Tails, Yacker, and I climbed aboard the Egg Shuttle once more, without a destination and still rattled about what had happened with Tails. Tails himself had brushed the incident off pretty easily…but that didn't mean I had.

"Sonic, you can quit eyeballing me. I am one hundred percent myself again," Tails stated without even looking up at me, far more interested in configuring some software on the Miles Electric. Still, somehow he must have sensed my stare aimed at him.

"…sorry," I stammered after an awkward silence, forcing myself to stop studying him closely. "I'm just…"

"I know," Tails responded quietly, pulling his face away from the machine. "It was a really weird feeling though... like every fiber of my being was under Eggman's beck and call…"

"Sounds more like a nightmare than just 'weird' to me," I grumbled under my breath. "He's just lucky that robotic space whale of his bailed him out…otherwise if it were up to me, I'd…I'd…I'd…"

I'd realize that I had no idea what I would do.

I threw my hands up and leaned back in my seat in a huff, disgruntledly shaking my head.

"…I just don't know if I can deal with him anymore."

Yacker couldn't understand what I'd said, but he could understand the tone, and retaliated by lowering himself down and patted my head. I smiled a bit as Tails scooted closer to me.

"You can still always…you know…rid him from the world for good?" He suggested it airily, although I knew he was trying to convey a darker point. I violently shook my head.

"We've talked about this. That's not the way I'd want to end things," I stated with a hard tone, and Tails bit his lip.

"Well, the only other thing we could do is get him to turn over a new leaf…for good?"

"Ha," I snorted. "Last time we thought that happened, it turned out he had a hidden armada in his base for a 'just in case' emergency…and one of his robots ended up taking it over."

Tails bore a frown as his ears drooped. "Well, we're stuck with Eggman then…"

"I can contain him," I assured, staring forward. Tails couldn't help but roll his eyes at that one, which Yacker mocked over his shoulder.

"If I had a ring for every time I heard that one, I'd have infinite lives."

"I can!" I insisted. "I just…lost track of him after Dark Gaia tossed him out of the core of planet. Clearly he was busy kidnapping planets, which means I couldn't have stopped him beforehand anyway…"

"I'm glad you've finally realized that, so maybe now you can stop blaming yourself for how out of hand this has all gotten," Tails stated. I playfully nudged his shoulder.

"Yes, well, if you had believed me about how Eggman obviously had a scheme planned at the start-"

"I didn't even know the placed belonged to Eggman until we got in the elevator. We both didn't!" Tails defended. "And we didn't even know it was an amusement pa-"

His sentence was cut off brutally as his gaze suddenly locked on the window, freezing up completely in awed horror. I caught his gaze and tried to follow where it was aimed at, but Yacker did it for me, throwing himself at the window and promptly freaking out.

"What the-? What's up with you two?" I asked, fighting to see out of the window. Tails looked completely beside himself, far more disturbed at whatever he saw than he was at his own mind possession, which kind of alarmed me. I thought Yacker was losing it with the way he pounded his tentacles against the glass, but I finally pried him away and took a look for myself.

And I felt my quills sharpen in anger.

Our shuttle landed shortly after that, with Tails breaking out of his invisible trance and chancing a glance at me. I appeared placid and calm –at least, I hoped I did- and I think my only tells to my true emotion were my sharpened quills and my angrily shaking fist.

"Sonic-?" Tails had tried to say, but I stopped him there, knowing what he was going to attempt to say.

"I could've prevented this-!"

"No you couldn't have!" Tails exasperated, grabbing my arm. "We just went over this! Eggman was in space, and we didn't know where he was, or what he was doing…there's nothing we could've done!"

I glanced at Yacker again, who was pressed against the window less voraciously this time, and his eye lowered melancholically as he gazed upon his homeworld. I bit my lip and clenched my fist tighter.

"This is unforgiveable, Tails…and there's no excuses!"

"And it's not your fault if it's Eggman's!" Tails exclaimed. "Please, Sonic, what's done has been done, and the only way it's going to get better is if we keep level-heads and try to fix this."

The shuttle doors opened; I wrenched out of Tails' grip and started marching out of the ship, not entirely sure as to what was going on with me.

"You better believe I'm going to fix this."

And I sprinted off, feeling bad about leaving Tails and Yacker.

Tails knew I certainly wasn't mad at him, and even understood just why I was so upset…but I couldn't bring myself to have him tag along.

Not when what Eggman did hit so close to home.

. . .

"Next Stop, Planet Wisp. This attraction is currently off-limits as it is still under construction and may not be dangerous enough for visitors yet."

When I first heard that, I was wondering what Eggman had meant. Now that I was actually on the planet, I knew one hundred percent.

Planet Wisp was the poster boy for planets everywhere- bright blue skies streaked with drifting white clouds, tall grasses and gigantic trees, a rainbow of flowers blooming in every nook and cranny-

And then there was that vile construction site.

