What was the entirety of the Resistance's base is now demolished. The Shadow clone was sent to find where they were hiding, and he did, almost annihilating the entire hideout. Everyone groaned in pain from 'Shadow's Chaos Blast, and he was charging a Chaos Spear, about to finish off Silver, before Sonic, Shadow, and Omega found what had happened. Sonic's eyes widened at the sudden destruction, and Shadow looked more concerned than ever. Shadow shook his head, and warped behind his doppelganger, and knocked him out cold with a karate chop, making him turn into Ruby pixels. Silver sat up, beat from the clone.
"Shadow... Is it really you?" Silver said. Shadow nodded, offering a hand to help Silver up. Sonic looked around of what used to be his base.
"Guys! What happened-" Amy already got up, despite her battle damage, and practically tackled Sonic in a tight hug.
"Sonic! I was going to cry, I thought-Shadow said you were-!"
"Easy, Amy... I'm okay... And that Shadow was a faker... Is everyone okay...?" Knuckles had a hand over his eyes, sighing.
"Not... Not Rouge..." Sonic looked over Amy's shoulder, and gasped.
"Oh no..." Gadget, the Chaotix, and soon Sonic and Amy were gathered around Rouge's lifeless body. Charmy looked as if he was going to cry, and Espio crossed his heart.
"Rest your soul, Rouge. You will be avenged." Espio said. But that's when Shadow perked up from talking to Silver outside. He quickly walked to the gathering, and for once, the first time Shadow released his true self. He fell on his knees in front of her body, and held his head. No one's ever seen Shadow like this. Sonic walked closer, trying to comfort him.
"Shadow...? Please don't... D-Don't make this harder for the rest of us... I know how close you-" Sonic was interrupted.
"ZIP IT, HEDGEHOG! You don't understand... This... This isn't the first time this happened... Because I was too slow, too weak... You don't call this the ultimate lifeform, who lets his closest... Friends... die..." Sonic's eyes shook, and he backed up...
"Let's... Let's leave him alone guys... We need to make a plan of what's next..." Sonic said, as the group left Shadow alone with Rouge, as Omega walked in to supposedly comfort him.
"We'll have to leave soon. We have one last secret base near the Chemical Plant. We'll head there soon, once Shadow and Omega are ready." Knuckles said to the group. Everyone agreed, and talked about their escape plan, before the realization hit Sonic.
"...Where's Tails?" Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at Sonic.
"He must've ran off when that Shadow Replica came in... I don't know where he'd be..." Knuckles said. Sonic thought for a moment, and then he realized. The city! Tails might be grieving for Classic Sonic there, it's where he died, and Sonic was sure they were close. Sonic stood up.
"I'm heading back to the city, I think that's where Tails would be." Amy walked over to him.
"Please be careful... And be back soon.. I don't know what will happen next if you aren't here..." Then Amy gave him a new radio, since his old one got busted during the escape from the forest. Knuckles then briefed to Sonic before he left.
"We're probably going to be on our way to our base next to the Chemical Plant, we don't have time to stay here and wait for you... Oh, who am I kidding, you never keep us waiting. Meet us there, when you find Tails." Sonic nodded.
"Not a problem, see you then!" He then dashed off to the city, looking around for Tails.
It's very dangerous to be in the city, as Eggman has this territory now, and if anyone's in it for too long, they can be tracked, scanned, and hunted down. Then you're given the option, to surrender to Eggman, or die. Not very good odds. As Sonic looks around, he goes back to the block where Classic Sonic died. Tails might be there with him. And as he thought, he was! Tails was just in the middle of the open, working on some kind of machine next to Classic Sonic. Sonic walked over, and got on one knee next to Tails.
"Tails, you're bonkers, what the heck are you doing in the middle of the open like this?" Tails looked at him, surprisingly cheery looking.
"Sonic! I'm glad you're here! I'm trying to work on this machine, for Sonic-Shoot, er, THIS Sonic.. It's ring-powered, and if it has enough energy, it should be able to revive a being, if the wounds aren't too serious... Which, hopefully Infinite's beatdown wasn't that bad, I should be able to revive little Sonic here!" Sonic smiled a bit.
"That's great, Tails... But uh... We had a casualty while you were gone... Rouge got killed... And Shadow.. He's not too happy about it..." Tails frowned, but didn't look too worried.
