A little known thing about Dragobians was their innate ability to hold their breathe for long periods of time from anywhere between twelve to sixteen minutes. Sometimes longer. In the beginning, the oceans were how the creatures travelled, until they came upon the island that was later made into their permanent home.

During those days, staying underwater had been a form of survival. Now, as Drift stared, narrow eyed and slitted pupils at her target from the solace of a large fan shaped piece of coral, it was used simply as a mean to stay under longer to better the chances of catching something. And judging by how her lungs were beginning to burn a bit, she's already wasted three quarters of that time just trying to find something other than urchins, clams, and mussels.

But now, she's finally succeeded.

Well, in finding something, that is.

Now, Drift knew damn well that she could just use her cloaking ability and have the fish just swim straight into her mouth. But since when did she ever take the easy way out?

The fish itself was massive. About the length of her head, horns included. The top of it was a dull orange sand color, while it's underbelly was a light blue.

Bright blue stripes, each lined with magenta, scittered diagonally across it's sides, and every single one of it's fins were large, and seemed easy to grab. It was large enough to keep her fed until dinner rolled around. All she had to do was catch it first, and quickly, otherwise she would be forced to abandon the chase in favour of not drowning.

Gripping the rocky structure below her, the Dragobian slowly pulled herself forward, making sure her movements weren't too sudden. Angling her body so that she was staring directly at her target, which had just faced it's backside towards her, Drift crouched down a bit, preparing her body to have a strong push off. Which was exactly what she got.

Unfortunately, the fish managed to detect her, and her wide open jaws snapped shut on empty water. Not willing to be deterred, she gave a harsh flick of her tail, and propelled herself through the water like a missile, staying on the fish even as it took sharp turns through difficult terrain in an effort to lose her. She wasn't about to let that happen, and put on an extra burst of speed, letting her tail do most of the work as she held in her arms and legs, occasionally using them for steering purposes only.

Swimming through sharp turns, fake outs, and round abouts, the fish finally decided to try and lose her by darting underneath a rock cleft. But jamming her head in, paired with a few well timed swipes of her claws, and the fish was pushed out into the open again, where the chase resumed. The fish had managed to slip past her when getting out of the cleft, but she was back on it in seconds.

This time though, she adapted her strategy, and was now working on pushing the creature closer to the water's surface, where she could hopefully dash up from below and tackle it that way. Her lungs, by this point were beginning to burn, expressing their desperate desire for fresh air. It was starting to get rather distracting, but Drift ignored it as she zeroed in on the fish, which was now just a few feet away from the surface.

She was too close to give up now.

Diving down a bit, she quickly changed her course and rocketed straight upwards. Disappointment and relief flashed through her when she felt the tail fins get caught up in her mouth. It wasn't exactly the best hold, but it was all she got, and she would have to make do with it.

Unfortunately for her, the propulsion she had when shooting up through the water, which had her catapulting herself into the air, now worked against her as she came back down. The sheer frustration she felt as those tail fins came lose from her teeth was unmatched by anything else she was feeling in that moment. However, those emotions took a quick smoke break when the side of her head and upper body was smacked back against the water's surface.

Momentarily stunned, she floated there for a couple of seconds before the harsh burning ache in her lungs and chest brought her back to reality. Flipping herself around so that she was right side up again, she quickly took a look around, but her target was nowhere to be seen. And with all the ruckus the chase had caused, it would be a while before anything poked it's head out again.

Damn it!

Letting out a soft growl of frustration that let loose all the remaining air she had in her lungs, Drift paddled upwards. Once her head broke the surface, she quickly took in a few gasps of fresh air before treading water to catch her breath and take a look around. She was quite a ways away from the beach.

Past the breaker zone, in fact. But despite that, she could still make out those that were up past the shore and in the sand.

Sonic and Amy were both lounging out in laid back chairs under the shade that was being provided by a large umbrella. She was reading a book, and he had his eyes closed with his arms crossed under his head. Sticks and Knuckles were a little ways from them, and actively engaging in a round of volleyball.

Tails was nowhere to be seen. Then again, he had said something about putting on the finishing touches on a new invention he had been making. Honestly, sometimes that fox got too caught up in his work for his own good.

Letting out a quiet sigh, Drift was distracted by the low rumble her stomach gave, reminding her why she had been hunting in the first place. And with no fish around, she would have to make do with whatever she could find below the waves. Taking a deep breath, she dived down, and began to search through the reefs.

...

"Drift! That leap out of the water was amazing!" Amy called out as the Dragobian came to a stop a few meters away with full arms.

"Yeah. You went up, like, what? Seven or eight feet into the air? That was entertaining" Sonic added, smirking a little as he peaked an eye open to look at Drift.

She gave an annoyed sounding huff as she crouched down and let her bounty fall to the sand.

"Yeah, all of that for a fish that was bigger than my head, and what do I get? Scratches, missing scales, a kinda bad mood, and no fish" she stated as she laid down.

She had managed to find herself some oysters, clams, and a few sea urchins. All of which would be enough to hold her over for a good few hours. Amy gave a sympathetic noise as the Dragobian pulled an oyster towards herself.

"Oh Drift. I'm sure you'll catch a fish next time" she said.

Her only response was a hum and an ear flick before the oyster was successfully pulled apart and shucked with the Dragobian's claws. Sonic gave a sigh of content as he leaned his head back into his hands.

"There's nothing like a lazy day on the beach" he sighed, earning himself a smile from Amy.

Her attention was caught when the volleyball Knuckles and Sticks were playing with was hit, and landed at the pink hedgehog's side. Setting her book down, Amy picked up the ball and tossed it back to Sticks, who caught, and gave a sigh of relaxation.

"It's nice to breathe in that salt water air and relax. For the first time, I feel totally stress free" the badger stated, almost dreamily as she held up the ball and prepared to hit it.

"Hey guys!" Sticks suddenly gave a screech like yell and let go of the ball in favour of dropping down to all fours like a feral animal, her eyes darting wildly around as she tried to find the source of the voice.

Rolling her eyes a bit at the badger's antics, Drift looked over her shoulder, and spotted Tails coming towards them with a cheery look on his face while pushing something that was covered with a clothe.

"Well, this should be interesting" she said, shifting her body so that she could actually face to approaching two tailed fox without having to break her neck.

"I've just perfected my most brilliant invention yet! Meet U.T. The Universal Translator. Designed to translate any language into our own!" Tails stated as he came to a stop and pulled off the cover.

The robot itself was much small than him, maybe coming up to his waistline, if that. It's height was offset though by the two large radio dishes that stuck out over his head. It went along on two wheels, and looked as though someone had stuck a cylinder on top of a box.

Everyone gave the robot a bit of an odd look, and Tails, sensing that they were a bit lost, wasted no time in showing what he was talking about.

"Allow me to demonstrate" he said before motioning towards a family of birds up in one of the trees.

U.T. turned to face them, gave a few beeping noises, then turned back towards the group.

'The fact that you pre-chew my food is repulsive'

Well, that was certainly something. Drift tilted her head to the side, staring at the little robot as Knuckles came up laughing.

"Hey, it works!" he said, looking rather pleased.

'Didn't see that one coming'

The robot's sentence through everyone for a bit of a loop, seeing how no other language had been spoken. Knuckles seemed to be the most confused one of all.

"Um, it's still talking?" he said as he scratched his head while the robot approached him.

'I thought this thing just translated birds'

"Since what your saying doesn't need to be translated, U.T. is translating it into what you really mean" Tails said, like he had just realized it.

'I didn't intend for it to do that, but I will gladly accept full credit'

Drift gave a quiet snort of laughter before cleaning out the clam she was currently holding and moving on to another oyster.

"That's great Tails" Amy praised.

U.T. rolled to a stop in front of her.

