A/N: Trigger Warning: There is a joke in here that may tick off some people, so I'm just gonna give off a trigger warning.

Suggested Music:

(1) Wave of Darkness - Kingdom Hearts 3 OST

(2) Terminal Velocity - Sonic Colors OST

Without further ado, enjoy the show!

*This chapter has been edited as of 5/4/2019

Prisoner of Mobius

"…ey… ake up…"

He remembered what happened six months ago. But it was hard for him to replay the memories because his senses were fuzzy. His vision was hazy, and he had no idea where he was.

"…Please, wake up…"

That voice sounded an awful lot like his own voice. How was that possible? He adjusted his eyes to see where he was. The area was bright and colorful. It was as though someone was throwing a party. Then, he turned his eyes and saw floating squares of the listed colors flying around him.

"What the heck?" he moaned, as he started to get up. "What is this place?"

Hero of Mobius: Sonic the Hedgehog awoken from his coma and found himself in a digital-like world with floating platforms and cyan/white cubes that shot across the black sky. Almost the entire world was infested with colored squares. He was standing on a purple platform with blue and red shadows.

Walking forward, Sonic rubbed his head and his vision became clear again.

"Tails?... Knuckles?... Amy?" Sonic shouted into the air; his voice echoed loudly. "Silver?... Blaze?... Chaotix?... Hello?"

Nobody answered him; he was alone.

Well, except for a lone figure that stood in the distance.

Sonic saw him and identified him as the jackal that bombed Freedom Heights: Infinite. Said jackal was standing far from him; Sonic saw him from his backside. Getting flashbacks of what happened six months prior, Sonic slapped his fist against his palm, as he started to charge at the canine.

But before he could rev up, somebody grabbed him and pulled him aside.

Sonic grabbed the person by the shoulder and held him back, as he prepared to punch him. But he suddenly stopped once he saw who it was. He was looking at himself, only he was wearing red, yellow, and green armor. He had red wings on top of his head. The Sonic clone pulled up his green visor and smiled at his counterpart.

"What's up, Sonic?" he greeted. "About time you woke up. I was afraid you'd be trapped in Virtual Reality forever."

Sonic released his doppelganger. "Why, hello there, handsome… wait a second, Virtual Reality?"

"It's a long story," said the armored hedgehog. "First…" He reached into a holster on his side and took out a blaster. Cocking the weapon, he shot a blast of blue energy at Infinite, blowing him into red cubes. Sonic gasped and stood back.

"It's okay," the Sonic clone said. "He was an illusion. But he isn't the only one around here."

"Who are you?" Sonic asked.

"My name is Zonic the Zone Cop. I come from the No Zone to inform you that your world is in danger."

And Zonic told his Mobius Prime counterpart everything. Every little detail that summed up how the Phantom Ruby wound up in Dr. Eggman's possession.

"So, that's how Egghead got his greasy fingers on the Phantom Ruby," Sonic snarled, as he clapped his fists together. "When I get my hands on Baldy McNosehair, he's gonna- "

"Save the fighting for later," Zonic said, calming the hero down. "First, you need to get out of here."

"Yeah, before I go," Sonic shrugged his shoulders. "May I ask, if you that I survived the explosion, why didn't you show up in my zone sooner? You could have helped diffuse the bomb."

"I was about to head down to your zone to fix everything," Zonic explained. "But because of the Phantom Ruby's pulse, my home was overrun by a green hedgehog that looked just like you. He said something about wanting to expand his empire."

Sonic cocked his head to the side.

"But that's a story for another day," Zonic said. "You need to wake up."

"How?" Sonic asked. "It's not like I could just pinch myself, so that I'll wake up."

Zonic rolled his eyes until he snapped his fingers; a grin painted across his face. He reached into his holster and pulled out his gun. He aimed it at Sonic. To which, the hedgehog jumped back.

"Whoa, dude! Whaddya doing!?" Sonic shouted.

"This may sting a little, but it's the only way to wake you up," Zonic nodded. He placed on his visor. "Hold still, this might… oh, no."

"What's the matter?"

The armored mammal pointed over the blue blur's shoulder. The latter looked in that direction and saw that another illusion of Infinite was behind him; his whole body was surrounded by red cubes. On his wrists were two swords made of said cubes. Both hedgehogs gulped, as the Zone Cop raised his blaster. (1)

"Move!" Zonic shouted, as Infinite boosted foward and shot his cubes at them. With their super speed, both Sonics leaped out of the way and found themselves chased around by the cubes. Infinite raised his arms and snapped his fingers, causing the cubes to transform into giant hands.

