lead-to-light

[lead-to-light]

surge, I think it'd be pretty funny if you went up to whisper, poke her stomach and say yummers

it's a meme

Surge looked down at the power inhibitors on her legs, knowing that she'd be defenseless against the inevitable retribution.

"Fuck it we ball," she said and set out to find Whisper.

After a few minutes she found her leaning against a wall and enjoying a milkshake. Surge walked up the wolf, and after making sure she noticed her, poked her in the stomach and said, "Yummers!"

Whisper looked at her with an unreadable expression and then said, "Surge, do you want a milkshake?"

Surge blanched, not at all expecting this reaction.

"Because there are better ways to communicate that," Whisper continued.

Oh Gaia Below this is somehow worse, Surge thought to herself, feeling her face heat up in embarrassment. "I uh no, uh someone dared me to do that."

Whisper turned her gaze lower, looking at the power inhibitors latched on the Surge's legs. Looking back up she said, "Would you like a milkshake anyway?"

Surge nodded and looked away, "Yeah actually a milkshake doesn't sound to bad now."

[lead-to-light]

Without looking up from her phone, Vicki said, "A jack of all whatever Connor said but a specialty in dentistry instead. I was the one who reattached Whisper's teeth after Surge ripped them out."

Conner, Nicki. What particular skills were you hired for?

"I'm sorta a jack of all trades with a specialty in gastroenterology," Connor said. He looked at Vicki expectantly but she just kept telling texting, "Uh.....dude aren't you gonna answer?"

"No, they asked for someone called 'Nicki', not me," She said without looking up, from her phone.

[lead-to-light]

Conner, Nicki. What particular skills were you hired for?

"I'm sorta a jack of all trades with a specialty in gastroenterology," Connor said. He looked at Vicki expectantly but she just kept telling texting, "Uh.....dude aren't you gonna answer?"

"No, they asked for someone called 'Nicki', not me," She said without looking up from her phone.

[lead-to-light]

Oh cool you see it too.

Congrats, Whisper, Rouge, and Lanolin!

It IS improper on my part to bring it up but... ehhh.

Anyway here is the stupid prize.

Yeah, I was not being disingenuous, when I said stupid prize, I meant it.

Watch it, those shirts tend to be on the tight side.

"HA I KNEW IT!" Rouge celebrated.

Lanolin sighed in disappointment, "It makes sense but I really wish that it wasn't the answer. Also, holy shit these ARE tight! I feel like one wrong move and it'll rip!" True to her words, the shirts looked like they were vacuum sealed to their bodies.

"Yeah but they're fun," Whisper said looking herself over.

Snorting in genial amusement, Lanolin said, "Tangle really has rubbed off on you."

"In more ways than one~" Rouge purred.

While Whisper sputtered and blushed, Lanolin said, "Rouge, just because it's true doesn't mean you have to say it-"

"Why are you guys wearing matching shirts?"

All three jumped and turned quickly to see Vicki the Tiger standing in the doorway, holding a lunch box and wearing her nurse scrubs on. Unfortunately, Lanolin’s previous observation proved true and the sudden movement ripped all their shirts straight down the middle, flashing the unprepared woman.

Vicki just mumbled, "Best lunch break ever," before passing out, her lesbian brain overtaxed.

[lead-to-light]

Screw it, I'll just throw this question out there.

Do you know what Rouge, Whisper, and Lanolin have in common?

Answer correctly for a stupid prize.

"All three of us work for a paramilitary organization?" Lanolin guessed.

Whisper paused, briefly taken a back by her answer, "Is.....the Restoration really a paramilitary organization?"

Rouge smirked, "If it isn't, it's only a degree or so away from being one."

Nodding in reluctant agreement, Whisper said, "Oh. Well I thinks it's that our respective love interests complete and bring out the best in us."

"Whisper, that's beautiful," Lanolin said, putting a hand over her heart.

Rouge scoffed, "Those are good guess's but the correct answer is that all three of us have big awesome rockin ti-"

"ROUGE?!?!" Lanolin and Whisper shouted completely scandalized.

"C'mon, you both know I'm right," Rouge laughed.