'Pretty lame'

Everyone gave the robot a surprised look as it rolled away before turning to the pink hedgehog as she stood up off of her chair.

"That's, not what I was thinking, at all" she stammered nervously, making Drift roll her eyes a bit as she used her molars to crack the oyster's shell.

'Pretty sure that exactly what you were thinking'

Amy stiffened up, and Drift glared at U.T. as it went by her before giving a light shrug and returning to cracking open the oyster.

'Man, I am totally busted'

"Tails, I think it needs some more work!" Amy cried, turning towards the two tailed fox as she spoke.

'If that thing doesn't shut it's metal trap I think I might die'

Sticks suddenly looked like she had made a huge discovery.

"Wait, this thing reads minds?" she asked, glaring at everybody while pointing at U.T.

'Wait, this thing reads minds'

"Get it out of my head!" the badger practically screamed while pointing an accusatory finger at the robot.

'Get it out of my head'

Letting out a snarl, Sticks whipped out her boomerangs, and practically flung herself at the robot. She was only stopped when Knuckles caught her by the waist and lifted her up into the air.

"Now now, calm down Sticks" he said while holding the struggling badger.

'Take it easy wackjob'

"Hey!" Sticks cried, sounding rather offended as she turned her head to glare at the Echidna, who looked mortified.

'I am displeased'

Sonic, for the first time since this whole ordeal started, finally decided to speak.

"Don't be offended Sticks. Knuckles didn't mean to, think, that" he said, attempting his hand at being a mediator.

'He's not the sharpest tool in the shed'

Sonic looked quiet surprised as he gave the robot an owlish blink, which then turned to slight worry when Knuckles growled at him as he set down Sticks.

'Oh ow, ow, okay, shit that hurts, ow, ow'

Everyone looked at U.T. in shock and surprise as the robot spewed out a few more curses. Then they all collectively turned towards Drift, who released the sea urchin she was holding in favor of reaching her hands towards her mouth. Spines were sticking through her lips and out of her mouth, and with her lower jaw being a light grey in color, it made the red lines that were beginning to run down her jaw all the more striking.

The Dragobian noticed the looks she was receiving, and returned them with her own light glare as her ears went back slightly.

"What? You don't curse when there's spines sticking out of your mouth?" she asked.

Well, attempted to anyway. The spines were really hindering her ability to properly open and close her jaws. After watching her silently suffer for a few more seconds, Amy turned to the two tailed fox.

"Tails, I think it's best if you shut that thing off. We don't want it to reveal anything else that might be... sensitive" she said.

'Shut that thing off before it tells Sonic that I lo-'

U.T. wasn't able to get anything else out before Tails powered it off, leaving everybody else wondering just what Amy had been thinking.

"Uh, what was he saying?" Sonic asked, scratching his head a bit as he turned towards the pink hedgehog.

"Uh, nothing! Nothing important" Amy replied, laughing a bit as she spoke.

Much too quickly to not be suspicious if you were to ask Drift, who was busy plucking out another sea urchin spine which made her grimace a bit.

"Alright, note to self, never try to bite a sea urchin again, no matter how tough you think your mouth is" she muttered to herself.

She didn't exactly trust herself enough to mess with the spines that were stuck in the roof of her mouth and gums. And she wasn't about to touch the ones going through her tongue either. Not without a mirror, or some kind of assistance.

Thankfully Tails, as upset as he was over U.T.'s debut, was more than willing to provide that assistance with the help of some curved needle nose pliers. Though before they began, he made her promise that she wouldn't snap her jaws on his fingers. Which she did.

And that's how Drift found herself laying on Tails's couch with a towel under her head, absolutely struggling to not close her mouth as he stuck the pliers back in to get at another spine. To his credit, he was doing his best to not hurt her more than he had to. The spines in her lips and tongue had been relatively easy.

Drift employed the use of a mirror to simply pull them all the way through. Other ones, however, were more difficult, and that's when Tails and his pliers came into the picture. The Dragobian let out a sound that was a mix between a hiss and a yelp as Tails had to physically yank out one that giving him a bit of trouble, and her jaws quivered as he pulled away, holding out against the urge to snap them shut and never open them again.

"Sorry Drift. Just a couple more, and I promise it'll be over" Tails apologised.

He got a sharp huff for an answer, which he nodded slightly to.

"Understandable" he stated as he got rid of the spine he currently had before reaching the pliers back in.

...

It took a couple moments before the bright light of sunlight was registered, and Drift slowly opened her eyes, only to be momentarily blinded. Twisting her head and shoving it into the mass of soft blankets that made up the mattress of her bed, the Dragobian blinked a couple times, trying to get rid of the spots in her vision. Once that ordeal was over, she lifted her head up, and her jaws parted into a yawn.

One that had her wincing as the soreness made itself known. Those damn sea urchin spines had done a bit of a number on her, and while it annoyed her, chances were she was probably gonna have to do with some soft foods for the time being until the puncture wounds healed. And the taste of rusted iron in her mouth certainly didn't help her displeased attitude.

Tucking her nose under the fluff at the end of her tail, she let out a small huff, and debated on going back to sleep. However, the thought of the others possibly doing something that might be of interest stopped her. So, with a small grunt, the Dragobian pushed herself to her feet and stepped over the woven wicker that made up the large basket that she slept in.

Moving past the woven mats and small blankets that littered the rock floor, she emerged out to the front of her cave and stretched, letting out another yawn as she did so. First order of business was checking on her garden. Since her arrival on the island a couple years ago, Drift had made it a point to grow and maintain her own garden.

It caused her to save a lot of money when she did have to go shopping, since she had most of the fruits and vegetables growing right here in front of her home. And seeing how the climate was quite tropical, seeing how it was a warm island, a lot of her seeds and seedlings had more than flourished. She noted how the oranges were almost ready to harvest, and the blackberry bushes were almost touching the ground from how laden with fruit they were.

Tossing a couple blackberries in her mouth, Drift finished up her rounds through her garden and set off for the beach. She had a hunch that the others would be there. She quickly found her hunch to be right when she flew over, and spotted the group hanging out in the same spot they were at yesterday.

The only difference with the scene was that Knuckles was now also laying down in a chair while Sticks played around with a volleyball.

"Oh hey Drift! How are you feeling?" Amy greeted as the Dragobian dropped down from the sky to land in the sand.

Drift shook herself off like a dog before standing straight again.

"Eh, mouth's pretty sore, but nothing I can't handle" she said before taking a look around at the group.

"Another lazy day on the beach then I assume?" she asked, giving Sonic a knowing look as she walked away a couple of paces before beginning to make a depression in the sand.

"Hey, there isn't anything to do, and Eggman hasn't shown his shiny bald head at all so far, so why not?" came a slightly defensive reply as the hedgehog shifted himself around a bit.

Drift tilted her head in agreement before observing the depression she had just made. Deeming it to be deep enough for her taste, she circled around inside it a couple of times before curling up, letting out a quiet sigh of relief at the feeling of cool sand under her body. As great as her scales were when it came to regulating her body temperature, sometimes having an outside source simply just felt better.

Resting her head on her tail fluff, the Dragobian let her eyes flutter closed, relishing in the noise of gently crashing waves and the dull thump every time Sticks's fists made contact with the volleyball. She had been very close to dropping off to sleep when she was disturbed by some new sounds. Footsteps and rolling wheels, both moving through the sand.

Blinking back to reality, Drift slowly lifted and turned her head in the direction of the noise. She perceived Tails walking towards the group out in the distance, and noted the fact that he wasn't alone.

"Oh boy" she quietly muttered, spotting U.T. trailing along behind the two tailed fox.

