Tangle leapt from tree to tree as the sun peaked over the horizon, eager for to get this mission off the ground. Amy was keeping pace with her on the ground, with a similar sense of purpose. According to the locals one of Eggman's hidden bases was in this forest and Badnicks were taking their crops. Tangle and Amy's job was to scout the place, but tehy hoped for more. Badnicks didn't need food, so this could be where the ringleader who took over Eggman's army could be hiding. If they were able to capture him, it would end the attacks on villages and cities that had been on the rise.

Tangle's tail grabbed a branch and pulled herself back before letting go herself into the air like a rubberband. "WOOOOHOOOO!"

She landed next to a bush as Amy caught up. "You know it's nice for that Knuckles picked me to go with you on your first official mission for the Resistance, gives a chance for some girl talk."

Tangle gave a half-hearted groan. "I'm not sure if girl talk is really my 'thing' or not, let's focus on the mission for now I want to make a good impression with everyone else."

Amy got a disappointed look on her face. "Ah well, it's just between me organizing things, Rouge off with Team Dark and Cream and Vanilla providing aid it's been a bit since I could just chat with another female. So, what do we got?"

Tangle moved some branches to show a bunker with about two dozen Egg Pawns patrolling around outside and moving the last of some large crates of food moved into the door. "If it is our ringleader he's got enough rations to last him quite a long time or might even be a bunch of mercenaries with him. Either way the best way to find out is to get in there."

Amy nodded. "But it looks like there's only one entrance, and that's heavily guarded, the vents look too small for anyone crawl into and no windows to speak off."

"That means we're going to have to use the direct approach." Tangle limbered up her tail. "How many can you handle?"

"Plenty with my Piko Piko hammer but…"

"Then whoever scraps the most Egg Pawns wins!" Tangle then leapt onto an Egg Pawn smashing it.

Amy got out her phone. "Tails tell Knuckles we're breaking into the facility, apparently."

"Wait, what?!" came Tails voice from the other end.

Amy then leapt out swinging her hammer smashing several Egg Pawns.

Tangle was clobbering several Egg Pawns with punches, kicks and her tail. Soon she could only see one Pawn left and slammed her tail against the bot. Sent flying it ran into another pawn that Amy sent flying with her hammer at which point they both exploded.

The Egg Pawns destroyed Amy and Tangle clasped their hands in victory. "Nice try but I edged you out by two Amy!"

Amy gave a sigh, "Bound to be more where they came from, we still have to scout the INSIDE of the base and if there's surveillance they'll be expecting us."

"So, what? We're the good guys, we'll win."

"The GOOD GUYS usually win when they have a plan, Knuckles tried to attack Metropolis when we didn't have a real plan and… well you probably know what happened."

Tangle lost the smile she was carrying since she left. "Infinite, you know that guy actually attacked my village. One point he was just a few feet from me and just from how his power FELT even before he could use his illusions I froze up. I thought it was my big chance to be a hero and I cowered like a sacred little girl. That day I swore to myself that I would face all my problems head on but if I had to face him again…"

Amy shuddered. "I know so much loneliness and sorrow… but at least he's gone now. Let's just get this over with, nice girl talk."

Tangle gave a small smile as the two approached the compound's only apparent door and noticed a button with a computer screen but no other sign on how to open it. "Well this has trap written all over it in big red letters," Amy laughed. It felt good to have an excuse to chase the gloom away.

Pressing the button Eggman's emblem appeared on the screen as a sweet feminine voice came from a speaker.

"Welcome to Eggtopia! How may I help you today?"

"Surrender would nice." Tangle growled. "You have two members of The Resistance at your doorstep, give up now or we're busting in."

The voice was silent for a few seconds. "One moment please. A representative will come fetch you shortly." The screen went blank.

Amy blinked. "Well that was not at all what I expected."

Tangle rolled her eyes. "Ten rings say the door opens up to a horde of Badnicks."

"You're on and my ten rings say it's going to be some giant war machine."

When the door opened instead of either was a chipmunk who looked in her late teens with red hair on top of her head wearing a frilly blue dress. The most noticeable thing however was a smile that seemed TOO genuine.

"Hello, my name is Sally, Sally Acorn! What's yours?"

Tangle went wide eyed. "Uh, I'm Tangle the Lemur and this is Amy Rose,"

"I'm so happy to meet you both! Our benevolent ruler has granted you permission to enter our wonderful home! Allow me to give you a guided tour!"

Amy had this odd sensation, like something clawing at the back of her mind. "I'm sorry but have we met before?"

Sally looked confused for a few seconds but then returned to smiling. "I don't think so, we've always lived here and have always been happy. But you'll learn all about that during the tour."

"And then you'll bring us to your boss?" asked Tangle.