[lead-to-light]

Wait I can add Connor and Vicki too I just realized.

Updated the characters that can be asked questions to include Clove, Clutch, Rough and Tumble.

My rule is that if they appear twice in my fics, then they can be asked questions.

[lead-to-light]

If we want to send questions to Rough and Tumble.

Do they have to rhyme? Because that would make a word jumble.

"HEY NO RHYMING! THAT'S OUR THING!" Rough yelled.

Tumble stamped his feet, "How many times do we have to tell people that!"

[lead-to-light]

Updated the characters that can be asked questions to include Clove, Clutch, Rough and Tumble.

My rule is that if they appear twice in my fics, then they can be asked questions.

[lead-to-light]

Package for Sonic!

From... oh dear, the name got smudged.

I do remember it was from a portly man in red clothes, with a rather impressive mustache. So that should narrow it down.

I mean, how many people fit that description?

Sonic, Amy and Surge looked at the package sitting on the table.

Crossing his arms, Sonic said, "Well it can't be a bomb. Thats not Eggheads style. That being said, I'm not in a hurry to open it."

Amy nodded in agreement, "We should probably take it somewhere safe and-"

"No balls," Surge said.

Sonic immediately ripped open the package. A contraption shot up and rapidly shot a giant cloud of glitter directly on all three of them.

Sonic just stood there motionless, not fully believing he'd been had like that, Surge smiled in deep satisfaction, while Amy just glared at them both, a glare that was undercut by her sparkling from multicolored glitter. "It's gonna be a month before we're free of this glitter you both know that right?" Amy said in barely restrained anger.

Equally dazzling, Sonic sighed while Surge just said, "Worth it."

[lead-to-light]

Letter for a Miss The Sheep, Lanolin.

From a... "The Lamb"

*takes out a black envelope whose only feature is a pentagram drawn in what's hopefully red ink*

This is unproffesional on my part but I'd destroy that if I were you, it gives me the creeps

Other than the strange presentation something else was setting off alarm bells in her head. Whipping out her phone, Lanolin called the one person she knew she could trust for advice on weird things of this nature. The phone rang twice before it was picked up.

"Hey Uncle Philip, I was wondering if I could get your opinion on something."

***********

Jewel and Amy walk into the Neo Diamond Cutter's office only to find something very off.

"Um......What are you doing?" Jewel asked.

The room was dimly lit by candles, a large pentagram made of salt in the center and in the center of that pentagram was a paper shredder where Lanolin was holding a black letter over it.

Lanolin returned the confused look, "What else does it look like? I'm shredding a letter."

[lead-to-light]

Sonic, a question.

If you didn't have chili dogs, what would you eat instead?

"Tacos," Sonic said like it was obvious. "They have the same vibe and energy as chili dogs."

[lead-to-light]

A question for Knuckles - I know that Angel Island is flying around the place, but is it random or does the Master Emerald control where it goes?

"The Master Emerald takes the island wherever it wants," Knuckles stated plainly. "It avoids heavily populated areas but every now and then it likes to look at farms for some reason."

Grimacing, Knuckles internally debated whether or not to tell this story but decided it was worth sharing, "One time while I was sleeping it flew near some farms. How did I find out? Some nosy gopher landed his crop duster on the island. He got all the way to the Emerald and was about to touch it when I finally woke up. I chased him all the way to his crappy plane made him take off."

Knuckles rubbed the back of his head and chuckled, "Not really my proudest moment. I think the Emerald didn't wake me up when he landed to remind me to be more vigilant."

[lead-to-light]

Tails, How long can Islanders go without sleep?

In humans, 24 hours without sleep is like being drunk. 48 hours is when you start to hallucinate, and eventually you start going mad.

What about Islanders? I’m asking this because as far as I know, Sonic spent two weeks not sleeping during the metal virus.

"It's about the same for us as it is for humans. There are two reasons Sonic was able to last as long as he did," Tails said

He held up one finger, "The first reason is because he was able to sneak in short, and I mean short, naps before he had to run off the infection again."

He held up a second finger, "The second reason is, well, not super scientific sounding but it's the truth. He's just built different," Tails said with a shrug.