As amusing as yesterday had been to her, the Dragobian honestly wasn't in the mood to hear other people's thoughts at the moment. After a moment, the sound of Sticks hitting the ball went silent, and Drift turned her head to see the badger now silently glaring, narrow eyed, at the ones approaching. It wasn't long before everybody else took notice.

"Okay, I know things got off on the wrong foot yesterday, but I-" Tails started to explain as he drew to a stop in front of everyone, but he was stopped by Sonic, who rose out of his chair.

"Tails, I think it might be best if you turned U.T. off" he stated, crossing his arms as he spoke.

U.T. gave a few beeps, and turned to look right at the blue hedgehog.

'Amy Rose is a big dope'

Everybody, Drift included, stared wide eyed and slack jawed at the robot, before Amy rounded on Sonic, anger and hurt blazing in her bottle green eyes.

"Oh, so now that's what your thinking?!" she snapped in an accusatory tone, raising a brow ridge as she glared at the blue hedgehog.

Sonic looked absolutely mortified as he put his hands up in defence.

"Er, what? No! Not even close!" he cried, waving his hands a bit.

Knuckles, who had been napping away, finally woke up from the rising conflict, and stared wide eyed at the brewing fight in front of him. Drift kinda felt for him. It must be strange, going to sleep with people in peace only to wake up to said friends getting ready to go at each other's throats.

Amy gave an offended noise as she leaned into Sonic's face, looking about ready to give him a piece of her mind. She pasued though when U.T. came back and activated again.

'And her hair stinks. What does she shampoo with? Yogurt from the back of the fridge?'

"Okay, now that's just messed up" Drift commented, looking from U.T. towards the two hedgehogs as she stood up.

She might not have known this group all that well, but that wasn't going to stop her from defending them. Even if it was from each other.

"Why would you even say that?!" Amy cried, looking and sounding close to tears as she jabbed an accusatory finger into Sonic's face, who was forced to lean back to avoid having an eye poked out.

"But I didn't say that! He did!" Sonic retaliated, motioning a hand towards U.T. like it was going to help his case.

The robot, who had rolled to a stop in front of Sticks, turned around like it heard it had been mentioned.

"Sure you didn't" Knuckles stated, clearly not believing Sonic as he turned his head away from the hedgehog.

'I'm stupid'

"Hey! I'm not stupid!" the Echidna cried, glaring at the robot with offense in his eyes as he balled his fists.

'Um, I'm ugly too. But not as ugly as Sticks'

"Hey!" Sticks cried, looking both angered and hurt.

She turned her head and began to glare at Knuckles, letting out an audible and aggressive sounding growl. She started forward, and at that moment, Drift was quick to put herself in the badger's way, doing her best to ignore the flare of heat, pain, and pinpricks as Sticks's flailing claws found their way under her scales.

"Alright, that's enough!" she snapped, moving the group to silence.

Even Sticks ceased her struggles for a moment to look at the Dragobian with wide eyes.

"Let's all settle down and take a few seconds for a breather, and then we'll apologise to each other, even if what U.T. said isn't what we meant to think, and after that, how about we all-" Drift explained before she cut herself off at the sight of the little robot rolling up to her.

'Why does this one even stay around? Hasn't she figures out yet that no one wants her here?'

Out of the corner of her eye, Drift watched as Amy's hands went up to cover her mouth, her wide eyed expression of shock mirrored on almost everyone's faces. She didn't pay attention to it though as she mulled over what U.T. had just said, her ears coming to droop against her skull as she did so. So that's how they really felt huh?

After all these past few months, all of the time these guys had spent in trying to get her to hang out with them. What was it for? Was it out of pity?

Or something for them to later hold over her?

Or had she been misreading everything, and intruding on their get-togethers this entire time?

"Wow, so that's how you guys really feel, huh? You know, if you people didn't want me around, you could have just said so" the Dragobian stated, her voice emotionless as she released Sticks and backing away.

Before anyone could say anything, she looked towards the badger and motioned to Knuckles.

"Have at it"

With that, Sticks, still very much angered over what Knuckles had thought about her, let out another growl.

"You called me ugly!" the badger cried before she flung herself at Knuckles with such force that she bowled him head over heels a coupe of times before attempting to scratch at his face.

Drift took a good few steps back and then sat down in the sand to watch the drama play itself out. U.T. decided to say something else about Amy, which had the pink hedgehog back at Sonic's throat despite Tails's attempts to break the two apart. He seemed to eventually give up though, and retreated to a safe distance behind his robot.

"Sonic The Hedgehog, I can't believe you'd think those awful things!" she yelled, eyes brimming with tears as she glared at the male before her.

"So now you're just gonna trust some bucket of bolts over me?!" Sonic snapped back, pointing an accusatory finger at the robot without even looking before he crossed his arms and giving Amy a side eyed glare.

"So wait, who called me stupid? Would I call me stupid?!" Knuckles cried out in confusion, scratching his temple while looking like he had been given a complex equation.

It didn't help that the fur on his face was all ruffled up from Sticks's attack.

"Don't you see?! This is what it wants us to do! The robo apocalypse in nye!" the badger yelled in a crazed manner, her eyes wildly darting between everyone as though to make sure that they had all heard her.

Everybody, Drift included, gave her a bored deapan expression before resuming what they had been previously doing.

"After everything I do for you, you don't appreciate me?! Why am I even here!" Amy cried, shoving yet another accusatory finger in Sonic's face, who was once again forced to lean back to avoid having something poked out.

Giving a quiet sigh, Drift stood up, and brushed the sand away from her clothes. She had overstayed her welcome long enough, and with everyone preoccupied with, other, things, they wouldn't even noticed she had left. Well, that was the plan anyway, until she overheard Tails talking to himself.

"I know my friends wouldn't think such horrible thoughts about each other. Maybe U.T.'s malfunctioning?" he muttered, rubbing at his chin with a bent finger while a look of thought settled itself over his features.

Despite everything that's happened, Drift's curiosity got the better of her, and she came to a stop, watching as the two tailed fox pulled out a screwdriver and undid something that was hiding a couple plates together.

"...What the heck?! I didn't install a remote speaker!" he suddenly cried, making Drift's ears perk up a bit as she tilted her head and took a couple involuntary steps closer towards him.

Tails suddenly grabbed something out of the robot, and after a couple hard tugs, the thing came loose, and he turned towards his bickering friends.

"You guys! Stop! We've been duked! Eggman swiped U.T. and replaced him with this imposter!" he cried.

Amy had both hands gripping onto the brown bandana around Sonic's throat and was lightly shaking it, while he had his hands around her wrists, trying to pull her off. Sticks seemed to have gone after Knuckles again, who responded by trapping her arms against her sides and lifting her off the ground to shake her, all while she was writhing in his grasp and trying to bite him. At Tails's cry, they all paused, and lightly released their hold on each other.

Well, Amy and Sonic did anyway, though they still kept up the contact. Knuckles just full on drop Sticks into the sand. Much to the badger's disgruntled annoyance as she let out a yelp.

Drift flicked her tail a bit as everybody finally calmed down and stared at the two tailed fox. So, did that mean that this whole time, Eggman had been the one saying all those things? Including the thing about... her?

Alright, now the Dragobian knew damn well that Eggman, while incompetent, wasn't afraid to use any opportunity to his advantage. And chances are, this had been one of those moments. But the way the group had looked when that comment slipped out, like some big secret had been spilled...

Well.

Drift couldn't help but wonder if there had been some truth to what he had said.

Tails's voice suddenly cut through her thoughts, forcing her to come back to the situation in front of her.

"We gotta save the real U.T.!" he cried, side stepping for a moment before turning and running.

Both he and Drift were a bit startled to see that no one had made any move to follow him. The fox tilted his head a bit in confusion as he retraced his steps.

"Don't you guys, want to get U.T. back?" he asked, furrowing his brow ridges slightly.

It took a second before anybody spoke.