Zonic pulled the trigger and shot multiple lasers, but Infinite shielded himself and fired back at the cop. Sonic ran over and pushed the Zone Cop out of the way. Both hedgehogs suddenly curled into a spin dash and rushed against the purple ground. They both jumped up and homing attacked Infinite's face. Sonic grabbed onto the jackal's dreadlocks and yanked them down, causing the illusion to scream. Zonic lunged forward and kicked the jackal in the chest. He pressed his gun against his chest and shot him; his whole body turned into a set of cubes.

But the battle wasn't over yet.

Flowing around like a squadron of insects, the cubes transformed back into hands and started punching the ground, making an earthquake. Both hedgehogs jumped up whenever the hands smacked the ground, as they attacked them with brute force.

But even with their combined strength, Virtual Reality was too powerful.

"Shoot, man!" Sonic said. "How much of a hit can these blocks take?"

"We're stuck inside Virtual Reality," Zonic said. "In here, we have no control over anything!" He shot projectiles before rolling to the side. Sonic hopped over one of the hands and stomped on it in his ball form. The two hedgehogs began running away from the cubes at rapid speed, but the blocks miraculously caught up to them.

"Seriously?" Sonic shouted in annoyance, as he and Zonic jumped to opposite sides and heard a loud crash against the ground. The two regrouped and attacked the virtual monster together, but they still weren't powerful enough to take it down. "Come on, man! Just stay down already!... Great, I'm talking to giant cubes! That's how insane I've gotten!"

Zonic shot at the cubes before he glanced at Sonic; he had the get him out of here because the real world needed him, the people needed him, his family needed him. Aiming his gun, he noticed that Sonic was looking right at him.

Sonic shook his hands in fear. "No, wait!"

BAM! (1s)

Sonic shot awake with a loud gasp. He took several heavy breaths before he found out where he was located. He was locked inside of a healing chamber in a storage room. The glass he looked through wasn't as clear as it should be, but Sonic could tell what was inside the closet. Shelves of boxes full of supplies were plastered all over the walls. Boxes with labels that read, "Selfies," "Infinite's Toast," "Shadow's Hopes and Dreams," and "Zavok's Cupcakes."

Cringing at all the labels, Sonic tried to lift his arm up so he could open the door, but he felt as if something pinched that part of his body. In fact, he felt sore all over.

He figured that being in a coma took a lot out of him and the lack of exercise made his body ache.

Pushing against the glass with his hands, he put all his strength into his efforts, but he was too exhausted to do anything. As a solution, he flexed his shoulders and bent his knees a bit, trying to restore circulation in his body. Twitching his toes and fingers, most of his body was healing.

But just as he cracked open the chamber, he heard voices on the other side.

Gasping, he pulled the glass door closed and pretended to sleep.

The door opened and Shadow the Hedgehog entered with Rouge the Bat and E-123 Omega. The latter was wearing an apron that said, "Chef Omega" and he had a hat that said the same thing.

"SHADOW," Omega said. "WHY DID YOU TAKE ME AWAY FROM THE CAFETERIA? I WAS SERVING CUPCAKES TO ALL THE WORKERS."

"I need to talk to you two," Shadow replied. Sonic opened one eye and saw Team Dark talking. "I… I tried to talk to Tails and Amy this morning. They were in Mobotropolis."

"Let me guess, they wiped the floor with you?" Rouge smirked.

"No need to rub it in!" Shadow snarled.

"Well, I did tell you talking to them directly was a bad idea. You basically betrayed them six months ago," Rouge replied.

"Let's not forget that we're all part of this! You may not have been there during the bombing, but all three of agreed to 'serve under the Eggman Empire.' "

Sonic noticed Shadow's quote-on-quote motion.

"And I told you that I hate it!" Rouge retorted. "We've spent most of our time in this stupid space station, doing nothing but boss around prisoners that we should be saving!"

"I told you that we're going to save them, but we need to wait for the right time!" Shadow yelled.

"WOULD ANY OF YOU LIKE SOME CUPCAKES?" Omega asked, as he reached behind him and pulled out a tray of cupcakes. "I BAKED THEM WITH LOVE."

Sonic cringed at the new Omega. Why was he acting this way?

Shadow pulled out a box from the shelf that was filled with sand. "Omega, count how much sand is in this box."

"OKAY," the formerly destructive robot replied. "ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE-"

"Now, why would you make him do that?" Rouge asked.

"It's to keep him occupied," Shadow replied. "Back on topic, not only did Chaos and I fail at our attempts of peace, but we also discovered something new. There was another Sonic in Mobotropolis."

Sonic's eyes widened.

"What do you mean another Sonic?" Rouge asked.

"TEN, ELEVEN, TWELVE, THIRTEEN," Omega continued counting.