[lead-to-light]

Kit, I’ve never seen you without your water pack. Is it attached to you?

(I don’t recall ever seeing him without it in the comics)

"No and thank God it isnt," Kit said while slipping off the backpack. He developed a thoughtful look that grew steadily more and more disturbed, "Now that I think about it, I'm surprised Starline didn't just install it onto my back." Kit suddenly snorted dismissively, "Actually I think I know why he didn't. It's because it would be hard to be a hero that replaces Tails convincingly if you have a grotesque mechanism stitched and welded to your back."

[lead-to-light]

A question for Tangle - and it may be rude. Do you have hands for feet?

Without a care in the world, Tangle took off her shoes and revealed her hand like feet. "I sure do!" Tangle said brightly. "Apparently not all lemurs have feet like these and I was super self conscious about them until I found out I'm not the only mobian who has traits similar to our animal counterparts." Balancing on her tail she slammed her foot fist into the palm of her foot, "What I really want are some durable but flexible gloves that I can wear on them. Think of how good I'd be at fighting and maneuvering around if I had some!" A grimace fell over her face, "I actually thought about commissioning Tails to help make some but then I realized that would involve showing a kid my feet and so I just kind of trashed that idea."

The universe decided to help out the lemur, because as soon as she finished her sentence she saw a yellow cat with black hair pulled into pigtails walk by with Amy.

"Nevermind I found a loophole!" Tangle squealed and ran off after them.

[lead-to-light]

Jade Lanolin suddenly appears in front of a crying Lanolin with a loud groan.

"Is there no version of me that's actually happy?" she asks herself before giving her younger, interdimensional self a look that her own version of the diamond cutters knew all too well. "So, what's up? Boy troubles? Girl troubles? Overwhelmed by paperwork? Did Surge get stuck in the printer again?"

Not at all caring if this older Lanolin was really from another dimension or hallucination, LTL-Lanolin began explaining.

"Tangle and Whisper," she spat, her sorrow boiling back to rage.

Jade Lanolin’s eyebrows shot up, not at all expecting this answer, "Uh-"

But it was too late as her younger alternate self was now full steam ahead, "Ever since they got together they've been flaking on me more and more! Leaving me with all the goddamn paperwork! Always coming up with some sort of excuse to get out of it saying stuff like they're doing something important when in reality they're sucking each other's lungs out!"

Grimacing at that particular image, Jade Lanolin tried to get in another word, "Woah okay let's just calm down-"

But to no avail, "Even before they got together they were doing nonsense like this! Like when they went to the beach with Jewel they sent me a text telling me where they were going! Not even an invite! And guess who had to do their fucking paperwork? ME!"

Realizing she was never getting a word in while she was like this, the older sheep decided to let her vent.

"And then today happened. I finally got them to help me with the paperwork and all they do is just bitch and moan! They even insinuated that I must love doing paperwork because I'm doing it all the time when the reason I'm doing all the time is because they're never fucking helping me!"

Holy shit you two what the hell are you doing! Jade Lanolin thought.

She was pacing now, "Then the chaotix showed up, some shenanigans happened and then I found out that they were hired by Tangle and Whisper to figure out who I had a crush on!"

"They did what!?" The older Lanolin shouted, completely appalled.

"And when I found out when they revealed that I had a crush on Surge, Whisper had the goddamn gall judge me and to try make it about her-"

"Hold up! Surge? You have a crush on her?!"Jade-Lanolin shouted.

Before she knew it, her younger self was all up in her face, "YEAH I DO! YOU GOTTA PROBLEM WITH THAT TOO!?"

Jade Lanolin put her hands up and backed away, "Nope! None at all I was just suprised!" Good God am I really that scary?

But her younger selfs shout seemed to expel all the explosive anger she had, now speaking quietly, "And then I just saw red. I yelled at them about the absolute desecration of privacy and trust they committed by hiring detectives to look into my private life. I screamed at Whisper how she just couldn't let me be selfish for once and let me love the person who's been there for me way more than them."

Jade Lanolin smothered a gasp, Shit it's flat out love!

"I yelled how they never helped me with the mundane stuff. It's just…..I don't know when exactly they turned into such fair weather friends," she muttered.

