tails said.

Then, Tails felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey little bro, how you doing out here?” Sonic asked.

Tails whipped his head around to see the hedgehog in question smiling at him.

Wait… what did Sonic just call him?

Tails didn’t say anything, and just hugged his brother like his life depended on it.

“Turn the camera off… we don’t need to intrude on this moment.” Scarlet said.

After a moment, they separated.

“Sorry… don’t know what came over me.” Tails said.

“It’s cool.” Sonic said.

“Dang dude, didn’t know you had a soft side!” Tangle said.

“What can I say? The kid just draws it out of me!” Sonic said. “Oh, by the way, someone’s been watching you.”

“Huh?”

She looked to where Sonic was pointing to see a familiar face looking towards them from around a corner.

Smiling, Tangle put her crutches to the side, and hobbled over, trying to look strong.

“Hey kiddo! Glad to see that you’re alright!” Tangle said with a smile.

“Um… are you alright?” The girl asked.

“Never better!” Tangle said with a grin.

“But… your foot…”

“Psh, it’s fine. Yeah, a little sore, but I’ll be all healed up in no time!” Tangle said. “Besides, I’d rather break my leg a hundred times if it meant people like you are safe.”

The little girl didn’t say anything, as she tackled her hero with a hug.

“Hey, you want to be the first one to sign the cast?”

“MS. TANGLE!” Cream shouted as she tackled the lemur into a hug.

“Heya kiddo!” Tangle said. “Happy birthday!”

“I’m so happy you could be here!” Cream said.

“Chao Chao!”

“Told you we had a surprise in store!” Amy said.

Tangle smiled at this. “I’m glad I can be here too.”

“Come on! We have games to play… oh… but your foot…”

“Eh, I can stand on it for a bit, just gotta be careful.” Tangle said. “Come on, let’s get this party started!”

“Yay!”

“Chao!”

As the group went into the house, which was currently pretty empty with them taking furniture out after the flooding, Tangle couldn’t help but smile.

She really did make some great friends.

So, with a signature and a sunflower drawing on her cast, Tangle strode into the house to celebrate Cream’s special day.

End of Chapter 15

And this is the complete end of the SA1 arc!

First things first: Tikal is gonna be here to stay! While she not gonna be a SUPER major character, she will be present for the rest of the story, as her spirit is merged with Tangle. She’ll do some important things throughout all the acts, but for now I’ll let it be a surprise.

Chapter Text

Chapter 16: SA2 Part 1

“Tangle’s log,

It’s been about… two days since Cream’s birthday. We all moved to this new city for now, and things are… kinda weird.

Ok, yeah, adjusting to a new area was weird, but I am kinda confined to the house for right now, so it really wasn’t that hard. Chris is probably having a much rougher time of it. That’s not the weird thing though.

The weird thing is that people are suddenly thinking that Sonic is some sort of criminal!

There was a news cast this morning, and it had footage of a hedgehog that looked a lot like Sonic stealing a Chaos Emerald from some museum! Not only that, they’re saying that he broke into a military base! That’s nuts! Honestly, I really have my doubts about all of this. I mean, yeah, it’s unlikely, but there’s the chance that another Mobian hedgehog made their way to this world, you know, since the worlds are still kinda merging… kinda not… it’s complicated.

Anyways, Amy is proof that there are hedgehogs other than Sonic, so it might just be someone else… I really hope it’s someone else. I can’t bear the thought of Sonic suddenly deciding to turn on us…

I really want to go and find him, but with this cast on my foot, it makes things hard… sike! Chuck said that he is getting a doctor to come over and take a look at it! Apparently it was healing quickly enough that they might be able to take off the cast today and replace it with some bandages… still gonna keep the cast though, I earned that thing!

Anyways, he’s calling me now, so I better go see this doctor.”

After a quick examination, the doctor was able to quickly take Tangle’s cast off, and wrap her ankle with some bandages.

“Now, you should be able to perform your regular activities, but I do recommend that you continue to use the crutches most of the time.” The doctor explained.

“Right, thanks doc.”

And with that, the doctor left.

“I am really happy for you Ms. Tangle!” Cream said with Cheese chirping in agreement.

“Yeah, gonna be weird for a bit, but I’ll be back to normal before you know it!” Tangle said with a grin.

“Good to see that you’re in high spirits… now, about what’s going on with Sonic…” Chuck said.

“Right… any way that we can get in contact with him? Somehow find out where he is?” Tangle asked.

“Hmmm…”

Then, the phone rang.

“Oh no… no no no, there is no way…” Tangle said.

“That was Nelson… Sonic is currently fighting a G.U.N. robot downtown.”

“… Ok, seriously? What are the odds…” Tangle groaned out.

Regardless, Chris started running out of the room, with Tanaka, Chuck and Tangle all following closely.

“Ok, running is not a comfortable thing right now…” Tangle groaned out.

Eventually, the group made their way downtown to find Sonic fighting…

“Another Hedgehog?!” Tangle asked.

“Guess that’s the guy who’s been framing Sonic…” Chuck deduced.

What happened next, none of them could really believe.

This other hedgehog started to completely mop the floor with Sonic.

Not only was his speed comparable to Sonic’s, but he was also able to warp somehow…

“Chaos Control!” The other hedgehog said as he held up a Chaos Emerald.

“…huh?”

‘YOU CAN DO THAT WITH ONLY ONE EMERALD?!’ Tangle thought.

The other hedgehog continued to mop the floor with Sonic until…

“Consider yourself lucky. If it wasn’t for these inhibitors on my wrists, you’d already be dead!”

“Wow… what an edge-lord…” Tangle analyzed.

“We gotta do something!” Chris said.

“Right, on it!” Tangle said as she jumped out of the car.

Though, landing on her left foot was a bad idea.

“YEEE THAT HURTS!”

“Tangle, stay there…” Sonic said.

“Hmph, like she would make a difference.” The hedgehog said.

“Who are you anyways?!” Sonic asked.

“Hmph… I am Shadow the Hedgehog… the Ultimate lifeform created by Professor Gerald.” Shadow said.

He then noticed the police approaching from behind them.

“There’s no longer any time for games… farewell.”

And with that, he was gone.

What followed Tangle thought was pretty strange. At first, Sonic was ready to fight his way out of this mess, but upon finding out that he was going to be taken to a place called Prison Island, he just surrendered.

“Sonic…” Tangle said.

“Don’t worry, I’ll see you soon.” Sonic said before he boarded a helicopter.

“So… what do we do about this…?” Chris asked.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m going after him.” Tangle said. “Injury or not, I can’t just sit here while Sonic is sitting in a jail cell!”

“Calm down, do you even realize what Prison Island is?” Chuck asked.

“Uh… a Prison on an Island?” Tangle asked.

“No… I mean, yes… but there’s more to it!” Chuck said. “It’s the most secure prison on the planet! No one has ever been able to break in or out!”

“Yeah? Well I am not just somebody!” Tangle declared. “Now, are you guys with me, or are you not?”

“I’m with you.” Chris said. “You’re right, we can’t just sit here and do nothing!”

“Great!” Tangle said. “Now… how do we get there…?”

Everyone just groaned at Tangle’s lack of planning.

“I guess I will have to help Master Chris and Tangle.” Tanaka said. “I will get you two there before you know it!”

“Great! Let’s get going!” Tangle said.

‘Sonic… here we come!’

End of Chapter 16

And so begins the SA2 arc! Though, we aren’t JUST gonna be covering SA2 in this arc. You’ll see what I mean in a couple chapters.

Not much more to say, so see you all next time!

Chapter Text

Chapter 17: SA2 Part 2

“Seriously… are these outfits necessary?” Tangle asked as the boat came to a stop.

“Of course! You always have to wear an outfit like this when infiltrating enemy territory!” Tanaka explained.

“Are you sure about that… or did you just see that in a movie?” Tangle asked.

“Either way, if we take the boat any closer we’ll surely be caught.” Tanaka went off topic.

‘Yup… movie…’

“Ok, so how do we get on the island?” Tangle asked.

“Leave that to me.” Tanaka said. “We will counter high tech… with no tech…”

Moments later, they were in a swan boat.

“I feel so dumb right now…” Tangle groaned out.

“You could help… get this done quicker…” Chris complained.

“No she cannot!” Tanaka scolded. “She is pushing herself by coming here, I refuse to allow her to exert herself any more than she has to.”

“You heard the guy…” Tangle said. “Trust me, I am not happy about this either.”

Chris didn’t respond, and simply peddled faster.

By some miracle, they made it to the island without being spotted.

By the time they got to the top of the cliff though…

“Is that Tails?” Tangle asked.

“Hm… things are looking dangerous…” Tanaka said. “You two wait here, I shall be right back.”

“Alright…” Chris said as Tanaka finished climbing the cliff.

Not much later though, alarms begin to sound.

“Sonic…”

“… Are we seriously gonna just stay here?” Tangle asked. “Come on, we have work to do!”

“But…”

“You can stay here if you want, I’m going!” Tangle said.

And with that, she began climbing.

“Hey! Wait for me!” Chris said as he began to follow.

When they reached the top, they began to run.

“Hey, are you going to be alright?” Chris asked.

“I’ll be fine, yeah my foot hurts, but that’s not gonna stop me!” Tangle said.

“Still…”

“Don’t worry!” Tangle said with a grin.

“… Alright…”

After a while, they heard something.

“Sounds like someone’s in a fight…” Tangle said. “Might be Sonic…”

“Let’s go look!” Chris said.

“Right!”

The two continued to run, until they spotted a hedgehog in the distance.

“Sonic!” Chris shouted as they approached.

But as they got closer…

“Wait… that’s that Shadow guy!” Tangle said.

“What? What’s he doing here?” Chris asked.

“No clue… but I am gonna find out!” Tangle said as she charged at him.

“Wait!”

“What?”

“He’s talking to someone!” Chris pointed out.

“Huh?”

Sure enough, Shadow was talking to someone through some sort of communicator on his wrist.

Worse though, Tangle could barely make out a timer for something on said communicator.

“Three minutes? Three minutes til what?” Tangle asked.

Then, Shadow held up a Chaos Emerald and activated Chaos Control.

Seeing this, Tangle and Chris ran towards him and grabbed on before he teleported away.

When they arrived at… wherever they were, Shadow attempted to kick them away, though Tangle was able to block the blow.

“Alright creep, just what is going on here!” Tangle demanded.

“Tangle?!”

“Rouge?!”

“You know her?” Shadow asked.

“An old friend, don’t worry.” Rouge said.

“You need better friends.” Shadow said.

“Oh please, like you’re so great…” Tangle said. “Anyways, you have two minutes to explain what is happening here before I beat it out of you!”

“You only have two minutes to live…” Shadow said.

“Excuse me?!” Tangle asked.

“Two minutes til the bombs go off… huh?” Rouge asked.

“BOMBS?!” Tangle asked.

‘That’s what the timer was for!’

“Correct, I’m leaving…” Shadow said.

“Not if I can help it!” Tangle said as she ran over to punch him.

Shadow simply dodged her, and swept her feet.

“AGH!” Tangle groaned out as Shadow’s kick hit her left foot.

“Hmph, pathetic.” Shadow said before kicking her to the other side of the room.

“Why are you doing this?!” Tangle asked. “Why in the world would you attack us, blow up an island, steal the Chaos Emeralds?!”

“Revenge…” Shadow said. “For what happened on the Ark fifty years ago.”

“Ark…?”

“That’s enough talking, farewell.” Shadow said as he began to charge up some energy to blast her with.

“Please… leave her alone.” Chris said, causing Shadow to, surprisingly, stop. “My friend… everyone thinks that you’re him and he’s in a lot of trouble because of it.”