"Mm, thing is bud, that robot of yours just makes us fight all the time" Sonic stated, setting a hand against his hip and looking very much like he was trying to break the news in a gentle manner.

A gentle manner that was offset by Sticks jumping to her feet.

"It's evil I tell ya!" the badger practically screeched, a crazed and maniacal look in her eyes that had everybody staring at her in concern for a few moments before the attention returned to Tails.

Who seemed a little hurt which a small pinch of betrayal in his expression.

"Fine. I see how it is. I'll go get him back myself" the two tailed fox declared, shooting the group a dirty look before turning around and running off.

Drift watched him go for a few seconds, the gears in her mind turning on what to do. It took a few seconds before she stated her answer out loud.

"I'm gonna help him"

That earned her a few odd and incredulous looks.

"Wait, what?"

"Why?"

"That thing made me say I was stupid! Which I'm not!... Am I?"

"That thing is evil I say!"

"Enough! That robot might be on the displeasurable side, but it's still Tails's property. Back on my home island, if you were caught trying to take something that wasn't yours, you'd get your hand cut off for stealing. Luckily for you guys, I'm not that morbid, but I'm still helping Tails get that robot back to where it belongs. Besides, would beat hanging around with you guys" the Dragobian lectured, facing the group as she walked backwards in the direction the two tailed fox went.

She hadn't meant to say that last sentence, and immediately went silent at the looks of surprise she received.

"...Drift, is this about what Eggman said?" Amy asked, taking a couple steps forward as concern overtook her surprise.

Drift gave a huff as her ears pinned themselves against the sides of her now slightly shaking head.

"I'm not answering that" she stated as she turned and walked forward, her tone making it very clear that she wasn't about to indulge in this conversation.

"Oh now hang on a moment-" Sonic began to say, but he didn't get the chance to continue before the Dragobian launched herself into the air, getting as high as she could with the help of her platforms to be out of his range.

She wasn't about to listen to this. She wasn't going to stand around while waiting for the group to try and confirm or deny anything, now when there were things to do. She had already sacrificed both her and their precious time, and hell would freeze over before she let any more go to waste.

She managed to catch up with Tails, who was also up in the air with his rapidly spinning namesakes, in record time. He seemed a little surprised to see her, and his next words confirmed it.

"Drift? What're you doing?" he questioned, tilting his head a bit as he spoke.

"...What's it look like? I'm coming along to help you out. What else would I be doing?"

Drift wasn't sure as to why, but she suddenly felt a little nervous as Tails furrowed his brow ridges and narrowed his eyes into a scrutinizing gaze. She flicked her own sight towards him before looking forward again.

"...What?"

"Is that... all... that there is to it?"

Drift let out a short and quick heave of annoyance as she rolled her eyes, but apparently that seemed to cement whatever idea that Tails had in his brainiac of a mind.

"Aha! So this is about what Eggman said!" the two tailed fox cried.

"Would you quit it?! Your just as terrible as the others! Let's hurry up and get this over with so that way we can go our separate ways, and never bother each other again" Drift snapped at him before picking up the pace, wasting no time in pulling ahead.

However, she was in for a bit of a surprise when Tails seemingly exerted no effort in catching up to her, his smug smile now replaced by something... gentler? Though the corners of his mouth quirked upwards a bit at the look of surprise Drift gave him.

"Sonic is my best friend. You really think I didn't have to pick up the pace every once in a while?"

The two tailed fox gave a light chuckle at the low growl that escaped the Dragobian's chest.

"I guess you had to get your annoyingly unrelenting persistence from somewhere" she stated, wrinkling her muzzle a bit as she gave the fox a hard side eyed look.

Tails tilted his head a bit in agreement.

"Now Drift, you know that we-"

"That fried egg's lair is coming up"

"Wha-nu uh! You don't get to change the subject!"

"Tails, I am not in the mood to discuss this. Maybe that makes me unreasonable. So what? It's for the best" Drift hissed at the fox.

It pained her to do this. It really and truly did. But she wasn't about to let herself get screwed over trying to chase some semblance of a life she once knew.

Not if it came at the cost of others.

Her poison tainted victory finally came at the sigh of defeat that Tails gave as she pulled ahead, and she gave a small smile before it quickly away as the two began their descent. Thankfully, no other words were shared as they landed somewhere behind the lair, and began working their way across the black sand and volcanic rock to find the front of the place. All while avoiding the robotic critters that seemed to be patrolling around.

Security measures it seemed, for anyone dumb enough to try and sneak up on the place.

Jogging forward, Tails and Drift rounded a corner in the rocks, only to scramble backwards back behind the wall at the sight of a robot that was just a few meters away. The Dragobian dropped down a bit, and slowly peeked her head around the corner while setting her faintly clawed hands against the rock for stability. She mentally rolled her eyes as Tails did the same, his head hovering over hers.

Both creatures reeled back again when the robot paused and whirled around, letting out a demented squeak kind of noise as it did so. It looked as though someone had taken a ladybug, mixed it up with a rabbit, and then smacked on a single large wheel. And Drift momentarily wondered just what had been going on in Eggman's head when he built it.

That thought was put on the back burner as the sound of that single wheel rolling got louder. She tensed up a bit at the feeling of something tapping against her lower back, and she twisted her head around to see Tails, who gave her a momentary look of apology before pointing upwards. Ever since the events of Eggman's lair blowing up, Amy had revealed Drift's physical touch situation to the others, who, much to the Dragobian's surprise, had been rather accepting with it, and even decided to pitch in.

Through that work, Drift was now able to withstand small touches for a good few minutes, and most recently, quick side hugs.

Turning that all aside, Drift looked up towards where Tails was pointing, and spotted a ledge that was just big enough for her to perch on. Getting what Tails was wanting, the Dragobian unsheathed her claws and climbed up the wall, the colors of her scales rippling as they shifted to match whatever was her background. Getting to the ledge, she hung out there for a moment, and watched as the strange little robot approached Tails's hiding spot.

Right as it came around the corner, the two tailed fox moved quick as a viper, and the robot was greeted with a very hard smack to its metal face by a wrench the fox had pulled out. The robot violently sparked and flopped to it's side as it's single wheel went into overdrive, which had the entire robot flipping and spinning around like it was stuck in the middle of a tornado. Letting out an amused giggle at the sight, Drift hopped back down to the ground as her colors returned to normal, and both creatures continued on their way.

Along the way, something reached Drift's ears, and she slid to a stop on all fours in favour of focusing on the sound. Tails, who was quick in noticing he was running alone, came to a stop himself and turned towards her.

"Drift?" he asked, tilting his head in confusion as the the Dragobian rose up on two legs.

She held up a hand, wanting silence as she closed her eyes and perked her swivelling ears. Voices. One undoubtedly was Eggman, and she was able to pinpoint both U.T. and Orbot.

Opening her eyes, Drift looked upwards, and spotted what seemed to be an open skylight.

"How upset do you think Eggman would be of we were to drop in?" she asked, looking towards Tails with a knowing smile as she jabbed her thumb towards the open skylight.

The fox looked towards it, and seemed to share her idea if the smile he sported was anything to go by. Flying up towards the skylight, both creatures perched themselves along it's edges and peered in. Inside the room, Eggman was setting a cake that looked like his overly mustached face on a dining table.

Drift quietly snickered at the sight of a missing slice. Orbot was sitting beside the scientific doctor, and U.T. was chilling out on the floor.

"If the cake didn't look like Eggman, I might've been inclined to try it" she muttered, looking towards Tails a bit as she spoke.

He gave a quiet snicker at her words, and the two shared a glance for a second before they went into action. The two tailed fox jumped down, and literally landed in the cake, while Drift landed on the dining table and bounced to the floor, where she stood up on two legs and lightly glared at Eggman, who was giving an unapologetic fox a hard look.