Fair weather is really the right word here honestly. She hid it well but the older Lanolin was one boiling in anger on her alternate selfs behalf.

"But the worst part was when I started yelling at them how I was the only one who was trying to figure out when the next big threat was, Tangle asked why I was so paranoid and I….I," LTL-Lanolin started choking up suddenly, prompting the older sheep to get closer and put a steady hand on her shoulder. Giving her all the time she needed. "And I told her it's because I didn't want to lose another parent," she whimpered and began to cry once again.

Just like that an age old wound was opened up within Jade-Lanolin. But as badly as the wound burned, these strange circumstances allowed her the opportunity to do the one thing she always wanted to do.

She gave her younger self a deep consoling hug. It took everything she had not to weep alongside her. She didn't know how long they had to hold each other, but she wasn't letting go first. After a while, the younger sheep let go but still looked lost.

"Is there anyone you can talk to?" Jade-Lanolin asked gently.

Sniffing wetly,, LTL-Lanolin said, "Well, Surge is out of the question for obvious reasons and Dad and I aren't on speaking terms."

DAD?! Okay a number of things are different in this universe!

"Oh wait, there is someone I can call!" LTL-Lanolin said, turning around to pick up her phone. But as she did this a portal opened up beneath her older self dropping her back into her own universe.

Now sitting on the floor of her office room, she pounded a fist into the ground, "Dammit there is a time limit! I need to start marking down how long each of these incidents take…….I really hope things turn out well for her." Picking herself up she strolled over to her desk and sat down. Turning her gaze to her paperwork stacked on her desk made her bid a hasty retreat out the door, presently unable to handle the sight of it. While walking out the door and to her favorite coffee store, a thought drifted into her mind

Tangle and Whisper never lied to me to get out of doing paperwork like that…..right?

[lead-to-light]

Theres a small crackling of the radio causing most of the passengers to perk up.

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. Thank you for flying with us today. If you look out your windows you might catch a lovely view of Station Square down below.

We should be landing in central city shortly, so be sure to buckle up when the lights turn on.

The captain smiled as he put down the radio. He loved his job.

No sooner had he finished that thought did the universe try to make him think otherwise. A thud came from above him. William the Crow and his copilot and Chris the Gopher looked at each other. Scrunching his face in confusion, William asked, "Did something just land on-"

BOOM!

A thunderous impact from above made the plane dip downward nose first. Emergency lights came on as he and his copilot pulled the plane up.

"This is your captain speaking we are experiencing some unexpected turbulence. Please fasten your seatbelts." No sooner did he finish that sentence did another impact hit the plane in the same spot.

BOOM!

Emergency lights came on and William could hear muffled screaming coming from behind him. Grabbing the radio receiver, He yelled into it at all channels, "MAYDAY MAYDAY THIS IS SOUTH ISLANDS FLIGHT 336! WE ARE UNDER ATTACK BY AN UNKNOWN ASSAILANT-"

BO00000OM!!!

The harsh sound of crumpling metal was barely heard above him. William felt his stomach drop as the plane nearly dipped ninety degrees down. With the terrified screams of the passengers behind them, he and his copilot pulling on the flight sticks with every muscle possible, William knew another hit would doom them all.

But one moment became seconds and seconds became minutes and a fourth blow never came. He couldn't help the little laugh of relief from escaping him. Chris however couldn't let the fear leave him so quickly, "What the hell was that?"

**************

An hour later, The semi-rhetorical question would remain unanswered.

"Like, I'm not crazy it it absolutely looks like what we both think it looks like right?"

"Yeah it actually does look like that but doesn't make any sense is no way it's-"

"William, I grew up on a farm, it's absolutely that. You can even see the marks the spurs made-"

"Okay fine it's cowboy boots!"

If anything, they had more questions than answers right now as they looked down on the damage the plane took, now parked within a large hanger. Deep imprints in the metal atop the cockpit silently mocked the two with its puzzling nature. True to Chris's assertions though, William had to agree it looked like a stereotypical cowboy boots complete with spurs had damaged the plane.

"I'm going to make a call," William said suddenly, already making his way down of the plane.

