_________________________________________

At a fancy club, Rouge and a Mobian named Geoffrey walk up to the front entrance of the club. Geoffrey was rather fidgety, which Rouge notices.

"Would you relax?" she asks him. "We're the best-looking couple here. And we're just having a good time."

"Don't let my wife here you say that," Geoffrey tells his fellow spy.

They walk up to the front where the bouncer was... only to see a giant metal chicken in a suit.

"What happens in the Casino Night Club stays in the Casino Night Club," Scratch tells the pair.

"Duly noted," Geoffrey says.

"And you are...?" Rouge asks.

"I'm just the humble concierge," Scratch states. "I answer to the club's owner. Why, good morning, Mr. Mogul!"

"Geoffrey St. John and Rouge the Bat," a mighty voice says from behind the two spies. "To what do I owe the honor of being visited by the most renowned spies of the Republic of Knothole and United Federation?"

The two turn to see no one but the giant Mammoth Mogul himself.

"Just looking for a game of two-up, mate," Geoffrey says.

"And being generally impressed, Mr. Mogul," Rouge states. "You turned one of Dr. Robotnik's old holding into an international success overnight."

"As the saying goes, 'if you construct it, they will arrive in droves'," Mogul states.

"Of course," the skunk spy says and takes a martini from a passing older model Badnik. "Went to a lot of trouble to clean out the old Robo-Hobo Jungle?"

"The poor little machinations were abandoned by their creator," the casino club owner says with a smile. "I simply gave them a new purpose."

"And I suppose that's the same reason you acquired and relocated the bottom of the Barrel Bar and Grill?" Rouge says.

"The Casino Night Zone was severely lacking in a serviceable kitchen," Mogul states. "Should my patrons go unnourished?"

"It's reputation wasn't off-putting?" the bat asks.

"I'm all about new beginnings, Miss Rouge."

A monkey Badnik, called Coconuts, walks past his boss.

"Your investors' meeting is ready, sir," he tells the mammoth.

"Excellent!" Wilson Fisk's fursona says and begins to walk away. "You must excuse me. If you need anything, call upon Scratch!"

Rouge waves the mammoth goodbye as she takes a sip of the martini she stole from her partner. Mogul makes his way to the backrooms where the Destructix with Bean the Duck and Bark the Polar Bear sit, waiting for him.

"Good morning, gentlemen," he greets them with a smile. "Shall we get down to business?"

Meanwhile...

In New Mobotropolis, Y/n is seen walking around the park with a bag and a grabbing stick. He picks up a piece of trash on the ground and places it in the trash bag. He groans as he walks forward as he picks and throws away trash strewn about.

"I hate this," he tells himself with slumped shoulders.

"Oh, ch-cheer up, mon amie!" a familiar French voice calls out from behind, revealing its owner to be Antoine. "This will be g-good for you. Some community service h-has done no harm."

Y/n sighs and turns to Antoine with a smile.

"I'd love to have your optimism, Antoine," Y/n tells his friend. "Just with things being how they are... I wish I'd just gotten banished or something. Wouldn't have to deal with everything."

"Chin up!" Antoine tells his human friend. "We are helping our c--community. Even big h-heroes need to humble themselves and think small."

Y/n looks at Antoine and his big smile. He was always a nervous and timid fellow, but his morals and determination to do what's right has never faltered. He was admirable for that.

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right," Y/n says. "Things have just gotten... difficult, y'know? I'm trying my best."

"And th-that is all you can do, amie," Antoine says and picks up another piece of trash. "Even someone as f-frightened as I can still do something h-h-heroic."

"I see your point, Antoine," Y/n said and picked up some more trash. "Let's--"

Y/n stops when he sees a Mobian struggling with some groceries. The human drops his bag and stick, and jogs over to the Mobian.

"Hey!" he calls to the cat. "Do you need any--?"

"N-n-no! I'm fine! All good!" The cat said nervously as she walked around Y/n. "Thank you, though!"

"Um... right," Y/n says. "Okay..."

Y/n watches the cat walk away before be turns when he hears a small boy's voice.

"Mommy!" he cries out. "My balloon!"

Y/n looks up to see a red balloon floating away. He jumps up and grabs it by its string, pulling it down with him and to the ground.

"Here, I got it for ya, kid," Y/n says and walks up to him. "Here you go."