"Some portal opened up and a small Sonic appeared. I'm not sure what happened next, but just as Chaos and I got back to the Death Egg, we discovered something on the map. Apparently, new zones no one's seen before appeared on the surface."

"Where did they come from?" Rouge inquired.

"I'm not sure,"

Rouge walked over to Sonic's chamber; the hedgehog pretended to sleep.

"We need to get him back home, Shadow," Rouge said with a stern tone. "The Secret Strikers need him."

"We'll get caught if we try to sneak him out," Shadow said, as he approached the "unconscious" hedgehog. Speaking of which, Sonic shot his eyes open and kicked the glass door open; he blasted through and kicked Shadow in the face while glass shards dropped on the floor. Sonic grabbed Shadow by his chest fur and growled. (2)

"This is for Freedom Heights!" Sonic punched Shadow in the face before kicking him against the wall. Rouge intervened to calm him down, but Sonic tripped her off her feet by sweeping her heels. She landed on her back. Omega turned around and saw the hedgehog fighting his friends.

Sonic locked eyes with Omega.

"WOULD YOU LIKE A CUPCAKE?" the robot asked gently.

Kindly taking one, Sonic ate the cupcake and kicked down the door. He ran outside and down the hall.

Shadow and Rouge got up and ran out the door. They grabbed Omega by his apron and pulled him with them.

As he ran down the hall, Sonic realized that he was locked in a familiar place. He was trapped inside Dr. Eggman's deadliest fortress: The Death Egg. A fortress he's wrecked too many times to count. From the time he helped Knuckles get the Master Emerald back to the time Sonic and Tails infiltrated it when Metal Sonic returned for the millionth time, Sonic has had a fair share of experience in this space station.

The Deadly Six, who were talking about getting their revenge on Sonic for humiliating them on the Lost Hex, watched as the hedgehog ran by them. But there was something odd about Sonic's running speed; he wasn't going as fast as he should be. He was just running at normal speed.

Taking a bite of a chicken leg, Zomom pointed out the hedgehog. "Hey! That little blue guy's escaping!"

"He's awake!" Zavok shouted in panic. He rushed to the alarm and smashed it with his fist. An obnoxious wail filled the entire space station which forced Sonic to cover his ears.

The six Zeti chased after him; their footsteps echoed.

Sonic turned around and saw that the Deadly Six were catching up to him, which shouldn't be.

He looked down at his speed and increased his accelerations, but for some reason, he wasn't going any faster than he was. What the heck is going on here!? Why am I not going fast!?

BUMP!

The blue hedgehog wound up bumping into Metal Sonic's back. The latter turned around and extended his claws. Swatting at his doppelganger, Metal kicked the hedgehog to the ground and tried to stab him, bit Sonic swept Metal off his feet. He then dodged an attack from Zazz before rolling underneath Zomom's ground pound.

Master Zik chucked his staff at him, but he missed because Sonic caught it and smacked the old Zeti on his head.

Zeena raced towards the hedgehog in an attempt to grab him, but Rouge "accidentally" tripped her on her feet. "Hey!" the green Zeti snarled.

"Oops," Rouge chuckled, cupping her hand over her mouth.

Shadow and Omega arrived on the scene, watching Sonic fight off the Deadly Six and Metal.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me!" Shadow snarled. He and Rouge tried to get involved in the fight.

Zomom grabbed the blue hedgehog and allowed his brother, Zavok to uppercut him. Sonic shot into the ceiling and grabbed one of the pipes above. Metal flew up there and landed on the pipe with his feet. Sonic gasped and started climbing upward as fast as he could; he didn't know where he was going, but he needed to get away from here. Metal jumped up and tried to scratch him, but all he did was leave claw marks on the walls. Sonic kicked Metal across the face, just as Shadow teleported to his location. He grabbed Sonic and teleported back to the ground. To which, Sonic kicked him across the face.

Rouge swooped from above and grabbed Sonic by his arms, flipping him over in the process. Tumbling across the metal floor, Sonic recovered and fired a punch at Rouge. She blocked it and trapped him in an arm-lock.

"Take an easy, Big Blue," she whispered in his ear. "We're not your enemies."

"Really?" Sonic said sarcastically. "Says the one who let Freedom Heights get bombed!"

Stepping on Rouge's foot, Sonic kicked her to the side and jumped over Chaos, who heard the ruckus and came to attack. Zavok and the Deadly Six ambushed the hedgehog and started beating him up. Shadow "accidentally" grabbed the Zazz and Zeena and threw them off Sonic.

"What's your problem, dude!?" Zazz snarled.

"Sorry, but I want a piece of the action!" Shadow retorted. Sonic bounced back up and fended off the remaining Zeti and Shadow. But as he made a run for the hallway, Infinite showed up and smacked the hero across the face. Sonic landed on the ground and looked into the eyes of the jackal.