“No concern to me…”

“Please… please just let me help Sonic!” Chris pleaded.

Shadow… actually contemplated this for a second… at least that is what it looked like to Tangle.

“Huh?”

“Chaos Control!” Shadow suddenly shouted.

“Wait! TA-“ Chris began to shout before he disappeared.

“What…? What just happened?” Tangle asked.

But then, she realized how bad this situation was.

“… Oh no…”

And as the island exploded, Sonic and the others looked on in horror, unsure if their friends got out of there in time.

End of Chapter 17

Welp, Tangle’s dead… thanks for reading this story everyone, it ended a lot earlier than you probably thought but that’s just how it is!

… Ok no, we ain’t done yet. See you next time :)

Chapter Text

Chapter 18: SA2 Part 3 

Sonic was running… what else is new? This time though, there was a bit of hesitation in his steps.

They had just found out through a news report that there were no casualties in the explosion on Prison Island. This meant that Chris and Tangle were probably alright…

Emphasis on probably.

It’s true, no-one in the base was found to be dead… but they didn’t exactly know that Tangle and Chris were in the base.

Also, an explosion that large could of completely incinerated them for all he knew. Tangle was tough, but not that tough.

As such, there was still that little bit of doubt in Sonic’s mind. Not only that, Tanaka had told him that they were warped away by that Shadow guy, so if they were alright, they were most likely captured.

And he did not like that one bit.

And on top of all of this, Eggman just unveiled what he had planned to the entire planet the night before, being a giant cannon in space.

“First thing’s first… gotta find a way to get into space…” Sonic said to himself.

At that moment, a group of G.U.N. robots appeared around him.

“Great… you guys aren’t making this any easier you know!” Sonic said as he ran away.

Eventually, he ended up being completely surrounded, which resulted in him getting into a brawl with said robots.

“HYAH!” Shouted a familiar voice from around the corner.

“Huh?” Sonic said as he went to investigate.

He was greeted by Knuckles, who was also fighting off a group of robots.

Deciding that the guy could use a hand, he joined in.

A bit later…

“So, you mind telling me what’s going on?” Knuckles asked as he destroyed the last robot.

“Eggman’s got a base in space, using some lookalike to frame me…” Sonic explained. “You’re about to get shot by a robot.”

“Oh… alright.” Knuckles said. “Wait, wha-“

Knuckles turned around to see a Flying Dog about to shoot him with a powerful laser.

“WATCH OU-“

Thankfully, the laser never fired, as a familiar looking tail burst through the robot, destroying it.

“Geez, I leave you boys alone for a day, and look at what happens!”

When the smoke cleared, they saw Tangle standing there.

“Tangle!” Sonic said.

“Hey, miss me?” Tangle asked.

“More like was worried about you! How did you get out of there?” Sonic asked.

“Well…” Tangle started.

The next wave of robots didn’t like that though.

“Uh, we can talk later, we gotta get going!” Knuckles said.

“Right…” Sonic said.

Suddenly, Tanaka came rolling in on a motorcycle, obviously acting as some sort of distraction.

While the robots were busy with that, Cream opened up a manhole and told them to get inside.

“Oh geez… ok… stay calm… stay calm…” Tangle said.

“What’s with her?” Knuckles asked.

“Claustrophobia, pretty bad case too.” Sonic explained.

“Seemed fine in the tornado…” Knuckles said.

“That’s the exception.”

“Ms. Tangle! You’re ok!” Cream said.

“No time to talk! Let’s get out of here!” Tangle said frantically.

“Right, let’s go!” Sonic said.

After they got out of the sewers, and Tangle calmed down a bit, they made their way back to the Thorndyke’s temporary home.

“So, how did you get out of there before the bombs went off?” Sonic asked. “More importantly, where’s Chris?”

“Well… bad news is that Eggman has Chris…” Tangle said. “I’m sorry… I tried to fight that Shadow guy… and got trounced.”

“Hey, it’s fine!” Sonic said. “You’re still recovering, we won’t blame you for not being able to handle someone like that quite yet.”

“Still… I just feel so useless…”

“Well, stop thinking like that, and start thinking about how we are going to go and rescue Chris!” Sonic said.

“… Right.” Tangle said.

“Anyways, how did you get out of there?” Sonic asked.

“Well, that’s the thing… I didn’t.” Tangle said.

“Huh?”

“You see, after Shadow left me there to die…”

“…Oh no…”

Tangle looked around frantically for an exit, and saw that there really wasn’t any.

The door was sealed shut, and there wasn’t enough time to bust it open.

“Ok… leaving is not an option.” Tangle said.

Continuing to look around, she noticed that there were a lot of safes in the room, all littered by marks small enough to be caused by bullets.

“Looks like Rouge was fighting someone in here…” Tangle said. “Wait…”

She saw that during the fight, one of the safes was broken open.

Then, she remembered something Jewel told her once.

“Well… this place is neat…” Tangle said sarcastically.

“Tangle, you didn’t have to come if you really didn’t want to.” Jewel said. “It’s good enough that you got the money for us to be able to come here.”

“Yeah, but this is for your birthday! No way I am abandoning you on your special day!” Tangle said. “Though I gotta wonder… what’s stopping a robber from… I dunno… robbing the place?”

“Well, there are of course security measures put into place for the entire store, but the safes they have here are really good at keeping the contents… well… safe!” Jewel explained.

“Ok, so why can’t someone just… I dunno… break the safe?” Tangle asked.

“Tangle, those safes are so sturdy, you could blow it up, and it would still be in one piece!” Jewel said. “They are probably the only thing on the planet more sturdy than you.”

“Really? Wow… that’s impressive!” Tangle said.

“I know right!” Jewel said with a smile.

At this point, Tangle knew the only way she could survive… but she didn’t like it.

“Oooooh boy… I am really going to hate this.” Tangle said as she ran over to the safe, dove in and closed the door behind her.

Then, the bombs went off.

Despite her panic, Tangle could feel the safe being tossed about by the explosions before it landed hard on the ground.

“Oof… that hurt…” Tangle said as she listened to see if the explosions were still going off.

After a moment, she couldn’t hear anything.

“Now… to get out of here…”

When she stood up, she realized the issue…

The door was now facing the ground.

“… Oh no…” Tangle said before panicking.

“Ok… think… think… think…”

Then, she got desperate, and threw the strongest punch she could at one of the safe walls…

And made a sizable hole in it.

“HAHA! EXPLOSIONS GOT NOTHING ON ME!” She shouted as she leapt through the hole and out of the safe.

“Gotta love that nice open air… even if it is burning…” Tangle said as she got a look around.

“Alright… time to find that swan boat…” She said as she ran off into the forest.

“After that, I made my way back to land, and after resting for the night, I went and found you guys.” Tangle finished her explanation.

“Good thinking.” Sonic said. “Glad to know that you’re alright.”

“Yeah… but I am really tired… and really sore…” Tangle said.

“Get some rest here while Tails and Chuck suit up the X-Tornado for space travel, we’re gonna go investigate a base that Knuckles found.” Sonic said.

“Right… I’ll do that.” Tangle said as she collapsed.

“Right, let’s get going everyone!” Sonic said as they left.

“We’re gonna get back to work on the X-Tornado.” Tails said. “Call Ella, or any of us really, if you need anything.”

“Gotcha…” Tangle said groggily.

When Tails left though, Tangle couldn’t help but think.

‘Why did Shadow seem to… hesitate when he was about to leave us? Why did he suddenly decide to save Chris and Rouge? Just what is that guy’s deal?!’

After a moment though, she got an idea.

“Well, I guess there’s one way I might be able to find out…” Tangle said to herself as she closed her eyes.

‘Hey… Tikal? You there?’

“Hello Tangle.” Tikal’s voice rang through her head.

‘Oh great! It worked! Listen, I was wondering if you could help me with something.’

“Oh? And that is?”

‘You were able to take me back to the past right? Think you can do it again, but so I can see what’s up with this Shadow guy?’

“Hmmm… I can, but it will be different than before.”

‘Different? How so?’

“Well, you’ll only be able to see what happened… not actually interact with anything. This is because I have no memories of this time.” Tikal explained.

‘Gotcha, that’s fine. Just show me what you can!’

“Alright… here we go.”

A familiar feeling suddenly overcame Tangle, as everything once again went white.

End of Chapter 18

Did you really think that I would just kill off Tangle? Nah, she’s the main character of this story! Also, yeah, Tikal is helping out, and we will be diving into Shadow’s back story, and how Tangle handles finding out all of this information in the next chapter.

In case you are wondering, the room where Rouge was stuck in is kinda different from where she was in the anime, being a big room with safes littering the walls. The safes look like the ones in Security hall. An alternate version I thought of for this, was that Tangle would be captured by Shadow and pretty much held hostage until the last story of SA2… but I didn’t want to make her a hostage, so I went with this. I’ve been beating her up way too much lately, so I cut her a break.

Also yeah, the way she gets out of there is a reference to the Tangle and Whisper Mini-series. Gonna be a really long time until we get to that point, so I figured I’d throw that in here :)

See you all next time for Chapter 19!

Chapter Text

Chapter 19: SA2 Part 4 

When the light cleared, Tangle was suddenly in space.

“What in the world?!” Tangle asked. “Why am I in space?!”

“This is where Shadow’s story begins.” Tikal explained, now floating beside her.

“Tikal…” Tangle said. “I gotta admit… I wasn’t expecting you to actually be able to do this.”

“The Chaos Emeralds allow for control over time and space… Since I was sealed inside the Master Emerald for so long, I learned a couple of things.” Tikal explained. “But… it is limited.”

“Yeah, I can only see what happens, not actually interact with it, right?” Tangle asked.

“That is correct.” Tikal said.

“Alright, that’s fine.” Tangle said. “Let’s just find out what the deal with Shadow is.”

“Right.”

The two of them floated along and went inside…

“This is that place where that giant cannon is, right?” Tangle asked.

“Yes, this appears to be the case.” Tikal confirmed.

Tangle then looked over to the moon, and remembered the amount of damage Eggman was able to do.

“We have to stop them… no matter what.”

The two then flew into the space station and got a look around.

“Ok, so looks like a bunch of scientists… wait… is that?”

Tangle then got a look at what appeared to be the lead scientist, and she was shocked at what she saw.

“Eggman? Why does he look so old?”

“Professor Gerald!” Another scientist shouted as he approached the Eggman lookalike.

“What is it?” Professor Gerald said.

“There was an explosion in one of the labs! Some of the other scientist got hurt!” The scientist explained.

“What?! Quick, get Shadow, and have him gather them so we can tend to their wounds.”

“Of course!”

When the other scientist left, Tangle and Tikal followed.

“So… That Gerald guy… what’s his deal?” Tangle asked.

“I’m afraid I don’t know… I am learning about all of this along side you after all.” Tikal explained.

“Great… let’s just keep following this guy and find Shadow.”

Eventually, they found the hedgehog in question, who was currently… playing?

“Shadow, you don’t have to be so serious all of the time!” The girl he was playing with said.

“… Very well.” Shadow said.

Getting a good look at him, Tangle noticed that Shadow looked really… happy.

“This… isn’t what he was like when I met him, that’s for sure.” Tangle pointed out. “What in the world happened to him?”

“Shadow! Come quick! We need your help!” The scientist from before said.

“I’m on my way.” Shadow said as he ran off to help.

Tangle and Tikal then watched as Shadow did all he could to save the scientists who were injured.

“Ok… he seems like a really good guy.” Tangle said.

The two of them continued to watch, as Shadow continued to play with this girl, who they came to learn was named Maria, as well as helping to calm down a bunch of artificial lifeforms that went out of control at one point.