The child smiles as he reaches for his balloon, only for his mother to pull him away and she walks away.

"Come on, Jerry," she says with a glare aimed at Y/n. "Let's go."

"B-b-but my balloon!" the child cries. "Mister Y/n was gonna give it back!"

"I'll get you another one."

Y/n watches as the mother and son walk off and he sighs. Then he looks up at the balloon and decides to at least keep it for now, and he turns around and walks back to his cleaning supplies as he ties the balloon string around his wrist.

"W-well, at least you tried, amie," Antoine stuttered.

"Yeah..." Y/n says as he picks up his grabbing stick.

However, something hits him in the head and soaks him in some kind of liquid. A cup falls to the ground and Y/n looks down at it before looking up to see a small group of Mobians.

"Go home!" one of them barked at Y/n. "Freak!"

"Monster!" a second says.

"Human scum!" the others say.

They all then throw other things at the human and run off, leaving Y/n covered in food and beverages. He seethes in anger as the laughter of those Mobians fade away into the distance. He grips his grabbing stick and it incinerates from his power.

"M-maybe you should calm down, Monsieur Y/n," Antoine tells Y/n nervously.

Y/n instantly dashes off and speeds around the park. He returns to where Atoine was and slams a full trash bag into a nearby trash can.

"I'm going home," he says as he turns and walks off.

"O-oh..." Antoine stutters. "Okay, then..."

Short Timeskip...

Not long after storming off from Antoine, Y/n arrives at his house and opens the door before slamming it shut. As he walks inside, Nicole materializes to greet her crush.

"Hi, Y/n!" she greets. "You're back early."

"I need a shower," he says as he passes the AI.

Nicole looks dumbstruck as Y/n walks off to his bathroom. She turns to where he was walking before the thought of Y/n taking a shower invaded her mind. She glitches before smacking herself.

"No, no...! Get that out of your head...!" she tells herself. "Bad, Nicole! Bad!"

"Is everything okay out there?" Y/n asks as he pokes his head into the hallway.

"Everything's fine!"

After Y/n takes a shower, he walks into his bedroom with a clean outfit and no food or drinks on him. He still has the balloon with him, but untied from his wrist. He ties it to his desk chair before sitting down on it and turning on his tablet that he uses to draw whenever he got bored or needed to cool off. Which was now.

"So... what happened?"

Y/n turns to see Nicole behind him.

"Some jerks threw food and drinks at me," he stated before turning back to his drawing.

"I have a feeling that it's more than that," the holo-lynx says as she walks up to her crush.

"... no one wants my help anymore," Y/n informs as he sets down his stylus. "Back in Knothole, everyone liked me and loved it when I helped. Here? Here, everyone hates and fears me. They don't want me here."

"Th-that's not true," Nicole tells her friend as she places a hand on his shoulder. "Not everyone hates you. L-like me. I like you... a lot."

Nicole could feel her systems overheating, signaling her version of blushing. Then she felt Y/n's hand slide on to her's and she smiles at him.

"Thanks, Nicole," he says. "You've been... probably the best friend I've had in a bit this past week. Always looking out for me."

"I-it's my job as the one who's supposed to watch you," Nicole says, "and as your friend."

"Thanks, Nic."

Nicole smiles as Y/n picks up his stylus and goes back to drawing, a much clearer mind in his head. She then looks over at the red balloon floating above him tied to the chair, and she grows curious.

"What's the purpose of the balloon?"

"Some kid lost it and I got it back," Y/n says, "but his mom kept him far from me. So it looks like I'm keeping it."

"Well, at least your sense of goodwill and heroism is still intact," Nicole says, making Y/n smile.

"Yeah," he says. "Guess so."

Nicole looks at Y/n as she watches him draw. It was moments like these that remind her that he's still human and needed time to himself to calm down and cool off. He's much more emotional than the average Mobian, but he's been becoming more closed off recently. She wished she could fix it, but didn't know how.

Well, she actually had an idea that was for two different reasons. One was so that Y/n would open up again, at least to her. The other reason would be to tell Y/n how she feels about him. She's had these feelings for two weeks and knew it for one, but she believed she was finally able to admit it to the one she's in love with.

"Y/n, may I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead."

Nicole took in a deep breath after taking her hand off of Y/n's shoulder and calmed her nerves.