I simply stared with my mouth gaping awkwardly, running through the grasses that brushed against my legs and wondering just what Eggman was thinking by putting a bunch of structures on such a beautiful nature-driven planet. He was polluting it with technology, and I might've only been on the planet for but a few minutes, but I already knew that it just wasn't right.

"Not dangerous enough?" I echoed, the dirt under my feet being replaced by welded iron. "It's plenty dangerous for the beings that live here…!"

I drifted around the corners of Eggman's "additions", glancing around and feeling really ashamed for how far along it had progressed. I knew Eggman had to have been up to something, for he hadn't been heard from in a long time, but…

How was I supposed to know he was wreaking havoc on another planet?

The more I thought about it, the more it infuriated me. I loved nature- I enjoy watching the colors of the vast outside world streak around me as I run. Flowers were beautiful, trees were majestic, and grass made a comfortable bed for a person like me, since the world was my home, as it was everyone else's.

"And this planet," I mused to myself. "…is the Wisp's home…"

Nature was beautiful, calming, relaxing…it was like a visual representation of life itself.

And it wasn't meant to be tampered with, especially with the extremes Eggman went to on this place.

When I run, I try to make it as if I was never there, wanting to leave everything just the way it should be. My good friend the doctor, however, just loved putting his mark on everything. He enjoyed putting scrap metal together to make it move and fight, and while creating artificial beings like that was sort of cool, he used to put living creatures into all his inventions, and that alone was what made me despise his ways to begin with.

Now he was on the Wisps' planet up to his old tricks again…along with kidnapping planets, ransacking them for entertainment or energy from their native species, and then using that energy to brainwash people into obeying him…that just wasn't going to cut it for me.

"I thought you'd gone too far before, Eggman," I mused under my breath, a hint of ferocity evident in my tone. "But now you're messing with my views on life….and no matter what, I'm going to fight for them. YAH!"

I blasted forward with the power of the recently freed White Wisps coursing through me, running straight onto a grind rail and riding deeper into the mess that Eggman had made…and I was going to bring it upon myself to clean it up.

. . .

I had an undeniable scowl plastered to my face, and if I could see my expression, I'd know that it definitely didn't belong on me. The deeper I ran into Planet Wisp, the more metal and technology I became surrounded by, forcing to watch as an artificial plague diseased the fair and innocent planet that had been dragged into a nefarious plot where it didn't belong.

"Just look at the water…" I mumbled as I ran along a metal-plated cliff. It was now a deadly-looking shade of purple, and I almost would've assumed that it's what water looked like in this world, if it wasn't for the fact that Eggman's waste from his construction was being rudely dumped into it.

I might not have liked water very much, but what were the aliens supposed to drink? Their home was literally being overrun, and they were being stuffed into cramped containers- no wonder why they were in such a panic!

After taking advantage of a grind rail again, I found myself long and far away from any trace of nature, and surrounded by the uncomfortable confines of one of the more completed structures that Eggman was building. I just took one look after a brief pause, stretching out my neck, and dashing forward.

"All right, let's bust this up."

However, before I could even far enough to do any busting, I came across another Wisp trapped in a capsule, and with saving these guys as my number one priority, I kicked it open and smiled a little as a Pink Wisp emerged, its head covered in a few small spines and its single eye looking a little…harsh?

"Um, hello?" I asked, and it suddenly flew in my face and continued to glare. "No, no, I'm not your enemy! I didn't do this- I'm just trying to help!"

The Pink Wisp still didn't seem convinced, revving away only to throw itself at me. Yelping, I naturally ducked, feeling a dangerous wind brush through my quills as the alien zinged through the air. A bit stunned and still on one knee, I glanced over my shoulder to see the alien reeved into the nearest wall, fighting to get free so it could try to strike me again. I could hear the irritancy in its tone as it tried to convey its feelings to me. Shaking my head, I stood back up and peacefully held my hands out.

"I'm your friend- you gotta listen to me!" I exasperated calmly, trying to reach out to it. "I'm just as upset about your home being ruined as you are, trust me!"

It finally freed itself from the wall, proceeding to fling itself at me once more. I sidestepped easily, but the fact that it was still attacking and babbling at me wasn't comforting.

"I can't understand you!" I watched with guilty eyes as the Wisp lodged itself into a different wall. "I don't have Tails' translator; I dunno how to speak to you…"

I hung my head, hearing the frustrated susurrating of the alien finally die down. It freed itself once more, but instead of trying to attack me, it floated gently in front of me. Sensing its presence, I inclined my head to look into its eye.

"I just want to help," I stated as honestly and wholesomely as I could, trying to make it understand. "I know what it's like to have everything you know completely taken over by technology and to have your friends imprisoned, I really do…but I also know that we have to stand together if we want to fix anything. We can overcome this, if you'll just trust me…"

My green irises softened a little as I glanced away again and my ears drooped.