"You've both been given direct invitations, after all you're the first visitors we've had in…well…ever."

"Yeah, give us a minute," Tangle looked over to Amy. "Well, she doesn't LOOK like a robot. You said to come up with a plan, so what do you say?"

"Play along for now, in the meantime I'll record everything on my phone. Tails rigged it so that when it's recording video it'll stream everything to his computer, that way the others will know what's going on and send help if we need it."

"Got it," Tangle turned back to Sally. "All right count us in."

Sally grinned at the news before beckoning them inside. "This way please!" As the three walked through the door they came into what looked like an elevator with a set of doors in the front and back. The doors closed, and elevator music started playing as Sally hummed along.

Amy turned to Tangle. "Does something about Sally seem odd to you?"

Tangle rolled her eyes. "Where do I start?"

"Not in how she's acting that's obvious. But ignoring that for now I can't shake this feeling that I should know her, as much as I know Tails or Knuckles or even Sonic."

"How does she seem familiar?"

Amy shrugged. "I don't know, just emotions really. I am getting feelings of calm, gladness, even a tiny smidge of jealously."

Before any thing else could be said the elevator stopped.

"We're here!" chirped Sally. "Welcome to Eggtopia!"

The elevator doors opened not an armory or laboratory they found themselves surrounded by a massive dome that mimicked a bright sunny day. One far side of the area did have a what looked a factory and a fantasy style castle loomed over them in the distance but other than that it seemed like a completely normal suburban town. The strangest thing was that it didn't seem like the sort of environment Eggman would make, it seemed downright cheerful, saccharine even.

Sally brought them up to a fountain, in the middle of which was a gaudy gold statue of Eggman, which removed all doubt as to this place's intentions. "Eggtopia was built by the genius scientist Dr. Eggman as an example of a perfect community. Here nobody fights, everybody is everybody's friend, and everyone is always happy."

"That doesn't sound like the Eggman I know," said Amy.

"Yeah, unless everybody here is one of his robots I don't see that happening," added Tangle.

"Oh, you'll see," said Sally. "Downtown is our next stop and just in time for one of the best parts of the day…"

As they came to the first set of residential houses several Mobians started coming out of their homes. "Saying good morning to all our friends! Gather round everyone!"

The assorted animals started forming a large half circle around the three. All the males wearing assorted color variations of the sweater vest and bow tie, the females with different colored versions of the same dress Sally was wearing.

"This is Amy and Tangle, our first ever visitors from the outside!"

The crowd gasped in in awe.

"Let introduce you first we have Lupe, her husband Lobo and their children Marcos and Maria."

"We're so happy to meet you!" said the mother wolf.

"This is Geoffrey and his wife Hershey."

A skunk and black cat waved at them. "You're going to love it here."

"Over here we have Matillda, Liza and Saffron."

Three girls; a green Armadillo, pink Chameleon and a yellow bee did a curtsey. "We're happy to have you!"

"And here we have Dulcy and our handyman Rotor."

"A pleasure to meet you!" greeted a lithe female dragon

"You need anything just let me know!" said a large Walrus who broke up the uniform appearance by only wearing a tool belt.

"Antione and Bunnie D'Coolette Rabbot."

"Bonjour!" said a coyote with well-groomed blonde hair.

"Havin' you around is going to be oh so lovely!" said a rabbit on the coyote's arm.

"And for now, last but not certainly not least my brother Elias, his wife Megan and their sweet little baby Alexis!"

A squirrel couple stepped forward with the female holding a cooing baby.

"I know we'll make you feel welcome for as long as you stay."

"Our home is your home."

"Ahva!"

"But there's a lot more of us!" said Sally. "You still have to meet Nicole, Mina, Ash, Fiona, Julie-Su, Lien-da, Lyco, Leeta, Larry, Coral, Pearly, Razor, Blade, Echo, Spike, Sonar, Trevor, Jian, Bunker, Cinder…"

"That's great," interrupted Tangle. "But we're here to because someone's been using Eggman's Badnicks to attack towns and villages. Do you know anything about that?"

"We… don't get a lot of news from the outside. But why would somebody want to use the doctor's robots like that?" Sally asked while the whole crowd seemed confused.

"Because Eggman built them? You know, mad scientist, nearly took over the world, pretty much the worst person ever."

The crowd's confusion gained under current of fear, first at the news then at the sensation itself.

Amy then jumped on Tangle with a forced laugh. "She's kidding! Oh, Tangle you're such a kidder ha, ha, ha!"

Like flipping a switch, the crowd began laughing along Amy, the discomfort completely forgotten.

"Excuse for a minute," Amy then turned Tangle away and began whispering. "Remember how Sally felt familiar to me, I'm getting that from almost all of them, most of it good a little of it bad how about you?"