"If you knew someone and you were really close to them, but that friend wanted to be... more," Nicole said, "how would you respond to them?"

"I would... ask 'why?'," Y/n says, "and if you're this friend you speak of."

"Eep! H-how did you--?"

"I may be dense, but not that dense," Y/n states. "I can tell when someone is blatantly trying to tell me something. Most of the time."

"So... now you know, I guess," Nicole says as she rubs her arm. "I-I... think I like you, Y/n. A lot."

There were no words spoken between the two, making Nicole nervous. Y/n was just looking at her with a blank face.

"D-don't look at me like that! Say something, please!" the AI pleads. "You're making me more nervous than usual."

"S-sorry. I just didn't expect you to actually say that," Y/n apologizes. "I'm just... trying to think. I'm still confused about a... lot of things."

"Like... Princess Sally?" Nicole asks.

Y/n flinches a bit at the name and he looks at Nicole in the eyes.

"How did you--?"

"I saw what happened after your fight with Nazo," the otherworldly AI states. "I also know that she blew it off as a way for you to beat Nazo, and how heartbroken you were afterwards."

"Please... don't bring that up right now," Y/n begs Nicole.

"S-sorry, it's just... seeing you like that broke my heart, and I don't know why," Nicole stated as she placed a hand over where her heart would be. "It was like this for a week, and these malfunctions were happening to my system. I didn't know why, and then Bunnie and Amy helped me realize."

"Realize what?" Y/n asks.

"That I am... attracted to you," Nicole states awkwardly as she messes with her hair, "and that... I have romantic feelings... for you."

Nicole felt awkward. Talking about feelings like this was new to her, and she wasn't used to it nor comfortable with it. She was even using coping or comforting movements that's she's seen others use, like rubbing her arm or messing with her hair. They weren't really making her feel better, but she assumed it was just something humans and Mobians did when they're nervous, so she did it anyway.

"So... what is your response?"

"... I really don't know how to respond," Y/n admits. "Are-are you sure that this is how you feel?"

"Positive," Nicole nods. "I know it's probably... weird and unnatural for someone like me to want to be with someone like you, but--"

"Nic, I'm the last person who's going to judge you," Y/n assures the girl. "Trust me, I won't. I had... maybe still have... a crush on Sally, someone completely different than me. But... I don't know if I'll get over her."

"I know. I assume Sally meant a lot to you, and sometimes people have trouble moving on," Nicole says. "But sometimes people need help from others to move on. I know this sounds wrong and selfish of me, but... maybe I can help you move on? By being with me...?"

Y/n sat and looked at Nicole in silence as he thought this over. He had a feeling that he still has feelings for Sally, but he knew how it was for someone to have their heart broken. He couldn't do that to someone like Nicole, no matter how he felt.

Maybe for him to move on, Y/n may have to be with someone else. And Nicole? Nicole is amazing, and Y/n knew it. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to try with Nicole. She's someone lots of people would love to be with. He could be one of them.

"I... think I'll give it a shot," Y/n said and offered his hand to Nicole. "As long as you'll give me a shot. Want to see how this goes?"

Nicole starred at Y/n in surprise. She didn't actually expect him to accept her. However, she smiled with joy as she took Y/n's hand in her own.

"I'd love to," she says, making Y/n smile.

"Then it looks like we're a couple now," Y/n says with uncertainty. "I mean, if you want to call us that. I've never been in a relationship before."

"Y-yeah. A couple," Nicole repeated. "But... could we keep this from the others for now?"

"Why?" the godlike human asks.

"I just... want to know how this is like," the physical AI states. "And once I get comfortable, then we could tell the others. If that's a-alright with you?"

"Sure, Nic," Y/n smiled. "Whatever you want."

"Thank you," Nicole sighed. "Speaking of which... Could we... kiss?"

"Hm?"

"I-it's just that since I found out about my feelings about you, I've done research on what couples do," Nicole informs. "The results were going on dates, holding hands, sleeping with each other... and kissing. Is it okay if we kissed?"

Y/n thought it over before smiling.

"Yeah," he said as he cupped Nicole's cheek. "We can kiss if you want."

Nicole basically turned into the sun with how much she beamed at this. She then got right into it and brought her lips to Y/n's, initiating the kiss. Y/n was a bit surprised by how Nicole started, but he eased into the kiss as he ran his fingers through her hair.