“Isn’t the world beautiful Shadow?” Maria asked as they looked out a window.

“…”

“What I wouldn’t give… to just be able to go down there, and experience what the world has to offer… To meet the people of the world…” Maria said. “Do you think it is as beautiful down there as it looks like up here?”

“… Possibly.”

“I think so… one day, we’ll go down there together… you promise?” Maria asked.

“… I promise.”

Tangle watched this and had to wonder… did Shadow ever keep his promise?

“Professor… do you mind if I ask you something?” A scientist asked Professor Gerald.

“Go ahead.”

“I was just wondering… what is the purpose of Shadow?” The scientist asked. “I mean, we are calling him the ultimate lifeform… but why did we decide to create him?”

“… You have heard of NIDS, correct?” Professor Gerald asked.

“Neuro-Immune Deficiency Syndrome? Of course I have!” The scientist answered.

“As unfortunate as it is… Maria was diagnosed with this disease.” Gerald explained. “My hope is that in the creation of Shadow, we will be a step closer to finding a cure.”

“Ah, I see… so that is why he is so attached to her.”

“Yes, that would be the case.” Gerald said. “She’s such a good girl… I can’t bear the thought of losing her.”

“Yes… I can imagine.”

At that moment, the door opened, and a bunch of soldiers flooded into the room.

“W-What’s going on here?!” Gerald asked.

“Professor Gerald, we are shutting this place down.”

The situation was terrible. All of the scientists were being arrested for who knows what, and Maria and Shadow were currently being chased by a soldier who spotted them.

Then, Shadow was sealed in a glass capsule, from which, he could only watch as…

“NO!” Tangle screamed as she tried to get in the way of the bullet… only for it to pass right through her, and strike Maria.

“MARIA!”

“Shadow… Please… I beg of you… for all of the people on that planet…” Maria said, struggling to keep herself

“Maria!”

“Sayonara… Shadow the Hedgehog…”

And as Maria pulled the lever, Shadow was sent hurdling into space.

“AH!” Tangle shouted as she jolted up from her resting spot.

‘I’m… back?’

“I’m afraid that is everything…” Tikal explained.

‘Right… ok… that was a lot to take in…’

“Hey Tangle! We’re all set and ready to… uh… you alright?” Tails asked as he walked into the room.

“Huh?” Tangle said as she felt around her eyes.

She had been crying.

“Y-yeah… had a rough dream is all.” Tangle lied.

“Oh… alright.” Tails said. “Anyways, we just finished our work on the X-Tornado, and we’re ready to go. You coming?”

“Of course! Let’s get going!”

As Tangle left the room, she couldn’t help but think.

’Shadow… I am gonna save you from this… no matter what!’

End of Chapter 19

A shorter one, I wanted the Shadow flashbacks to get their own chapter. Seeing as how the next chapter is also kinda short, I will put that up later today or tomorrow to make up for it!

I decided to throw in a bit of plot from Shadow the Hedgehog, mainly the Maria levels from that game. We are never going to get a chance to include those when I get to that game, but they feel like such an important part of Shadow’s character, that I wanted to include them in some way. So, putting them here was a good compromise I feel!

Anyways, see you next time! :

Chapter Text

Chapter 20: SA2 Part 5

“Remind me to never get into a space ship with Knuckles ever again…” Tangle groaned out as they landed the shuttle on the ark.

Tangle and Tails were easily able to find Sonic and the others, and though Tails was disappointed that they weren’t going to be able to make much use of the upgrades to the X-Tornado, he accepted that taking one of Eggman’s space shuttles was a good idea. So, leaving Cream behind, they set off for the Space Colony Ark…

Until Knuckles decided to take over, and nearly killed them all.

“We’ll give that Knucklehead a piece of our mind when this is over. For now, let’s go find Chris, and find a way to stop that cannon.” Sonic said.

“Right…” Tangle said.

“Here, you can ride up here with Tanaka.” Amy offered, as she helped Tangle onto the X-Cyclone.

“Thanks Amy…” Tangle said. She was fine with walking, but her foot had taken a lot of abuse lately, so she didn’t want to push it.

“Right, let’s get moving.” Tails said as they started to walk away.

“So… what is this place anyways?” Sonic asked.

“Well, I read that it was a research facility that was shut down due to an accident about fifty years ago.” Tails said. “Sorry to say, there was no information on what exactly they were researching…”

“Shadow.” Tangle said. “They were probably doing something involving Shadow.”

“Really? What makes you say that?” Sonic asked.

“Think about it, Shadow shows up, then suddenly Eggman decides to make this place his base, with a weapon capable of destroying the planet here.” Tangle said. “Shadow knew about this place already… and him calling himself the Ultimate Lifeform, created by some guy called ‘Gerald’…”

“Hmmm… yeah, I guess that makes sense.” Sonic said. “Good thinking.”

“Thanks…”

‘I kinda cheated to get that information though…’

“Anyways, that doesn’t answer what we do about our situation though…” Sonic said.

“Well, I have an idea…” Tails said as he handed Sonic…

“A Chaos Emerald?” Sonic asked.

“Kinda, it’s a fake Chuck and I made to help power the X-Tornado.” Tails explained. “It’s not as powerful, but it was designed to absorb the power of the emeralds, then create an explosion.”

“Got it! So we just throw it in with the other emeralds, and BOOM! Cannon is gone!” Tangle said.

“Exactly!” Tails said as they entered a room.

Shortly after, Sonic and Tails heard the sound of glass breaking behind them. When they got a good look, they saw Tanaka on the ground, with Amy tending to him, and Tangle being held up in mid air by a metal claw, clamped around her left foot.

“OOOOHHHHH GOSH THIS STINGS!” Tangle shouted.

When the lights turned on, Eggman was revealed, and he began demanding that they give him the Chaos Emerald in exchange for Tangle’s life.

“Oh please, Tangle can handle anything you throw at her.” Sonic said.

“True… normally.” Eggman said. “But don’t think I don’t know about her little… handicap.”

‘Oh no…’

Deciding to act quickly, Tangle used her tail to try and strike Eggman, only for the claw to tighten around her ankle

“YEEEEEE!” Tangle shouted as the tail stopped.

“One false move, and I’ll crush it.” Eggman threatened.

Seeing that his bluff failed, Sonic leapt out of the Cyclone and began to walk over.

“Place it in the center of the circle.” Eggman directed.

“Huh, you really are acting like a real villain Eggman.” Sonic teased as he did just that.

Then, Tangle began to recognize the room.

“Oh no… SONIC GET BACK!” Tangle shouted.

“Huh?”

“Gotcha!” Eggman said before pushing a button.

And a glass tube came out and trapped Sonic.

“AAAAAND NOW I’M GONNA SEND YOU INTO SPACE!” Eggman shouted with a laugh.

“Stop! I’ll give you the real emerald!” Tails said.

“TAILS!” Tangle and Sonic both shouted.

“Wha- That Emerald’s a fake?!” Eggman asked.

Tails looked at the doctor in shock.

“Well, guess I don’t have to restrain myself…” Eggman said.

“Let him go right now or I SWEAR!” Amy shouted.

“Amy… take care of yourself…” Sonic said.

“…Huh…?”

Was Sonic… saying his goodbyes?

“Tangle… you really did become an amazing hero… I’m proud of you, never forget that.”

Tangle couldn’t stop the tears.

“Tails… you were the best brother I could ask for… thanks for being my family.”

Tails handled that even worse.

“Tails, Tangle… I’ll be counting on the two of you to finish things here… good luck.” Sonic said.

And just like that, he was gone.

Deciding that he had no more use for Tangle, Eggman tossed her to the side. After gathering her bearings, she could only look on in horror as the capsule Sonic was in drifted off into space…

Before it exploded.

“No… Sonic…”

‘Is… is this my fault?! I… I…’

“Amy… Tangle… Tanaka… get somewhere safe.” Tails said. “Sonic is counting on me to finish this… and that is just what I am gonna do!”

“… He’s counting on me too Tails.” Tangle said stepping forward. “Let’s teach this creep a lesson!”

And so, the fight began.

Tails used his X-Cyclone to keep fighting at a distance while Tangle tried to get up close.

Though she felt a spike of pain in each step, she ignored it.

‘Ignore the pain! You have to stop this guy!’

When she got close enough, Tangle attempted a tail hammer on the doctor, who was barely able to dodge it.

“Why you… take this!” Eggman said as he fired a laser at Tangle, who was able to barely dodge.

Though, landing on her left foot was a bad idea.

“AGH!” Tangle shouted as she fell to the floor, clutching her ankle.

“Tangle!” Tails shouted.

“Oh ho ho ho ho ho! How pathetic.” Eggman said. “A little lesson for you…

Don’t go into a battle when you know you’re going to be a liability.”

Tangle didn’t say anything, and just stared at the doctor.

At that moment, Tails charged in close, and fired a laser at point blank, sending both of them flying into the walls.

Shortly after, Tails came walking towards Tangle.

“You alright?”

“Y-yeah… I’ll be fine…” Tangle said.

“Don’t listen to him, you’re never a liability.” Tails said.

“Y-yeah… I know…” Tangle said.

At that moment, a claw came out of no-where, bust into the cockpit of the Cyclone, and stole the Chaos Emerald inside.

“Wha-“

“LATER SUCKERS!” Eggman shouted as he left.

And everyone just stared at the now closed door.

“Oh… come ooooonnnnn!” Tangle said as she laid back in annoyance.

“Come on, let’s go find Chris and Knuckles. We’ll figure something out, I promise!” Tails said as he helped Tangle to her feet.

At that moment though, all the abuse that Tangle’s foot had been taking proved to be too much, as a sharp pain surged through it.

“AH!” Tangle said as she lifted it up off the ground.

“You alright?” Tails asked.

“Y-Yeah… foot is just really sore right now.”

“Here, I’ll help you.” Amy said as she used his shoulder to support her.

“Thanks…”

“Don’t go into a battle when you know you’re going to be a liability.” Eggman’s words echo’d in her mind.

After walking for a while, they came across Knuckles and…

“CHRIS!” Tanaka shouted as he went and embraced the boy.

“Hey Tanaka… sorry for worrying you.” Chris said.

“Anyways, I guess there’s nothing to worry about, since Sonic is on the case.” Knuckles said.

This got the groups attention.

“Sonic?”

“Yeah, just bumped into him. He said he’s gonna go destroy the cannon.” Knuckles said.

“…He’s… alive?” Tangle asked.

“Uh… yeah? Wasn’t he just with you?” Knuckles asked.

The sigh of relief that came out of Tangle, Tails and Amy told Knuckles all he needed to know.

“Ah, things got kinda dicey I guess.” Knuckles said.

“Yeah, they did.” Tangle said. “Don’t think I am gonna be in action until this thing heals after this…” She said, gesturing to her foot.

“You shouldn’t even be helping in the first place… you could of made it worse.” Knuckles said.

“Don’t go into a battle when you know you’re going to be a liability.”

Shaking those thoughts out of her head, Tangle took a look at Knuckles.

“Sorry, but I can’t just sit around when my friends need help.” She said.

Knuckles smiled at this. “Heh, you really are something.”

After a while of waiting, the group saw that the Eclipse Cannon was being destroyed.

“Sonic did it…” Tangle said.

“Yeah… he really did.” Tails said. “Never should of doubted him for a second.”

“Yeah…”

Then… something happened that Tangle never expected.

Professor Gerald appeared on a screen in front of the group.

End of Chapter 20

Next time, the end of SA2.

Chapter Text

Chapter 21: SA2 Finale

“What the…?” Knuckles said, wondering who the heck this old man was.

