[ARK: Research lab - Cannon countdown: 33 minutes]
He stared down at the fake emerald. Tail's annoying voice radiated inside him: "It has the same wavelength and properties...but is less powerful than the real one!" Sonic looked through the fake gem like a kaleidoscope, looking at the power source of the pod. The Hedgehog got ready to attempt Chaos Control, until glass suddenly burst around him. Was it too late? Did Sonic die? He opened his eyes, only to see red fur. Knuckles! "You knucklehead, how did you know I was in here?!"
Knuckles suddenly looked at Sonic in confusion. "Wait, why are YOU here? I just picked up a master emerald piece in here." In his flexing knuckles, the last shard floated. "Anyways, I'm done here Sonic. Smell ya later!" He then set Sonic on the first part of Final Rush, and glided into space, forgetting that he can't survive reentry. As he lost his last life, he simply gasped out:
"Master Emerald, this is what you wanted.. right? This is my promise I made to you.."
Eggman, not wanting to lose the powerful gem, captured him in space. However, the master emerald was not with him; it must've landed elsewhere! He healed knuckles, and put him in Stasis. The team managed to save the Earth with a well timed Chaos Control, and the Doctor also saved Shadow after he fell as well. He quickly went to work creating android replicas; Shadow for pure combat, and Knuckles for his treasure hunting abilities. Omega was instead put to work in Seaside Hill, where he becomes mad at Eggman for relocating him to essentially Antartica. He joins Team Sonic, and Team Dark is instead made up of Shadow, Rogue, and Knuckles.
After Metal Sonic is beaten, Shadow and Knuckles go on an angst ridden journey to find out their true selves. This game is called Shadow The Hedgehog and Knuckles. It flopped, and is ridiculed by everyone ever for having Shadow and Knuckles sing cheesy raps and use guns.