'Just like the simulations,' Nicole thought as she cupped Y/n's face.

(No joke, it's now canon that Nicole ran simulations in cyberspace where she was with Y/n. What do you expect? She's an AI in new territory. She wants to be prepared.)

At The Same Time...

In the back of a van, Sonic lies on the ground with chains and shackles on his wrists and ankles.

'Ooookaay... I'm shackled and in a dark and smelly place and surrounded by guys who hate my guts. HOW'D I GET HERE?!' Sonic asked himself. 'Okay... back it up a minute. Sally and I got ambushed in the Great Forest by Bean the Duck and Bark the Polar Bear. Sally managed to turn them in our favor, though. They were helping me fend off another ambush from the Destructix. We had things under control... until something happened. I thought I heard Nack talking. And Sally...'

Sonic rubs his head in pain before he realizes...

'Sally's alone with Nack! She'll need me!' Sonic tells himself as he struggles against his bonds. 'C'mon, shackles! BREAK!'

"You're going nowhere, son," Sergeant Simian tells the Blue Blur. "Relax."

Sonic turns to glare at Simian who grins.

"Enjoy the ride."

Knothole...

Over in Knothole, Sally is seen running for her life. Why? Because Nack the Weasel was gonna shoot her with a massive stun gun and a wicked smile.

"Ten... nine... eight," Nack counted down as Sally ran. "Seven... six... five..."

Sally runs her fastest as she makes her way to Freedom HQ. The front door was right there! If she could make it...

"Four... three... two," Nack aims his gun at the princess. "One."

With a pull of a trigger, a electric blast fires from Nack's gun. However, Sally uses her acrobatic skills to avoid the blast and land near a tree stump.

"Hey!"

Sally quickly pulls the tree stump off of the ground, revealing a secret entrance. She hops into it, making her pursuer angry.

"A secret entrance?! You made me miss!!!" Nack yells in anger. 

Sally slides down the secret entrance and into the HQ where Amy was.

"Hey, Sally," she greets the chipmunk. "Who's shooting holes in the front door?"

"Sonic...! Was ambushed...!" Sally spoke through gasps for air. "Taken...! By Destructix and...! Others. Nacks... outside..."

After catching her breath, Sally stands up and looks at Amy.

"Who do we have here?"

"Everyone is either at New Mobotropolis or on Angel Island. The only one who can get here fast enough is probably Y/n, and he's on house arrest," the pink hedgehog informs. "So... just me."

"We'll have to do," Sally says with determination.

Amy nods and summons her Piko-Piko Hammer from thin air. She was ready to throw down.

Outside, Nack was going down the secret entrance as he abandoned his massive stun gun.

"You've made me miss three times in my career, toots," Nack growls. "I ain't missing this time."

Nack slides all the way down and finds Sally at the front door. He smirks as he aims his blaster.

"Ha! I knew you'd be guarding the front door!"

"And I figured you'd take the slide!" Amy declared as she cocked her hammer back.

"Oh, no..."

In one swift motion, the weasel was sent flying out of Freedom HQ. His face gets covered in dirt and mud as he skids along, stars circling his head from his dazed state.

Amy huffs a breathe and dusts off her hands. Then she and Sally walk to the lab and contact Nicole.

Y/n's House, New Mobotropolis...

Back in Y/n's house, he and Nicole have been kissing for a few minutes now. Nicole was in a state of bliss as it were as if she was living in a dream. She was kissing Y/n and was loving every moment of it.

Y/n was enjoying it as well. The only time he's ever kissed anyone else was Sally, but that was just a 'motivational tactic'. With Nicole it was something completely different, with her lips surprisingly not being just light and color but soft and plush. And she was amazing for someone who was basically having her first kiss, but Y/n couldn't say anything about it. Y/n has had as much experience as Nicole has had, basically, and was doing just as well.

Nicole was getting tired of standing to kiss Y/n, so she goes to straddle his lap. However, it was a terriboe decision as the chair wasn't turned to face her, and both she and Y/n fall to the floor with a crash. Both of them look at each other before laughing and Nicole kisses Y/n's cheek.

"You seem to be really kiss-y, Nicole," Y/n tells his new AI girlfriend.