"If I can get this to work, then it won't be that way for long.. Now just stay still, other Sonic!" Tails stood up, aiming his machine at the lifeless Classic Sonic, and fired a ray, lifting his body off the ground, but then the ray flickered and let him go.
"Shoot! Might need a little bit more tweaks..." Sonic, waited, but then suddenly the ground shook, and a giant mecha robot guard stomped behind them.
"STOP! IF YOU WISH TO KEEP YOUR LIVES, THEN YOU WILL OBEY THE GREAT AND POWERFUL DOCTOR EGGMAN!" Sonic got in front of Tails, guarding him instinctively.
"Dammit! Tails, get out of here! I'll handle this dumbot-OOF!" The giant robot didn't hesitate to side-punch Sonic into a building. Sonic shook his head, and jumped out. As Tails backed away slowly, the robot picked him up by his arms, and dragged him away. Tails kicked and struggled.
"Sonic! H-Help me!" Sonic ran and hopped on a building, and then ran up the side of the robot, beating down on it. It obviously didn't do anything, and the robot just picked him up, and crushed him like a fly, and threw him a long ways. Not killing him, but just keeping him down long enough.
"NOO!" Tails bursted out in tears, and the robot stepped on Tails' machine, destroying it.
"I-I'm so sorry Sonic... I failed you... And now I... I don't want to turn into one of them! I-I'm so sorry! Somebody help me!" But then, out of the blue, and a light blue spinball, did a spindash motion on the robot, sawing into him, and eventually going right through, destroying the robot, dropping Tails. As Tails looked around, a single, blue hedgehog on his knee, in a cool superhero like pose. He looked up and smiled at Tails. Classic Sonic was alive and well.
"Sonic!" Tails ran over to him, crawling out of the debris. Classic Sonic smiled and gave a thumbs up.
"I-I can't believe it, my machine WORKED! Argh... But it was trashed... Hey, lets go find the other Sonic, huh?" Tails ran past Classic Sonic, as he nodded, and ran by his side, looking around. Tails eventually came to a halt, as two more of those huge robots came stomping through. Classic Sonic grinned, as he charged up a spin-dash, attacking one, as another tries to punch Sonic off the robot, he backflips off, and runs circles around them, but then one manages to stomp on him, getting Sonic a concussion. He shook his head, and as he was about to be crushed, a darker shade of a blue blur dashes through Classic's enemy, and stomps through the other. The two mecha assaulters fall, and Classic Sonic gets up to greet his counterpart.
"Tails! Awesome job getting this guy back up! Now, let's bring that machine back and-"
"Err, about that, Sonic... I ah... The machine broke... And there aren't much Crystal Shards I can use to re-make it. Eggman completely abducted whatever resources we had.." Sonic snarks, and sighs.
"Well, don't lose too much hope, Tails! At least you were able to save this guy!" Sonic points to his younger self, as Classic Sonic gives a thumbs up, and a wink. Tails nods.
"We should get to the Chemical Plant. Everybody's waiting for us!"
Meanwhile, Knuckles and what's left of the Resistance are walking their way to the base near the Chemical plant. Knuckles is in the lead, but everybody else is hanging in the back, dragging their feet.
"Oh, come on guys! Look, I know things may seem bad and grim now, but we've still got a chance at coming back! No matter the casualties..." Shadow scoffed at Knuckles, stepping up.
"A chance? What chance? This is our end, Knuckles. They're picking us off, one by one, you either surrender or you die. The Doctor won." Knuckles frowned at Shadow's hopelessness.
"We don't even know where Sonic & Tails are! They went right into the heart of one of Eggman's bases, they could be dead!" Amy cried from the back.
But that's when the ground shook. Knuckles turned to a familiar evil laugh, as Infinite rose up. The Resistance gasped, and readied their weapons, shaking.
"Ahahaha... Oh, look at you little rats... You can't hide in the middle of the open, we've got scouter bots everywhere!" Infinite said, maniacally laughing.
