When the gang left, I immediately set to work. I gathered all the scrap metal and glass I could carry and melted it down. I started hammering, welding, and screwing.

Tails walked up to me.

"Trix? Do you have a moment?" he asked.

"Sure, what's up?" I asked, lifting my welding mask.

Tails P.O.V

"I just wanted to say sorry for not waking you up this morning. It's just..."

"It's fine." Trix said.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah. Thalia just got a little out of line, that's all." she smiled. God. She looked gorgeous when she smiled.

"Who's Thalia?" I asked.

"Oh, that's the name I'm giving my twin." she explained.

"Need any help?" I asked.

"Actually, a little help might be just what I need right now!" she said, tossing me a welding mask.

I honestly had no idea what she was trying to make. Pipes sprung from here and there but went nowhere at all. A completely enclosed glass container with only a steam pipe connected to it took up most of the structure. A strange helmet with hundreds of cogs and pistons on it was connected to the machine.

After one hour, we were finished. My stomach growled because we hadn't eaten lunch.

"You're sure this thing is going to work?" I asked.

"Positive." she said. I was shocked when she produced a knife from her pocket and slit her wrist.

"What are you doing?!" I exclaimed.

"I need to insert a sample of my DNA into the genetic coder." she said, letting the blood trickle into a tiny reservoir. After about a dozen drops of blood had been shed, she bandaged her wrist and closed the reservoir.

"Couldn't you have just used a syringe?" I asked.

"I need to generate an acute neural reaction, such as one caused by pain. I thought sampling my blood and creating a neural reaction at the same time would be more efficient." she said. She put the helmet on herself and flicked a switch. The machine whirred to life. She pressed a few buttons and inserted a pin code.

Steam poured out of the valve connecting to the glass chamber. Trix ripped the amulet off her neck and inserted it into a small compartment. It started glowing like a million stars.

The steam seemed to take shape and solidify. The cogs and pistons on the helmet moved about furiously.

"Tails! We need to get this thing out of the workshop! It's gonna blow!" Trix yelled over the whirring and hissing of the machine. Good thing it had wheels. We pushed it out of the workshop and I hid behind a tree, only to see that Trix was still connected to it.

"Trix! Get out of there!" I shouted.

"I'll be fine! Just-" she was cut off when the machine detonated in an explosion of light, metal and glass.

"TRIX!" I yelled.

The smoke cleared. Two three-tailed foxes stood facing each other. One light blue, Trix, and one dusty pink, her twin Thalia.

"It worked!" I cried. But my joy died down when the two engaged in battle.

Trix had drawn her swords and was repelling her twin's furious attacks. Thalia strikes with deadly accuracy. She landed a blow to Trix's stomach, then her injured shoulder.

Trix stumbled back but regained her balance and feigned a blow before slashing at her opponent's chest. Blood trickled down Thalia's shirt.

What happened right after made my jaw drop.

The two hugged like old friends.

"I guess you're not too rusty without me after all!" Thalia said.

"Well, I'm the one who's been training all these years!" Trix said.

"You guys have a messed up relationship." I said.

"Oh, Tails! Nice to finally meet you! I've heard so much about you from Trix's portion of the brain!" Thalia said.

"Good things or bad things?" I asked.

"Trix seems to like you but personally, you annoy me." Thalia said nonchalantly. Trix sharply elbowed her in the ribs.

"Well, sorry! All this brainiac stuff just isn't my thing!" she said.

"How about we grab some lunch with the gang? We can all get to know each other!" Trix said.

"Is Shadow coming?" Thalia asked.

"What? Why would Shadow come? He's our nemesis!" I said.

"I think he's just misunderstood. He just doesn't like Sonic. He doesn't want to do bad things to civilians. He just wants to defeat Sonic." Thalia said.

"How would you know?" I asked.

"If Trix hasn't told you already, I have uncannily accurate people-reading skills. For example, right now, you're thinking of how cute Trix looks with little strands of hair falling out of her braid." she said. I flushed red. How did she know? Trix seemed pretty flustered too.

"Your body language, the way you keep looking at her, the slightly rosy tint of your cheeks..."

"She's the one who gave me the idea for the body language reader." Trix said.

"Yeah. That thing's a device for dense people like you." she said.

"I think we need to work on your sensitivity." Trix said.

"Definitely." I said.

"Come on! Let's eat! And Shadow is coming." she said. Her tone was final.

"Come on, lighten up! We clobbered him as one, he doesn't stand a chance if there are two of us! We'll keep him in check." Trix said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"If you say so." I said.