A/N: If you have not read Sonic Legacy volume 1, please read it before continuing with this otherwise a lot of this will not make sense. All art in this is made by me unless stated otherwise.
"Whisper, you need to run!" Slinger's voice echoed as Whisper snapped awake. Her cyan wisp flew next to her, Whisper patting it on the head. She was in her bedroom inside of an old military base lodged into a mountain. She looked over at the clock, it being 6:47 AM. She rolled over and grabbed her mask, noticing a mysterious flashing icon on it's HUD... Putting it on, she realized what it was...
"Slinger - Status: ACTIVE."
Whisper nearly slung the mask upon seeing it, growling
"Mimic, if you're impersonating him again..." She said internally, snarling. Suddenly a message from "Slinger" appeared, Whisper hesitating to read it
"Whisp, it's me. I need to see you."
The message took her by surprise, and the cyan wisp looked over her shoulder, her hands clenched as she breathed heavily. Suddenly coordinates appeared from Slinger's message
"Please. I know you're still out there." he then said. Whisper got up, grabbing her Variable Wispon MK II and her belt filled with Wisp capsules. Getting into one of the old military trucks parked outside, she drove to the coordinates in about 10 minutes, nearly flipping the truck a few times with how fast she was going. The coordinates led to a cave, unassuming but Whisper turned on her mask's night vision mode just in case. Searching the cave wasn't the hardest of tasks, was mostly tight corridors. That is, until she reached a large room in the cave, roughly the size of a movie theater. She could see military equipment and wispon cleaning supplies. Suddenly Whisper felt a gun barrel on the back of her head, hearing an Australian voice
"Turn around."
Whisper had a hand on her combat knife as she spun around, flood lights on the ceiling switching on to reveal Slinger! He lowered the wispon as he realized it was her and smiled before holstering it, pulling Whisper into a hug
"Whisper... I knew you'd still be alive." he said quietly, Whisper smiling as she hugged him. Slinger then pulled back
"Where's Mimic? Did he follow you!?"
"No, he's been dead for 3 years. I thought you were him impersonating yourself for a moment."
Slinger smiled
"Mimic could never be as good as me, even if he stole my identity. So... He's dead? Like, dead dead?"
Whisper nodded, Slinger nodding in return. "And... Sorry."
"For what?"
"The others, they... Didn't make it."
"I thought you all died." Whisper said, shrugging. Slinger nodded
"Went off grid in case Mimic or Eggman chased me." he said as he sat down. Whisper sat opposite to him, noticing his new outfit. As if he wasn't enough of a gunslinger before with his revolver wispon and poncho, he definitely was one now with his fancy vest and pants, an old fashioned gun belt on. Whisper then heard Tangle on the radio
"Whisp, we got a situation, you're gonna want to be here!"
"Tangle, where are you!?" Whisper asked, Slinger looking confused.
"Sending you the coordinates. You need to get here fast!"
Whisper sighed before looking at her comrade "Guess we have to cut the reunion short, my best friend needs me."
"I'll go with you, if that's okay." Slinger said, Whisper nodding. They headed to the truck, Whisper getting in and driving them towards the area.
"So... What happened?" Whisper asked, her eyes on the dirt road.
"What do you mean?"
"After the ambush."
"Mimic signaled it, I told you to run as the robots swarmed us. I got a hit on Mimic but it was just a graze. Smithy tried his best to cover us but his spike wispon overheated and that's when they got him. Claire and I almost got to the door but they had a sniper and were waiting for us. I should've been able to see them but it went too fast... All it took was one shot and Claire was gone," Slinger said, Whisper tensing up. Slinger continued "Then the world slowed down, I fought like hell... I managed to get their bodies out and give them a proper burial, but I never found your body. I knew Mimic would hunt me down for sure so I went off the grid, tried to stay hidden in that cave. Fought some mercenaries and Eggman's machines when I got the chance, but I don't think Mimic suspected a thing." Slinger said, Whisper sighing. Slinger looked over
"I'm sorry Whisp."
"Its fine. I... Made some friends, you should be able to meet some of them today." Whisper said as she tried to lighten the mood. Slinger smiled a little, still feeling grief over his comrades. They reached the location, the edge of a forest, Whisper stopping the truck and the two getting out. They could see a large dreadnought, brutish in appearance with it's thick armor plating and dark red color. Sonic looked over at Whisper
"Zavok decided to show up for the first time in forever."
"Who's he?" Whisper asked as she loaded her Variable Wispon MKII. Sonic smirked "He worked with Eggman a while back. I kicked his butt and I guess he ran back to his people."