"Eggman!" said fox hissed, narrowing his baby blue eyes at the rival inventor.

'Landing in that cake really hurt my credibility'

"Oh hush U.T." Drift snapped at the bot while Tails gave it a deadpan look.

He threw a piece of cake at his robot, and somehow managed to hit the power button, which caused U.T. to shut down. Tails hopped off the table and wiped off as much cake from himself as he could before pointing an accusatory finger at Eggman.

"Give me back my robot!" he demanded, baring his teeth a bit as he spoke.

Eggman didn't seem offput by the slight aggression as he set his fists against his hips and stood, towering a bit over both creatures.

"Or what?" he asked, sounding genuinely confused.

Tails hummed a bit as he rubbed at his chin, not caring about the bits of cake that got in his fur.

"...That's a fair question"

"You mean you didn't have a plan on getting U.T. back?" Drift asked, looking towards the two tailed fox in an incredulous manner.

Then again, the amount of times she had rushed headfirst into something could not be counted on only two hands, so, she didn't really have room to talk. Robots began to stream into the room, and formed a semi-circle around the two creatures. A lot of them had some, questionable, designs to them that even had the fox himself lowering a brow ridge out of confusion.

Both of their attentions were caught up when Eggman began talking.

"Where's that blue loser? And the rest of your friends?" he questioned, peering down at the two.

"His friends. Not mine" Drift quietly muttered as she looked away from him to a robot that was getting a little too close for comfort.

No one seemed to hear her, and Tails answered the scientific doctor's question.

"It's just me and Drift here, and we came to negotiate the release of my robot, U.T." he said, looking between the human and the approaching robots.

Drift smacked her tail into one that strayed much to close for her liking, and managed to push it back a good few feet.

"Negotiate?" Eggman asked, sounding confused at the word.

"You know, make a deal or a bargain that benefits all parties t hat are involved?" Drift explained in a deadpan manner, looking at the human with a unamused half lidded look.

"I know what it means you simpleton! Usually we just battle until the losing party, sometimes you, sometimes me, it's about a fifty fifty split, retreats to his lair" Eggman hissed, making Drift quietly snort with laughter as she shook her head before quickly snapping her jaws at a small robot that had been rolling forwards a bit.

"Let's pretend that's true and that you don't always lose. In exchange for the safe return of my robot, I'm prepared to offer both mine and Drift's services as your lab assistant and adviser" Tails stated, setting a gloved hand against his chest and leaning forward a bit.

"Wait, wha- Why me?! Why am I getting roped into this with you?!" Drift cried out, whirling around to face Tails with a bewildered expression.

"Because you've given me some great advise on some of my other inventions" the two tailed fox replied, like it was some simple thing.

Drift narrowed her eyes at him as her pupils thinned out a bit.

"And also because your here with me"

The Dragobian rolled her eyes at the response, annoyance settling in as Eggman began talking again.

"Intriguing. With two mechanical geniuses and an adviser under one roof, I'd raise my ratio well above the fifty fifty mark that we all agreed earlier was completely accurate" he said.

"Then it's a deal?" Tails asked.

"I'll have Orbot draw up a contract. This will be delicious! Having two of Sonic's friends helping me build the tools that will destroy him!" the scientific doctor stated, ignoring Drift's growl of frustration as he patted Orbot's head before leaning against him and then moving off of the poor robot, who then looked up at him.

"It's right with irony your evilness. Sonic won't know what hit him" Orbot stated.

Eggman suddenly looked like he had a realisation.

"But wait. The moment Sonic realises you two are missing, he'll come bursting through that door with that circus troop he calls friends, and put a damper on all the fun" he stated, rubbing at his chin in thought as he faced the two creatures.

"Would that truly be so bad?" Drift asked, rasing her arms and hands a bit as she gave a small shrug.

She yelped a bit when Tails elbowed her in the ribs before approaching Eggman.

"I've already thought of that. Since your letting U.T. go, I'll just send a message along with him" the two tailed fox stated as he turned U.T. around a bit.

The scientific doctor seemed rather pleased with the proposal.

"Good thinking number two!" he cried, much to Orbot's apparent dismay.

"I thought I was number two?" the little robot said in a questioning manner as he floated up a bit towards Eggman, who gave him a glare.

"Oh please. I'd need a computer to figure out where you fall in the packing order" he stated.

He then brought out a computer from literally nowhere, which had Drift questioning how reality worked while the doctor balanced the large device on one hand.

"Fortunately I have one here" he said before typing away.

The computer gave a beep, and Eggman looked towards Orbot.

"Three hundred and forty seven" he said, and Orbot visibly deflated to the point where Drift almost felt bad for him.

Almost.

Her attention was captured by the blue holographic light that appeared behind her, and the Dragobian realized with a start that the fox had started up a recording. He cleared his throat a bit before speaking.

"Hey gang, it's Tails and Drift here. We're going to be staying with Eggman. No need to come rescue us. We're one hundred percent safe and happy" he said.

Drift appeared behind him and shook her head while running a knife hand by her throat multiple times.

'No we're not' she mouthed, making sure her words were actually visible before Tails knelt down to stop the recording.

When Eggman's back was turned, the two tailed fox fiddled with somethings, presumably to either send or play a different message, and then U.T. was sent on his way.

"Now, come along you two. We have a lot of work to do" Eggman called out before he began walking down a hallway, letting out a evil sounding chuckle that resonated throughout the building as he went.

"I hate this"

"I know Drift. I know"

...

The Dragobian let out a quiet grumble of irritation and annoyance as Eggman walked away. He had handed her a mop and a bucket of soapy water and asked her to clean the floors while he gathered the necessary materials for him and Tails to begin their work. Clearly, he's got 'lab adviser' confused with 'house maid'.

"Ooo, I will have that bastard's head for this" she muttered under her breath as she moved the wet mop back and forth.

She hated the feeling of now wet floors under her feet, and her mood didn't exactly improve as Tails let out a chuckle.

"Don't worry Drift. We just gotta put up with this for a little bit. Before you know it, Sonic and the others will be here breaking down Eggman's door" he said in a reassuring tone.

Drift's ears, which had already been pinned back out of sheer irritation, were now physically pressed against her skull at the mention of the fox's friends, and she mumbled some words that Tails apparently wasn't able to decipher.

"What?" he asked, tilting his head a bit as confusion made itself apparent on his face.

Drift shook her head, turning away from him as her grip on the mop's handle tightened.

"Nothing" she said firmly.

And damn it, she had spoken too quickly.

"Well, judging by your face, it's not nothing. So what's the matter?"

Drift gave the two tailed fox an annoyed sigh as she lightly glared at him out of the corner of her eye, silently suggesting he drop the topic. But, Tails was unfortunately just as stubborn, if not more, than Sonic. And he wasn't one to give up quickly.

"I'm just gonna keep asking until you tell me" he stated, smirking a bit at the groan-hiss sound that he got in return.

Drift stayed silent for a few more seconds, not wanting to indulge in the game of annoyance with the fox, but the moment she saw him opening his mouth again, well, she decided that working in peace and quiet was better than being pestered. She repeated what she had said earlier, albeit a bit louder this time, but he still didn't catch her words.

"Huh?" Tails asked, cupping a hand around one of his ears as he leaned it towards the Dragobian.

"You're a fox, aren't you? Aren't you supposed to have good hearing?" Drift lightly snapped, swiftly turning her head to glare half heartedly at the creature that was hellbent on getting a gauge on how she was feeling.

"My hearing is great, thank you very much. But not even I can decipher slurred mumbles. So unless you speak up, I'm really going to-" Tails stated, making something snap in Drift as her claws began to spark against the metal of the mop handle.