"S-sorry, but I can't help it for some reason. I think I'm just too excited to finally do this with you.," Nicole said as she trailed kisses to her new human boyfriend's lips. "It may have been only two weeks, but it feels like much longer. Just... indulge me a little longer?"

"Yeah, sure," Y/n says as he caresses his thumb across Nicole's cheek. "I'll indulge you a bit longer."

Y/n gives Nicole a smile and kisses her first this time. Nicole then straddles Y/n properly this time and wraps her arms around his neck as her new boyfriend wraps his arms around the AI's waist. This went on for a few more moments before Nicole broke off the kiss and groans.

"What's wrong?" Y/n asks her.

"I'm getting a call from Freedom HQ," the holo-lynx says. "Give me a minute."

Y/n nods and Nicole vanishes from sight as she enters cyberspace. The human just sits there awkwardly, twiddling his thumbs as he patiently waits for the AI to return. He then holds his hand to his mouth and lets out a breath and smells it, only to realize that Nicole probably can't smell anything. Well, good thing his breath was perfectly fine.

Nicole soon rematerialzes standing and looks down at Y/n.

"What's up?" he asks.

"Sally and Sonic were ambushed by Nack's gang and the Destructix. Sonic got kidnapped," Nicole states in a near panic, "and they need you to help them out and get Nack locked down."

"Oh! I'll be right there, then!" Y/n says as he stands to his feet and quickly gets his shoes on. "I'll be back as soon as I can. See ya."

"Go! I'll tell Elias where you're going!"

Y/n nods and teleports away to Knothole. He arrives outside the Freedom HQ in a flash of light where he saw Nack struggling to get up as he shakes his head. He then looks up to see Y/n.

"What the...?" he questions. "One... two... three..."

He begins counting as if he sees multiple Y/ns. The human just sighs and his eyes glow green as he raises his hand towards the weasel.

"Chaos Construct."

Green bars of energy manifest themselves next to Nack before clamping down on his wrists and ankles, chains forming to connect them. The weasel floats up into the air thanks to Y/n's own form of psychokenesis.

"H-hey! What's the big idea?!" Nack asks as he flails around in the air.

"Ease up, I'm not gonna hurt you," Y/n tells him. "Just gonna make sure you don't go anywhere."

"Let me go! Vermin!"

Y/n rolls his eyes and walks to the front door of the HQ. There he sees Sally and Amy getting ready to leave.

"Hey, girls" he greets the two. "What's up?"

"Y/n!" Sally says with joy when she sees you.

"You got here really fast," Amy says.

"I can teleport," Y/n says like it was a fact. Which it was.

"Oh. Right," Amy says, feeling stupid.

"Where do you want me to put our friend here?" Y/n asks, referring to Nack.

"Put him anywhere," Sally tells her friend. "We need to hurry up and save Sonic."

Y/n nods and sets Nack down where chains sprout from his bonds and attache to the ground.

"Hey! You can't leave me here!" he says.

"Of course I can," Y/n says with a smirk and walks off.

Ignoring Nack's yells and curses, Y/n joins Sally and Amy in the hovercraft.

"Good job on taking Nack like that," Y/n congratulates the girls. "Nice lump on the head I saw."

"My handiwork!" Amy declares proudly.

"Nice," the human gives a thumbs up. "Just glad you're safe."

Sally perks up at this.

'He still cares!'

Sally shakes her head from the thought and starts the hovercraft.

"So where we going?" Y/n asks as the hovercraft floats into the air.

"To save Sonic," Sally says as the hovercraft shoots forward.

Mogul's Casino Night Club...

At Mogul's club, Sonic was now in the backrooms as he was surrounded by some old and familiar faces.

"Bwahaha!" Scratch laughs in the hedgehog's face. "Look how the mighty have fallen!"

"Not so tough now that you're all bound up, huh, Mr. All-Bound-Up?" Grounder asks

"You may have forgotten about us, but we've held true to the ideas of the 6-S Team!" Coconuts exclaims.

Sonic crosses his arms with a bored face as the three Gen 1 Badniks run to the side and converse.

"The Super Secret... no..."

"Subtle... no... Sneaking..."

"Sinister... Silvery...?"

Letting out a sigh, Sonic reminds the robots of their own team name.