"What's he doing?"
"No idea..."
Suddenly they heard the voice of Zavok over the radio
"Attention Restoration, some of you may remember me for what I did to Sonic... He was lucky I had other things on my mind before I could break him*. I have returned to finish what I've started... Your demon is already dead, by my own hand... You can try and run. Might bring me some amusement."
Sonic looked over at Tangle "He's not talking about...?"
"Pretty Boy." Tangle whispered.
-A few minutes prior-
Arnec's hands felt numb as his body was like stone, rigid as the Artic Wolf floated through the wrecked cruiser's interior, trapped in the vacuum of space... His demon form had saved him from the lack of air, a low aqua green light gleaming from the glowy bits of his armor. He could hear a voice, similar to his mother's
"Wake up...! Arnec, wake up...!" it yelled, sounding like a distant echo. The only thing he was around him was darkness. Suddenly the lights switched on, Arnec hitting the ground with a thud and snapping him awake. He could hear the voice again, this time he could tell it was on his radio. It definitely sounded like his mother, slight German accent and all
"There, finally! Thought I lost you in the attack. You alright?" She asked, Arnec getting up as he exited his demon form, the life support systems on.
"What happened? I remember the radar going off, then the thud..."
"We were attacked."
"Obviously. By who?"
"I was able to scan the ship, it was a Zeti dreadnought, Kerydil class. Didn't even fire a gun, just rammed us. Entire lower section of the ship got torn off!"
"How did they find us?"
"I don't know... Scanning the IDCS... Oh... Well then."
"What?" Arnec asked as he pried the door open, going back into his demon form as the (lack of) gravity and air kicked in, crates being sent flying past him. He began to make his way to the bridge, multiple Silent Shadow Hunter and Gecko bodies floating amongst the wreckage. Arnec gently pushed them aside, sighing as he done so.
"Some Zeti warlord named Zavok just gave a speech to Sonic and the Restoration. Said he just killed you. Guess he isn't very thorough." the AI said, Arnec smirking
"So it would seem... Who survived the attack? Seeing a lot of bodies..."
"Lucifer managed to get out, 4/5ths of the crew escaped as well. They couldn't get to you or the others though..." the AI said, Arnec shaking his head as he found the door to the bridge, tearing it open
"Why didn't you go, Athena?" Arnec asked. Athena stammered as she tried to comprehend the question
"Arnec, you do realize- I was programmed to be your partner!"
"Yeah, and? What if I did die and you were left here all alone?" Arnec asked as he looked around before finding a switch to turn the entire ship's power. He waited for the warp drive to turn on, but only got an alert, him smirking
"Athena?"
"Arnec, ship's way too damaged to warp. It'll tear this thing in half!"
"And you didn't tell me before I turned it on?" Arnec asked, rolling his eyes with a smile full of sass. Athena chuckled "Well, I thought you'd be going to the hangar, there's a Skorpion in perfect condition waiting for you!" Athena said, Arnec knowing that she was smiling even though he couldn't see her.
"Athena, activate a beacon, I don't want them to be left to rot out here..."
"Beacon has been launched, now let's get to the hangar!"
Arnec walked through the halls for a minute or two before finally finding the door that led towards the hangar, it being jammed. He drew his sword from his back, the long blade crackling with electricity as the wolf head on the hilt's eyes glowed
"Arnec, that's not gonna-"
He sliced it open and a printer of all things smacked him in the face as other appliances flew by.
"Some places still haven't pressurized..." Athena said with a sigh. Arnec grinned
"Wonder what my carbon faceprint looks like." he said before laughing a little.
"That was a terrible joke."
"I know." he said with a smirk before getting to the hangar where the Skorpion awaited. It was an older model demon fighter, resembling a normal fighter jet but with more aggressive thrusters and angles. He got into it and cracked his neck as he switched it on, the canopy closing and the engines making a low growl as the old beast was brought to life. The lights in the fighter switched on and the a low hum came from the fighter as it slowly went out of the hangar and it's wings unfolded, resembling a sword with long cross guards as the fighter sliced through space.
"Spooling up warp drive, brace yourself. I was able to track the dreadnought... Three guesses on where we're headed." Athena said as electricity circulated around the craft, Arnec getting himself ready before the fighter went into warp. The canopy frosted over before it left warp. They left warp and Arnec saw Mobius' sun as the canopy warmed back up. A large dreadnought hovered over a valley, Arnec smirking before getting on the radio, Athena patching him into Zavok's channel
"Hey Zavok, you believe in ghosts?" Arnec yelled as he flew towards the warship, chuckling. Zavok looked at one of his Zeti officers, growling
"I thought we killed him!"