"YOU!" Sonic howled at the top of his lungs. He tackled the jackal and began punching his face. "YOU. BOMBED. MY. HOME!"

Infinite blocked Sonic's attack and shot him in the chest with an energy blast from the Phantom Ruby. Landing, back-first, against the wall, Sonic fell on his stomach and tried to get back up. It was at that moment where he noticed that something was wrapped around his gloves; light-blue Inhibitor Rings aka the reason why he wasn't going fast.

"Where'd these come from?" he asked himself, as he tried to yank them off. Infinite lashed out his claws and approached the hedgehog. Sonic got up to land a punch, but the Inhibitor Rings on him started glowing. Soon enough, they stopped him by electrocuting him. "ARRRRRRRRRRGH!"

Infinite stopped, as the hedgehog fell on his back. (2s)

"That's enough, Infinite!" Someone called from behind; it was Dr. Eggman himself. He, Orbot, and Cubot walked to the weakened hedgehog. The rest of the Illusionary Legion stood around their boss. Sonic slowly got up and sat down on his rear end. "Well, look who decided to wake up. I didn't think you'd escape that Virtual Reality simulator I placed you in."

Sonic got up on his feet. Metal and Zavok grabbed his arms and pinned him down on his knees. Trying to shake them off, Sonic grunted and growled, as Dr. Eggman bent down to his level.

"Six months in a coma and you've finally awaken," he chuckled. "Who would have thought?"

Infinite scoffed since he was the one who created that virtual world. He prayed Sonic wouldn't escape, but he somehow did. How did he escape my illusions?

"What have you done, Eggman!?" Sonic inquired with a demanding shout.

Dr. Eggman leaned upward and explained. "Why, I've conquered all of Mobius thanks to the Atomic Bomb powered by the Phantom Ruby. And boy, I tell ya, I didn't expect it to work! I mean, I knew it was going to go off but due to the many failures it went through during testing, I didn't think it would work in Freedom Heights! But back to the point, using the Phantom Ruby's power, I have taken over all of Mobius!"

"No!" Sonic shouted. "You're lying! My friends would have stopped you!"

"Friends?" Dr. Eggman sneered, getting close to his enemy's face. "What friends? Last time I checked… they died in the explosion."

Sonic's heart jumped when he heard that. There's no way his friends could be dead.

"Nice try, Egghead," Sonic smirked. "But my friends are still around. Shadow and Rouge were just talking about them."

Dr. Eggman glared at Team Dark; the three agents glanced at each other.

"We were discussing ways to defeat them, Doctor," Shadow replied. "We were unaware he was listening to our conversation."

"The Secret Strikers are nothing against us," Rouge grinned. "Especially because they have a bozo leader like Knuckles."

"Cute, Rouge," Sonic shot a wink. "Is that anyway to treat your boyfriend?"

Rouge back-slapped the hedgehog's face. "Shut it, hero!"

"What are we going to do now that he's awake?" Infinite asked. "You gonna torture him? Beat him to a pulp? Have Chaos suffocate him? Show him painful illusions that will make him scream? Oh, the possibilities are… Infinite!"

Metal's red eyes turned to the jackal. "Tell me you're not proud of that joke."

"Whoa, whoa, take an easy, Infinite," Dr. Eggman said to the jackal. "All of that stuff is too cliché… and a little morbid. I have something else planned. Deadly Six, take him to the theater room!"

"Theater room?" Sonic yelled in query, as the six Zeti grabbed him and carried him down the hall. "Hey! Put me down, you Koopaling knockoffs! Where are you taking me!?"

Dr. Eggman, Infinite, Chaos, and Metal followed behind. But Shadow tapped the doctor on the shoulder.

"Um… what exactly are you gonna show him in there?" Shadow asked.

Dr. Eggman whispered. "You'll see."

The Deadly Six kicked the door opened and entered the room. Sonic found himself being taken into a large movie theater with dozens of chairs in several rows. Zomom and Zazz laughed at the hedgehog because they were well aware of what he was about to watch. Master Zik smacked them both upside their heads while Zor just moaned like he always does. Zeena was checking out her nails to make sure they weren't broken and Zavok was just dying to see the hedgehog get what he deserved.

Zavok sat him down in a soft, red chair and held him down. Sonic scrammed in his seat like a little kid, as Zazz got out duct tape and wrapped it around the hedgehog's body.

"Enjoy the movie," Zor said, emotionless. "Cause I didn't."

Zazz finished tying the hedgehog up, as he and his family went out of the theater. Zavok was the last one to leave.

"See you later, Hedgehog," he sneered before he closed the door.