"The only thing they are making me feel is creeped out. Something was obviously done to these people we have to find out what and put an end to it."

"But why am I the only one getting these strange feelings? It's like something is trying to break into my head."

"A side effect of what's happened to them maybe? We'll figure it out later, just tell Tails when you get a chance I'm starting to get worried about you."

"Is something wrong?" Sally asked.

"No," Amy said. "We were just talking about how nice it seems around."

"I'm glad you think so! There's a lot to love about our home, in fact everyone worked together to write a song about it!"

The crowd took a deep breath. "They're actually going to do it," Tangle sighed.

Suddenly loud speakers throughout the town blared with the same voice that initially greeted them. "The presence of our new guests if requested at Eggtopia Castle immediately. Will Sally Acorn please escort the guests to the castle?"

"Looks like whatever's happening we're about to find out," said Amy.

Sally approached them. "Oh well, guess you'll have to hear it another time. The fastest way to the castle is by the tram, we'll get there in no time."

"Good," Tangle said with a cool smile. "I've been looking forward to this."

Sally turned to her friends "I'll see you all later!"

"I guess we'll see you for dinner sis," Elias said.

"Wouldn't miss it bro," the two embraced each other. "HUGS!" they said together.

"What are they five?" Amy groaned.

"I think I'll need to see a dentist if we stay in this sugar bowl for too long," said Tangle.

Eggtopia Castle looked like something out of a child's picture book, white stone with golden trim covered the tower that thrust into the fake sky complete with.

Sally took them through the front doors and into a long hallway that was covered in banners of the Eggman Empire.

"The throne room's just up ahead," Sally said as they came to a huge set of double doors. "Past the doors is our ruler who ensures we'll always be happy!"

"Oh, we're ready," Amy said with a nod to Tangle.

The opened and the three strolled into the room.

The next thing Amy and Tangle knew they were grappled from behind while Sally looked on confused.

Amy tried to break free but stopped when she looked at their assailants. They were being held by two female Echidnas, one with pink fur and the other scarlet, both wearing black maid's uniforms and the same smile they've seen everyone else in Eggtopia have.

"Please don't resist," said the pink one like she was a maid asking someone to wipe their feet.

"You'll be much happier that way," said the red one.

"How?!" Tangle grunted as she tried to get her tail free. "Beside Knuckles I thought there weren't any of you guys left!"

"They…feel… familiar too," Amy grunted.

"Juile-Su, Lein-Da what are you doing!?" Sally asked confused. "I don't understand…"

"They're just doing what I told them too," came a high-pitched voice from the throne at the other side of the room.

Off hopped a small figure with black dress with a red and yellow skirt. Messy red hair was held in place by a circlet with a ruby on her forehead just above a pair of blue glasses. She seemed like a much younger female version of Eggman.

"Princess!" Sally made a curtsy and kept her head low.

The girl gave a sideways glance at the chipmunk. "You did an excellent job Sally, you should feel happy about it."

"Oh, I do Princess! Thank you so much for your praise!"

"Ok just who are you, you miniature mutant?!" growled Tangle.

"Probably the best question you asked all day," the girl said. "I am the absolute ruler of Eggtopia, the niece of Dr. Eggman, the future greatest scientist in the world and the heiress to the Eggman Empire. My name is Eggette, but you can call me Princess."

"There are a lot of other things I want to call you," said Amy. "But none of them are fit for polite company."

Eggette turned to Amy. "You must be Amy Rose, the girl that's always hanging out with Sonic the Hedgehog."

"Sonic?" asked Sally still in her curtsy. "That name seems so familiar…"

"Forget about it for now, in any case this is something worth reporting. NICOLE!"

A hologram of a Lynx formed from a hand-held console back on the throne that took a bow. "How may I serve you my Princess?" the hologram answered in the same voice that had been speaking through the base's sound systems.

"I have just scored my first major victory, I wish to inform my uncle."

"Understood, dialing now."

A hologram of the Eggman Empire emblem appeared overhead. "You have reached the voicemail of the brilliant Dr. Eggman," the machine replied in Eggman's voice. "I am not available right now but leave your name and message and I'll accept your surrender as soon as possible."

After a tone sound Eggette answered in her sweetest voice. "It's me, Uncle Eggman! I just captured two of Sonic's stupid friends and I'm going to use them as bait to draw your enemies here and bend them to my will. Call me back when you can BYYYYYYYEEEEE!"

After the egg emblem vanished Eggette growled. "That's the fifth time it's gone straight to voicemail this month! Is Uncle Eggman avoiding me?"

Tangle started laughing. "You haven't you heard, have you? Eggman, ever since Sonic stopped his Phantom Ruby plan, lost any idea of who he is. So, he's now a handyman in a village who calls himself Mr. Tinker! Face it twerp, the Eggman Empire's finished, our friends will rescue us and all you'll be getting is a spanking for doing whatever you've done to the people here and all the towns you've been attacking!"