"Super Special Sonic Search and Smash Squad."

"THAT'S IT!" The three Badniks say.

"Please, guys. I stomped you when I was eight," Sonic says nonchalantly. "You're way out of your league now."

The three Badniks growl and surround Sonic before...

"Enough!"

Sonic turns to Sleuth Dogg who was sitting around with the rest of his team.

"Shackled or not, he could take you all out," Dogg tells the machines. "Now where's Mogul? I'm ready to be paid."

"Listen here!" Coconut says as he stomps towards Sleuth. "Mister Mogul is busy attending to his Casino Night Club. He'll pay you when he's ready."

"Listen here, Monkey-Boy--"

"Shut it, Drago," Sleuth tells his teammate and turns to Coconuts. "Listen here, Monkey-Boy. Sonic has a nasty habit of breaking out at the last minute. And the Freedom Fighters like to show up at the worse times. So if your boss wants the hedgehog, he better pick up the pace."

"I will inform Mr. Mogul of your impatience," the monkey Badnik says as he walks off. "But it is your job to bring Sonic and keep him here."

"That's right!" Drago barks. "Walk away before I stomp ya."

"Can it, Drago," Sleuth orders his teammate. "He could take you."

Meanwhile, in the main area of the casino, Sally and Amy and Y/n walk through. Y/n looks around in awe as he's never seen anything like a casino before. It interested him.

"This certainly isn't how I remember it being described," Sally says.

"You're sure we're in the right place?" Amy asks.

"I think it is," Y/n says. "I can sense Sonic nearby."

"And I heard Sleuth say Casino Night," Sally states, "and this is the closest place like that..."

"No worries, love," the three turn to see Geoffrey. "You three are in the right place."

"Geoffrey!" Sally calls out.

"What are you doing here?" Amy asks.

"When Mogul escaped, your brother assigned me to track him down and get an idea where his next move would be."

"Good thinking," Sally says. "Is Hershey here with you?"

Y/n leans over to Amy.

"Uh... who's him?" he asks the pink hedgehog.

"Geoffrey St. George," Amy answers. "He's a big spy. I find it surprising that you haven't met him yet."

"Me, too."

"I wish," Geoffrey answers Sally. "GUN's intelligence wing got wind of things and pushed for a joint-op."

"Rouge?"

"Afraid so," the spy sighs. "Only I lost contact with her a short while ago."

"Honestly, St. John, you need to listen up."

"CRIKEY!"

Geoffrey jumps basically out of his suit when Rouge basically appeared from nowhere behind him. Then the bat looked over at Sally.

"What brings you to Mogul's glamor pit, Princess?" she asks.

"Sonic's been kidnapped," Sally rubs her arm.

Rouge hums and turns to see Y/n next to Amy. She smirks as she puts a hand on her hip while the human crosses his arms.

"Well, well, well. Ain't it the Gem-Boy," Rouge says. "Heard about that nasty battle. Thanks for not getting us all killed."

"Yeah," Y/n says.

"Y'know, GUN is really interested in you," the bat tells the human. "Would it be okay if I set up a meeting between you and General Towers?"

General Towers? He's a general now? Y/n hasn't thought about him, or let alone remembered him, until now. He only knows him back when he did some trips to Space Colony Arc back when...

"Sure," Y/n says. "As long as it's cool with you, Sal."

"Uh... yeah," the princess says. "But we need to focus at the task at hand, please."

"Right," Rouge says. "Lucky for you, St. John and I know where to look. Right this way."

Rouge turns around and walks off with everyone else following her.

Back in the backrooms, Bean was annoying Sonic.

"Hey, Sonic? Hey. Hey, Sonic? Why are you so fast?" the green little duck asks. "Why are you blue? Are you jealous about that the princess and that gem-guy might marry one day and have mutant human-squirrel babies?"

Sonic cringes at this. Not because he may still be sensitive about the topic of him and Sally, but because he knows how Y/n's relationship with her has changed. He wanted to help, but he doesn't know how to.

"She's a chipmunk!"

An energy blast follows the voice and sends Bean flying. Everyone turns to see you, Amy, Sally, and Geoffrey run in with the spy telling everyone to get down. He fires bullets from his wrist gun and turns to Rouge.

"Care to back me up?" he asks her.

"And ruin this dress?" the bat questions. "You're out of your mind."