In another room, Dr. Eggman and the rest of his legion gathered around a control panel; a large film projector stood next to it. Dr. Eggman reached into a drawer and pulled out a roll of film. He placed it into the projector and pressed a button; the film started rolling.

Shadow and Rouge exchanged curious glances. What was Dr. Eggman putting on?

Down below, Sonic squirmed in his chair until he saw something pop up on the screen.

"SONIC THE HEDGEHOG TRAILER STARTS NOW."

"What the?" Sonic asked, wondering what the words on the screen meant.

Suddenly, the trailer opened up with a shot of a road sitting in the middle of the grasslands. There was a police car parked next to a welcome post that read, "Welcome to Green Hills." Sonic wondered what he was watching when he suddenly watched a blue flash fly past the cop car.

The officer inside woke up from his nap and checked his speedometer; he noticed that whatever the object was went at seven-hundred and sixty miles.

"What the?" the officer said, as he looked towards the movie camera.

Sonic cocked an eyebrow and called out, "Eggman!? Is this some kind of crime movie you're showing me?"

Looking back at the screen, Sonic saw the officer pick up what looked to be a blue needle with matching colored electricity running down it. The blue hedgehog raised an eyebrow because that almost looked like his fur.

He then watched the movie's publisher pop up on screen before it transitioned to a fast-paced, first person view of a character running through the forest. The camera spun out of control until it angeled down inside a hole. A blue puffball landed on top of a red sack, as the shadow of its true form walked across the screen. Sonic saw that the creature had a collection of burnt-up shoes in the background. Then, the blue fuzzball started messing around with a radio. He popped in a cassette tape and played a song about a gangster living in paradise.

Extending his eyes, Sonic saw something he didn't expect to see.

He was looking at the creature in full form; it looked just like him. Only it was oddly textured, and he had a butt-load of quills on his back and his head. He had white-furred hands and he wore red sneakers with laces on them. Sonic looked down at his shoes, trying to compare them to the ones in the trailer; they looked nothing alike.

Just then, the blue creature got down into a running position; lightning started to surge from his feet to his face. Speaking of which, Sonic looked at his movie version's eyes and started to freak out.

"Gotta go fast," the Sonic from the movie said.

"GAH! What is that thing!?" the real deal shouted, as the movie Sonic smirked at the camera; his eyes were glowing blue. The furry abomination ran across the road until it caused a sonic boom, which made the screen black out for one second.

Then, the scene jumped to an office room, where a bunch of government officials are talking.

"Twenty minutes ago," said the commander. "An energy surge knocked down power across the entire Pacific-Northwest. We need someone who can figure out exactly what we're dealing with."

Just them, the trailer's scene changed to a military camp where a black truck pulled up to the middle. A soldier looked at it and watched as a man dressed in a black coat jumped out. He had black glasses, a fancy toupee, and thin, smooth mustache. Sonic cringed at all of this, as he felt like he was going to puke.

"Oh, god," he said. "I think I'm gonna be sick!"

Sonic looked back up and saw a title that showed this "movie's" release date.

It then cut to a scene where the cop from before kicked down the door to a barn. "SSPD!" he shouted. Sonic assumed that meant Station Square Police Department. The cop in the trailer turned the flashlight and pointed at something in the corner. It was Movie Sonic and he looked just as ugly as he did before. He had blue arms and his face didn't look like his real counterpart's. But the worse thing about him… was his teeth. His stomach was a whitish/tannish color and his eyes were creepily realistic.

Sonic didn't know what to think about this other. He felt absolute horror rain down his spine. His knees buckled, his hands shook, his quills shivered, and his heart pumped at a rapid rate.

His feet tapped on the ground, creating a small echo throughout the theater.

His fingers were shaking.

His nose twitched.

And his jaw dropped to the ground.

"Uh… meow?" said the movie Sonic, as he tried to give what didn't look like a smile, but it seemed like one.

The cop screamed.

Movie Sonic screamed back.

And the real Sonic lost his sanity. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! GET… ME… OUT OF HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Watching that trailer felt interminable, despite the fact it was only two minutes long. Sonic the Hedgehog had been taken back to his prison cell in the Death Egg. The blue Inhibitor Rings were still on his hands and he was laying against the wall.

Aside from feeling scared after what he went through, he felt guilty. Mobius was taken over by the Eggman Empire, something he's been preventing since he was a youngling. It felt just like yesterday he was running around Green Hill Zone, bashing Badniks and freeing animals from metal cages. And it felt like a day ago when he and Dr. Eggman exchanged hateful eyes for the first time.

If he were talking right now, Sonic would say that it was hate at first fight.

Since that day, Sonic's been thwarting the forces of Dr. Eggman ever since.