"Oh good grief Tails, I said that they would come here for you!" she half yelled, snarling a bit and baring her teeth as she rounded on the fox, her brow ridges heavily furrowed and her pupils narrowed to thin black slits.

The way Tails took a surprised step backwards as his ears swivelled back a bit made her pause, and rethink some things. Pulling back with a couple blinks, she covered her teeth and relaxed her muzzle, though it was still wrinkled into the beginnings of a snarl. Her pupils widened a bit, but they were still fairly thin as she looked away, her brow ridges no longer knitted together like they had been a couple seconds before.

She hadn't meant to scare Tails. She really didn't. But this was just getting to be too much.

"I'm not like the rest of you, alright? Eggman said as much himself. Eggman! An insolent and oblivious wretch of all people! I'm just a waste of your time and energy. Which is absolutely infuriating because you all insist on keeping me around. Damn it, I was just another face in the crowd to you guys until we actually met. So tell me, what do you keep me around for, huh? Is it out of pity? Was I just some stray for you to pick up? Or is this all some elaborate plot in black mailing me into doing whatever it is that you and your group want?"

All of the uncertainty, all of the confusion, it came out like a torrent with no way to stop it once it got going. Cadmus had been the one to get it cemented into her mind that all good or nice things came with a cost, and while Falkor did his best to undo that, unfortunately some things just stuck in more than others. And Drift released that, wanting nothing more than to know what was wanted from her so that she could finally be free from this constraint.

Tails had tried a couple times to interject, but she didn't let him, and so he took matters into his own hands.

Literally.

Moving just as quickly as he had when he took down the robot from earlier, he whipped his hands out and set them against the Dragobian's jaws, applying small amounts of pressure that effectively had her silenced and watching in perplexion as he gently pressed and held her jaws together.

"My turn to talk" the two tailed fox stated with a neutral expression.

Drift's perplexed state quickly switched over to anger, and she glared at the fox, baring her teeth slightly as she let out a a soft low pitched growl from the back of her throat. That didn't seem to faze Tails, judging by the knowing and slightly amused look he gave her.

"You won't hurt me. If you wanted to you would have done so by now" he said, tilting his head a bit as he spoke.

"...It's something that can certainly be arranged" Drift whispered after he pulled his hands away, a dangerous edge to her voice as she eyed the fox before her.

He simply waved off the threat. Mostly because he was right. Drift wouldn't hurt him.

She cared too much for that.

"Now, are you really going to believe what Eggman of all people said? Because I'm going to tell you right now. He couldn't be farther from the truth. Me and the others, we truly and genuinely do want you around-"

"Why?"

Tails blanched at that, and looked at Drift like she had grown a second head, which for some reason had her rushing to explain herself.

"I'm practically a polar opposite when compared to your group. Your all outgoing, and social, and all of that. Well, I guess Sonic and Sticks are a bit questionable with that, but I'm not. I'm sure you've noticed that I usually go out of my way to avoid interactions if I can help it. Heck, I've tried my best to avoid you guys when I could. Even now, I'm still trying to reject some of your advances. I'm not good with all the things that you do. So why would you want someone like that around?"

Tails listened, and thankfully waited until she was done talking before opening his own mouth.

"...Maybe we want you around because your a fresh change of pace. A breath of fresh air for all of us. For Sonic, it's that your not practically flinging yourself at him like some of the Mobians on the island. For Amy, well, she's just happy that there's another girl around. Sticks is glad that there's finally someone around who's not questioning her... questionable... ideas. With Knuckles, well, he's happy with any newcomer. And me? I'm practically ecstatic that there someone around who actually understands what I'm talking about when I go into my tech related rambles" he lectured.

"And that's not even taking into account the skills that you've got when it comes to fighting. Not to mention you would be a great help if we were to encounter an adventure in the jungle or forest. We all know this because of what we've seen for ourselves. And this is spanning to moments that happened long before we met"

At that last sentence, Drift, who had been slowly moving the mop back and forth while wondering what was taking Eggman so long to gather a few materials, paused a bit and look towards Tails with a confused expression that he deadpanned at.

"Come on Drift. All of the rumors about something new on the island that no one's been able to really catch a glimpse of, and you really thought we wouldn't try to investigate? Pfft, what do you take us for? And you didn't exactly try to hide yourself during our fights with Eggman. That's what really put you in our sights to begin with. You also give some of the best advice that any of us had ever heard any time we were hung up over something. You may not think or believe it, but we all genuinely do want the company that you provide. If it's something that you really don't want to do, then we won't force it. Just know that you truly are welcome to go around with us"

With that, Tails went quiet as Eggman finally returned, leaving Drift to think over everything that had been said.

...

"Tails, be a doll and plug my drill into that outlet over there" Eggman said, though his tone almost sounding like his words were an order.

Sparing a glance over her shoulder, the Dragobian watched as the scientific doctor handed off a plug to the two tailed fox, who then bent down to try and spot the wall socket under the desk. Said wall socket was hanging out of the wall with wires that were exposed, and in some areas, stripped of their rubber coatings. It was sending out a few sparks, and the fact that it was surrounded by puddles of water certainly did nothing to ease the worrisome tension that Drift was was starting to feel.

"...Uh, that doesn't look very safe" Tails stated, his head turning to glance up at Eggman.

"Yeah I know. That's why I'm having you do it"

The Dragobian let out a low growl at the quiet noise of nervousness the fox let out, but she could do nothing except watch as he swivelled his ears back and ducked under the desk.

"It's nice having an assistant and adviser" Eggman stated, a twinge of joy in his annoying voice.

"Sweet Mobius, when are those idiots going to get here?" Drift quietly muttered with a huff, slouching against the mop handle as she spoke.

Her prayers were answered in the form of a loud alarm that began to blare, and the sound was more than enough to make the Dragobian yelp and use her hands to clamp her ears down against her skull. She ignored the fact that she had let go of the mop, which now loudly clattered to the floor. After wincing at the added sound, she looked over in time to see a screen slide down into view before it flickered on.

The sheer relief she felt as she witnessed that rest of Team Sonic absolutely demolishing the robots that tried to stop them was only paired with the amusement as Eggman let out a growl of frustration and contempt. He marched away as that blasted alarm finally shut off, and after sharing a look with each other as he crawled back out from under the desk, both Tails and Drift wasted no time in following him. It was a bit of a walk, but the group eventually came upon the final set of sliding doors that opened up to show the robot carnage before them.

It took only a matter of seconds before Sonic and his team gathered in front of the trio, and the blue hedgehog pointed an accusatory finger at the scientific doctor.

"We're here to save our friends from your evil clutches!" he cried, surprising Drift a bit as he narrowed his bright green eyes at Eggman.

He really thought of her as a friend? The thought of it made the Dragobian let out a soft sigh. Today was too much when it came to this kind of thing.

Her ear twitched towards Eggman as he let out a scoff of disbelief.

"Wait, what?! No! Tails, this dragon looking one, and I have a contract!" he snapped back, grabbing both Tails and Drift with one arm and pinning them to his side.

Drift's eyes narrowed a bit at the contact, and she bared her teeth slightly as she let out a low growl while pinning her ears back. Just because she was getting better with touch, didn't mean she was about to put up with it from someone like Eggman. At that moment, Orbot flew in and came to a stop beside the trio, holding a couple sheets of paper in his metal hands.

"Here's the lab assistant and lab adviser contracts, ready to be signed" he stated, brandishing the papers a bit as Eggman let go of Tails and Drift.

The Dragobian took a look at the unsigned papers while rubbing a pawed hand over the scales that Eggman had touched. Then she shared a knowing look with Tails as she walked forwards a few paces before turning on her heel to face a now silently fuming Eggman.

"Oh no. The contracts, were not signed! Whatever will we do?" she stated, smirking a bit as Tails walked past her with a laugh.