“Professor Gerald…” Tangle said.

“Huh? How do you…?” Tails asked.

“I’ll explain later… what’s going on here?” Tangle asked.

“This… is a death sentence to all of humanity.” Professor Gerald said.

“What?!”

“All you ungrateful humans, who took everything away from me… will feel my loss… and despair.”

“Wh-what is he…?” Amy asked.

Then, the entire colony began to shake.

“What’s going on?!” Knuckles asked.

“I don’t know… but I know how we can find out!” Tails said as they all began to run to the control center of the arc, but not before a timer appeared on the screen.

“Twenty Seven minutes… that’s not much time at all…” Tangle said.

“We’ll figure this out… we have to!” Tails said.

“Right!” Tangle said as they continued to run… though she and Amy were lagging behind a bit. “Sorry Amy…”

“Don’t be, I’ll always be happy to help my friends!” Amy said.

“Don’t go into a battle when you know you’re going to be a liability.”

“Eggman! What’s going on?!” Tails asked as they approached the Doctor.

“Who is that guy?!” Amy asked.

“Professor Gerald Robotnik… my grandfather.” Eggman said.

“HUH?!”

“No wonder they looked so similar…” Tangle said to herself.

Then, the Ark began to shake once again.

“It… looks like it’s all over for us.” They heard Rouge said from behind them. “I just got word from the ground… the ark is heading towards Earth at an alarming speed.”

“So… that’s his game, crash this place into the planet to destroy it…” Tangle said.

“And with the Chaos Emeralds at the center of the Ark… it’ll cause a massive explosion beyond anything that we can comprehend.” Eggman said. “There would be no surviving that…”

“So… that’s what’s going on.”

Everyone looked over to see Sonic walking over.

“Seriously? You’re still alive?” Eggman asked. “Just how stubborn are you?”

“Very.” Sonic said. “Now, what do we do about this?”

“Hmm… well, the Chaos Emeralds are acting as a propulsion system for the Ark… if we can somehow deactivate them…” Eggman said.

“Well, it’s a good thing we have that thing!” Tangle said, pointing towards Knuckles.

“Who you calling a thing?!”

“Not you, the Master Emerald!” Tangle groaned out.

“Oh… WHAT ARE YOU CALLING A THING?!” Knuckles asked, even louder than before.

“Oh, just listen.” Tangle said. “Remember what Tikal said? The Master Emerald has the power to cancel out the power of the Chaos Emeralds!”

“Of course I remember… wait, that’s it!” Knuckles said.

“Right, if we can take the Master Emerald to the Chaos Emeralds, we can stop all of this!” Tangle said. “Good thing it’s here, or else we would be toast!”

Rouge just smiled warily. “Yeah! That’s why it’s here! Always was the plan to use it to stop the Chaos Emeralds just in ca-“

“You just wanted to steal it.” Tangle said flatly.

“Yeah.”

“Right, so we have a plan! Let’s get to work!” Sonic said.

“Right!”

“Tangle, you coming with me and Knuckles?” Sonic asked.

“Me?”

“Yeah, this was your idea, you should see it through to the end.” Sonic said.

“Ri-“

“Don’t go into a battle when you know you’re going to be a liability.”

“…”

“Tangle?”

“Sorry Sonic… but I’m going to sit this one out.” Tangle said.

“Really? Why?”

“I… I can’t really walk anymore.” She explained as she shook her left leg. “Too much more abuse… and I might end up completely wrecking my foot…”

Sonic smiled at this. “Right, and we can’t have that. Just get some rest, ok?”

“Right… just… promise me that you’ll get the job done.” Tangle said.

“Of course!”

“Bocoe, Decoe, you go with Sonic and Knuckles. Carry the Master Emerald for them.” Eggman commanded.

“Yes sir!”

“Tangle…” Amy said as they were looking out a window.

“Yeah?”

“Why… didn’t you want to go with them?” Amy asked.

“I already said why, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, but I know you better than that.” Amy said. “You would normally be jumping at the opportunity to help, injury or not.”

“Yeah well… this time it’s too important.” Tangle said. “We don’t have much time at all… we can’t risk me slowing them down.”

“Still…”

“Hmph, smart move.”

The group turned around to see Shadow walking into the room.

“Shadow…”

“You’d only get in the way, it was smart of you to stay here.” Shadow explained.

“Geez, no need to be so harsh…” Amy said.

“Shadow… are you going to go and help them?” Chris asked.

“Why should I?” Shadow asked.

“Cause the whole planet will be destroyed!” Chris said.

“And why should I care?” Shadow asked.

“Because…”

“Chris… let me handle this.” Tangle said.

“Tangle?”

Tangle then limped over towards Shadow.

“Tell me, why shouldn’t you care? An entire planet is about to be killed, and you’re just gonna stand here and watch?” Tangle asked.

“Hmph, you wouldn’t understand.” Shadow said.

“Try me.”

“This is all for revenge… this is what the Professor wants… what Maria wants.” Shadow said.

“Maria?” Chris asked.

Then, something surprising happened.

Tangle began laughing.

“And what’s so funny?” Shadow asked.

“… You really are an idiot.” Tangle said.

“Huh?”

“Do you really expect me to believe that THIS is what Maria wants?!” Tangle asked. “If you really think that, then you didn’t know Maria!”

“Don’t talk about something you know nothing about!” Shadow shouted.

“BUT I DO KNOW!” Tangle shouted back. “I know all about this place. About Professor Gerald, about Maria, about you!”

“How could you possibly…”

“You were created to cure Maria’s NIDS.” Tangle said, causing Shadow to stop. “Then, the two of you grew close, playing together… talking together…

There were several times where they had you help when there was an accident on the Ark… you saved lives back then, and you did it with a smile on your face.

But then, a bunch of soldier’s came… they arrested or killed everyone… and they killed her, right in front of you.”

Shadow stayed silent at this.

“Tell me… do you remember the promise you made to Maria?” Tangle asked.

“I promised her revenge…”

“No… you promised that the two of you would go down to Earth one day… together.” Tangle said. “She loved that planet… and now you are just going to let it be destroyed!”

Shadow eyes went wide.

“Come over here.” Tangle said as she limped over to the window.

Shadow complied.

“Don’t you recognize this view? This is the exact view that you had when you made that promise…” Tangle explained.

Shadow just stared off into space, quite literally, as a tear rolled down his cheek.

He really did forget.

But now, he remembered.

“… Thank you…” Shadow said.

“Huh?”

“I have to go now… and fulfill my promise to Maria… my true promise.” Shadow said. “And… my promise to you.”

“Shadow… good luck.” Tangle said with a smile.

Shadow looked back at her and smiled, before he teleported away.

“Tangle… how did you know all of that?” Amy asked.

Tangle smiled. “I got some help from a friend.”

“WHAT THE HECK IS THAT THING?!” Tangle asked as the Prototype of the Ultimate Lifeform suddenly merged with the Ark, intent on making sure it crashed into the planet.

“Shadow’s prototype…” Eggman explained.

“That, is gross…”

Moments later though, Sonic appeared, in his super form.

“Sonic…?” Tangle asked.

Sonic then floated towards her, and put a hand on her shoulder.

And just like magic, the pain in her foot started to fade away.

“What?”

Sonic didn’t say anything, and smiled as he vanished.

Putting her foot on the ground, Tangle couldn’t help but smile.

That guy really was too much sometimes.

So, Tangle went back over to the window, and watched as Sonic and Shadow saved the day.

“Gotta admit… we really cut things close this time…” Tangle said.

“I’ll say.” Tails said. “All that’s left is to wait for Sonic to come back, and we can all go home!”

“Yeah… going home sounds pretty good right now.” Tangle said.

Sure enough, Sonic walked into the room shortly later… but he had a bit of a hesitant look on his face.

“Hey! Good job out there dude!” Tangle said.

Then, she noticed how tense he looked.

“Wait… where’s Shadow?”

Sonic didn’t answer, he just shook his head.

“…No…” Tangle said.

Sonic walked over and placed a ring in her hands. “I’m sorry… that’s all I could find…”

Tangle didn’t respond, as tears began to fall from her eyes.

Everyone began to grieve in their own way, and decided that they should head out, and head back to the world that Shadow gave everything to save.

“…Sayonara… Shadow the Hedgehog…” Tangle said as she left.

…

“Don’t go into a battle when you know you’re going to be a liability.”

End of Chapter 21

Can you tell what the next couple of chapters are gonna be about yet?

Anyways, this is the end of the SA2 arc. No real epilogue, it kinda ties into the next little arc that I am planning.

If you are wondering how Sonic fixed Tangle’s foot, in the Japanese dub of Sonic X, he has an ability called “Chaos Regeneration” which is basically a healing move. They changed it to just Chaos Control in the english dub though.

Anyways, the next chapter is finally leaving the game adaptation territory for a bit, so I’ll let you know that it takes place during episode 39.

So, I’ll see you then!

Chapter Text

Chapter 22: Reunions Part 1

“Tangle’s log,

It’s been about a week since the whole situation on the Ark… Things around here have been getting a bit crazy since then.

For starters, it looks like the whole world merging thing got sped up a bit, as houses are starting to show up all over the place. Right now it’s looking like it’s only in the Mystic Ruins, so it’s unlikely that Jewel is here quite yet, but it is gonna happen soon.

I’m going to be honest… I don’t know how I feel about that.

Normally, I would be really excited about the idea of seeing Jewel again… but I honestly don’t know anymore. I think it’s because I don’t know how to tell her about what happened with Shadow… Yeah… I’m still blaming myself for that. The stuff that Eggman said to me… I just can’t get it out of my head…

That guy may be a grade A jerk… but he had a point, I pretty much only got in the way that entire time.

I just… I don’t know… I think I’m done writing for now… we’re back in Chris’ house by the way, so that’s nice.”

Tangle groaned as she put the put the notebook down.

Walking into the living room, she saw everyone sitting in front of the TV.

“Hey, what’s going on?” She asked.

“Well… Eggman just fixed the moon.” Tails said.

“…Huh?”

“Yeah, he made an artificial half of the moon and fixed it!” Tails said.

“Huh… neat.” Tangle said with little energy.

Everyone noticed the lack of energy in Tangle.

“Anyways, I’m gonna go for a run. See you later.” Tangle said before she left.

Amy just sighed at this. “We… really should talk to her about this.”

“I know… I just don’t know what to say.” Tails said.

“Well… let’s think of something, and talk to her when she gets back.” Amy said.

A couple of hours later, Tangle returned to the Thorndyke residence.

“Ugh… that didn’t really help at all…” Tangle said. “Now I just feel tired…”

Then, she noticed something. A Crocodile and a Bee sneaking into the house.

“What in the world?”

Deciding that she wouldn’t get any answers by just standing there, Tangle decided to be sneaky and follow them.

“Sneak-sneak-sneak!”

“Huh? Did you hear something?” The Bee asked.

Tangle covered her mouth and hid.

“Eh, probably just the wind.” The Bee said as they continued to sneak into the house.

When they were out of sight…

“I really need to kick that habit…” Tangle said as she continued to sneak in.

When she got to the living room though.

“Uh… what’s going on here?” Tangle asked.

“THESE GUYS JUST CAME OUT OF NO-WHERE AND ATTACKED US!” Tails shouted.

“Help us out here Tangle!” Amy shouted.

“Oh uh… alright.” Tangle said before jumping into the pile.

She completely trounced the two trespassers.

“Alright, talk. What are you two doing here?” Tangle asked the two currently wrapped in her tail.

“Yeah, I’d like to know that too.” Said a voice from the door.

They all looked over to see Sonic standing there.

“Oh, hey Sonic.” Tangle said.