Perfect Chaos, Project: Emerl, the Eclipse Cannon, the Lost Hex, Time Eater, everything.

And Sonic has always saved the day… six months ago was different.

He thought he could save everyone by diffusing the bomb, but for once in his life, he failed. Dr. Eggman had finally won and achieved his life-long goal; to expand his empire over the planet. Sonic didn't feel like he was going to burst out into tears because he lost, but he did feel bad that he let everyone down. But of course, being the true-blue hero he still is, he was more than determined to get out of this cell and rescue his home.

It was in trouble and he was in no position to rescue it.

But he was in position to listen to his cellmate talk.

She was a yellow mongoose with a violet tank top with black stripes on the front, and a skirt that matched her green and violet shoes. Her name was Mina: lead singer of Mobius' famous musical group, The Forget Me Knots. She was talking about what happened during Eggman's coup.

"I felt just like yesterday," she began with a low sigh. "Breezie hired us to play for her fundraiser campaign and I got nervous. I always get stage fright before a big event, but my boyfriend, Ash… he always calms me down by telling me to just go out there and have fun… then he gives me a hug, a kiss, and wishes me luck… as we finished our second song… Eggman came, telling us all that you were dead."

Sonic turned his head upward, watching Mina lean over the side of her bunk bed; she sat on the bottom.

"Trying to be like you and the other Freedom Fighters, I fought off his forces to the best of my ability; my friends helped me out in the process… but sadly… they got us. They captured the band and I, but they took Ash and threw him someplace else," Mina shed a small tear; it dripped down her cheek and fell on the floor. "For six months… I haven't seen my boyfriend's face… I haven't held him in my arms since my last concert…"

The mongoose wiped her eyes. "I try to remember the good times we had just to keep myself from crying… heh, one of our favorite things to do together was to sit down and watch movies. Our personal favorite was when this kid is sent back in time thanks to this time machine built inside a car."

"I remember that movie," Sonic smiled. "That one's a classic. The sequels, not so much."

"I know, right," Mina replied with a chuckle. "Whenever we'd go to sleep, I'd always dream of building that car and giving to him as a gift for being there for me. I'd picture us driving around aimlessly, meeting people from various timelines."

"So, you basically dream of screwing up the timeline?" Sonic said with a snark in his comment.

"Oh, hush!" Mina laughed before her smile turned back into a frown. "I wish a time machine like that was real… I could go back and save him from this mess."

Sonic got up from the ground and sat next to Mina on her bed. She got up and he placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Listen, Mina," he said. "I know our chances of escaping aren't high right now, but I promise… I'm gonna get us out of here and we're gonna look for your boyfriend together."

Mina's teary eyes looked into his emerald green eyes. Sonic wiped the tears off her face and gave her a tender smile.

It was at that moment where the mongoose gave the hedgehog a hug. She wiped her tears away and smiled.

"Thank you, Sonic," she whispered. "I needed that."

Sonic hugged her back. "You're welcome. Tears are way past uncool in my book."

Just then, someone was clapping in the cell across from them. Sonic and Mina released each other and turned around. They saw lead guitarist of the Forget Me Knots: Max the Monkey slowly clapping, as Shadow the Hedgehog, E-123 Omega, and Rouge the Bat entered the prison. Many civilians who have been imprisoned stared at them and started murmuring harsh insults.

Drummer: Mach the Rabbit turned away from the agents' faces.

Bassist: Sharps the Chicken shook his head, as he tuned his guitar.

"Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for the traitors themselves, Team Dark!" Max said in a rude manner. "They see all!"

Shadow and Rouge grunted at the brown monkey's comment.

"Just don't ask them for any promises," Max said, as he slammed his hand against the bars. "Chances are they'll break em'!"

"Come up with something original for once, Max," Rouge replied. "You've been using that remark for months."

Mina folded her arms, as Team Dark approached her cell. "You three have some nerve coming down here."

"Darn," Sonic said. "She beat me by one second."

"I BROUGHT CUPCAKES," Omega said, holding up a tray of cupcakes.

"May we talk to you?" Shadow asked.

"Absolutely, not!" the mongoose replied.

"Not you, dancing queen, him." Rouge said, pointing to Sonic.

"Buzz off, you two!" Mina folded her arms. "He doesn't feel like talking to traitors like you!"

Sonic smiled and placed a hand on Mina's shoulder again. "It's okay, Mina. I can handle these jokers."

The mongoose was unsure at first, but she decided to let her hero talk to the villains. She walked back to her bed and laid down, listening to the conversation.

Sonic pressed his arm against the bars and gave a smile to Shadow and Rouge… right before he snapped. "Are you out of your minds!? Do you not realize what you've done!?"