Both of them joined up with the rest of Team Sonic, who welcomed the two before turning back to the scientific doctor, who seemed to accept this turn of events with an annoyed sigh.

"Fine. Lucky thing I always have a plan B" he stated, tapping a few buttons on his gauntlet and looking towards the group with his own smirk.

Nobody had the time to question anything before the ground began to shake with enough force to topple some mobians. A rather large portion of it, shifted downwards, and then split apart, slowly sliding out of sight as the head of an absolutely massive robot made it's appearance, quickly rising up into the air. It towered over the group, it's single beady red eye locking on them as it moved it's continuous tank tracks to get a bit closer, swaying its large yellow arms a bit before planting it's metal fists into the ground, which caused things to shake a bit more.

"...That's a big robot" Drift muttered, staring up into the robot's single eye.

She got a few nods and hums of agreement. And apparently, the robot wasn't all that there was. A compartment in it's torso opened up, and a swarm of beebots flew out, firing off electrical blasts from their stingers and forcing everybody to scatter in order to avoid being hit by the damn things.

Robots of flight huh? This was right up the Dragobian's alley as she took to the air herself and dove head first into the swarm, emerging out on the other side to shoot up into the air. She was rather pleased when most of the swarm took the bait and decided to follow her.

While everybody busied themselves with the giant robot, she took the beebots on a wild rollercoaster rider that was full of sharp twists and turns, barrel rolls, steeps dives, and a few purposeful collisions with the rocks of the fortress. All of that combined served to short circuit and full on shatter a good amount of the beebots, but a few of them still managed to hang on throughout the wild ride. And that was a bit frustrating.

Especially when one of the blasts landed a hit, causing the Dragobian to cry out in pain as electrical shocks racked through her body.

Her lower back now searing in pain, and an uncomfortable warmth beginning to spread as she barrel rolled to the side to avoid getting hit again, Drift casted her eyes about, searching for anything that could help her out in destroying the rest of the beebots. A flash of blue out of the corner of her eye drew her attention as Sonic spin dashed the giant robot, sending it reeling back a bit from the hit as the blue hedgehog landed on his feet and slid back a few paces. Focusing her attention on the robot, the Dragobian glanced backwards at the beebots still chasing her, and smirked a bit as she looked back towards the large robot.

Going straight up into the air, slight victory flowed through her at the sound of the beebots following and seemingly struggling to keep up. Drift continued going up as fast as she could for a few seconds before she stopped her platforms of magic and let gravity take over, slowing her ascent to a halt and pulling her back to the ground. The beebots seemed quite surprised by her sudden change of direction, considering the fact that they ceased fire in favour of diving out of her way as she plummeted through the swarm, spinning herself until her nose was angled towards the ground.

Evening her body out, the Dragobian waited for a few moments before materializing her platforms under her pawed hands, which had her sharply changing course and rocketing towards the giant robot, who currently had it's back turned. Slowing her pace so that the beebots caught up, Drift quickly barrel rolled to the side, avoiding a collision with the massive robot and instead doing a lap around it's torso, slowly rising back up into the air as she went. The beebots weren't able to process the change in time, much less check their speed, and ended up slamming themselves against the rough metal of the robot's back, shattering upon contact with bursts of electricity.

"Haha! Take that!" Drift cried in victory, a bright smile alighting her lips as she looked towards the destruction while circling around the robot again.

Unfortunately, the robot had seemed to register the multiple collisions that had slammed themselves against it's back, and it turned around, hand outstretched to try and swat away whatever it deemed was attacking it. Drift didn't pay too much attention to the shadow that loomed over her, but she quickly took notice as the metal hand slammed against her body and sent her rocketing towards the ground with a pained "Oof!".

"Drift!" Amy cried out in worry and concern as the Dragobian slid to a stop a little ways beside Tails, who was currently dodging a few blasts from a couple of beebots that had decided to not follow after Drift.

"I'm fine! Don't worry about me!" the Dragobian hollered as she stood up on all fours, wincing slightly at the pain that shot through her leg and hip as she pressed it against the ground below her.

Eggman, who had been watching everything happening before him, let out a laugh of glee and amusement before pointing to the two tailed fox.

"Tails! Dragon! Deploy the photon bombs!" he ordered.

Looked like he forgot whose side both creatures had been on.

"Oh for the love of- my name is Drift, damn it!" Drift cried as Tails jumped out of the way of another blast before turning his head to shoot the scientific doctor a 'really?' look.

"...Oh right" Eggman stated, realizing his mistake for a second before holding up his gauntlet and tapping a few more buttons that were on it.

A door on the robot's back opened up, revealing three bombs, each with glowing blue strips around the middle of them. All three bombs were deployed in quick succession, and the explosive devices began to circle around the group. One smacked itself right beside Tails and Drift as the Dragobian caught and tossed away a beebot with her jaws, and let out a few quick beeps before detonating.

The resulting explosion packed enough force to harshly slam Drift against some sharps rocks, and send Tails flying towards the edge of a nearby cliff that dropped straight down in to the water. He would have gone over if it hadn't been for U.T. getting behind the fox and slowing his pace down to a stop before he could plummet to the ocean below. Pressing her hand against the rocks as she shook her head to clear away the ringing she was hearing, Drift pressed against them, and peeled her body away from the sharp edges, letting out a few hisses at the severe stinging sensations.

She did her best to ignore the feeling of warm liquid welling up around her side and shoulder, but it wasn't exactly easy to ignore the red that was starting to drip on the ground and the rocks that she hovered over. A second explosion screwed her hearing over again, and she clamped her hands over her ears while looking over int time to see Knuckles and Amy go flying through the air. The Echidna had landed on his feet after stumbling for a few seconds, but Sonic had been quick in catching Amy, holding her bridal style as he looked over her battered body with concern.

Drift narrowed her eyes and tilted her head at the way the blue hedgehog glared at Eggman for a moment before he turned to look at Sticks, who was growling at the final bomb that had decided to head her way.

"Sticks! Set Knuckles up!" Sonic cried, keeping his hold on Amy as she opened her eyes.

The Dragobian's keen eyesight didn't miss the hint of red that spread across the pink hedgehog's cheeks as she looked at Sonic with wide eyes.

Sticks's eyes narrowed as she took out one of her boomerangs, and waiting for the perfect moment, she let out a cry as she slammed the weapon against the explosive, sending it flying back into the air. Knuckles, having recovered from the blast that he took, jumped up into the air with his hand raised like he was about to hit a volleyball, and full on smacked the beeping bomb into the middle of the single eye of the giant robot, shattering through the glass and lodging itself. The red Echidna landed back on the ground while Sonic finally set a blushing Amy on her feet, and everybody looked towards the giant robot as the beeping from the bomb increased.

Pinning her ears back and clamping her pawed hands over them, Drift effectively blocked out a good amount of noise. That didn't mean she didn't wince when the final bomb went, propelling the now headless robot backwards with enough force to send it teetering on the edge of the cliff for a few seconds, before it finally dipped backwards enough to fall back, creating a good sized splash as the robot landed in the ocean. Eggman was, definitely not pleased as he let out a frustrated yell.

"No!" he cried out in anger as he realized he had lost.

Yet again.

He sent a very harsh glare at Team Sonic and Drift, who stuck her tongue out at him, before turning around and storming away into his lair, closely followed behind by Orbot. The Dragobian waited until the doors had closed on the two before she let out a sigh of relief while clamping her hand against her bleeding shoulder, wincing a bit at the fresh wave of pain the action brought as she walked over to Tails's side.