"I…don't necessarily have to do this alone, you know…"

To my surprise, the hard stare of the pink alien vanished and was replaced by a much more welcoming one. It lent me its Hyper-go on power, and the next thing I knew, I had turned pink, and my quills seemed to become extra reinforced…

I was suddenly nothing more than a small spiked pink ball, not too different from whenever I curled up, but I felt so much more forceful with the enhanced abilities. In fact, one of the things I discovered I could do with help from the pink alien was roll on ceilings.

"Heh heh, YES!" I cheered, charging up and using Eggman's structure against him. I punctured small holes into the metal where my spikes had latched onto the surface, but I was glad it happened- little blows against the Eggman himself.

Might not have done much, but if I could get Tails to rig up a bomb or something, there'd be less resistance from the structure when we detonated it.

I could still jump around and spin dash surprisingly enough- I just couldn't uncurl. I was permanently rolling around at the speed of sound, but I was fine with that.

I scaled the walls, taking note of the pipes that were built into some of the cliff sides, and took out my frustrations on the construction Egg Pawns that were scattered about. I left wakes of scrap metal behind me, using every drop of energy the Wisp lent to me until it was gone.

When I returned back to normal -and was more than overjoyed at no longer being pink- I thanked the alien on the spot. Now much less cold with me than it had been before, it waved me off and flew away to parts unknown. I smiled back, glad that I had managed to get through with it.

Weird to say, I just spoke with my heart…

Nevertheless, I carried on, a streaking one-hedgehog rampage to liberate the planet of its technological disease. Any robots I encountered only had a moment's flinch before I barreled into them, feeling proud with every satisfying shatter. Every little thing I did was a small blow against Eggman, and once I found the generator chaining this planet, I'd make sure that there'd be no way to fix it again.

. . .

Sometime later, I was travelling along the lower parts of Eggman's structure, wondering where a way out was, and looking for a way up. I'd trashed every junkbot in the vicinity, and now I needed new terrain.

Luckily, I found it in another capsule.

"There ya go, buddy!" I exclaimed, freeing an orange alien from captivity. "…hmm, not to seem greedy for help or anything, but you wouldn't mind giving me a bit of a boost, would ya?"

The orange alien didn't seem to mind at all, fusing with me instantly and causing me to turn orange and cry,

"ROCKET!"

I braced myself for take off, eventually shooing into the blue sky as an orange rocket and flying high above the ground and the construction. Now with a bird's eye view as I calmly floated down, I could see all the sides of Planet Wisp. There were the untouched parts of the world that reminded me of the spacious valleys filled with wild flowers back on my own planet, the murky purple waters whose sight absolutely disgusted me, the mechanical areas that were slowly consuming the planet…I could only shake my head.

"Technology has its uses for people on my planet," I mused quietly, watching as more Egg Pawns relentlessly worked to increase Eggman's influence. "But these aliens have no use for all this…and now they're probably forced to live with this for the rest of their lives!"

That thought really tugged at my heart, seeing as how I could relate on some levels, but my train of thought was once again forcibly derailed as I landed back on the ground. Grunting, I stood back up and rescanned my surroundings.

Several fans jetted out of the metal walls, spinning furiously and supposedly keeping things cool. A few Egg Workers were welding new parts, and as for the way forward…it was up.

"Well, okay!" I said to myself, holding my hand over my eyes and thinking up an idea. "I guess I'll just have to utilize my speed! S'what I do best anyway."

Taking a few steps back, I bolted forward with all my might, gaining speed faster than anyone else could. Within a few minor seconds I was already racing, going fast enough to zip right up the side of the wall. It curved around towards the top, so I used that to propel myself onto a grind rail.

"Now this is what I'm talking about!"

I flipped around and landed on my feet, streaking down the rail and wondering where I would end up next. The rail took me to a ramp, where I stampeded over it and careened into the air, freeing a group of white aliens from a capsule that was suspended in midair.

Physics fail me once again!

The second my feet reached solid ground, I started running. I ended up speeding through a melody of events, between quick-stepping through narrow paths, plowing through robots, leaping through a rainbow loop, and hurdling on through. All the obstacles the terrain provided me with supplied a hint of danger, the way the structures were built allowed me to perform dozens of crazy stunts, and yet the light winds of Planet Wisp were nowhere near as extreme as I was, gently whistling by…untouched by what had happened.

"Even if the world changes around you, the sky will still be the same, and the winds will always be whimsical."

The words left my mind and exited my mouth, even though I hadn't intended to say them. Regardless, they still made me smile. With all the work done to Planet Wisp, the planet itself would stay the same…at least, the spirit would be the same. I was sure that the aliens would find a way to continue their carefree lives.

"After all, I did," I smirked to myself, carrying on. "Eggman can change the outward appearance, but he can never change the spirit within…"

I knew that better than anybody.