Shadow closed his eyes. "Sonic, let me explain- "

"My friends and I worked hard to diffuse that bomb in Freedom Heights! We were counting on you to help us, but no! You just sat there and watched the city blow up! I can't believe you would betray us like this! Shadow, I can understand, but you too, Rouge!?"

"I know it's hard for you to understand, Big Blue," Rouge said. "But hear us out- "

"How the heck can I hear you two out after what you've done!? Also, what on Mobius was that trailer Eggman showed me!? Was that real!? Tell me that's fake! Because I swear, if that movie was made by Breezie the Hedgehog's movie company, I'm gonna- "

"Will you shut up and relax for one second!?" Shadow snarled. The blue hedgehog finally relaxed. Shadow pressed his hand against his face, letting out a deep breath. "I know you're mad at us and you have every right to be, but you need to understand why we're doing this. Rouge, why don't you tell him."

Rouge nodded, as Sonic folded his arms. "Two months prior to the invasion, Shadow, Omega, and I were sent on a recon mission because one of our soldiers reported Dr. Eggman got some new recruits. So, we check the place out and we wound up getting caught by a jackal named Infinite. He trapped us in Virtual Reality and showed all kinds of weird stuff."

"He told us he'd stop if we agreed to join Eggman's empire," Shadow added. "So, we 'did.' "

Sonic raised an eyebrow because he saw Shadow use quote-on-quote motions with his fingers.

"Shortly after we joined, we contacted Commander Tower and told him we were planning to find out Eggman's plan, so we could put a stop to it." Rouge continued.

Shadow shook his head. "But seeing as how we're here right now, you can assume how well that plan went."

Sonic rolled his eyes.

"So, now," Shadow added again. "We're still keeping a watch on Eggman to see if he's planning anything else. If you're wondering what happened to Omega… well, Eggman had to rewire his programming. So, that he doesn't go on a rampage and blow up all his Badniks."

Omega offered more prisoners cupcakes. Mach took one a bit into it.

"I MADE THEM WITH LOVE," Omega said.

Mach spit out the frosting. "And it's been iced with lard!"

"LARD EQUALS HUG FLAVOR."

"Two things," Sonic said. "One, what's Egghead up to? Second, who are the Secret Strikers who talked about in the closet?"

Shadow answered. "To answer your first question, we don't know what Eggman's up to. Secondly, the Secret Strikers are a band of Freedom Fighters lead by Knuckles."

Sonic gasped in shock.

"They consist of your friends who fought in the invasion," Shadow said again.

The blue hedgehog stepped back and cheered in excitement. Mina Mongoose did the same thing, as she gave the hero another hug. Max, Mach, and Sharps got up from their beds and danced in happiness. Everyone was happy to know there was a resistance re-lighting hope within Mobius and its people.

Rouge smiled at Sonic's happiness; Shadow just blankly stared.

The dancing came to a stop once Sonic gripped the bars and said, "All right, guys! Now all you gotta do is let me Outta here, so I can find my friends and Mina's boyfriend! Whaddya say? Come on, let us out of here!"

Shadow and Rouge shared a look.

"Sorry, Big Blue," Rouge said. "Can't do that."

And the good feeling was gone.

"WHAT!?" Sonic shouted. "Why!?"

"It's not that easy," Rouge replied. "If we let you out of here, we'll risk blowing our cover."

"Oh, come on!" Sonic retorted.

"We have a plan to get you out of here," Rouge said. She, Shadow, and Omega started to walk off. "But that's a story for another day."

Sonic slammed the bars with his fists. "Wait, come back here! Where are you going!? Shadow! Rouge! Omega!... can you at least tell me if that trailer was real?"

The armored chameleon was the first to speak. "My name is Zespio and this is my partner, Zector. We come from the No Zone to find Sonic the Hedgehog."

Lil' Blue smirked and walked to the cops with a kind gesture. "That would be me," he chuckled. "What can I do for you fellas? Autograph? You want your picture taken with me?"

"Not you, Shorty," Zector said. "We're looking for the Mobius Prime's Sonic."

Everyone looked at the crocodile, addlebrained.

"The one from this world," Zector clarified his statement.

Tails pressed his hands together and spoke to the cops, "Hate to break it to you guys, but you're six months too late. He's gone."

"Impossible," Zespio shook his head. "Our schematics confirm that he is alive and well."

Amy raised an eyebrow. "N-no, he's not. He was caught in the Atomic Bomb's explosion."

"He was, yes," Zespio said. "But he survived. Records show he landed in Green Hill Zone and was taken by the Illusionary Legion."

Tails gasped, as he cupped his hands together. Could his real brother be alive?

"Even if he is alive, why are you looking for him?" Knuckles asked.