It took a moment for Chris to figure out what he was implying but when he did he rushed over to Williams who was already halfway down the ladder, "Woah hold on the airport manager said not to-"

"The fact that he said not to absolutely means that we should. People almost died today and he just wants to make his stock doesn't go more down than already will," He said without stopping his descent. When he reached the bottom he looked back up and said, "Cover for me will ya?"

************

Miles away and thousands a feet in the air, dinner was being made. The gentle steady stirring of pasta sauce was interrupted by a voice crackling over the radio, "This is MAA pilot William the Crow. Is this the Babylon Rogues?"

The flying bruiser known as Storm the Albatross answered the call, "Make this quick I'm simmering the sauce."

This made William, ready to get to the bottom of things, lose his train of thought completely and ask, "Do you have a radio in the kitchen?"

"Lets just say if given the choice between answering a call for a very lucrative job or not burning sauce, I'm choosing the sauce every time," he explained, still stirring the sauce.

Closing his eyes in strained patience, William tried again, "Could you please get a hold of Jet somehow? This is very important."

"You got it!" With little fanfare, Storm grabbed the gun labeled 'Wave Summoner' off the shelf and began firing into the air. As a result debris rained down onto the simmering sauce.

"SHIT! THE SAUCE!" He screamed in horror. "LOOK AT WHAT YOU MADE ME DO!" He screamed again, this time into the receiver.

Moments later, Wave the Swallow bursted into the room, Jet close behind.

"DAMMIT STORM STOP PUTTING HOLES IN MY SHIP! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU? CALL! MY! PHONE!" Wave screamed, completely besides herself that they keep having to have this conversation.

Storm shrugged, "Yeah but this way's faster."

Wave let out a battle cry and leapt at Storm with her wrench.

Jet casually walked around the brawl and grabbed the receiver, "This is Jet the Hawk, I'm assuming this is the MAA?"

The captain sighed in relief, happy that things were back on track. "Yes it is. In accordance with the deal made with the Mobius Air Association and-"

Jet rolled his eyes, "Yeah yeah yeah I know the deal we've been through this a dozen times-"

"It's called Earth, dammit!" Wave shouted, pausing her throttling.

Storm also paused, "No it's Mobius! I thought you were the smart one?"

"I'll show you who's smart!" Their fighting resumed with added ferocity.

Already annoyed that his testing of new boosters on his extreme gear was interrupted, Jet raised his voice, "Knock it off you two! I'm trying to have a conversation here! Also, I distinctly remember banning that topic from the ship!"

William smiled sympathetically, growing up his house had a similar rule. Famed thieves or not, they really were mobians just like him at the end of the day. With the sounds of fighting halted, William took the chance to speak, "MAA records show that you were near Central City earlier today, did you pick up any signs of badnik movement?"

Taking up a spot to the right of Jet, Wave spoke up, "Zero activity was noticed. It's why we were taking the time to test some upgrades. Why do you ask?"

This is not what he wanted to hear. The devil you know far more preferable than the unknown, "Are you absolutely certain?" William asked.

"You calling her dumb? A liar? A dumb liar? I oughta pound ya for doubting her!" Any animosity Storm had a minute ago towards her was long gone as he reflexively jumped to her defense.

Nerves getting the better of him, William yelled into the receive, "I'm asking because something jumped up-and-down on my plane like a trampoline!"

"Sounds like you need to guard your airfields better," Jet snarked.

"It happened while I was in mid-air!" He screamed, thoroughly exasperated by their flippancy.

Thankfully, this got the Rogue's full attention attention, Jet himself now dead serious "What?"

Taking a deep breath, William continued, "I was on a flight with a plane full of passengers toward Central City when something jumped up and down on top of the cockpit three times. Each hit nearly brought the plane down."

"How fast was it going on the radar?" Wave asked, now also all business.

The captain was completely unaware of the scab he was about to pick, "when it finally left? I'd say easily Sonic fast."

"EXCUSE ME?!? I THINK YOU MEAN JET THE HAWK FAST! I'M THE FLYING ONE NOT HIM!" Jet erupted into the receiver.