“Ah, if it isn’t the kidnapper himself!” The Crocodile said.

“Kidnapper? What are you talking about?” Tangle asked.

“Sonic here kidnapped…” The Crocodile continued, but stopped when a familiar face entered the room. “Ah! You’re…!”

“Hey Cream, take a look at who’s here to see you!” Sonic said.

Cream, who was currently helping to clean up the mess looked over…

And tears instantly started falling from her eyes.

“M…Mother?”

“… What…?” Tangle asked.

Sure enough, Cream’s mother was here, and Cream sprinted over and hugged her like her life depended on it.

Tangle on the other hand, couldn’t help but think.

‘If she’s here… then does that mean…’

“Vector, thank you so much for all your hard work.” Vanilla said as Tangle let the two trespassers down.

“Oh, it’s no problem!” Vector said bashfully.

“And Sonic… thank you so much for taking care of her all this time.” Vanilla said.

“…Huh?”

Vector seemed very confused by this.

“What was that about kidnapping?” Tangle asked.

“Oh uh… nothing!” Vector said. “How have you been… S-Sonic… my old… pal…?”

Sonic just stood there and grinned.

“Uh… no hard feelings?”

“Yeah… no.” Amy said, with her hammer now in her hands.

“Uh… well then! I think it’s time for us to get going Charmy!” Vector said as he began to sprint out of the room.

“R-Right!” Charmy said he quickly followed, while everyone laughed at their… shenanigans.

Deciding that now was the best time to do so, Tangle approached Vanilla.

“So uh… hi, don’t know if you remember me but uh… I’m Tangle, Jewel’s friend.”

“Oh! That’s right! So you have been with Sonic and the others!” Vanilla said. “Jewel will be so happy to know that you’re alright!”

“Y-Yeah… about Jewel… do you uh… know where she might be right now?”

“Oh, she should be somewhere in this world too!”

End of Chapter 22

Yup, we finally made it to this part of the story!

I’ll put part 2 up tomorrow :)

See you all next time for Jewel’s real introduction to the story!

Chapter Text

Chapter 23: Reunions Part 2

“Oh Jewel? She should be somewhere in this world too!”

Those were the nine words that Tangle absolutely needed to hear. After more than half a year of working so hard, waiting impatiently and overall just being a worried mess, Tangle finally got the confirmation that she had been waiting for.

“Jewel… is here?” Tangle asked.

“Oh yes, she had been staying with me since you all disappeared. She was absolutely wonderful to have around by the way, and wouldn’t stop talking about all the things you’ve done for her.” Vanilla explained. “Anyways, we were together when I got sent here, so she has to be around here somewhere!”

“But… she’s here?!”

“Yes, yes she is.”

Deciding to waste no time at all, throwing away all of the fatigue from the run, and all hesitation from what happened the week before, Tangle sprinted out of the room and hopped on her bike, before riding off into town.

“Jewel, here I come!”

Downtown Station Square

“Wow…” Jewel said as she looked around the sprawling city.

Having spent most of her life in a small village like Spiral Hill, she really wasn’t used to being surrounded by such massive buildings.

Then, she saw something that caught her attention. It was a simple jewelry store, not too much different from the ones that she saw back home, but she couldn’t help but feel mesmerized by the wide array of jewels on display there.

“Well, looks like something caught your eye.” Said a voice from behind her.

“YEEP!” Jewel shouted as she hid behind a nearby street light.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“No no… it’s fine… uh, would you mind if I asked you something?” Jewel asked.

“Yeah, go ahead.”

This was the first human who spoke to her, so she took the opportunity to ask one of the two questions that had been nagging at her mind since she arrived in this world.

“Are you… related to someone named ‘Eggman?’”

“That creep? I hope not!” The man said with a laugh. “Don’t worry, Eggman is the only human like that here.”

“O-oh! So he’s here…” Jewel said.

Maybe… just maybe.

“So, what were you looking at in here?” The man asked.

“Oh, I was just admiring what they had on display. I love gems and jewels you see, and I just can’t help it when I see a store like this.” Jewel explained.

“Nothing wrong with that, this store does have quite the display. Might have a good anniversary gift in there… for next year of course.”

“R-right…”

“…Say, how about I buy you something from this store?” The man suddenly asked.

“What? But wouldn’t that be expensive?!”

“I’d like to think that I am doing well enough to buy you a little gift. Call it a nice welcome gift to our world!” The man explained.

“O-oh, but, I wouldn’t want to impose…”

“It’s not a problem at all little miss. Now, come with me and pick something out.” The man said.

“…Alright…” Jewel said as she followed. “Oh, my name is Jewel by the way, what’s yours?”

The man smiled. “Nelson Thorndyke, nice to meet you Jewel!”

Meanwhile, with Tangle

Tangle had just arrived in Station Square, and immediately got to work.

“Excuse me!” She said to a random man.

“Oh, you’re Tangle right?”

“Yeah, listen, have you seen a Beetle, about this tall, has a really colorful shell?” Tangle asked. “Really hard to miss.”

“Hmmm… nope, sorry, can’t say I have.” The man said.

“Alright, thanks anyway!” Tangle said as she rode off on her bike.

She continued like this for several minutes…

Until she heard a scream, followed by a gunshot.

“What in the world?!” Tangle said as she turned and headed towards the noise.

When she got there, she saw what appeared to be the end of a bank robbery, as the robbers were currently loading up the loot onto a van.

“Hey!” Tangle shouted before speeding over to the van.

“Oh crud! It’s that lemur girl!” One of the robbers said.

“Book it!”

And the van began to drive away, but it was too little too late as Tangle launched herself off of her bike and onto the van.

“I guess Jewel is gonna have to wait a bit…”

Back with Jewel

“You really didn’t have to do that…” Jewel said, marveling at the sapphire in her hands.

“True, but I wanted to.” Nelson said.

“Ok, but why?”

“Well, do you know who Sonic is?” Nelson asked.

“Of course, he’s a big hero back in our world… I guess that means he’s here too?” Jewel asked.

“Yes, he is.” Nelson said. “Sonic and his friends have done a lot for our world, my son in particular. So, I want to repay them by making as many people from their world feel as welcome here as I can.”

“That… is a good goal to have.” Jewel said.

“Something bothering you?”

“Well… I was wondering, you said ‘Sonic and his friends’… right?” Jewel asked.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Is… a girl named Tangle one of those friends?”

“The lemur? Yes, I think that was her name.” Nelson said.

“Uh… do you know where she might be?” Jewel asked.

“Well…”

“HEY! WATCH OUT!”

“Huh?”

The two of them looked over towards the noise to see a van speeding straight towards them.

“AH!”

Nelson, deciding to protect Jewel, intended to shield her from the blow that was coming.

But it never came.

The two looked over to see something very familiar wrapped around the front of the van, as it slowed down to a stop.

“NOT! LETTING! YOU! GET! AWAY!” They heard a familiar voice shout from behind the van.

Jewel may not of seen her in over half a year, but she could never forget the voice of her best friend.

Eventually, the engine of the van gave out, and the robbers inside all got out.

“Alright runt, we’re gonna make you pay for getting in our way!” One of the robbers said as he pulled out a gun.

“Try me…”

Tangle charged forward, dodging all of the bullets being fired at her with relative ease as she quickly closed the distance between her and the first robber. She then delivered a swift uppercut to the man’s gut, sending him to the ground. Another robber fired at her, but she managed to catch the bullet in the fluff of her tail, before she stretched it out to knock out that man as well.

“Man, getting that out of there is gonna be annoying later…”

Just one robber was left, so she slowly walked over.

“So, we can either do this the easy way, and you turn yourself in, or the hard way, and I knock you out. I’m in a bit of a hurry, so please make it quick.”

The man pulled out a knife.

“Ah, the hard way it is then.” Tangle said as she ducked under the knife and delivered an upwards kick into the mans stomach before restraining him with her tail and swiftly pinning him to the ground, knocking him out.

Realizing that Tangle had won, the crowd watching began to applaud her.

“Whoo… now that that’s done, back to looking for…”

“T-Tangle?”

Tangle turned to the voice, and was in disbelief at what she saw.

“J-Jewel?!”

The two of them just stood there and stared at each other, unsure as to what to do at this point.

Eventually, Tangle broke out into a sprint before she practically tackled the beetle and pulled her into a hug and began sobbing uncontrollably.

“JEEEEWEEEEELLLLLL!” Tangle bawled out. “I WAS SO WORRIED ABOUT YOOOOUUUU!”

“You were worried about me?! You were the one who disappeared with out a trace for over half a year!” Jewel said.

“I had no idea where you were, if you were alone or anything!” Tangle said. “I just… I just really missed you…”

“I… missed you too Tangle.” Jewel said before pulling Tangle back in for a hug. “Wait, did you just stop a bunch of thugs?”

“Yeah, I’ve uh… been busy since I came here.” Tangle said. “Come on, I’ll give you the gist of it on the way to where I’ve been staying.”

“I can give you a ride.” Nelson interjected.

“Oh, your Chris’ dad! I appreciate the offer, but my bike is around the corner over there, so we’ll just ride back.” Tangle explained.

“Your bike came here with you?” Jewel asked.

“Kinda, had to find it first.” Tangle said. “Come on, I can’t wait for you to meet the others!”

“Others?”

“Oh, you’ll see.”

“Ladies and Gentlemen!” Tangle exclaimed as she entered the room. “It is with my absolute pleasure to present to you, my bestest friend in not only this world, but our own! Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you: JEWEL!”

She then slid to the side to show the group that Jewel was standing behind her, who gave the group a small wave.

“Oh, good to see you again Jewel.” Amy said. “Tangle was really worried about you, so I am glad she found you!”

“…Huh?”

“I tried to tell you on the way here Tangle, I met almost everyone here before they went to help Cream…” Jewel explained. “She’s always been like this…”

“Yeah, we can tell.” Tails said with a laugh.

“Why didn’t any of you tell me this?” Tangle asked.

“We did, you just kept on forgetting…” Amy deadpanned.

“…oh…”

“So, you found her, huh?” Sonic said as he walked into the room.

“Yeah, aaaaand I might of stopped a bank robbery in the process.”

“Good work!” Sonic said. “We trained you well!”

“Thank you ‘Master Sonic.’” Tangle said with a laugh.

“Ahem.”

“And you too, ‘Master Tails.’”

“Wow, you weren’t kidding when you said they agreed to train you…” Jewel said.

“Told ya!” Tangle said. “By the way, did you know that Tails had TWO TAILS?!”

“Uh… yeah?” Jewel said. “I knew that before I met him…”

“…Huh?”

“Wait… did you not figure that out on your own?” Jewel asked.

“Uh…”

“Tangle… it was such an obvious nickname…”

“Sh-shut it! I just never thought about it is all!”

The group just laughed at Tangle’s embarrassment.

“Oh be quiet!” Tangle said.

“Anyways, it looks and sounds like I missed a lot…” Jewel said.

“Oh don’t worry, I have just the thing!” Tangle said as she ran out of the room.

She quickly returned with her notebook in hand.

“I’ve been keeping a log of everything we’ve been up to since I got here.” Tangle explained. “I thought it might help you get caught up on everything.”

“Oh wow, you really thought of that?” Jewel asked.

“Yeah, the idea just came to me when I found this notebook a couple of days after showing up here.” Tangle explained.

“Thanks Tangle…” Jewel said as she pulled the lemur into a hug.

“Not a problem.” Tangle said.

“Well, if you two are done, I have prepared quite the feast for to celebrate our little reunions we had here today!” Ella said.

“Oh boy! Just you wait Jewel! Ella here is a great cook!” Tangle said.