"The impact should have!" the officer yelled. Zavok sighed and shook his head
"Get us out of here, I don't know what other tricks hide up his sleeves..." he said, the other Zeti looking at him.
"But sir, we can-"
Several ships suddenly warped in, an entire demon fleet! Dreadnoughts, cruisers, and corvettes galore headed towards the Zeti ship like a pack of Wolves to their prey, a larger dreadnought leading the hunt.
"We're outnumbered, get us out!" Zavok yelled as he saw Arnec closing in, more ships warping in as the fleet began to fire, shining plasma torpedoes stretching across the sky, burning hot with a cyan light. Right before they hit or Arnec could engage, the dreadnought warped, barely escaping the bombardment. Arnec could hear Leviathan over the radio
"Lucifer told us about Zavok's attack, tracked a rogue fighter here... Arnec, is that really you?"
"Arnec here, I'm fine! Stand by, I'll be there in a little bit."
"Copy that, the Vanguard is on standby. We'll wait for your arrival. I want cruisers around the area, frigates scanning for any warp signatures!" Leviathan said, several cruisers and frigates spreading out. Athena marked where Sonic and the others were and Arnec headed there. He landed the Skorpion by the Restoration members, hopping out and smiling as he saw everyone. Before he could even move though he felt two arms around his back and heard a familiar voice
"Took ya long enough, Pretty Boy!" Tangle shouted, chuckling as he spun around, putting his hands on her sides. "Heh, you're whiskers grew." she said, rubbing her thumb on his mustache, lifting his top lip a little bit as it had grown since they'd last seen each other. Arnec blushed before giving her a gentle kiss, her smirking as she put her arm around his neck
"Just that? What am I, chopped liver?" She asked before quickly leaning forward, Arnec stumbling back with her catching him. Sonic looked away as they made out, rolling his eyes. Eventually Tangle pulled back, smiling
"There, better!" She said, Arnec's cheeks being a deep shade of red. Athena chuckled
"She's happy to see you, huh?"
"Yeah, you could say that."
Tangle looked back at him
"You look like a mess though!" She said, Arnec looking down at his ripped jacket, the white being more of a stained gray with the blue padding being torn. His pants, while stained, were fine and still that desaturated green like the ones he wore all those years ago. His chaps had some wear and tear but held on, as did his boots. His chest armor however was cracked and probably did more damage than helped. Arnec chuckled
"Yeah, could look better."
Tangle just smiled before grabbing his hand "We get back, we're taking a shower. You smell like death!" Tangle said, Arnec smiling embarrassingly before swiping his hair out of his eyes. Sonic walked up to them, smiling a little
"It's been a while, how you been?" he asked, Arnec turning with a smile
"Good, how about you?"
"Aside from that with Zavok, pretty good. Eggman though... I'm kinda worried." Sonic said with a confused look, Arnec's eyes narrowing
"Has he done something?" he asked, concerned. Sonic smirked
"No, he hasn't done anything. I'm worried he's planning something. You're alive though, which is good." He said before smiling. Arnec smiled back "Happy to be here! Anyways, we need to have a meeting. I'll call some Vampyrs in to pick us up." Arnec said, Sonic nodding. As Arnec got onto the radio, Tangle felt a familiar energy as Asmodeus appeared next to her, the demon looking like an owl mostly mixed with a wolf as she had Wolf ears and a wolf tail.
"Long time no see, eh?" the demon said. "Missed you too, Asmodeus." Tangle said with a smile, Asmodeus nodding before going into her weapon form on Tangle's back, the winged backpack flowing in the wind. Several teal dropships landed by them and opened their rear doors, Silent Shadow hunters stepping out as Leviathan walked towards them. His appearance hadn't changed much, the horned salamander looking demon still having a scar over his right eye. He did have some new battle armor though, resembling a knight
"Arnec, it's great to see you alive."
"You too. Everyone, board up. Need to have a meeting." Arnec responded with a smile as everyone loaded up, the Vampyrs taking off and flying to the Vanguard. Once inside, they headed for the command room, everyone taking their seats, save for Arnec who was walked to his seat, placing his hand on the back of it. All six of the remaining demon lords were there, Lucifer through Beelzebub. One seat stayed empty...