"Thanks for the rescue you guys. Even if some people had doubts" he said, beaming at his friends as they all gathered around before sending a knowing look to Drift, who huffed a bit before rolling her eyes in a good natured manner. "Hey, we couldn't have done it without U.T." Knuckles stated with a bright smile as he motioned a hand towards the little robot. "I think we'll be going on lots more adventures with U.T. from now on" Sonic added, praise in his voice as he looked from the robot to Tails, who gave a small laugh and a shrug. "I agree" Sticks said, crossing her arms as she looked towards U.T.. Drift snorted at the glimmer in Sticks's eyes, knowing damn well what her real thoughts on the matter were. And she was right to be distrustful of the badger with what came out of U.T. next.

'I'm going to destroy that stupid robot'

Sticks glared at U.T. and gave a soft growl, and a couple seconds later, U.T. was sailing over the edge of the cliff. Drift moved quick, despite her injuries, and got to witness the moment the little robot splashed into the salt water of the ocean below.

"...Well... It was fun while it lasted" she stated, straightening up and putting her hand against her shoulder while watching the bubbles rise and then stop.

"For me at least" she added after a moment's thought.

She turned back to the group to see Tails with his fists clenched, ears tilted back, and glaring at Sticks as she dusted her hands off.

"Sorry Tails. Had to be done" she said, not sounding apologetic at all as she set her hands against her hips.

The Dragobian let out a soft breath of amusement and shook her head a bit while closing her eyes and tilting her head to the ground below her. She looked back up at the quiet growl that left Tails's chest, and not really wanting to stay on this island for a second longer, she stepped between the two mobians before a quarrel could break out.

"If you're going to argue, can we preferably get back to our own island first? The sooner we're out of here, the better" she stated, motioning her free hand towards the doors that led to the inside of Eggman's lair.

"I think that's fair" Knuckles commented with a nod.

And thankfully, everybody else seemed to agree with him.

...

Stretching out against one the hand woven blanket-like carpets that littered the floor of the cave, the Dragobian let out a soft sigh of content as she crossed her wrists and stared out at the view before her cave with half lidded eyes. Like her, her place of abode had changed since she arrived on the island. A large round wicker basket of a bed, filled with soft fluffy blankets, sat a little ways away from the cave entrance, with one side of it rising higher into the air than the other side.

Blankets and carpets of varying shapes, sizes, colors, and patterns were spread out across the floor, leaving more than enough room for a homemade campfire that was surrounded by large rocks and stones that were all held together with dried mud and clay. The stalagmites on the floor of the cave each had beads, charms, and small crystals strung onto them, and they all glittered in the light of the dying fire, both inside the cave and outside. The sun had dipped below the horizon, casting it's evening light over the island and turning the skies to streaks of reds, oranges, pinks, and purples.

An ocean cooled breeze fluttered by, gently ruffling her fur and carrying with it the saltiness of the salt water. For once today, Drift was at peace as she lightly curled her tail closer to her body. Of course, her peace was only disturbed by the dull ache in her body that didn't just come from today's labours.

Clean white bandages were wrapped around her shoulder, her hip and leg's throbbing had ceased to a pulsing ache, and a couple of gauze pads had been tapped to her side and lower back. Her collision with the sharp rocks, as well as being smacked around and stung, had resulted in cracked and missing scales, as well as scratched up, burned, and split open skin that thankfully didn't need stitches. That would have been a bit of an awkward process to perform on herself.

All in all, things definitely could have gone worse when her body was smacked around the way it was today.

"Hey Drift!"

And suddenly, the aches in her body became the least of her worries as a familiar voice called out her name, causing her to raise her head with a start and look around for the owner of the voice. A few moments later, and a glowing spinning blue ball of quills landed on the ground a few feet to her side. It bounced back up into the air, and Sonic unfolded himself, landing on his feet on the ground and brushing off the dust as he looked around, letting out a low whistle as he spun on his heel.

"So this is where you like to hang! I mean, I knew from the rumors in the village that you lived in a cave, but I had no idea it had this kind of view!" he stated, taking in the sights around him.

With her mind somewhat at ease as to how he found her, Drift let herself relax a bit as she looked around herself.

"Yeah. I found this place a couple years ago when I first landed on this island. And it's been my home ever since. It's very relaxing. And pretty good for one's mental health too" she said, looking back out at the sunset as she spoke.

"I can see why. This place is amazing. Almost makes me jealous"

Drift let out a quiet huff of laughter as she turned her head to look at the hedgehog as he walked up to her side.

"Sonic The Hedgehog? Jealous? I never thought I'd see the day" she stated, amusement dripping from her voice.

Sonic gave a chuckle as he tilted his head a bit. As unbothered as she had seemed, Drift was actually quite nervous. What the heck was he doing here anyway?

As if sensing her unspoken question, the blue hedgehog turned to look down at her.

"Well, me and the others are about to grab something to eat, and then we're going to play some late night volleyball afterwards. And we were all kinda hoping that you'd come along. You don't have to if you don't want to" he said, tilting his head a bit as he spoke.

Drift stared at him for a moment, slightly dumbstruck as her mouth hung open a bit. He and the others, wanted her with them? That was a bit of a pleasant surprise.

But, what if this was just out of pity? Or something for the others to hold over her? What if this was a trap?

Did they actually even want her there?

Me and the others, we truly and genuinely do want you around-, Tails's voice echoed in her head, replaying itself from the conversation the two had shared before Sonic and his team had showed up.

And Sonic himself had said that they were all hoping that she would come around with them, so that all had to mean something, right?

Letting out a small sigh, Drift decided to say fuck it, and threw caution to the wind.

"You know what? Sure. I might not be in much shape to hit around a ball, but I can certainly keep score if ya'll want me to" she said, slowly getting up to standing on her legs and stretching her arms over her head, wincing slightly as her side and shoulder heavily protested her movements.

It was then that Sonic seemed to notice the bandages that covered her body.

"Hey, what happened with you? Eggman didn't do anything to you and Tails, did he? Fox boy also had a few bandages on him" he said, pointing a finger towards her covered up wounds.

"Huh? Oh, no. This was just from the battle with the giant robot. Nothing to worry about. I'll be alright" Drift told him in a reassuring tone as she let her pawed hands and arms drop.

"It's nice to know that you care though" she quietly muttered.

She thought she saw Sonic's ear twitch, but the action happened so fast that she wondered if she had imagined it.

"Well then, should we get going? I'm sure everyone has worked up a bit of an appetite. Don't want to keep the others waiting, or do you?" she asked, walking out of the cave entrance and pausing at the drop off that was just a few feet away.

"Ha! Me? Keep people waiting? As if!" Sonic cried, looking playfully offended at the mere thought of such a thing.

"Pfft, then let's go! Cause that's exactly what you're doing you slowpoke"

"Excuse me?!"

At Sonic's cry, Drift launched herself off the cliff's edge with a laugh, curling and twisting her body so that she was properly facing the ground for a moment before activating her glowing green platforms of magic, which had her bounding effortlessly through the air towards the village, even if it did hurt a bit. A second later, and she caught sight of a glowing blue blur zipping through the forested jungle below her, heading for the same place as her. Only difference was that she blinked, and he was already there.

Letting out a soft breath and shaking her head with a smile, Drift closed her eyes, and enjoyed the feeling of the evening cooled air washing over her body and running through her already naturally messy fur. Once she got there, she would simply sit and watch in silence, basking in the company that Sonic and his team readily gave as they all watched the sunset together amid chatter and conversations, and she would laugh along with them as they told jokes about today's events. She would help in stopping yet another argument between Tails and Sticks when U.T. inevitably came up.

After all of that, the group would head on down the beach, and play a few rounds of volleyball while she sat next to a board and watched on with a piece of chalk in her hand, putting down tally marks for each point that was scored. And once that was all done and everybody went to their homes to sleep the rest of the night away, she would pick one of their porches, and enjoy a good dreamless sleep. An expression of sheer content etched into her face as her tail swayed gently in the soft wind.