"Zavok, take care of these pests, will you?" A pack of ruby particles created a Phantom Zavok underneath Infinite, as he cracked his knuckles. Knuckles didn't hesitate to charge at Zavok, punching him, and blocking most of his counter-attacks. Gadget and others shot at Infinite above, while Espio threw ninja stars at Zavok. All the while, Infinite was just laughing as the useless laser blasts did nothing to him. Shadow warped up to Infinite's level, using his hover shoes to keep up, before he threw a powerful punch into Infinite's face. Shadow's eyes glowed a dark red, as his body infuriated with rage and hate. Infinite chuckled, looking at Shadow.
"My, my, you're awfully frustrated. Say, where IS Rouge, anyways?" Infinite teased at Shadow, knowing he would break. Shadow yelled and at the speed of light, attacked Infinite. He punched furiously, and quickly, and Infinite managed to dodge every single one. Shadow blinked confused, as Infinite laughed. The Phantom Ruby glowed brighter, as Infinite clenched his fists.
"My turn." Infinite charged himself up, before throwing punches right into Shadow, Infinite's attacks were strong and fluid, proving to be even stronger than Shadow. Shadow coughed and his eyes widened and centered, his glow fading, before Infinite sent a finishing kick right into the ground where Knuckles was.
"SHADOW!" The Resistance cried. Infinite laughed, as Amy and Charmy covered their mouths in shock. Gadget gritted his teeth, as he reloaded his grappling hook, Zavok put his fist in his palm, looking down at the fallen Knuckles, and picking him up by his skull, before clenching his fist slowly as Knuckles groaned in pain. And then Zavok felt a sharp pain in his back as he let go of Knuckles, before falling down on his front, as Classic Sonic rolled through him, drifting in the dirt. Modern Sonic wasn't far behind as he jumped up and homed in on Infinite, kicking him the back of the head.
"Hey, Infinite! Long time no see!" Sonic backflipped off of him, and Tails spectated with the rest of the Resistance. Infinite turned back to Sonic, and then the Resistance.
"Hmph, not yet, Sonic. See you soon." Infinite then dashed off to the Eggman tower, and Zavok faded away.
"Phew! That was a close one! Everyone okay?" Sonic said with that same hopeful smile on his face. Classic Sonic landed next to him, looking at the petrified group. Amy and some of the others looked confused that Classic Sonic had came back from the dead.
"Whoa! The little Sonic's back! How'd that happen?" Vector asked, looking straight at Classic Sonic.
"Well, Vector, good news! I made a machine that could bring organic lives back from the dead! But right as I saved Sonic here, a mech destroyed my machine, and the parts aren't very common to find..." Shadow, Gadget, and the Resistance stared blankly at Tails. Shadow walked closer to Tails, slowly.
"Fox. You're telling me that instead of bringing the machine back to us, you just stayed in enemy territory, practically WAITING to die? Not only that, but instead of saving a life that mattered to us, you just brought back THIS little runt?" Shadow pointed right at Classic Sonic, as the young blue hedgehog flinched, stepping back. Gadget stepped in, his fists clenched.
"Tails... You KNOW what Fuchsia meant to me... Why would we need two Sonics? For what, so he could just be brought back to wherever he came from? I just-You have NO IDEA what kind of hell I'm going through right now! Fuchsia was my second half, Tails! Now I'm just an empty husk! This entire team is falling apart because of loss, and you had one chance to bring it all back!" Gadget raised his voice, looking down at Tails, as both him, and Classic Sonic slightly shivered in shock.
"Gadget... I-Look! There's still a chance! I know that Eggman probably would've salvaged all the material on the Death Egg... If we can just-"
"The Death Egg? Really! You expect us to get to the DEATH EGG? The Spaceport is locked down tight ever since our last break-in! You might as well send the little one right here, since he's so valuable to you! Go on then, Tails! Just SEND HIM OUT, already!" Tails looked as if he was about to cry, before Modern Sonic stepped in.
"Gadget! That's enough! Look, we all get that some people are upset, but we can send some recon to grab some of the materials that we need, and everyone would be back up, safe and sound!" Sonic said, trying to reassure everyone, but Shadow interrupted him.
"What say do you get in this, hedgehog? You're only defending this crybaby because you've known him the longest. Or are you trying to defend that child version of yourself? Face it, Sonic, all hope is lost." Sonic lost his smile, as his shoulders slugged down. He stepped towards Classic Sonic and Tails.
"Look guys, let's just go-" But Classic Sonic had already dashed off to the Spaceport. Modern Sonic acted fast and dashed after him.