Pivoting quickly, William corrected himself, "It was going Jet the Hawk fast!"

Acting like he didn't just go completely ballistic just then, he continued the line of questioning, "That's better, now, which direction did it go?"

The crow slumped against the console, the conversation being far more exhausting than he anticipated, "It flew straight up then went west. It left radar range quicker than anything I've ever seen," William said.

Putting her hand to her chin, Wave began listing possibilities, "So it was either someone with some amazing extreme gear, which is impossible because I didn't make it. It could have been some new badnik eggman cooked up but he wouldn't have it go bounce up-and-down on a plane, that's not really his MO."

"Maybe Metal Sonic was feeling silly?" Storm suggested.

Jet rolled his eyes, "That robotic killjoy doesn't know the first thing about fun so I don't think it was that."

"What does the top of the cockpit look like? Did it believe any kind of discernible imprint?" Wave asked.

"It looks like if it had landed any harder we wouldn't be having this conversation if that answers your first question. As for the second? This is gonna sound nutty but my copilot and I are pretty positive it looks like a cowboy boot," William said, sounding almost embarrassed sharing that last detail.

"But that's impossible! Everyone knows cowboys can't fly!" Storm yelled like that was the unbelievable thing about it.

Ignoring Storm's dimwittedness, Jet said, "Were there any burn marks in the imprints?"

William shook his head, to which he gave a long blink to remembering he was alone, "No but there were spur marks."

Wrists resting on her hips, Wave shook her head in growing confusion with the mystery dropped on their laps, "Then that rules out extreme gear. Skate type gear would have left some kind of trace."

"Also rules out badniks unless Eggman suddenly started pivoting towards a cowboy theme," Jet added.

Storm slammed his fist into his palm, "Then that just leaves……wait who does that leave?" He said now scratching his head in befuddlement.

"No one, Storm. That's the problem." Wave said, "Given the evidence we have now, it matches no one we know. We're dealing with someone who's stupid fast, isn't using extreme gear, wears cowboy boots and apparently gets their kicks from terrorizing people when they're thousands of feet above the air."

The dread that oft comes with the unknown floated through them. Tiny involuntary shivers shook all but Jet's body, who just narrowed his eyes.

"Thank you for bringing this to our attention. we'll keep an eye out for anything regarding mystery speedster. Over and out," Jet said before hanging up.

Thank you?!? Storm and Wave thought.

Pacing back and forth he continued, "Here's the plan, we're gonna do some training and enhance our extreme gear the best we can. We're overdue for some upgrades and-"

"We're not chasing after them immediately?" Storm interrupted loudly.

"Are you feeling okay, Jet?" Wave asked softly, genuine concern in her voice. She had been a little worried about him ever since that encounter he had with that wolf girl and giant badnik briefly scrambled his personality. Oh God I hope he isn't backsliding….

"Believe me when say that every cell in my body wants to beeline towards them right now but I'm trying to be smart here. Whoever this person is they're deranged enough to nearly kill hundreds of people for shits and giggles on top of being fast enough that they believe they could get away with it. I want us to be ready for this creep when we find them. We're the fast flying ones around here dammit!" Jet said, ending his tirade with a shaking fist in front of him.

Her worries evaporated, Wave couldn't be more proud of Jet. He was showing actual leadership but was still the same proud loudmouth she knew.

"We're gonna show this poser that the Babylon Rogues won't tolerate sharing the sky with lunatics!" Jet shouted, to which Wave and Storm answered with agreeing cheers.

Jet held up a finger, "One last thing before we steal take-out. While we're getting prepared to throw down with this cowboy, we're also gonna be looking for something I learned about recently. An old treasure from our ancestors."

Wave was floored upon hearing this, "Woah really? I thought we found everything there was?"

"What is it boss?" Storm asked eagerly.

Jet smiled excitedly, "The Babylon Blades."

**************

William stared at the receiver for a few minutes, sitting alone in one of the redundant control towers they had built after the war. Finally tearing his gaze away, he walked down the flight of stairs and outside. With sudden trepidation, he looked up and took a shaky uncertain breath.

For in all his years of flying he had never seen that bright blue sky look so unkind.