"Alright, I'm out of the loop. Tell me everything I need to know about Zavok." Arnec said as he stepped into view of everyone. Amy smirked
"He's a Zeti from another world, known as the Lost Hex. Apparently it was a world that went missing for a long time." Amy said as Athena summoned a diagram of the planetoid onto the war table, the Lost Hex being in Mobius' orbit. Athena smirked as she examined it. Meanwhile Lucifer grumbled a little, a low growl escaping from the demon lord. While Leviathan's armor looked like a knight, Lucifer was one with black and red armor. Not even Arnec has seen behind that helmet...
"I remember them too well. Us Demons used to be at war with the Zeti, thought we had destroyed them all." he said quietly, his voice low with a hint of anger
"We were wrong... All of us." Asmodeus said, putting her arm around Tangle.
Arnec shook his head as Amy continued "What's worse is that he's already taken the entire continent of Schenbere." she said as a map of Mobius appeared on the war table with a large landmass blinking red.
"Schenbere... I've heard that name before." Arnec said, Sonic shrugging
"Used to be a big country full of people. After Eggman happened though..." he shook his head. Arnec sighed as he looked at the landmass, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes
"What else he got?"
"That's really it, but it's basically a fortress now." Amy said, Athena crossing her arms
"Initiating scan," she said as she began her work, holographic displays appearing right at her fingertips.
"...He's got Schenbere for sure... But he oddly isn't moving onto us. Hold on, one of his fleets is away from the others- Make that two... I'll keep tracking them."
Arnec smirked
"Anyone got any ideas?" he asked. He then heard Mammon's voice
"How's about we invade this Lost Hex? They invaded us, we invade them! We can finish what we started!" Mammon yelled, his orange eyes filled with anger as his wolf-like ears jutted back. Athena shook her head
"Unfortunately, we don't have the firepower at the moment. For every cruiser we got, he's got about 8. I can mobilize the Silent Shadow reserves but that'll take a bit and even then, our odds won't be too much better..."
"Then we fight smarter, not harder." Tails said, getting up, everyone turning their heads to him as he stood by Arnec
"...When we had to invade the demon realm, we had to take a battle cruiser, the Sacred Promise. While our fleet may be small, we can use that to our advantage and steal some their ships when we get the opportunity!" Tails said, Arnec nodding. Knuckles crossed his arms as he looked up at them
"But we can't just do that, they'll figure us out before one of their fleets even disappears." he stated, Sonic smiling as he looked at Tails
"That's not Tails' point. Hit and runs, ambushes, we fight a guerilla war against them! We've been fighting one against Eggman for years, won't be too much of a change of pace."
Satan leaned over to Lucifer and whispered something, the twin demons chuckling. Arnec nodded as two ravens appeared on his shoulders, them having golden eyes and matching gold lightning patterns on their wings. Arnec tilted his head, as if listening to one of them.
"That's a good start, try not to stretch ourselves too thin. It's been three years since I've gotten a good fight, I'm ready to kick some arse. Dismissed." Arnec said, everyone getting up. The twin ravens flew down onto the war table, looking up at Arnec as he leaned down, examining the maps and everything
"Tangle, Whisper, can you two stay here?" he asked, Tangle smiled and walked up to him, Slinger staying in the room as Whisper walked up to Arnec.
"So, what do want us to do?" Whisper asked. Arnec smiled as he stood up
"I just wanted to see y'all again," he said with a smile
"...I'mma take a shower and get some new clothes, y'all okay with staying here with me?" he asked. Tangle put her fists on her hips, smirking
"Did you seriously just ask that?" she said, swaying her hips to the side a little. Whisper chuckled "I'm fine with it, in fact there's someone I need you to meet." she said as she motioned for Slinger to come over there. Slinger smiled as Whisper introduced them
"Arnec, meet Slinger, he's-"
"This is Slinger!?" Arnec yelled excitingly, cutting Whisper off as he shook the Ocelot's hand "Whisper told me about you, said you were dead!"