"I was going to tell you all this when he was here, but I might as well tell you now," Zespio nodded. "There has been a collapse in the multiverse thanks to the power of the Phantom Ruby. You see, in the dimension known as the Mania Zone, Dr. Robotnik discovered a gemstone on Angel Island that could manipulate space and time. Not too long after, a collision between the Chaos Emeralds and the Phantom Ruby occurred, causing an interdimensional portal to open."

Lil' Blue gulped because he was the one who unintentionally caused that.

Zespio took a breath. "When the ruby was sucked inside, it pulsed huge amounts of energy that caused several anomalies in multiple dimensions. The No Zone included."

"Would that explain why landmarks from Lil' Blue's world showed up in ours?" Espio asked.

"Yes. Dimensions have been reported to be merging with one another," Zespio replied. "But I'm not sure why it took so long to affect your world."

"It's probably because the cause of all of this showed up here just today!" Zector said, pointing at Lil' Blue.

"Who, me?" Lil' Blue snarled. "What did I do?"

Zespio approached him. "Sonic, you were in your Super Form when you collided with the Phantom Ruby, correct?"

"I… maybe… I… what!?" Lil' Blue stuttered. "Yes, but… h-how did you guys know that!? Who are you!?"

"We told ya," Zector replied. "We're Zector and Zespio; we're Zone Cops from the No Zone. Our job is to make sure all zones are on a balance and aren't overrun by other zones."

"I hate to make false conclusions," Relic raised a finger. "But by that logic, are you saying the Phantom Ruby originated from the Mania Zone and that it being here would count as an invasion?"

"I would have worded it differently, but yep," Zector nodded.

Tails rubbed his head in anxiety. Not even his own brain could register such information. "This is all so much! The Phantom Ruby comes from another dimension, Lil' Blue is the cause of it being here, and- "

"Hey! Wait a minute, are we really blaming all this on me!?" the young hedgehog started to get defensive. He poked both Zone Cops in their chests. "Look, 'officers!' It's not my fault I opened a portal to another dimension and caused the multiverse to go nuts! I was just trying to super boost into the Phantom Ruby and cause some way past cool explosion or something!"

Tails huffed and folded his arms. "Yeah, nice job thinking with your head there, Shorty."

"Tails, knock it off," Amy grunted.

Knuckles slammed his fists together. "Enough!"

The Secret Strikers remained quiet. Lil' Blue relaxed.

Walking to both officers, Knuckles asked them, "So, your schematics say Sonic's alive?"

Both Zone Cops nodded.

"Where is he?"

"We're not sure," Zespio replied. "One of our officers is looking for him."

Just then, Zonic the Hedgehog popped out of the same Warp Ring his partners came out of. Said partners turned to him and saluted. The Zone Cop took off his helmet to reveal his true-blue face. Everyone gasped at how identical he was to the Mobius Prime counterpart. He was so identical that Amy ran up to him and tackled him with a hug.

"Oh, Sonic!" she cried. "You're alive! Thank goodness you're okay!"

Zonic tapped her on the shoulder and came out with the truth. He did smile awkwardly in the process. "Eh, sorry to break it to you, Miss Rose. But I'm not the Sonic you think I am. My name is Zonic: Lead Officer of the Zone Cops."

Embarrassed, Amy released him. "Oh… hehe… s-sorry."

Zonic winked, as his partners approached him.

"Officer Zonic," Zespio said. "Welcome back. How was Virtual Reality?"

"Eh, freaky as it always was. But I did find something, or should I say someone."

The Secret Strikers had the same reaction as one another; they all gasped.

Zonic smiled and proudly said to the team. "Sonic the Hedgehog is alive. But you all must hurry… For he is in deep trouble."

END OF CHAPTER 11

Sonic the Hedgehog is alive, but how long does he have until Dr. Eggman reveals his true plans for him? The Secret Strikers have gained an upper hand thanks to the Zone Cops, but they need to hurry if they wish to save their friend in time. Can they rescue him before it's too late? Find out as the new members of Team Feral Strike are put to the test in...

"Chapter 12: Space Port Raid."

POST-A/N:

While I didn't read much of the old Archie Sonic Comics, Mina Mongoose and her bandmates are some of my favorite characters in those comics. I like her design, her personality, and a lot of other things I could go in about. But this chapter's already as long as it is. That, and I just updated my Mario story today so... yeah.

Was it too soon to make a Sonic trailer joke?

Zonic is also another one of my favorite characters.

As always, thanks for taking the time to read this chapter. Don't forget to tell me what you like and what needs to be improved. I'm the Sensational SpiderDom321 and I'll see you all next time!

~SD321 (SpiderDom321)