Y/n runs over to Sonic and burns off his shackles, making him smile.

"It's about time!" he says and Spin Attacks Bean who got up. He then turns to Y/n with a smirk. "I'm feeling risky. Wanna do that move we've been practicing?"

"The Fast-Ball Special" Y/n questions. "Seems dangerous in a closed space like this."

"Come on! It'll be fun!" Sonic exclaims.

"Alright," Y/n says. "Let's do it then."

"Alright!"

Y/n quickly grabs the blue hedgehog and pours some Chaos Energy out and around the two as Sally and Amy beat down on the Destructix. When they saw and caught wind of what their friends were doing, they quickly got out of the way.

"Get down!"

"Here we go!" Y/n says and throws Sonic.

The Blue Blur laughs as he spins into a ball and slams into Bark. He then bounces off and ricochets around the entire room, bouncing off and hitting his enemies before they were all down and Sonic uncurled from his ball.

"Hahaha! That was great!" Sonic laughs. "Nice pitch, Y/n."

"Thanks, Sonic," Y/n gives a thumbs up.

"Thanks for the rescue, everyone," Sonic tells his friends. "I think I need to complain to the management."

"Anytime, Sonic!" Amy states.

"Agreed," Sally cracks her knuckles. "Let's nip this in the bud."

"Hold it," Geoffrey orders. "We're still on Mogul's turf. You're sure you want to pick a fight here?"

"We can't be bullied here when he's free to attack us at home," Sally declares.

"Yeah," Y/n pipes up. "If he's really the one who did this, then we need to stop him. He'll be far from being done fighting us."

"You heard 'em!" Sonic says as he marches forward. "Let's do it to it!"

The Freedom Fighters follow Sonic out to the main area where he wants to get Mogul's attention.

"MOGUL!" the Blue Blur calls out. "Get out here and meet me face to your ugly face!"

Some robots dressed in suits approach Sonic.

"You are causing a disturbance, sir," one says.

"We must ask you to leave," the second tells Sonic.

"Please," Sonic slices one in half with a Spin Attack and Amy smashes the other with with hammer. "You guys were outdated a long time ago!"

"What is the meaning of this?!"

Everyone turns to see Mogul with four more security bots.

"Y/n, I thought I told you that our business was concluded!"

"Then why did you put a bounty on Sonic?" Sally asks as she points at the mammoth.

"A bounty on an innocent young man? How petty do you presume me to be?" Mogul asks. "I owe my life to Y/n, here! Why would I wage war against someone who I know I can never defeat with someone like him?"

"How else do you explain the thugs who had Sonic trapped in your backroom?" Sally crosses her arms.

'God, she's still so cool...' Y/n thinks to himself.

"Preposterous!" Mogul exclaims and sees Sleuth Dogg trying to sneak away. "Sleuth! What have you been using the old bar for?"

"You've gone soft, Mogul," Sleuth growls. "We've been using your generous gift of the old Bottom of the Barrel Bar and Grill as a front for our mercenary actions!"

"Scoundrel!" Mogul points to the exit. "See to it he and his ruffian compatriots are expelled from the premises."

The security bots do as told as they grab Sleuth and escort him out.

"Give me a break! That's not how it was!" Sonic states.

"Aside from your heresy, what proof do you have to counter a full confusion?"

Sonic grumbles as Sally crosses her arms.

"... none," she says.

"Perhaps if you had come to me first, I could have assisted you in your endeavors," the immortal mammoth informs, "rather than you disturbing my place of business."

"... You're right, Mogul," Y/n tells the godlike Mobian. "I apologize on behalf of my friends."

"What?!" Amy questions in anger.

"What the heck do you mean, man?!" Sonic asks.

"Y/n, you can't be serious," Sally says.

"I am, and I apologize for our accusations. I shouldn't have assumed that you would go against your word. Especially since you know damn well what I can do to you..." Y/n said the last part so only that Mogul could hear him. "All forgiven?"

"Why, of course. Especially for the one who freed me and brought me back to my pedestal of power," Mogul says and offers a hand. "All is forgiven."

"Great," Y/n says and shakes Mogul's larger hand. "Glad we could get this settled."

Mogul nods with a smile and then rubs his hands together.

