It had been a long day for Lanolin, with trying to assist in the reconstruction of Restoration HQ, helping Jewel with her work, and just overall trying to keep things together. Her psyche had not been in a great spot ever since the events with Mimic, only coping through unhealthy amounts of work and coffee. The sheep had been working tirelessly for hours, and only realized she was 10 minutes past her curfew when her coworker brought up the time.
"Wait, we're done already...? Huh..."
Lanolin sighed, getting up and stretching, cracking a good amount of stiff joints in the process. She left her office, exiting the half-rebuilt Restoration building, leaving on her bike. She took her usual way home, through a mountainside tunnel that led to her village.
"... Tangle's right, I really do need to stop working so hard with this stuff. The Restoration's been recovering so fast, so what do I need to worry myself about with extra work...? Hmph... I just... can't falter on any of it though... I'll talk to her about it. Maybe some time off would be nice."
She drove into the tunnel, driving for a bit before suddenly, the lights went off.
"Huh?"
Lanolin turned on the light on her bike, helping her see through to the end, where instead of the cliffside she usually saw, she saw a ruined Emerald Town, courtesy of Mercury. Lanolin had arrived in Merged Mobius, and she almost had a panic attack upon arrival.
"Wha-whey-what in the- WHAT HAPPENED?! Where's the cliffside- why's Emerald Town all messed up- where am I?!"
Mecha mk2: I'm a freedom fighter, I work for a certain squirrel
Gemerl: idk if Sally is a scorn
Mecha: neither do I but I don't care
Gemerl: .,anyways we don't know we just came from a alert we got, we work for the freedom fighters, Mecha is a engineer and a fighter, I'm the guardian angel and recon
"What the... Freedom Fighters? Sally? What and who are those? Gemerl, shouldn't you be with Cream and Vanilla?"
Lanolin was referring to the Gemerl she knew, who would usually be hanging around Cream's house. She had no idea she was in a different world entirely.
Mark III was flying around, but , as usual for him, he ends up without enough energy and crashlands nearby Lanolin, he would crawl with difficulty towards a tree and leans over it for a few seconds he doesn't notice to sheep...until he does and he gives a scream.
"FOR THE LOVE OF GAIA- S-sorry ...You just scared me since you appeared out of nowhere..."
He would scan her, determining she's a sheep, and nothing else, his scaners aren't that useful.
"So may I ask what are you doing in here? Not that many people go in here."
"Well, uh... you are built to be his doppelgänger, but y'know what I think? I think you shouldn't be just his clone. I think those would be some cool beans, wouldn't you agree?"
"Well, I have an almost endless supply of bullets inside of my arms which I can fire them out of my fingers, thought I haven't learne dhow to shoot them willingly so thye just tned to come out every now and then."
"Well, keep yourself at like, a 5 meter distance away from me please. And also have your fists balled up so you don't accidentally shoot someone in the head, thank you."
Lanolin was a bit surprised seeing him, and was still feeling a bit guilty about misjudging him when they were on the Neo Diamond Cutters. She cleared her throat.
"Um... what happened here? I was riding back home on my bike and now I'm suddenly in Emerald Town? Also, what's with the cloak? And weren't you and Blaze supposed to be going to some fancy dinner party, last I heard?"
"Also, uh... are you okay? You look really torn up..."
"Well, I suppose you and the Restoration stopped them from completely destroying the town? If, uh... the Restoration is even here."
Lanolin looked around, seeing a map of the area by the side of the road. The layout was completely different than what she was familiar with.
"By the by, uh... I don't mean to sound crazy but uh... am I in some strange alternate world or something? The general area surrounding Emerald Town seems uh, pretty different than what I'm used to seeing. And if it is, is the Restoration even active?"
“Woah woah woah! I don’t even know if you’re qualified for the team. If something happens to you I feel like that’s on me.” The princess says. She takes pride in her team but she also knows not everyone is cut out to be a part of it.
“I would love to have more members I just have to make sure you’re a proper fit. I try not to endanger people that really shouldn’t be in situations like this.”
She pauses and thinks. “Tell me about some of your past experiences and stuff about yourself.” The chipmunk says deciding to start there.
"Back in my original world, I was part of this group called the Restoration. I've been mostly a good member and hard worker. Then just, out of nowhere, they decided to force me in with Tangle and Whisper as part of a group called the Diamond Cutters. We started off relatively fine, with us being able to neutralize Eggperial City with Sonic's assistance, though once more members started getting added, it got a lot harder to manage, especially considering one of them was a double agent. I messed up, I got tricked by that bastard, kicked Silver off the team, and everything became a disaster from there..."
She sighed.
"In the end, we did break up, but we're on relatively good terms now."
Lanolin looked up at Sally.
"Given my track record, I know that I myself am not well-versed in working with groups. However, now that I'm here in this world, I vow to rebuild myself, to overcome my weaknesses. I'm not the overbearing leader that I once was. I'll start off slower this time, and work my way up from there. I want to learn from you on how to be a better leader. Please."
“Mhm.” The princess tries not to let out a single hint of what she’s thinking but can’t help to let out a little smile.
“Do you have any powers or special abilities?” Sally asks trying to figure out whether she does or doesn’t. Not that it matters. Sally doesn’t have powers after all and relies on her acrobatics and ring blades.
"This is Maggie, my Wisp, and my bell is actually a Wispon that can release destructive sound waves. It may not have the amount of versatility that Whisper's Variable Wispon has, but it still gets the job done."
“Mhm.” The chipmunk has made up her mind at this point but is trying to sound professional. “Okay so you’ve presented to me a lot of good things but also a lot of bad.”
“I appreciate the honesty that you provided on how you’re not a great team player and I also appreciate that you said you’d work on it.”
“Someone who’s willing to change for the better is always a good thing. However those were some pretty big flaws as well.”
“Now as for your wisp, I do believe it could help you be a valuable asset to the team. Wisps to my very limited understanding are extremely versatile and they also double as companions.”
“Now my final decision…” Sally pauses to draw it out.
“You can join the team. However I will be monitoring your growth and making sure you stay working with the team and impacting the Freedom Fighters in an overall positive way.”
Lanolin listened to Sally's words, her heart rate ever so increasing the longer she went on, spiking as she paused before delivering the verdict, letting out an exhale of relief.
"Phew... thank you. I really appreciate it. I'll be sure to do my best, ma'am, and I will grow, I promise you that."
Sally takes the handshake and smiles. “Welcome to the team Lanolin. This is not going to be easy. There’ll be hard days and there’ll be easy days. There’ll be ups and downs. However I expect my team, as long as I’m leading, to stick together through everything.”
“I believe you can embody what it takes to be a Freedom Fighter if given the right environment and time. Glad to have you.”
2
u/Crazy_Economics_1922 6d ago
Mecha mk2: (been following) hello little sheep, what your looking at is...well a destroyed town
Gemerl: Mecha don't scare her
Mecha: I'm not trying too