“I can’t wait.” Jewel said with a smile.

And so, everyone enjoyed a nice meal with their reunited friends and family.

End of Chapter 23

Jewel is here! She’s gonna be around for a while, and we will be having a couple chapters focused mainly on her. In fact, next chapter will be another completely original one, and will be all about Jewel.

I think this is a good time to talk about Jewel’s appearance in this story. It wasn’t that important up until now, so I never mentioned it. While Tangle looks pretty much exactly like she does in the comics, Jewel’s outfit is basically one of her outfits in her concept art. It’s the one with the yellow shirt. I feel like it is a very good casual outfit, and since Jewel doesn’t own a museum yet, I figured this is how she would look up until we get to that point. That is not gonna be in this story, and will be in act 2 or maybe even 3.

Anyways, next chapter is an original chapter taking place just two days later, focused a lot on Jewel, but we are gonna find out a lot more about both Tangle and Jewel’s past in the next chapter. No need to watch any more episodes for this one! So I will see you next time for Chapter 24.

Chapter Text

Chapter 24 Tangle and Jewel

Jewel was currently laying down on the couch, enjoying herself as she read through the log that Tangle had been keeping all this time. She had just gotten to the part where she stopped a couple of thugs from ruining a savannah.

“She really has been doing a lot since she got here.” Jewel said to herself. ‘She’s always wanted to be a hero, ever since she first heard about Sonic… she must really be happy about all of this.’

“Heya Jewel!” Tangle said as she leapt onto the couch. “Enjoying the read?”

“Yes, I am.” Jewel said.

“What part are you at?”

“Savannah.”

“Gotcha.” Tangle said with a laugh.

“You’ve been doing some great things so far as far as I can see.” Jewel pointed out. “I can’t wait to find out what you’ve been doing more recently.”

What happened next surprised Jewel. Tangle looked very… nervous?

“Oh uh, yeah! I only get better! Yeah!” Tangle said. “Don’t rush through though, you’re gonna want to know every single detail!”

“Uh… right? I’ll do that…”

“Great! Anyways! I am gonna go for a run talk to you later!” Tangle said as she got up and left the room.

“… I should probably ask someone about that.”

“And that’s what happened…” Jewel finished explaining to Amy.

“Huh… that’s not like her at all.” Amy said.

“I know, I was hoping you would know what was going on with her.” Jewel said.

“Hmmm… I don’t know, I would think she would be excited for you to find out what she’s been up to lately, especially with that building…”

“Building?”

“Spoilers, sorry.” Amy said. “Wait… does this have to do with what happened with Shadow?”

“Shadow?”

“Well, there was an incident recently involving a guy called Shadow. Let’s just say she’s really been beating herself up over it.” Amy explained. “I thought she moved past it when she found out you were here…”

“Well… sometimes she is able to bounce back when she feels down… but when she really starts to have doubts about something, it usually sticks with her for a while.” Jewel explained. “She can be good at hiding it sometimes, but not all the time.”

“Really? I never would of guessed.” Amy said.

“She doesn’t want anyone to ever think of her as weak, so she never tells anyone about her issues… I only know about this because I figured it out on my own.” Jewel explained.

“Right… maybe you should talk to her then?” Amy asked.

“That wouldn’t really work. When she’s really down about something, even I can’t snap her out of it. At least, not easily.” Jewel said. “Usually she needs a mood booster to help with that.”

“Mood booster? You mean something other than reuniting with you the other day?” Amy asked.

“Well, like you said, she seemed to move past it when she found out I was here.” Jewel said. “If we talked to her about it then, she probably would of listened and it would of been helpful. But now…”

“Ok… so what do we do?” Amy asked.

“Well… did you happen to celebrate her birthday yet?” Jewel asked.

“Her birthday passed while we’ve been here?” Amy asked.

“Uh yeah, I’ll take that as a no…” Jewel said. “Figured she wouldn’t want to celebrate without me…”

“She really… really seems attached to you.” Amy said. “Any idea why?”

“I think it has to do with me being the first… and really only person who was willing to be her friend back home.” Jewel explained. “Once the bullies found out about her tail, they quickly realized that they couldn’t really take her in a fight… so they decided to use a less… direct approach.”

“Meaning?”

“They pretty much scared everyone out of being her friend.” Jewel said. “I was the only one who didn’t listen to them, so I was her only friend for… four years I think.”

“Four years?! It’s just been the two of you for that long?!”

“Yeah… Tangle was I think about nine when we became friends.” Jewel said. “I was ten.”

“She also told us that you were the closest thing to family that she had… what about her parents?” Amy asked.

“No-one really knows what happened to them… the mayor might, but he’s back home.” Jewel explained. “All I know is that she was left in our village one day, with no memories of what happened.”

“And you? Do you think of her the same way?” Amy asked.

“Of course… my parents died not too long before I met her, so Tangle is the closest thing to family that I have.” Jewel explained.

“Well then, we have to do everything we can to help your sister!” Amy said with a smile.

Jewel smiled right back. “Right.”

“I’ll give Tails a call, you talk to Vanilla and Ella about the food.”

“Of course! And… Thank you Amy.” Jewel said.

“Anything for my friends!” Amy said with a smile.

“A birthday party?” Tails asked.

“Yeah, turns out Tangle never told us her birthday passed, so we are going to throw her a surprise party!” Amy explained. “Make sure you tell Sonic next time you see him.”

“Oh, actually, he’s in the other room, I’ll go get him!” Tails said.

In the background, Amy could hear Tails argue with Sonic.

“Come on Sonic, it’s important! This is something for Tangle!” She heard Tails say.

“Oh alright…” Sonic said as he answered the phone. “Hey Amy…”

“Hey Sonic, so, Tangle’s birthday was last month.”

“It was? Huh… why didn’t she say anything?” Sonic asked.

“Probably didn’t want to celebrate without Jewel.” Amy explained. “But now that Jewel is here…”

“We gotta throw her a big bash, got it!” Sonic said.

“Exactly. We are handling all the preparations on our end, so you just make sure you show up tomorrow!” Amy explained. “Also… this is to help cheer her up after what happened with Shadow.”

“She’s still upset about that?” Sonic asked.

“Yeah… it’s really bad…” Amy said. “So… maybe think of something to say to her tomorrow? Something to help cheer her up?”

“Got it, see you tomorrow.”

After Amy hung up, he turned to Tails.

“Tails… I think you know what we gotta do.”

The Next Day

Everyone was gathered in the kitchen, discussing the plans for the day when Tangle walked in.

“*yawn* good morning…” Tangle said groggily.

“Morning! Uh… sleep alright?” Jewel asked.

“Eh, it was a rough one, that’s for sure.” Tangle said. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine after I get some breakfast.”

“Well, It’s a good thing I just finished making some pancakes!” Vanilla said. “Jewel and I have been working on a nice recipe lately, so I hope you enjoy it!”

“Ok…” Tangle said as she sat down. “Wait… is the syrup red?”

“Just try it, you’ll like it!” Jewel said.

After the first bite, Tangle immediately knew why Jewel said that.

“Is this… strawberry flavored?” Tangle asked.

“Yup, your favorite!” Jewel said.

Tangle smiled at this. “You know me way too well…”

“Hurry up and eat, I want us to do something today.” Jewel said.

“Oh? What’s that?” Tangle asked.

“Well, we haven’t really just… spent a day together since I came here… maybe you can show me around town? Help me see the sights?” Jewel said.

Tangle grinned at this. “Of course! A day with my best friend?! That sounds amazing!”

“Well, let’s eat, and we can get going!” Jewel said as she sat down to eat as well.

Before long, the two of them were walking out.

“Right, let’s make this the best birthday party ever!” Amy said as she pumped her fist up into the air.

“YEAH!”

“So, where do you want to go first?” Tangle asked as she peddled along.

“Honestly, just a day in the city sound nice. I didn’t see much, but what I did see the last time I was there was really nice.” Jewel said.

“Alright… oh! There’s a nice park there! I think that’ll be a good place to start!” Tangle said.

“That sounds great!” Jewel said.

“Well hang on tight! I am gonna get us there in a jiffy!” Tangle said before she went full speed, much to Jewel’s terror.

A little while later, they arrived.

“T-Tangle… you know I don’t like going so fast…” Jewel said.

“Sorry, sorry, I couldn’t help myself!” Tangle said. “This is the first time we’ve really spent time together in over half a year after all.”

“Still… I would of preferred to of talked to you rather than screaming…” Jewel said.

“Oh… right, sorry…” Tangle said.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it.” Jewel said. “That being said… go slower from now on.”

“You got it!”

The two of them went over to a bench and sat down, deciding to just take in the sights.

“So, what were you doing all this time?” Tangle asked.

“Oh, well, I was staying with Vanilla this entire time.” Jewel said. “She was really hospitable, and even taught me how to cook some great dishes while I was staying with her.”

“That sounds nice.” Tangle said.

“It was… I still missed you terribly though.” Jewel said. “Regardless, I also did some work on my dream while you were gone.”

“Really? How’d you manage that?” Tangle asked.

“Well, Vanilla and I would often go out for walks. Both to just enjoy the scenery, and to hopefully find a clue as to what happened to you guys.” Jewel said as she opened the bag she took with her. “During these walks… I started a new hobby.”

She then took out an album.

“Heh, looks like I wasn’t the only one who was working with a book a lot.” Tangle said.

“Looks to be that way.” Jewel said as she opened the album. “I’ve been taking photos of the scenery, and keeping them in this album.”

“Wow… you’ve gotten really good.” Tangle said.

“I want to show everyone how beautiful our world is… can’t do that if I don’t have an eye for beauty myself.” Jewel said.

“Right… we… both really made big steps towards achieving our dreams, huh?”

“You more-so than me.” Jewel said. “You stopping that bank robbery from the other day is proof of that.”

“Heh… yeah…” Tangle said, looking a bit down.

“…Tangle?”

“Well well well! Look at who it is!” The two heard a voice from behind them.

They turned around to see a certain bat waving at them.

“Rouge?” Tangle asked. “Oh wow, good to see you!”

“Likewise.” Rouge said. “Haven’t seen you since the Ark.”

“Y-yeah! It’s been a while.” Tangle said.

“So, who’s this pretty little thing?” Rouge said, pointing towards Jewel.

“This is Jewel, my best friend.” Tangle introduced. “Not an actual jewel, do not steal her.”

“Oh don’t worry, I don’t make a habit of kidnapping.” Rouge said with a laugh. “And even if she was a jewel, I wouldn’t steal her in broad daylight like this.”

“Good point.” Tangle said.

“Uh…”

“Oh right! Jewel, this is Rouge! She was pretty much the first friend I made in this world!” Tangle said.

“Oh! You were the one who helped Tangle find Sonic and the others, right?” Jewel asked.

“Yes I am! Surprised you know about that.” Rouge said.

“Tangle’s been keeping a log of everything, and she’s letting me read it to catch up.” Jewel explained.

“Ah, gotcha.” Rouge said. “Say Jewel, you mind if I speak with you alone?”

“Oh uh…” Jewel said looking towards Tangle.

“Go ahead, it’ll be fine.” Tangle said.

“Ok…”

The two of them walked away, and once they were out of earshot…

“I bumped into Sonic earlier, and he filled me in on what you’re doing.” Rouge explained. “I’ll help you to keep her out and about while the others set up.”

“O-oh! Thank you so much!” Jewel said.

“Anything for a friend.” Rouge said.

“So uh… I guess you have something planned?” Jewel asked. “Cause I was kinda improvising here…”

“Oh don’t worry, I know something that’ll keep us busy.” Rouge said as she began to walk back.