"Now, if there's a silver lining in this whole debacle, it's that you at least put on a passionate performance," the mammoth told the other Freedom Fighters. "I shall send the invoice for the repairs to your brother, princess."

"Let me whack him once, just to make it even," Amy suggests to Sonic.

"I like the sound of that," the hedgehog states.

"No, we're leaving," Y/n says as he walks by with hands in his pockets. "And before you argue with me, I'm not in the mood. Now mature up and move your little hedgehog feet."

Sonic and Amy growl, but Sally speaks up.

"He's right. No use in crying over spilled milk," she says and follows Y/n. "Let's just go before we get in trouble we don't want."

Sonic and Amy listen and follow the two out of the casino. However, hiding in the back, Sleuth and Drago watch.

"I don't get it," Drago tells Sleuth. "Why'd you fess up?"

"All part of the act," Sleuth admits as he walks away with Drago. "Rouge told me Mogul would pay us for Sonic's humiliation. A good day, all said and done."

Timeskip...

In the hovercraft, Sally pilots as Amy, Geoffrey, and Y/n ride in the back while Sonic speeds next to it.

"Don't take it too hard, mates," the skunk tells his friends. "So the big bloke got to poke some fun. Everyone got out safe and sound and that's what counts."

"Stinky's right," Sonic says as he hops on to the hovercraft.

"Hey!"

"We had some laughs and knocked some heads," the hedgehog smiles. "And I'm not used to being rescued. Thanks, Sal."

"You're welcome, Sonic," Sally says with a smile.

Sonic notices Amy cross her arms as she huffs out a breath.

"Don't think I didn't notice you and your mallet. Thanks, Amy," Sonic tells the pink hedgehog. "And you, too, Y/n. I thought you were still in house arrest."

"I am," Y/n lifts up his foot to show his ankle device. "Don't worry. Nicole's taking care of it."

"Well, that's some good news at least."

"Y'all read me, Sally-Girl?"

Sally looks down at the communicator where Bunnie's face showed up.

"This is Sally," she says. "Go ahead, Bunnie."

"Well, the good news is Freedom HQ is one one piece," the country belle informs. "The bad news is thar's no sign of Nack. 'Fraid he got away."

"Dammit!" Y/n curses. "I knew I should've practiced more on my Chaos Constructs.

"Don't sweat it, man," Sonic pats Y/n on the back and hops off to run on the ground again.

"Par for the course for today," Sally tells Bunnie. "Thanks all the same. We're almost home. Sally out."

Sally ends the call and focuses back on steering the hovercraft.

"Well, that was an eventful day," Sonic says. "On the plus side, today can't get any worse."

Moebius...

On Moebius, the Anti-Mobius, Fiona Fox watches two familiar faces work.

"Hey, braniacs," she calls to them. "Have you gotten those stolen Globe Posts up and running yet?"

"We've just about got it," says... Rotor?

"We'll be on schedule," says... the hell? Tails?!

"You better be," Fiona says. "You don't want to keep them waiting."

The Tails and Rotor lookalikes just huff their breaths and look at each other as Fiona leaves. Said fox comes across an Antoine lookalike with an eyepatch and a Sally doppelganger.

"And what about you two?" she asks. "Ready to go?"

"More than you'd ever be..." the Sally lookalike mumbles.

"Sorry. What was that?"

"I said--!"

"Pssh! Stop arguing like a couple of immature school girls," the two turn to see Anarchy with a more advanced exoskeleton on his torso. "Come on! I want to get to this book's big finale! You're not making it go any faster."

"Tch! Whatever," Fiona says and walks off.

She passes Anarchy who looks at the Sally doppelganger and grins.

"Hello, Alicia~"

"Y/n."

The two look at each other with equal fiery passion in their eyes as Fiona enters the throne room.

"How're they looking, babe?" a familiar voice asks the fox.

"They'll be ready to go when you give the order," the thief informs Scourge, "your majesty."

_________________________________________

Scourge is a king now?! How did this happen?! The fuck?!

But more importantly, what of Y/n and Nicole's new relationship? And will Sally and Y/n ever 'kiss and make up'? Find out, next time on Only Human!

Don't worry. Just because Y/n and Nicole are together doesn't mean that he and Sally won't, just letting you all know ahead of time. This is just some subplots and drama I'm adding into the story to see if you all like it or not. See ya around!