Slinger chuckled "Takes a lot more than being sold out to kill me. Just wish I could say the same for the others..." Slinger said as he looked away. Arnec smiled a little "I know what that's like, lost my family at a young age. Tangle and Whisper helped me with moving on." Arnec said before a holographic data pad appeared over his forearm "There's a squad that I've been trying to get together, needs a leader. You up for it?" Arnec asked, Tangle glancing over his shoulder and noticing that he was messaging Dr Starline. She couldn't see what it was though. Slinger nodded "Sure, not like I have many options." Slinger said with a smirk. Arnec smiled "Alright you and Whisper should be able to share a room if you want. If you don't, you can ask Leviathan to get another room. He should be in the bridge most of the time. If you don't want to lead the squad, just tell me and I'll get someone else." Arnec said before the two Diamond Cutters walked off as Arnec sent Whisper the room locations. Tangle smirked as she turned to face the wolf "Alright, where's the shower? I'm making sure you get clean!" She said, Arnec shyly looking away before leading her to one that was in a room Leviathan left for them. As they showered, Tangle looked down at Arnec's body, he had grown some muscle since they last saw each other, but he was still more on the lean side. The claw marks on his side from Metal Sonic had long been healed, although she still didn't know if he sparkled or not in the sunlight. Tangle gently pushed his hair out of his eyes, his aqua green eyes looking at hers.Tangle put her arms around his sides and Arnec's cheeks turned red as he felt her body against his
"Tangle," he quietly whispered as he rubbed her cheek "Missed you~"
Tangle smiled
"Missed you too. A lot of things happened while you were gone."
"I know." Arnec said with a sigh. Tangle smiled before gently kissing him, some water getting in his eye
"Oww...." he said before grabbing a towel and reaching his head out of the shower to wipe it. Suddenly he saw someone walk in, a Timber wolf with blue eyes
"Brotha, where'd ya go?" he asked with a thick Australian accent before he noticed them
"Ah bloody hell... Satan didn't tell me you two were in the shower together!"
"Fayn, what do you want?" Arnec asked, hiding Tangle behind him so Fayn couldn't get a peek. Fayn shrugged
"Well I just wanted to see ya but I can wait. Kimberly should be showing up here sometime soon. Wanted to take her back to Redgrave so we could have a date at that one diner mum always liked. Anyways, I'll wait out here!" Fayn said before shutting the door. Arnec looked at Tangle, his face red in embarrassment
"I'm so sorry about that!"
"It's fine, I doubt he saw anything." Tangle said before grabbing a shampoo bottle and smirking
"Alright, you know what happens now." she said before washing him. Fayn waited outside and after a bit they came out, Arnec in his casual jeans, chaps and shirt and Tangle wearing her jumpsuit and jacket. Arnec shook his head and water went flying before he looked at Fayn, who smiled
"Alright so what was it?" Arnec asked. Fayn shrugged
"Been a while since I last saw ya. Just wanted to stop by and let you know about the date I was going on."
Arnec smiled a little
"Oh. Uh, so who's Kimberly?" Arnec asked. Fayn smiled before pulling out his phone and opening his gallery
"The best woman I've ever known aside from mom!" he said before showing Arnec a picture of a racoon with yellow eyes wearing a blue stealth jumpsuit. Fayn had a large grin on his face
"We met about a year ago, been dating for... 8 months I think?"
Arnec smiled
"Glad you got yourself a girlfriend. You been behaving?"
"Course I have!"
Arnec pulled him into a hug
"You better be."
"You really are like mom, you know that right? Overprotective of me!" Fayn said as they separated. Arnec chuckled
"Well I am your older brother!"
"We're twins!"
"I came out of the womb first, so you're gonna have to take it up with mom." Arnec said before looking at Tangle
"Hey, you still have that amulet?"
Tangle pulled out Arnec's amulet, the Artic Wolf smiling as she handed it to him. Fayn smiled a little as well before pulling his out. Arnec's was a purple eagle, the deep purple matching Tangle's eyes. Fayn's was a ruby red lion. Arnec smiled as they looked at the amulets
"They're still watching over us." Arnec said before handing his back to Tangle. Arnec looked at Fayn, his hands sliding into his pockets
"It's good to see you again. Sorry I don't have much to say." he said, Fayn shrugging "It's fine. I should probably head out now before Kimberly gets worried. See ya later?" he said before Arnec hugged him
"See you later." Arnec said, Fayn smiling before he left. Arnec looked at Tangle who smiled
"Well he's doing good. Now I think after all that's happened, we could use a nap. Been a while since we shared a bed." Tangle said, patting the spot next to her on the bed. Arnec shrugged
"I'm not really that tired."
Tangle groaned
"But darling, I'll be so lonely without you in my arms. Come curl up in my arms so I can feel whole again!" She said as she spread her arms. Arnec smiled before sliding up against her, his arms around her as they cuddled under the covers
"Feel whole again?" Arnec asked.
"Fall asleep with me and I will." Tangle said before rolling him onto his back and laying on top of him, his eyes closing before he fell asleep. Tangle smiled a little before she fell asleep as well...
*In this AU, Forces is mostly canon but some things are altered. For example, Sonic was actually tortured, and not tickle tortured.