“Hey, you two alright?” Tangle asked.

“Yeah, just talking about something that has been bothering me for a while now.” Rouge said.

“Ok…? And that is?” Tangle asked.

“Is that seriously the only outfit that you got?” Rouge asked.

“Huh? Oh uh… yeah?”

“Oof.” Rouge said.

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” Tangle asked.

“It means that you’re a fashion disaster!” Rouge said.

“Hey, I’m more about function than fashion!” Tangle said. “I can move around easily in this, so it works for me!”

“Yeah… but you aren’t exactly in need of jumping into action all the time now, are you?” Rouge asked.

“Heroism takes no breaks! I need to be ready to save someone at the drop of a hat!” Tangle said.

“True… but you also need to make people feel safe, right?” Rouge  asked.

“Uh…”

“How are people supposed to feel safe if you look ready for a fight at all times?” Rouge asked.

“Oh… uh… ok, maybe you have a point there…” Tangle said.

“Glad you think so. Now come on, we are getting you some new clothes.” Rouge said.

Tangle could only flail around helplessly as her two friends dragged her to the nearest clothing store.

—

“How about this?” Tangle asked as she held up yet another outfit.

“Oh my gosh girl, you really don’t have any fashion sense…” Rouge groaned out.

“H-hey! I’m trying here!” Tangle said.

“She has a point though Tangle… none of these outfits you’ve picked out really… look too good…” Jewel said.

“It’s not my fault that I’ve never had to do this before!” Tangle said.

The two of her friends just gave her a look.

“… Ok, maybe it is my fault…” Tangle said.

“Geez, how do you expect to get a boyfriend one day if you can’t even pick out a good outfit?” Rouge asked.

And Tangle’s face went red at this.

“I-I’m not worrying about that any time soon!” Tangle stuttered out.

“Come on, you’re what? Thirteen?” Rouge asked.

“Y-yeah…”

“You gotta think about this at some point, and you gotta start practicing this kind of thing one day!” Rouge said.

“Uh… uh… let’s get off that topic please?!” Tangle begged.

“Fine…” Rouge said. “I guess I’m going to have to give you a helping hand though.”

Rouge then went over to the clothing rack and took a look around. After a couple of minutes, she went over to one of the store clerks with something in her hands. After a moment, she walked back to them.

“Uh… what did you talk to her about?” Tangle asked.

“Told her we needed to customize the outfit, so you can wear it with your tail there.” Rouge said. “Human clothes don’t exactly account for that.”

“Oh… uh… what if I don’t like the outfit?” Tangle asked.

“Oh trust me, you will.” Rouge said.

About an hour later, Tangle emerged from the changing room.

“Ok uh… I gotta admit… you were right.” Tangle said. “This outfit… really is nice.”

“Told ya!” Rouge said.

Tangle was wearing a black, off the shoulder top, with grey shorts, which came with a light blue belt. Not only this, she abandoned her gloves and is now wearing a new pair of white/light blue shoes.

“It really suits you!” Jewel said.

“Yeah… it does.” Tangle said. “I think I’ll take it!”

“Good, cause it’s already paid for.” Rouge said.

“Really?” Jewel asked.

“Yeah, the president passed a bill a while back that covers all of Sonic and his friends expenses.” Rouge explained.

“Oh… well that’s nice.” Jewel said.

“Really came in handy when we were getting supplies for Tails’ workshop.” Tangle said.

“I can imagine.” Rouge said. “Now, I know a great diner around here, so how’s about we grab something to eat before you go home?”

“That sounds great!” Jewel said.

“Sure, I can go for something to eat.” Tangle said.

“Well, let’s get going!” Rouge said.

“Gotta say, this outfit is easy to move around in.” Tangle said as she peddled along.

“That’s why I picked it, figured you’d rather be able to move easily based on what you said before.” Rouge explained.

“Yeah, thanks.” Tangle said. “That being said, I don’t think I’d knowingly go into a fight wearing this.”

“Please don’t. It’s too nice for that.” Rouge said.

“You got it!” Tangle said.

“Hey, is that Tangle over there?” They heard a voice call out.

“Yeah it is! Hey! Tangle!”

“Huh?”

They looked over to see Danny and Frances walking over with Helen in tow.

“Oh hey! How you guys doing?” Tangle asked.

“Doing great! Really liking the new outfit!” Frances said.

“Thanks. Oh right! Introductions! Jewel, these are a couple of Chris’ friends. Helen, Danny and Frances.” Tangle said, pointing to the humans as she said their names. “Everyone, this is Jewel, my bestest friend from my home world!”

Frances gasped at this reveal. “YOU FOUND HER!”

“Yup!”

“Oh thank goodness! She would not stop talking about how much she missed you.” Helen said.

“Oh, I can imagine.” Jewel said. “She always gets like that when she’s worried about me.”

“H-hey! I don’t always get like that!” Tangle said.

“You cried for three hours straight when I scraped my knee once…” Jewel said.

Everyone laughed at Tangle’s embarrassed face.

“Well excuse me for being worried!”

“Anyways, what are the three are you doing anyways?” Danny asked.

“We were just gonna go and grab some lunch before heading home.” Jewel explained. “Care to join us?”

“Oh yeah! I’d love to!” Danny said.

“We can’t! Remember? We have things to do!” Frances said.

“Oh right… before we-“ Danny started, but was cut off by Frances covering his mouth.

“That’s supposed to be a secret! Remember?!” Frances scolded.

“Oh, right… sorry.” Danny said.

“We’d love to join you, but we promised Chris we would help him with something today.” Helen said. “We’ll probably see you back at his house though!”

“Yeah, I guess we’ll see you then…” Tangle said, a bit confused as to why they were acting so weird.

“Anyways! I’m getting hungry, so let’s get going!” Rouge said, trying to get off the current conversation.

“Oh… alright… See you guys later!” Tangle said as they walked away.

“Bye Tangle!” The three waved.

“… Seriously, you need to think about what you say!” Frances scolded. “You almost gave us away!”

“Sorry… sorry…”

“That diner was nice.” Tangle said as she peddled back to the house. “Kinda weird that Rouge had to leave in such a hurry though…”

“I’m sure she’s fine.” Jewel said. “If what I read is right, she can handle herself.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Tangle said. “Though, I’m sorry we didn’t get to spend the day just the two of us like you wanted.”

“Honestly, I think I really enjoyed this.” Jewel said. “I got to meet and get to know a friend of yours, someone who really helped you here. I think that was worthwhile.”

“If you say so.” Tangle said as she approached the house.

When the got inside though.

“Uh… why are all the lights off?” Tangle asked.

“Maybe everyone went out for something?” Jewel asked.

“No… Chris should be here with the others, remember?”

“Huh… maybe the power’s out?”

“Let’s just find the others and find out.” Tangle said.

“Right, maybe the living room?” Jewel asked.

The two of them proceeded to head towards the living room, and when they arrived and tried the lights.

“SURPRISE!”

“GAH!” Tangle said as she jumped back in surprise. “What in the world?!”

After taking a look around at her smiling friends in the room, her eyes landed on the banner hung on the wall.

“Happy (late) birthday Tangle!”

“Huh? What the? How the? Why the?!”

“Someone decided to not tell us that it was her birthday last month.” Amy said. “So when her best friend told us about it, we decided that we needed to throw a party to celebrate it!”

Tangle looked to the beetle in question, who just smiled.

“You sneaky little goober you!”

“Happy birthday Tangle, sorry we had to wait so long to celebrate.” Jewel said with a smile.

Tangle pulled the beetle in for a brief hug before addressing the group.

“Well, what are we waiting for?! LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!”

The rest of the afternoon was spent playing games, hanging out, and just generally having a great time…

At one point though…

“Alright, can I have everyone’s attention please?” Sonic suddenly called out.

“Huh? What’s he up to?” Amy asked.

This wasn’t part of the plan.

“So, we all agree that we are gathered here to celebrate our friend, Tangle, correct?” Sonic asked.

“Yeah… that’s right…” Amy said.

“Well, I think there is something else that I promised that we should celebrate at one point.” Sonic said. “And now that Jewel has finally joined us, I think this is the perfect time.”

“Uh… what’s he talking about?” Jewel asked.

“Tangle, please step forward.” Sonic said.

Tangle did just that.

“Ok… you usually go over the top like this for something important… what’s going on here?” Tangle asked.

“Tangle, for all of your hard work in fighting against a certain egg shaped creep… for all of the good you have done since we have met you, and most of all, all of the lives that you saved, with zero regard for your own safety…”

“Oh…”

“It is by our power, the two teacher’s of the Sonic’s school for heroes, being Tails and I, we hereby decree that you gave graduated from your role of ‘Hero in Training’ to a full fledged hero! Congratulations!”

Tails then walked forward with a diploma in hand.

“Is that why I bumped into them at a party store…?” Rouge asked.

“Probably…” Amy said with a laugh. “Those two I swear…”

“Sonic…” Tangle said, suddenly looking a bit down. “I… I don’t deserve this.”

“Huh? Why not?” Sonic asked.

‘Guess we’re addressing this now…’ Jewel thought.

“I… I just don’t… ok?”

“Is this about what happened on the ark?” Sonic asked.

Tangle stayed silent at that question.

“Tangle…”

“Yes… it is.” Tangle said.

“You want to talk about it?” Sonic asked.

“It’s just… I felt so… useless during that entire thing.” Tangle said. “Not only that, I really only got in the way…”

“What in the world are you talking about?” Sonic asked. “You didn’t get in the way!”

“Yeah, I did… I got trounced by Shadow on Prison Island, and almost died… I got caught by Eggman and almost got you killed… I couldn’t even help at all fighting him after that… then in the end, when the Ark almost destroyed the planet, I just sat on the sidelines and did nothing…”

Tangle then started crying. “If… if I was able to do something… anything… maybe Shadow would still be alive!”

That… explained a lot, for everyone.

No-one really thought that she would blame herself for Shadow’s death.

To everyone’s surprise though, it wasn’t Sonic who stepped forward at that…

It was Tails.

“Tangle… is that really what’s been bothering you all this time?” Tails asked.

“Y-yeah…” Tangle said.

“Geez… you really are acting dumb here.” Tails said.

“Whoa… what are you…” Sonic started.

“I was there too you know… when Sonic almost died.” Tails said. “If I wasn’t so dumb and gave our plan away, Eggman might not of tried to kill him like that.”

“Well, guess I don’t have to restrain myself…” Tangle remembered Eggman say.

“Also… you really aren’t giving yourself enough credit.” Tails said. “Amy told me about what you said to Shadow… how you convinced him to come and help us.”

“He’s right, if you didn’t do that, we might not of been able to get to the emeralds in time… heck, that whole plan was your idea to start with!” Sonic said.

“You keep beating yourself up about that… but in the end? You were the one who gave us the power, and knowledge to save the planet that day.” Tails said.

“All of that, and you were still recovering from a freaking building falling on top of you!” Sonic said.

“A BUILDING DID WHAT?!” Jewel shouted.

“Welp, guess we spoiled that part of the log…” Amy said.

“There’s no way we’re gonna blame you for not being able to help out during the fights when you could barely walk at the time!” Sonic said.

“But… Shadow…” Tangle said.

“Hey, how do you think I feel?” Sonic asked. “I was right there with him, super form and all… and I couldn’t save him. Like I told you before, I’m not perfect Tangle… no-one is. But what happened to Shadow is not your fault… alright?”

“…”

“Tangle?”

Tangle didn’t respond, but just pulled her two friends in for a hug. “Thank you…”

“Any time.” Sonic said.

Surprisingly, Amy didn’t interrupt the hug this time.

When they separated, Tails once again tried to hand her the diploma, which she accepted.