"Town's I've been attacking?" Eggette said shrugging. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Don't play dumb with us," said Amy. "Somebody's been organizing the robots Eggman left behind and…!"

"Somebody's been using MY Badnicks!? Well I'm going to fix all that, I just have to transmit the override and once we get to Uncle Eggman I'll simply give him his memories back."

"And how are you going to do that runt?"

"Princess!" Shouted a white furred koala girl who came in with a red furred Wallaby. They were both dragging cream colored dog with brown patches into the room. "It's a bloomin' emergency!"

Sally looked to Eggette with concern and after a dismissive nod by the diminutive tyrant rose up. "Barby, Walt, why are you dragging Ben here like that?"

"He's gone plum off his rocker!" said Walt. "We were passing by the factory when he came running off screaming his head off!"

"You got to listen to me!" Ben yelled. "The princess has been lying to us! The parts in the factory we've been making, they're for weapons not farming equipment!"

"Ben you're not making sense!" said Sally. "Everything the princess has done was to make us happy. Why would we need weapons?"

"I…I don't know, I'm so confused. I know I should trust her, but I know what I saw."

"Please Princess," said Barby. "Ben's in real trouble, can you make him happy again?"

Eggette smirked. "Of course, this is the perfect opportunity for a demonstration for or visitors. NICOLE, my scepter."

"As you command my princess." Nicole grabbed a gold scepter that was leaning against the throne and walked it over to the little tyrant.

Nicole kneeled as she handed the scepter to Eggette. On top of it was a large, black, cabochon cut gem that had what looked like a shifting white vortex inside. Eggette lifted the scepter so the gem was high up.

"This is the treasure of Eggtopia, the key to its people's endless happiness and the source of my power! The Oblivion Star!"

"Oh great," Tangle snarked. "Another shiny rock of mass destruction. What does that make this, twenty-four, thirty-two? We kind of lost count."

Eggette cradled the scepter. "Mock the Oblivion Star at your own peril. Uncle Eggman always said to have the next plan ready even if the your current one looks like it is going to succeed. This is the plan AFTER the Phantom Ruby, the one my uncle left in my care." Eggette turned back to Ben. "Don't worry Mr. Muttski, you'll feel better real soon."

Eggette lowered the scepter as the jewel glowed with a strangely shadowy light. Ben's eyes started to roll back into his head as he got a euphoric expression on his face.

Amy continued her struggle. "What are you doing to him?!"

"If you think of the Phantom Ruby's power as based on illusion then the Oblivion Star is based on memories, or to be more precise altering memories."

The light stopped. Ben was pulled to his feet by Walt and Barby, he looked up at the Eggette and a huge grin was spread across his face. "I feel so happy now Princess! I can't even remember what I was worried about at all, thank you!"

"That's my job, you've a had rough time so take the rest of the day off."

"Thanks, anybody want an ice cream cone?"

"That sounds ripper!" Walt said with a smile.

"I'd like nuts on mine!" Barby said as she, Walt and Ben left the throne room.

Eggette gave the girls a good look at the Oblivion Star. "As you can see when you alter a person's memories and you alter the person. You can make the fiercest freedom fighter into a docile slave, the friendliest folk into battle hungry berserkers and, once our transmitter is complete, the population of an entire planet line up into roboticizers all with smiles on their faces."

"That's horrible!" Amy yelled. "Is that what you've done to these people?! You violated who these people ARE! How could you do something like that?!"

"What's the problem?" Eggette motioned for Sally to stand next to her. "They don't mind, do you Sally?"

Sally's expression was the same as when they first met not too long ago. "The princess has done a very wonderful thing. She changed us, so we can always be happy. The happiest thought I have is that by serving the princess soon the entire world will be friends and we'll all be happy, forever."

"See, they all love to be my perfect little dolls."

"You twisted little brat!" yelled Tangle pulling her tail against Julie-Su's grip with all her might. "I'm going to stick that scepter right up your…!"

"I see another demonstration is in order," cackled Eggette. "Here's what's waiting for Sonic and anyone else foolish enough to oppose me!"

Eggette thrusted the scepter so that the Oblivion Star was mere inches from Tangle's forehead. As the star glowed with the same shadowy light Tangle's eyes rolled up and her expression was twisted into one of silent agony.

"TANGLE, NO!" Amy tried to break free of Lien-Da's grasp to no avail.

A few seconds later the light dimmed away, and Tangle slumped to her knees. Eggette strolled up to the Lemur.

"Tell me Tangle how do you feel?"

"I…feel…" Tangle raised her head. Her expression was now the same as every other Eggtopian. "Happy."

To be continued…