And everyone gave her an applause.

Then Jewel approached her.

“Ok… seriously… how hard IS your head?!” Jewel asked.

“Hey, to be fair, nothing actually hit my head!” Tangle said. “At least, not much…”

“Geez, I’m glad you’re alright though.” Jewel said.

“Yeah, same here.” Tangle said before wiping the tears out of her eyes.

Tails looked at her with a smile. “Glad to have you back Tangle.”

“Thanks for saying all of that Tails… honestly, it helped a lot.” Tangle said as she pulled the fox in for a hug all his own.

“No problem, anything to help out my friends.” Tails said.

“Anyways, that’s enough mushiness.” Tangle said as they separated. “BACK TO THE PARTY!”

“There’s the Tangle we know!” Sonic said.

As everyone went back to the celebration, Tangle couldn’t help but think that things were finally going to go back to normal for her…

That night

Tangle had no idea where she was, just that it was a tight space. She could feel that it was moving, like she was being carried somewhere, while someone was breathing heavily, like they were running.

“Kill the monster!”

“It’ll destroy us all!”

“Burn it before it’s too late!”

The voices in the distance were slowly getting louder, almost as if the sources were chasing her.

Suddenly, she felt the… whatever she was in going air born, and suddenly start rolling around.

Then, there was nothing but screaming.

Tangle woke up with a start, and her eyes darted around the room in a panic.

She looked over to her left to see Jewel asleep in the other bed, unaware that she was awake.

“Wh-what in the world was that?”

End of Chapter 24

This is gonna be a bit of a prelude to a new, completely original arc for the story. You’ll find out more about it next time.

I will say though, if you are just kinda skimming through the story, make ABSOLUTE SURE that you read the next arc! It is five chapters long, and it may very well be the most important arc in the entire story! And that is not limited to just this act! It establishes and sets up so much for the future! Also, I am really proud of it, though it is one of, if not THE darkest arc in this story. So please, take some time to read it!

Anyways, with that out of the way…Tangle has a new outfit now! It is based on a image I saw when I was searching for Jewel’s concept art. It is done by @Jamo_Art on twitter. (casual reminder that this chapter was written over two years ago... just putting that out there) Honestly, I just really liked the design they came up with, so I wanted to include it here. It just looks like a really good casual outfit. Assume she is wearing this and not her usual outfit when she is not intending on going into a fight. A good example would be just a casual outing like in this chapter would be casual wear, but when Eggman is involved at all, she is suited up. And remember, it’s what the outing starts as, not what it becomes!… Or you could just always assume she is suited up ready for action, that’s fine too.

So, the next chapter is gonna take place after episode 41, and will include logs for 40 and 41, so I’ll see you then!

Chapter Text

Chapter 25: The Past Part 1

“Tangle’s log,

Been a bit since I wrote in here. Jewel’s been reading through to catch up on everything that’s been happening, so I really haven’t had the chance until now, since she just finished reading what I’ve written so far.

Oh yeah! Jewel’s here now! I’m really happy about that. We also celebrated my birthday and hero graduation a bit after, which was a lot of fun. It really felt like things were starting to get a bit better for me…

But then the dreams started.

I don’t know what they are about… but it’s pretty much the same thing every night. I’m stuck inside I think some kind of box, I hear someone running, and in the end, I just hear screaming before I wake up. I honestly don’t know what it’s about… but it freaks me out every time.

It’s been like this for a couple of weeks now… honestly, I just want to sleep again without having to worry about it…

Ok, let’s get off that topic. There was this whole thing where Eggman tried to mind control the planet by blocking out the sun… it was a mess, I almost had to fight Sonic over it… really weird way to start off the New Year… anyways, moving on…

Today, we are celebrating Jewel’s birthday! No, it’s not today, but I missed it last year, so I want to have some kind of celebration. Instead of having a party, I agreed to take her to the museum in Station Square. Chris and his friends from school are joining us too! So that’ll be fun… oh who am I kidding, it’s gonna be boring… but I’d do anything for Jewel, so I’m going!”

Tangle put the notebook away, and made her way outside.

“Hey! You ready to go?” Tangle asked Jewel.

“Yeah… you know you don’t have to do this… right?” Jewel asked.

“Yeah, well, I want to!” Tangle said. “You put so much effort into my party, I have to repay the favor!”

“Alright… if you say so.” Jewel said. “Come on, Chris and his friends are going to meet us there after school.”

“Right! Let’s go!”

“What’s taking those four so looooooong…” Tangle groaned out.

“The school isn’t really close to here Tangle, just be a little patient.” Jewel said.

“Hey! Sorry we’re late!” They heard Chris call out.

Looking over, they saw Chris and his three friends approaching.

“Bout time! I was about to fall asleep waiting for you guys!” Tangle called back.

“Sorry, took a lot of work to just get Danny here to come along…” Frances pointed out.

“Hey! I came didn’t I?” Danny asked.

The group just laughed at the interaction.

“Anyways, let’s head inside!” Jewel said. “I am really interested to see what museums in your world are like!”

“Well, this is a history museum.” Chris pointed out. “There are also art museums and a few others I think.”

“Say, you want to open a museum yourself, right?” Frances asked.

“Yes, that is my goal.” Jewel said.

“What kind of museum do you want to open?” Frances asked.

“Oh uh… gosh, I never really thought about that…” Jewel said. “All I really know is that I want to have a beautiful exhibit… to show everyone just how beautiful our world is…”

“Well, I’m sure that whatever you go with, it’ll come out great!” Helen said. “If what Tangle said about you is true that is.”

“It absolutely is!” Tangle said. “This girl is amazing! Never gives up on her dreams, her friends, ANYTHING!”

Jewel smiled at this. “Thanks Tangle.”

“You don’t have to thank me you goober! That’s what friends are for, right?” Tangle asked.

“Yeah, the best!”

The group then proceeded inside the museum, to take in the exhibits.

Things were going very well, they were enjoying the sights, and were fascinated by what was on display. Even Tangle had to admit that some of the stuff there was interesting.

When they were on their way out though…

“Say, I think we missed something.” Tangle said, pointing towards a painting.

“Huh? Oh! I guess we did!” Chris said as they walked over.

“Let’s see… an artist’s rendition of the witch hunts?” Jewel read.

“Oh, I remember reading about that… apparently there were towns that were so afraid at the ideas of witches in their towns, that they would hunt them down and execute them!” Frances explained.

“Yesh, that sounds… kinda brutal…” Tangle said.

Then, she suddenly got a headache. ‘Ugh… what in the world…?’

“Why in the world would anyone do that?!” Helen asked.

“They said it was to get rid of demons and monsters, but it is theorized that they just didn’t like anyone who was different from them.” Frances explained.

“Oh come on, is being different really that bad?” Chris asked.

“Yeah, just look at Tangle here!” Danny said. “Would they really hunt her down just cause she’s different from other lemurs?”

“Whoa Danny…” Chris said. “Uh… touchy subject for her.”

“Huh?”

“We were… bullied pretty bad for that in the past.” Jewel explained.

“Oh! I’m so sorry! I didn’t know!” Danny said.

“It’s fine, this is Tangle we’re talking about.” Jewel said. “She can handle a little bit of teasing, right Tangle?”

They all looked towards the lemur, and they immediately knew something was off.

“Tangle?!”

She was sweating terribly, and clutching her head like her life depended on it.

“Hey! You alright?!”

Tangle didn’t respond, and just fell to her knees.

‘Why… why does my head hurt so much?!’

“Tangle!” Jewel shouted.

“I’m calling an ambulance!” Chris said as he pulled out his phone.

“Please hurry.”

Tangle didn’t hear any of this, as a bunch of voices began to play in her head.

“Kill the monster!”

“Get rid of it before it destroys us all!”

“Get that worthless thing out of here!”

Tangle could only hear Jewel shouting her name as everything faded to black.

End of Chapter 25

So begins a completely original arc for this story. This story is gonna be exploring this version of Tangle’s past, while keeping a focus on Jewel. Yup, Jewel’s gonna be taking the role of “main character” for a bit! Who knows though… there may be a couple of neat little surprises here and there too!

Again though, I mentioned it at the end of last chapter, but this arc is going to be VERY important for the future of this series, so please read it if you were just kinda skimming through to catch up in the future!

Any-who, see you next time!

Chapter Text

Chapter 26: The Past Part 2

“So… did you find out what’s wrong with her?” Jewel asked the doctor as he left Tangle’s room.

“Sorry… but physically, she seems to be perfectly fine.” The doctor said. “We are prepping for a brain scan as we speak though.”

“Ok… please keep us updated.” Jewel said.

“Of course.” The doctor said as he walked away.

“So… can you please tell us what happened?” Amy asked.

After Tangle had collapsed, the ambulance quickly arrived and took her to the hospital, with Jewel riding along with her.

Chris in the meantime called Chuck to let him know what was going on, and everyone quickly made their way to the hospital to check on their friend, though Tails went and picked up her bike at the museum first.

“Well… we were on our way out of the museum, and she noticed that we missed an exhibit.” Jewel said. “We went and took a look at it, and while talking about it, she suddenly started clutching her head like she was in a lot of pain… then, she just collapsed…”

“Hmm… does she have a history of migraines at all?” Chuck asked.

“No… not really.” Jewel said. “This… this is the first time anything like this has happened to her…”

Seeing how down Jewel was about the whole thing, Sonic decided to take action.

“Hey, don’t worry. This is Tangle we’re talking about here! She’ll make it through this, I promise!”

“Y-yeah… thanks Sonic.” Jewel said

A couple of hours later, the brain scan concluded, and the doctor was explaining what they had found.

“So, you think that she got like that cause of stress?” Sonic asked.

“I am not saying that it was the cause, but our scans showed signs of stress, so we think it might be related to what happened.” The doctor explained.

“Geez, what does she have to be stressed about?” Chuck asked. “Things have been really calm lately with Eggman in prison…”

“Hmm… hey Jewel, you finished reading her log recently right?” Amy asked.

“Yes, I did.”

“Was there anything in there that might help?” Amy asked.

“No, sorry… only that whole thing with Shadow, but we already addressed that.” Jewel said.

“Great… think she started writing in it again after you finished reading?” Sonic asked. “Maybe she wrote something in there that you haven’t read.”

“I… don’t know… but I don’t think we should look.” Jewel said. “It’s an invasion of privacy!”

“Jewel… we can’t help her if we don’t know what she’s been stressed about…” Amy said.

Jewel considered this for a moment.

“Let me at least try and talk to her about this first…” Jewel said. “I… I feel like I would be betraying her trust if I didn’t.”

“Alright… do what you want.” Sonic said. “Any idea when she should be waking up?”

“No, but it should be soon. There wasn’t any real damage, so she should be fine to go home when she wakes up.” The doctor said.

“Right, thanks doc.” Sonic said before the doctor walked away.

Everyone then slowly entered the room and waited for Tangle to wake up.

Eventually…

“Ugh… what in the world?” Tangle said as she opened her eyes.

“Tangle!” Jewel said.

“Huh? Oh, hey Jewel…” Tangle said. “Where… where are we?”

“The hospital… you really scared me you know that?!”

“Did I? I’m sorry…” Tangle said.

“It’s fine, I’m just glad that you’re ok!” Jewel said, hugging her friend.

“Geez, you really are a mess sometimes aren’t you? This is the second time you’ve landed yourself in the hospital in just as many months!” Sonic said with a laugh.

“I’ll have you know my life has been perfectly boring before you showed up.” Tangle quipped.

“Please, like I’m the one who did this to you.” Sonic said with a laugh.

“R-right… so what happened to me?” Tangle asked.